LemmiSchmoeker reviewed Everville by Clive Barker
Review of 'Everville' on 'Storygraph'
3 stars
Clive Barker has always been in a league of his own: even in his earliest “splatterpunk” days, his writing stood out as concentrated and polished. Since the late eighties, he has moved away from pure horror and towards a fantasy universe that embraces most of his stories, even the early ones. This is the “Second Book of the Art”, after The Great and Secret Show (which I haven't read).
The writing style has become a little sloppier, though still sharp and clean. The story he tells here seems desperate to tie up loose ends from the predecessor, so that the final 100 pages or so are rushed and somewhat confused. Still, the plot is seamlessly crafted, and by the end every cog will have had its turn. Barker's main player is still life itself, and so sexuality is an important part, as are violence, madness and death. The mixture of …
Clive Barker has always been in a league of his own: even in his earliest “splatterpunk” days, his writing stood out as concentrated and polished. Since the late eighties, he has moved away from pure horror and towards a fantasy universe that embraces most of his stories, even the early ones. This is the “Second Book of the Art”, after The Great and Secret Show (which I haven't read).
The writing style has become a little sloppier, though still sharp and clean. The story he tells here seems desperate to tie up loose ends from the predecessor, so that the final 100 pages or so are rushed and somewhat confused. Still, the plot is seamlessly crafted, and by the end every cog will have had its turn. Barker's main player is still life itself, and so sexuality is an important part, as are violence, madness and death. The mixture of these is quite his own, with sometimes shocking results, though I did have a feeling that some of it has become a routine he fulfils to please his readers. Strangely, he clearly cares for his characters, but is unable to fill them with a sense of reality, so that their thoughts remain utterly exchangeable, and they are distinguished only by their actions.
All in all, this seems like a very ambitious novel with a high attention to detail – but so many flaws that the joy of reading never reaches the ecstatic heights it should have.
