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Imajica: A spellbinding epic fantasy novel Kindle Edition
A book of revelations. A seamless tapestry of erotic passion, thwarted ambition and mythic horror. Clive Barker takes us on a voyage to worlds beyond our knowledge, but within our grasp.
John Furie Zacharias, known as Gentle, a master forger whose life is a series of lies. Judith Odell, a beautiful woman desired by three powerful men, but belonging to none of them. Pie’oh’pah, a mysterious assassin who deals in love as well as death. These three are united in a desperate search for the heart of a universal mystery, and will find the truth that lies in a place as mysterious as the face of God, and as secret as the human soul. They discover the Imajica.
Imajica is many things: an epic novel of vast panoramas and intimate, obsessive passions, embracing ghosts and reflections as well as the human and the divine.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarperCollins
- Publication date21 Oct. 2010
- File size2.4 MB
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Product description
Review
‘Moves with tidal force and power’
- William S Burroughs
‘The tears of blood and nightmare imagery are passionate and ingenious… Imajica is a ride with remarkable views’
- Times Literary Supplement
‘Barker’s fecundity of invention is beyond praise. In a world of hard-bitten horror and originality, Clive Barker dislocates your mind’
- Mail on Sunday
‘A powerful and fascinating writer with a brilliant imagination… Clive Barker is an outstanding storyteller’
- J G Ballard
From the Inside Flap
From master storyteller Clive Barker comes an epic tale of myth, magic, and forbidden passion--complete with new illustrations and a new Appendix.
Imajica is an epic beyond compare: vast in conception, obsessively detailed in execution, and apocalyptic in its resolution. At its heart lies the sensualist and master art forger, Gentle, whose life unravels when he encounters Judith Odell, whose power to influence the destinies of men is vaster than she knows, and Pie 'oh' pah, an alien assassin who comes from a hidden dimension.
That dimension is one of five in the great system called Imajica. They are worlds that are utterly unlike our own, but are ruled, peopled, and haunted by species whose lives are intricately connected with ours. As Gentle, Judith, and Pie 'oh' pah travel the Imajica, they uncover a trail of crimes and intimate betrayals, leading them to a revelation so startling that it changes reality forever.
--New York Daily NewsFrom the Back Cover
From master storyteller Clive Barker comes an epic tale of myth, magic, and forbidden passion--complete with new illustrations and a new Appendix.
Imajica is an epic beyond compare: vast in conception, obsessively detailed in execution, and apocalyptic in its resolution. At its heart lies the sensualist and master art forger, Gentle, whose life unravels when he encounters Judith Odell, whose power to influence the destinies of men is vaster than she knows, and Pie 'oh' pah, an alien assassin who comes from a hidden dimension.
That dimension is one of five in the great system called Imajica. They are worlds that are utterly unlike our own, but are ruled, peopled, and haunted by species whose lives are intricately connected with ours. As Gentle, Judith, and Pie 'oh' pah travel the Imajica, they uncover a trail of crimes and intimate betrayals, leading them to a revelation so startling that it changes reality forever.
About the Author
Clive Barker was born in Liverpool in 1952. His earlier books include ‘The Books of Blood’, ‘Cabal’, and ‘The Hellbound Heart’. In addition to his work as a novelist and playwright, he also iilustrates, writes, directs and produces for stage and screen. His films include ‘Hellraiser’, ‘Hellbound’, ‘Nightbreed’ and ‘Candyman’. Clive lives in Beverly Hills, California.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Imajica
By Barker, ClivePerennial
Copyright © 2004 Clive BarkerAll right reserved.
ISBN: 0060937262
Chapter One
The Fifth Dominion
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.
Needless to say, this dogma did not go unchallenged. The writers of fables and comedies were particularly vociferous in their scorn, reminding the worthy Quexos that they invariably ended their own tales with a marriage and a feast. He was unrepentant. He dubbed them cheats and told them they were swindling their audiences out of what he called the last great procession, when, after the wedding songs had been sung and the dances danced, the characters took their melancholy way off into darkness, following each other into oblivion.
