Clive Barker’s Imajica is more than the world; it’s five. Four of them have reconciled with each other, and one – ours, the Earth – is removed from the rest. But reconciliation may be upon us.
“Amid a seamless tapestry of erotic passion, thwarted ambition, and mythic crore, Imajica picks out the brightly colored threads of three memorable characters: John Furie Zacharias, known as Gentle, a master forger whose own life is a series of lies; Judith Odell, a beautiful woman desired by three powerful men, but belonging to none of them; and Pie ‘oh’ Pah, a mysterious assassin who deals in love as well as death. United in a desperate search for the heart of a universal mystery, all three discover that the truth lies in a place as mysterious as the face of God and as secret as the human soul.”
So sayeth the inside dust cover of my hardcover edition of the book, and I’m not sure that covers it, but I wanted to suggest this book to you, not explain it.
This book is vast. It encompasses worlds; five physical ones and many more of the metaphysical variety. As one character says, “I fight over food and women but never metaphysics.” Well, who am I to argue?
Within this vast tome of colourful characters is the human condition. It’s got death, love, loss, gain, triumph, sorrow, vanity, passion, and even more pieces of our lives. This book found me in a good place, but it felt like a book that could help you work through loss, if you were going through that, or even a change happening in your life.
This book is epic fantasy of the modern variety. There are, to be sure, plenty of ghasts and demons, but these things take place, for a time on Earth, where “life had to go on, even if oblivion waited in the wings.” As Judith thinks of it, “She needed milk, bread, and toilet paper; she needed deodorant and waste bags to line the bin in the kitchen. It was only in fiction that the daily round of living was ignored so that grand events could take center stage. Her body would hunger, tire, sweat, and digest until the final pall descended.”
This kind of grounded nature is not limited to one character, but to many of them, offering a solid foundation upon which to contrast the fantasy and horror elements that populate its pages every so often.
I loved this book. To me, it’s up there with my favorite books, which already contain some of Barker’s other works like The Great and Secret Show and Galilee. Somehow, this book, which he published two years after The Great and Secret Show and seven years before Galilee, encompasses a lot of what makes those other books speak to me.
Barker’s fantasy is grounded, and his stories and his characters deal with all parts of the human condition, especially those that encompass agony and ecstasy in equal parts, separately and together. Barker doesn’t shy away from truth, because he leans into myth as much as possible and shows you something real from within this story.
Some universal truths that don’t spoil anything and that might entice you to find a copy for yourself are:
“Too much serenity’s bad for the circulation. Everybody needs a good rage once in a while.”
“People get frustrated with waiting and they end up stooping to politics. But it’s so shortsighted.”
“She was on her own, and in a world in which everyone else was blinded by obsession and obligation, that was a significant condition.”
“Compassion’s always wise.”
But one of my favorite quotes, even out of context, explains just how prescient high modern fantasy can be.
“I’m an actor chappie. I fake my raptures. I’d like to change the world, but I end up as entertainment. Whereas all you lovers”–he spoke the word contemptuously–”who couldn’t give a fuck about the world as long as you’re feeling passionate, you’re the ones who make the cities burn and the nations tumble. You’re the engines in the tragedy, and most of the time you don’t even know it…”
This is one piece of dialogue from one character, and there’s something simplistic in its delivery, because it’s the bare truth. Even when the aforementioned quote is stripped of lovers and reduced down to “as long as you’re feeling passionate” is enough to make you pause and wonder what you might be passionate for, and is it enough to tumble nations or burn cities? Is your passion enough to run the engines of tragedy?
Whether that’s too far for you or not far enough, I wholly endorse and recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Yes, it is a massive tome, with my hardcover edition totaling 800 pages and some paperbacks counting to almost 900, but it’s worth your time. It’s a great story with colorful characters and thought-provoking sentiments, and isn’t that why we fell in love with reading to begin with?
Read the Secret File of technical information and quotes from Imajica.