Imajica
Clive Barker

Amid a seamless tapestry of erotic passion, thwarted ambition, and mythic horror, 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. They discover the Imajica.
The Imajica: five Dominions, four bound together - reconciled with one another - and one, the Earth, forever cut off from her brothers, her inhabitants living in ignorance on the edge of a sea of possibilities, an ocean of mystery and magic. Only a very few know of the Imajica, and of those, many are frightened. For a time is coming, a time of great risk, a time of great promise. A time of Reconciliation.
It happens only once every two hundred years - a shining, mystical moment in which Earth can be reunited with the other four Dominions. As Judith, Gentle, and Pie race to capture that moment, other forces are gathering to keep the Earth locked up forever in the darkness that surrounds her.
Their quest will carry them on an epic journey through all five Dominions, from the barbaric, glittering city of Yzordderrex to the haunted peaks of the Jokalaylau mountains, from the hallowed walls of Patashoqua to the very border of the greatest mystery of all: the First Dominion, on the other side of which lies the Holy City of the Unbeheld, where either their highest hopes or deepest fears will be realized.
None of them will remain unchanged by the journey. Nor will the reader who accompanies them. Imajica is a novel of vast panoramas and intimate obsessive passion; of visionary splendors and heart stopping terrors. it is also a book of revelations. Long after you have turned the final page, you will be yearning for its wonders, and believing they are just a breath away.

"It was the pivotal teaching of Pluthero Quexos, the most celebrated dramatist of the Second Dominion, that in any fiction, no matter how ambitious its scope or profound its theme, there was only ever room for three players. Between warring kings, a peacemaker; between adoring spouses, a seducer or a child. Between twins, the spirit of the womb. Between lovers, Death. Greater numbers might drift through the drama, of course - thousands in fact - but they could only ever be phantoms, agents, or, on rare occasions, reflections of the three real and self willed beings who stood at the center. And even this essential trio would not remain intact; or so he taught. It would steadily diminish as the story unfolded, three becoming two, two becoming one, until the stage was left deserted."

This incredibly insightful paragraph about all stories is the very beginning of an epic tale of the lives and journeys of three people (and that core three does indeed change over time), their lives, and their journey through the Imajica. Some are more than they seem, some less, and some are not even human at all.

It should be stated that as amazing as this novel is, it is for adults. Like many of Barker's works, it has elements of the fantastic combined with adult themes. Many of his works can be said to be fairy tales for adults, but this one, above many others, is, quite literally, an epic.

This is not a small book. Coming in at 824 pages in the hardcover version and also not being a quick read, this novel took me around a week to read. For me, that's quite a time to spend on a book - I'm usually reading several a week. Yet, it didn't feel that long. The novel was completely engrossing and when it ended, I wanted more.

This is the epitome of what adult fantasy should be. The characters are so real that there will be emotion there when they die (and be prepared for many that you become attached to to either die or be something you had never expected) and the lands of the Imajica are so well written that you will take this journey across those Dominions along with the characters.

There have been many scientific theories that other dimensions exist, parallel to ours, and this novel takes that idea and makes an epic tale out of it.

I highly recommend this novel. It might take you a while to get through, but you will not be disappointed.

My rating: Five out of five snails.