It was a hard philosophy, but he claimed it was both immutable and universal, as true in the Fifth Dominion, called Earth, as it was in the Second.
And more significantly, as certain in life as it was in art.
Being a man of contained emotion, Charlie Estabrook had little patience with the theater. It was, in his bluntly stated opinion, a waste of breath: indulgence, flummery, lies. But had some student recited Quexos' First Law of Drama to him this cold November night he would have nodded grimly and said: All true, all true. It was his experience precisely. Just as Quexos' Law required, his story had begun with a trio: himself, John Furie Zacharias, and, between them, Judith. That arrangement hadn't lasted very long. Within a few weeks of setting eyes on Judith he had managed to supersede Zacharias in her affections, and the three had dwindled to a blissful two. He and Judith had married and lived happily for five years, until, for reasons he still didn't understand, their joy had foundered, and the two had become one.
He was that one, of course, and the night found him sitting in the back of a purring car being driven around the frosty streets of London in search of somebody to help him finish the story. Not, perhaps, in a fashion Quexos would have approved of -- the stage would not be left entirely empty -- but one which would salve Estabrook's hurt.
He wasn't alone in his search. He had the company of one half-trusted soul tonight: his driver, guide, and procurer, the ambiguous Mr. Chant. But despite Chant's shows of empathy, he was still just another servant, content to attend upon his master as long as he was promptly paid. He didn't understand the profundity of Estabrook's pain; he was too chilly, too remote. Nor, for all the length of his family history, could Estabrook turn to his lineage for comfort. Although he could trace his ancestors back to the reign of James the First, he had not been able to find a single man on that tree of immoralities -- even to the bloodiest root -- who had caused, either by his hand or hiring, what he, Estabrook, was out this midnight to contrive: the murder of his wife.
When he thought of her (when didn't he?) his mouth was dry and his palms were wet; he sighed; he shook. She was in his mind's eye now, like a fugitive from some more perfect place. Her skin was flawless and always cool, always pale; her body was long, like her hair, like her fingers, like her laughter; and her eyes, oh, her eyes, had every season of leaf in them: the twin greens of spring and high summer, the golds of autumn, and, in her rages, black midwinter rot.
He was, by contrast, a plain man: well scrubbed but plain. He'd made his fortune selling baths, bidets, and toilets, which lent him little by way of mystique. So, when he'd first laid eyes on Judith -- she'd been sitting behind a desk at his accountant's office, her beauty all the more luminous for its drab setting -- his first thought was: I want this woman; his second: She won't want me. There was, however, an instinct in him when it came to Judith that he'd never experienced with any other woman. Quite simply, he felt she belonged to him, and that if he turned his wit to it, he could win her.
His courtship had begun the day they'd met, with the first of many small tokens of affection delivered to her desk. But he soon learned that such bribes and blandishments would not help his case. She politely thanked him but told him they weren't welcome. He dutifully ceased to send presents and, instead, began a systematic investigation of her circumstances. There was precious little to learn. She lived simply, her small circle vaguely bohemian. But among that circle he discovered a man whose claim upon her preceded his own, and to whom she was apparently devoted. That man was John Furie Zacharias, known universally as Gentle, and he had a reputation as a lover that would have driven Estabrook from the field had that strange certainty not been upon him. He decided to be patient and await his moment. It would come.
Meanwhile he watched his beloved from afar, conspiring to encounter her accidentally now and again, and researching his antagonist's history. Again, there was little to learn. Zacharias was a minor painter, when he wasn't living off his mistresses, and reputedly a dissolute. Of this Estabrook had perfect proof when, by chance, he met the fellow. Gentle was as handsome as his legends suggested, but looked, Charlie thought, like a man just risen from a fever. There was something raw about him -- his body sweated to its essence, his face betraying a hunger behind its symmetry -- that lent him a bedeviled look.
