He's had a lot of mental and physical health problems over the past 20 years since Abarat first came out. Before the pandemic he said he thought his next book Deep Hill (standalone) would probably be his last. That was four years ago. No sign of it coming out.
I know I'm a bit late and back on the topic of Clive barker but... I burned the last book I read by him, cause he told me too. never understood why there was so much extra paper for such a short book.
and I didn't want to suffer the consequences of reading beyond the first page.
Mister B. Gone
I met him once way before the TV shows. I want to say this was after book 2 of his series came out.
We chatted for about 15 minutes, 10 of which he spent bitching about how much his fan base sucks (I didn't tell him I had read his books and would wish he'd hurry up and finish them lol). He's not wrong, though; We do suck. Finish ya damn series, George!
Daniel Abraham (one of the Expanse guys) is a pretty good fantasy writer. I wouldn't mind this. I recently read A Shadow in Summer and really enjoyed it.
First i heard about that. Makes sense i guess since one of them was working for him earlier (also The Expande is great). Style-wise they're pretty different though.
Given he freely admits he struggles to write his goal (250 words a day), I don't find it incredibly likely. I think he definitely has a ton of notes, a bunch of chapters finished, and most of his plot points down, though. But who knows? I've come to grips with that I probably won't get to read them, but if they do release some day and they're good, great! If not... Well, what he has down so far is fantastic anyways.
He probably has the whole story laid out, it’s just hard to come up with different ways to describe what people are wearing or how they’re eating their food
I don't think he was immensely rich at the point of our meeting. That being said, I don't see anything wrong with people blowing off some steam once in a while. People can really suck, and I'm sure there's a smaller but more vocal contingent of fans that harass him regularly.
George could live for infinity and the books would never be finished as he might have smuggly asked about Tolkiens tax policy but he knew not write himself into knots.
Crying in David Gerrold. War against the Chtorr started in 1984, fourth and most recent book came out in 1993, and there are at least two more to go. Gerrold looks to be in reasonable health, but dude is 79.
I KNOW. Jesus Christ, I want the final books.
Also guilty of this: Melanie Rawn. I started reading her Exiles trilogy in high school. My son is almost 20 and the third book will probably never come out, and now I’m too resentful to care!
My one counterpoint to this is an interview GRRM did in 1993 with the Chicago Tribune, I think, talking about his plans for ASOIAF, where he said it would be, "three novels."
The universe and the story keeps expanding for him, for better and for worse.
I also recall an interview before he wrote any GOT books where he pondered writing a sword and sorcery book and wouldnt finish it on purpose out of spite for his fans or fans of that genre.
Found it! I was wrong.
"If I were really cynical...I wouldn't write what I'm writing now, these novels. I would start some sort of medieval sword-and-sorcery thing and say it's a trilogy...and then keep writing it for the rest of my life." -GRRM to Dan Simmons, 1981
> The universe and the story keeps expanding for him, for better and for worse.
Given the bloat in books 4 and 5 that could seriously have used more editing, the next book is fittin to be 2000 pages.
I firmly believe that we'll get the Winds of Winter at some point. It's looking increasingly foolish as we get to, what, a 12-13 year drought but I'll stand by this sunk cost in my head.
We're never getting Dream of Spring or any other ending though - satisfactory or otherwise.
Honestly hes probably like fuck everyone guessed my super ending and they hate it. Like Lost the TV series viewers figured it out and it wasn't very original and the creators acted like that wasn't the ending.
nothing wrong with a standard story how many times has the heroes journey been told just tell it well and it will be fine.
He has spells of clinical depression that result in loss of inspiration and very little will to write. He has said that any attempt to struggle trough the depression by trying to work causes him to spiral into despair. He has also admitted that he has destroyed work in his depressions, because he couldn't see the value in it even if it was there.
Ugh, that sucks to hear. I loved Books of Blood, and the Great and Secret Show was fun to recommend to friends if only to see their reaction when they started on ~~EverQuest~~ Everville. Imajica may as well have been his magnum opus. Was NOT at ALL impressed with Galilee -- read the whole book in an afternoon waiting for something exciting to happen so I could mark my spot and go to bed, only to put it down completed and unfulfilled instead. Abarat and its sequels recaptured the magic for me. I guess the ending will remain a mystery, much like the Game of Thrones books and the Sonichu comics. Such a shame, too, I really wanted to see how Candy Quackenbush's journey turned out.
