Product Description

In the little town of Palomo Grove, two great armies are amassing; forces shaped from the hearts and souls of America. In this New York Times bestseller, Barker unveils one of the most ambitious imaginative landscapes in modern fiction, creating a new vocabulary for the age-old battle between good and evil. Carrying its readers from the first stirring of consciousness to a vision of the end of the world, The Great and Secret Show is a breathtaking journey in the company of a master storyteller.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75824 in Books
• Published on: 1999-12-01
• Released on: 1999-11-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 672 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Early in his new epic novel, Barker describes the thoughts of one of his characters as "barbaric and baroque"--and the words fairly sum up the book. Down-and-outer Randolph Jaffe works in the dead-letter office in Omaha. Reading through the mass of mail, he finds clues to an alternative reality, the laws of which are called "the Art." Mastering these principles, he becomes powerful but evil, and presses into service a man named Fletcher, who synthesizes a transforming drug, the Nuncio. Later understanding the corrupting nature of his creation, Fletcher rebels against Jaffe, and the two, now demigods, engage in a cosmic struggle. To enlist allies, each sires offspring (using the seed of mortal men), and their spiritual children help to carry on the bizarre battle. Though diverting, the novel is something of a potboiler, and despite its pervasive horrific imagery, it fails even to frighten us--or invite us to suspend disbelief. This is the first book of a projected trilogy. 100,000 first printing; $125,000 ad/promo; Preferred Choice Book plan main selection; author tour.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Englishman Barker's latest novel, the first part of a trilogy, is an ambitious fantasy/horror fusion of dazzling scope which stands alone as a complete story. Nebraska postal clerk Randolph Jaffe works in the Dead Letter Room, opening and inspecting loads of undeliverable U.S. mail. Soon, through a series of cryptic dead letters, he taps into an ethereal network of mysterious revelations which provides access to enormous power channels. The customary battle of light forces versus dark forces commences, with greedy Jaffe heading the latter, and mad yet philanthropic scientist Richard Fletcher representing the former. Despite occasional and convenient lapses into nonsensical elements of fantasy which characterize too much of the genre, this original, intelligent treatment of a complex idea by the author of The Damnation Game ( LJ 5/15/87) and Weaveworld ( LJ 10/15/87) is amazingly believable and compulsively readable. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/89.
- Mark Annichiarico, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Washington Post Book World
"Rich in plot twists, byzantine intrigues and hidden secrets, Imajica is a Chinese puzzle box constructed on a universal scale...Barker has an unparalleled talent forenvisioning other worlds."

Customer Reviews

Interesting but ultimately flawed.
"The Great And Secret Show" is a novel that is at turns fascinating, horrifying, and (unfortunately) disappointing.

The first part of the novel is great, with Randolph Jaffe slowly unravelling the mysteries of the secret society called the Shoal and the pathway to the Art, a type of magic that can allow one to enter the dreams of humanity.

After discovering the power of the Nuncio and being changed (along with Fletcher) we get some great scenes showing the scope of their battle through time and space, culminating in the Society of Virgins' fateful swim in the lake above the caverns.

After that point, however, things slow to a crawl. The final showdown between Jaffe (now "the Jaff") and Fletcher never materializes, and the terata and hallucigenia - their fevered creations - never really battle either.

The plot involving Howie, Tommy-Ray, and Jo-Beth fizzles without much resolution. In fact the whole last third of the novel is thrown into chaos by the arrival of new characters (Tesla, Grillo, Vance, Harry D'Amour) where none was necessary. Also, Barker inserts a twist which puts the Jaff on the side of "good" just as he was about to achieve his evil aims. This bizarre and unnecessary contortion of the story wrecks any suspense or momentum that had been building.

Barker introduces a new threat when his orginal baddie (Jaffe) would have been more than adequate. Tommy-Ray's plot also goes off the rails...it seems as though Barker completely lost control of the sub-plot and then just cobbled something together as best he could at the end.

The Art, when it does make its appearance, is quite anti-climatic. Quiddity is interesting, but Ephemeris turns out to be bland and unexciting, instead of the promised center of "the great and secret show". By that point, most readers will probably be daydreaming about other shows...network TV ones.

Brilliant premise, exciting start, but a last third which reminds one of a train running out of steam a long, long way from the station.

GSS
This book drones on for a while. But, it's not bad. And if I look back I suppose it was all needed to make the reader feel closer to the characters. A good read on a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG plane ride, and I mean long, like to China, then back to America.

Good Epic, but Loses It Towards End
Randolf Jaffe works in the Dead Letter Office in Omaha, Nebraska where he stumbles across people talking about the Art, which is something that exists in another plane of existence. He learns about Quiddity, which is called a dream sea where people float in their minds when they are born, when they fall in love for the first time and when they die. He wants to find out about this Art, so he leaves to find out more about. This leads to a huge battle between good and evil in a tiny California town where the residents do not know what to make of bizarre creatures that impregnate virgins, feed off of people's fears and dreams, and the threat of huge creatures trying to break through the plane of existence to bring hell on Earth.

I tried to read this book many years ago, but didn't enjoy it back then. I think a lot of it had to do with that I loved when Clive Barker wrote about England in so many other stories. I was put off with almost all of it taking place in California since I did not view that as some exotic place and I became bored. I don't have that issue any longer, so I gave it another show in reading it.

I loved it this time. It is a very big book, but it is an epic story and it needs to be long. I love how when other authors write fantasy and they create an entire different world that does not take place in any sense of the real world, but Clive Barker created this world in the middle of the real world. There were extraordinary beings interacting with ordinary people, and I enjoyed reading their reactions.

My only complaint about it was after building up to what would be the final climax, there wasn't a great sense of urgency towards the end of the book. I didn't have my usual sense of trying to find out what was going to happen next, skimming over lines, forcing myself to go back and read slower so I wouldn't miss anything, but then going back to skimming so I could find out what happens next. Also, Barker has been very descriptive in other stories about horrors, but when he was trying to describe the huge, big baddies that were trying to break through, they didn't sound very gross or horrific.

Even with those complaints, it wasn't enough to destroy my overall enjoyment of the book. Also, the very ending gave hope to the sequel (Everville) and another epic adventure.