Continues...Excerpted from Imajicaby Barker, Clive Copyright © 2004 by Clive Barker. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- ASIN : B004DUMMY0
- Publisher : HarperCollins
- Accessibility : Learn more
- Publication date : 21 Oct. 2010
- Language : English
- File size : 2.4 MB
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 1205 pages
- ISBN-13 : 978-0007355402
- Page Flip : Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank: 39,088 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 143 in Ghost Horror
- 187 in Horror Fantasy
- 194 in Nordic Myth & Legend Fantasy eBooks
- Customer reviews:
About the author

Clive Barker was born in Liverpool in 1952. His earlier books include The Books of Blood, Cabal, and The Hellbound Heart. In addition to his work as a novelist and playwright, he also illustrates, writes, directs and produces for stage and screen. His films include Hellraiser, Hellbound, Nightbreed and Candyman. Clive lives in Beverly Hills, California
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find this fantasy novel to be a favorite book of all time, praising its weird and wonderful elements and rich characters. The book receives positive feedback for its philosophy, with one customer noting how it takes readers on a journey of profound discovery, while another highlights its vivid world-building. Moreover, customers appreciate the book's dimensions, with one describing it as a fantasy of truly epic proportions, and its pacing, with one review mentioning how it takes readers to new lands and places. However, the book's readability is marred by spelling and punctuation errors in the Kindle edition.
AI Generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book highly readable and enjoyable, with several describing it as their favorite book of all time.
"...Very long, without ever getting repetitive or boring. Enjoyed every word, he’s a great story teller...." Read more
"...The book has been published in two parts in the past. The book is excellent but buy it in paperback in an edition with at least eleven hundred..." Read more
"This a book that covers many dimensions & is a book to truly luxuriate into...." Read more
"...This book can be read on many levels and I hope that you enjoy it as much and as often as I have." Read more
Customers enjoy the fantasy elements of the book, describing it as imaginative and full of the weird and wonderful, with one customer noting how the author creates vivid worlds.
"...Enjoyed every word, he’s a great story teller. Set in a time before mobile phones, which I enjoyed remembering...." Read more
"...is most well known for being a horror writer but he is incredibly poetic at times, I liked most of his characters that were supposed to be liked &..." Read more
"Gripping, enveloping, humane, radical, haunting, questioning, exploding with ideas...." Read more
"...It has a rich philosophy and has deep undertones which pokes a stick at our monotheistic belief systems and the male dominance we seek in so much of..." Read more
Customers appreciate the philosophical elements of the book, with one customer highlighting its great world-building and another noting how it takes readers on a journey of profound discovery.
"Brings some magic into your life. Very long, without ever getting repetitive or boring. Enjoyed every word, he’s a great story teller...." Read more
"...There are many twists & turns in this story to keep any reader alert & interested & with short chapters that are often split into sections it makes..." Read more
"...Huge and multidimensional in every way: in plot, in description, in characters, in concepts. Modern Fantasy of the highest order." Read more
"...It has a rich philosophy and has deep undertones which pokes a stick at our monotheistic belief systems and the male dominance we seek in so much of..." Read more
Customers appreciate the character development in the book, with one customer noting how the story leads the main characters, while another highlights the presence of anti-heroes.
"...Huge and multidimensional in every way: in plot, in description, in characters, in concepts. Modern Fantasy of the highest order." Read more
"...The characters are relatable and flawed, the various locales are suitably alien but not too much so, and the story moves on at a decent enough clip..." Read more
"...but largely unheeded by the good folk of the fifth, the story leads the main characters, and the reader, through amazing cities, brutal lands and..." Read more
"...Wonderful heroes and anti-heroes, quests, love stories, an analysis of self-determination and oligarchy ... Amazing and can highly recommend...." Read more
Customers find the book beautiful, with one mentioning how colorful it is and another noting how it paints vivid pictures.
"...disliked the others that had the streak of bad in them, all were beautifully drawn along with the landscapes which were dizzying in their scope &..." Read more
"...It takes you to new lands and new places and paints pictures which draw you in to them with both skill and ease...." Read more
"...Without them the book wouldn't have been so beautiful, so colourful, so grandiose!" Read more
"...Barker does Fantasy, beautiful." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's dimensions, with one describing it as a fantasy of truly epic proportions.