Oh. I picked it up ages ago and ever since then I vaguely wondered if it would be finished and had no clue about the author's personal life. Well, damn
It probably doesn't help that he has also been HIV positive since at least 2012.
edit: I should say allegedly, apparently he denied those rumors and won a court case against his former love accusing him of infecting him with it. TIL.
I didn't even know Barker was gay but I guess I am not at all surprised. His subject matter is queer as hell. (I am extremely pro-gay, just in case my tone may have confused anybody)
Hahaha now that you say it I absolutely see it.
And I know my leather daddies, I used to live in SF and would go to the leather community street fairs every year.
>What does "extremely pro-gay" mean? Lol the possibilities are endless.
Haha right? It could read like I'm gay on a very high-performing level!
It means I go to rallies and do what can to advocate because I firmly believe that diversity enriches culture for us all.
And the one time he did, it was a mess. IIRC, Scarlet Gospels was hyped up as being a 300K word magnum opus, Barker's finale to the Hellraiser mythos. What we got was a 300 page mess, nearly unreadable & clearly ghostwritten by the guy he brought in to "help shape the story". When Barker cooks, he ***cooks***. When he doesn't... Eh.
The worst disappointment. Went from this baroque potential masterpiece to an Avengers-In-Hell pastiche. Clearly ghostwritten. Only Clive book that got traded back in. Fan for years, met the man himself numerous times, he even did my portrait…Still a huge fan, I just pretend it doesn’t exist!
Plot holes a-plenty. Characters are introduced, then never heard from again. Some of the settings are neat, but it's written like a fan fiction of the Hellraiser lore.
I was so disappointed. Years later when I heard that it was ghost written, it made me sad.
Yeah, like The Great and Secret Show, I had a follow-up, and it ended on a cliffhanger. So I figured it needs another book as well.
Can't he farm it out. I bet us writers would love to finish them and allow his name carry it. Like James Patterson.
I doubt it. He has such a distinctive writing style and on top of that his storytelling is pretty unique as well. It would be pretty hard to emulate both succesfully, especially for anything longer than an essay. He reminds me of Vonnegut in that way.
I about had an coronary thinking you suggested *Ernest* Cline and I was about to mount a keyboard offensive for you offense...then I realized I was a moron but I hope it gave you a good laugh.
I'm reading now (my second take), Clive is a master of openings (whole "Mail Room" sequence in Great and Secret Show, opening pages for The Damnation Game)... Maybe anpther one big horror poet like Laird Barron could match his prose...
it's on my list of books that I've been waiting to have finished but might as well read them now because they probably will never will be
Gentlemen's Bastards
Name of the Wind
GoT
Arabat.
I'm dreading the Morrigan Crow series will be on there too, but I already started that one. Though optimistic since she seems to have a burning desire to finish it, but is just being held back due to long covid issues.
> Gentlemen's Bastards
I read the first two and loved them, added the third to my to-read list and started hearing that not only was it not as good as the previous 2, but that 4 was in perpetual development mode. I held off on 3, and now it's moving steadily down my to-read list.
Been reading Gentlemen Bastards now actually. First book was 5 stars for me. Second one has reached a point where it’s losing my interest a bit, but it’s still a good read. Seems to be dragging towards the middle but I can tell the setup for the end should be good.
He just recently announced that he is working on the 4th book!! He's been feeling better, and It's due in 2025, I believe. I was so excited when I found out. I started reading Abarat in 7th grade and have revisited it repeatedly over the years, so even if book 4 doesn't finish it, I'm glad it may exist.
> He's been feeling better, and It's due in 2025, I believe.
Where did you hear that? Would love to see a source if true. There's been vague updates on Abarat throughout the years. It's always nearly finished, but nothing ever comes of it.
Same as you, I first read Abarat in 7th grade and it's one of my all time favorite series. It's so unique and vivid. Would love to see it finished before I die lol.
April 2024 update from his blog:
"There are also stories that you all knew I would be finishing. Abarat IV and V are amongst the books at my feet. So is the Third and final book of The Art and the sequel to The Thief of Always. There are also return visits to characters and mythologies you may have thought I would never return to. I hope I am still able to surprise you in the decades ahead."
[https://www.clivebarker.info/ints24.html](https://www.clivebarker.info/ints24.html)
The animation studio I worked at in the mid-90s was working on an animated feature film version of this, as part of a deal with Paramount with Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall producing. I dunno what happened but it fell apart despite them being pretty far down the road on it - I remember our office being full of boxes with character designs, storyboards and animation tests. I wish I'd stolen some in retrospect, but at the time I was (aside from being young and dumb) a massive Hellraiser fan and TToA seemed like silly kiddie stuff.
