"Weaveworld" by Clive Barker

I've read this book early in University when I was discovering Clive Barker as a writer, and getting excited about his fantasy works, not that much about his early horror work. I've re-read it recently and was thinking that I was going to get disappointed by it as I got with 'Cabal' and 'Imajica' when I discovered that Barker is gay, and found so much LGBT stuff in his books that they looked more like pamphlets for gay rights than novels. Weaveworld though was a surprise. Yes, there were some references to 'gender-transcendental sexuality' but they were kept to a minimum, and most of the content is dedicated to the actual content.

It is a complicated book. It is original as well. Few fantasy authors would think of enclosing their world in a carpet, at least I haven't encountered any. The people Barker invented, The Seerkind, are a little less convincing, but still well thought out, unlike the Nightbreed in 'Cabal' which are an obvious LGBT community. The characters, which are usually the weakest part of Barker's books, are comparatively well-developed, especially Mooney, and to a lesser extent Susanna, Shadwell and Immacollatta, which are more two-dimensional The Scourge is especially badly developed, and it seems like it was forgotten for most of the book, just to reappear at the end, in a not very convincing series of events and make a spectacular, but irrelevant, exit near the end.

I liked that the thought life of Mooney is presented to some length, as Barker usually doesn't care much what his characters think, since he is using them primarily as a vehicle for the story. I felt things were left incomplete with Mooney's girlfriend. She appears several times, but we never learn her motivation, or get some insight into why she's acting the way she is. The let-down of Mr.Gluck when he is to understand that all UFO-related phenomena that he's been researched all of his life could be linked to the Seerking 'ruptures' is also forced, and unconvincing. The intensity of the story, especially after the first 50 pages is excellent and reminiscent of Barker's short stories. The chase and search for the carpet, all the comings and goings and the coincidences or the lack thereof is enjoyable and exciting reading.

Barker's exquisite imagination with minute attention to detail shows throughout the book and this is what makes 'The Fugue' believable, and to a lesser-extent, its inhabitants. It is notable that the main protagonist in most Barker's works is a man, developed to a lesser or greater extent, like Mooney in this book. I would recommend this book to any fantasy fan, or to anyone who's looking for a great entry into the work of Clive Barker.