"This a book that covers many dimensions & is a book to truly luxuriate into...." Read more
"...Huge and multidimensional in every way: in plot, in description, in characters, in concepts. Modern Fantasy of the highest order." Read more
"...Superb thriller , esoteric time flipping romance . Dimension jumping , heart breaking, life affirming . The man's a genius ." Read more
"Imajica is a fantasy of truly epic proportions and like all great fantasy, takes the reader on a journey of profound discovery" Read more
Customers appreciate the pacing of the book, with one customer noting how it takes readers to strange and exotic lands, while another mentions how it explores societies on planets away from Earth.
"...It takes you to new lands and new places and paints pictures which draw you in to them with both skill and ease...." Read more
"...The characters are relatable and flawed, the various locales are suitably alien but not too much so, and the story moves on at a decent enough clip..." Read more
"...novel of make believe worlds, containing magic and societies on planets away from earth...." Read more
"...Magicians, Assassins, Demons, Goddesses, strange and exotic lands, all wrapped up in adventure. Barker does Fantasy, beautiful." Read more
Customers report numerous spelling and punctuation errors throughout the Kindle edition of the book.
"...recommend the Kindle version to new readers because it contains a number of spelling mistakes...." Read more
"...Did the book not get proof read? The amount of punctuation errors I found seriously detracted from my enjoyment...." Read more
"...which stands out most about this Kindle edition of Imajica is the bad punctuation - it's so terrible that it needs re-edited completely from..." Read more
"...I had to read many sentences twice. There were some misspellings. I put up with the inconvenience just to read the book...." Read more
Top reviews from United Kingdom
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 August 2024Format: Kindle EditionVerified PurchaseBrings some magic into your life. Very long, without ever getting repetitive or boring. Enjoyed every word, he’s a great story teller. Set in a time before mobile phones, which I enjoyed remembering.
I disliked the main characters intensely at times, but that just made it more interesting.
I did not realise until more than halfway through, that this is the “Hellraiser guy”. Although this does not have much, if anything, in common with those films.
If you like fantasy, definitely recommend this one.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 February 2012Format: Kindle EditionVerified PurchaseI have read this book several times over the past few years.It is an excellent novel.I recently purchased the novel in a Kindle edition. I would not recommend the Kindle version to new readers because it contains a number of spelling mistakes.In many cases where a word begins with the letters cl the Kindle edition shows the word as starting with the letter d.For example clear is shown as dear.There are words spelt in block capitals which I presume were meant to be corrected before publication in Kindle.There are words that are plainly not in the original paperback book.I have purchased several books in Kindle and intend to used this method in future because I think it is the best way to purchase books. If I were Clive Barker I would ask Amazon to check the book and reissue it .
Anyone buying the book in paperback should check that it contains both parts of the Imajica.The book has been published in two parts in the past.
The book is excellent but buy it in paperback in an edition with at least eleven hundred pages.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 February 2022Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseThis a book that covers many dimensions & is a book to truly luxuriate into. Clive Barker is most well known for being a horror writer but he is incredibly poetic at times, I liked most of his characters that were supposed to be liked & disliked the others that had the streak of bad in them, all were beautifully drawn along with the landscapes which were dizzying in their scope & imagination. There are many twists & turns in this story to keep any reader alert & interested & with short chapters that are often split into sections it makes for a page turner. It’s a sci fi, rom com, horror, buddy, fantasy, sexy clever thriller of a book.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 April 2024Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseGripping, enveloping, humane, radical, haunting, questioning, exploding with ideas. Huge and multidimensional in every way: in plot, in description, in characters, in concepts. Modern Fantasy of the highest order.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 August 2017Format: Kindle EditionVerified PurchaseIn very simple terms I love this book, it is rich, imaginative, beguiling and involving. It takes you to new lands and new places and paints pictures which draw you in to them with both skill and ease. Its touches on the sacred feminine, the destruction of female gods and idols in our own world and the sterility and dominance of male gods who require a female as the both the incubator and the deliverer of life.
It has a rich philosophy and has deep undertones which pokes a stick at our monotheistic belief systems and the male dominance we seek in so much of our religions.