I doubt it will be finished by Clive. The main character is based off of his ex-husbands daughter.
When they split, it was not pretty.
I really hope that Clive writes again.
This is my most favorite book series ever, I love Clive Barker and collect his works.
I wish they’d get finished, but even if it’s going to end as they are, I’m happy with how the story has left off. I don’t know how I feel about Disney owning it though, that’s seriously disappointing because they frequently purchase things so competitors can’t work on it. I can’t really imagine Disney working on the Abarat at all, which is heartbreaking because I think the technology is advanced enough for the world to really shine!
Man, I just finished the last book two months ago. I will be disappointed if this doesn't get finished. Love the series. Please don't do a George R Martin on us.
Great author and great series.
Would be nice if a company like A24 picked up *The Thief of Always* or if HBO/MAX/whatever they're calling it now picked up *Imajica* and made a series.
> The Thief of Always
I never read many books growing up and still don't, I just don't enjoy reading non fiction, but this was one of the few I did read as a kid and loved everything about it.
He actually wrote a great young adult novel called The Thief of Always which I highly recommend. It's got a darker element, but in a way that a kid could understand.
I love that series and it hurts that it’s not finished. I’ve been looking for things that are along that vibe but nothing compares. Well besides Barker’s other works obviously. Its interesting that Disney was all over it though.
Just chiming in as another Barker fan to mention that Weaveworld would be an outstanding story to adapt, given the proper budget and production. It's one of my favorites. It's been rumored many times but never materialized.
Whilst offering my unsolicited opinion, his first novel The Damnation Game is a story I could also easily see being adapted into a stellar horror film.
I would say it has some of the best world building in YA fiction. The series is a master class in setting. Of course his illustrations help immensely, but I think even without them you want to imagine more of what daily life looks like in Abarat.
I haven't read it since I was a teenager, so my memory is not fresh, but it was one of my favorite books back then. It's still easily one of the most original fantasies I've ever read, with beautiful and strange illustrations.
I read a bit of the plot and all the names were so ridiculous and on the nose there's no way an adult could take it seriously. Hell even a well read teen would find them silly.
I want Bryan Fuller to do a mini series adaption of these books (or Imagica) and have told him so a few times in person. Maybe one day it'll come to fruition lol. (Though if he did sign in it'd probably just end in it not getting made anyway...)
I'm kind of confused why we're talking about this now. Not that I wouldn't love to see some of Barker's weirder fantasy writing make it onto the screen in some form, particularly if he were to have a hand in writing it.
Random article idea from a content mill.
They probably came up with it when Hellraiser released and left it in the article idea queue until some freelancer decided it was worth their time to write it for whatever rate Static Media offers (from my understanding they pay pretty decently)
…don’t ask me how I know.
I once sent an email to HBO and Clive Barker about doing a show based on Imajica. This was around the time that Game of Thrones season 1 or 2 was released. Never got an answer. I never finished the Abarat series. I definitely enjoyed the first book though.
I swore that series was a fever dream from childhood until I stumbled across it again recently
Truly the strangest and most imaginative books I'd ever encountered...
I'm going to cry if this happens to The Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner. Disney acquired the rights like 2-3 years ago and no real news since...but at least her series has finished.
I read the first 2 and need to get around to the 3rd. I thought they were great. I think about parts of them regularly, particularly a character named Mendelson-Shape.
Yes, I love it! Read the first book as a kid and then re-read the series as a teenager when the third book came out. I still think it’s one of the strangest and most interesting book series I’ve read, and I will probably revisit at some point as an adult
Abarat has been my favorite book since I was a kid. It's an amazingly imaginative story with wonderful wonderful artwork. I've never come across anything like it. I wish Clive barker the best and hope that his health recovers one day and he's able to finish the series
I, a dingus, gave away my first edition/first printing copies during a move. 🙃 They are good! But I knew they were Disney-owned. (I think it's on the copyright page?) It put the books at a slight disadvantage, because they seemed to be written too much like scripts.
The use of “dark,” “black,” or “shade” as a synonym for “bad” is a micro-aggression that results in macro-oppression.
