While Imajica was the first Clive Barker novel I ever finished, this was the first of his mammoth novels that I started. I started this when I was in middle school and just couldn't get through it, it was deep and thought provoking and creepy and just way too adult for me, even then. I hadn't been through enough yet, enough horror and psychological drama. I went back to this book later and tried again and absolutely fell in love with it. All of those things that scared me away when I was younger were now reasons to love it. This is part of a trilogy that is not yet finished and may never be finished. The second book is also amazing and is called Everville. The two books can be read on their own and are only part of a series because of the background story.