This book can be read on many levels and I hope that you enjoy it as much and as often as I have.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 May 2022Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseImajica will give you the sprawl and lore of Lord of the rings, the existential dread of hellraiser, and an epic love story, all wrapped up in the sort of glorious weirdness that can only come from the mind of barker.
The characters are relatable and flawed, the various locales are suitably alien but not too much so, and the story moves on at a decent enough clip that I didn't get bored but I felt like I went on an epic journey.
All in all, it could have possibly been trimmed down a little, and for a story that is about the 5 dominions (dimensions) we spend a little too much time in mundane earth for my liking, and we fly a bit too quickly through the other worlds, only really seeing a glimpse of what could have been.
If you like stuff like alien worlds, secret societies, dark magic, enduring love, and stakes high enough to save or doom not one but 5 worlds, you might like Imajica.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 November 2024Format: Kindle EditionVerified PurchaseOnce the words form in your mind, you'll be hooked. It's 30 years since I last read it and I'm so glad to have returned to it again.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 October 2013Format: Kindle EditionVerified PurchaseClive Barker was my favourite author as a teenager. I started off reading James Herbert's and Stephen King's novels and progressed to the aforementioned. I have since studied English Literature at uni. Eighteen years later I thought I'd revisit his works.
I thought I'd give Imajica a go first as it's his most epic. I downloaded a sample and it opened quite well, so decided to make a purchase. As another reviewer pointed out, the kindle version is riddled with typos and formatting errors. One thing I noted on this second reading is that even now, having read more literary novels, Barker has a very good vocabulary for a genre writer, although it does tend to run away from him at times. I have to agree with other reviewers in saying that his style does grow very tedious as the novel progresses. Upon re-reading I realise that elements of Weaveworld, Imajica, and the Books of the Art have blended together in my mind. The fantastical elements are not always that well described and some of the description of the action is confusing and difficult to visualise. I always enjoyed the sexual freedom of his works, often depicting same sex an opposite couplings in the same book, also the androgyny, but there is definitely a homosexual bias to his subtext, which I wasn't aware of when I was younger. I recall reading of something called 'the butt diggers choice' when glancing through one of his other books. It's also overtly Christian, which I found somewhat off-putting. I wasn't as amazed at the terrain in this book as I recall either. The book doesn't fully explore all dominions, and I felt a bit cheated by it all. It's just not a very good story. It's a bit rubbish really.
Having satisfied my nostalgic craving I don't think I'll be returning to any other Clive Barker books. I tried the Abarat books, having read the first, and a large chunk of the second, and they're even worse. It just goes to show how much we grow as readers.
Top reviews from other countries
- PaulReviewed in Canada on 2 March 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Alternative worlds will always exist in our imaginations until their proven otherwise.
Personal Barker favourite. A thoroughly enthralling engaging romp.
Of course I’m remembering a younger self when I read this tome.
On kindle it doesn’t feel so heavy. I look forward to
re-engaging. Make it so!
- MagsReviewed in the United States on 8 May 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite....
Barker is a great storytelling master and this book is his best ever in my opinion. Read and.re-read many times, it never fails to make me happy.
- lpc76Reviewed in Australia on 14 June 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseBook has me hooked from the first page
- AbcdReviewed in India on 10 May 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Paperback but without illustrations and the afterword
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseFonts is good, nice for reading... Wished this one had illustrations..
It's a Barker's work.. going to be fun anyway!!!!
AbcdGood Paperback but without illustrations and the afterword
Reviewed in India on 10 May 2022
It's a Barker's work.. going to be fun anyway!!!!
Images in this review
- HosenbundReviewed in Germany on 2 July 2015
5.0 out of 5 stars THE VISUALS IN MY HEAD
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseVery well written - the visuals I had in my head... WOW!
Definitely a roller coaster of characters, sceneries, happening, plot twists and emotions. I recommend it to anyone that is interested in Fantasy and deep characters and different worlds.
It is one of those books, I will never forget and whose characters will always have a place in my heart.