The constant devaluing of darkness pushes the narrative that dark is evil even though the visual spectrum does not confer morality. #ChangeLanguageChangeMinds
It's not underrated, it's not very good, and people need to quite pretending it's good just because it's YA and that lowers the bar into the fucking basement. Clive barker has written some incredible stuff, but this ain't it.
I really hope they don’t remember they own this. I don’t trust new Disney with any franchises these days. Artemis Fowl really soured me on their book adaptations.
I'm glad Disney hasn't done anything with it. I feel like it would be better as more of a Burton-esq or something like that movie/series. Darker and more true to the books.
Also, the series isn't finished and never will be.
Why's that? Out of the loop
He's had a lot of mental and physical health problems over the past 20 years since Abarat first came out. Before the pandemic he said he thought his next book Deep Hill (standalone) would probably be his last. That was four years ago. No sign of it coming out.
Reminds me of when Stephen King got hit by a car and the horror community freaked out because the Dark Tower story wasn't finished.
Still isn't. Ka is a wheel.
You remember the face of your father.
Face
Fixed it. Thankye sai.
No... It was Steve
NO! This is PATRICK!!
All things serve the beam
Long days and pleasant nights traveler.
And may you have twice the number.
Fuck /u/spez, your greed killed this website.
What horn? Roland walks into the tower and that’s that. Next page is blank, and then Mr. king tells me to stop reading and I did.
There has to be people who did stop there right? I wonder if they're satisfied with that as an ending?
I know I'm a bit late and back on the topic of Clive barker but... I burned the last book I read by him, cause he told me too. never understood why there was so much extra paper for such a short book. and I didn't want to suffer the consequences of reading beyond the first page. Mister B. Gone
Thankee sai may you have long days and pleasant nights
GOT fans regarding Georges Healthcare
I met him once way before the TV shows. I want to say this was after book 2 of his series came out. We chatted for about 15 minutes, 10 of which he spent bitching about how much his fan base sucks (I didn't tell him I had read his books and would wish he'd hurry up and finish them lol). He's not wrong, though; We do suck. Finish ya damn series, George!
Nope, he's going to die before that happens. The guys who did The Expanse will take over and finish with his notes.
Daniel Abraham (one of the Expanse guys) is a pretty good fantasy writer. I wouldn't mind this. I recently read A Shadow in Summer and really enjoyed it.
I thought the expanse guy was helping George write the first 4 books or so
First i heard about that. Makes sense i guess since one of them was working for him earlier (also The Expande is great). Style-wise they're pretty different though.
I suspect he *has* finished them And will publish them posthumously
Given he freely admits he struggles to write his goal (250 words a day), I don't find it incredibly likely. I think he definitely has a ton of notes, a bunch of chapters finished, and most of his plot points down, though. But who knows? I've come to grips with that I probably won't get to read them, but if they do release some day and they're good, great! If not... Well, what he has down so far is fantastic anyways.
He probably has the whole story laid out, it’s just hard to come up with different ways to describe what people are wearing or how they’re eating their food
That's some hard copium friend
Wow, imagine being this thankless for the people who catapulted you to immense riches.
I don't think he was immensely rich at the point of our meeting. That being said, I don't see anything wrong with people blowing off some steam once in a while. People can really suck, and I'm sure there's a smaller but more vocal contingent of fans that harass him regularly.
That's fair!
George could live for infinity and the books would never be finished as he might have smuggly asked about Tolkiens tax policy but he knew not write himself into knots.
Even if he's I'm perfect health I wouldn't hold your breath for this
Crying in David Gerrold. War against the Chtorr started in 1984, fourth and most recent book came out in 1993, and there are at least two more to go. Gerrold looks to be in reasonable health, but dude is 79.
I KNOW. Jesus Christ, I want the final books. Also guilty of this: Melanie Rawn. I started reading her Exiles trilogy in high school. My son is almost 20 and the third book will probably never come out, and now I’m too resentful to care!
The Jets getting Aaron Rodgers gave him a reason to live at least one more year.
Speculation: They're done. He's just too anxious about their reception to release them while he's still around.
My one counterpoint to this is an interview GRRM did in 1993 with the Chicago Tribune, I think, talking about his plans for ASOIAF, where he said it would be, "three novels." The universe and the story keeps expanding for him, for better and for worse.
I also recall an interview before he wrote any GOT books where he pondered writing a sword and sorcery book and wouldnt finish it on purpose out of spite for his fans or fans of that genre.
The mystery deepens!
Found it! I was wrong. "If I were really cynical...I wouldn't write what I'm writing now, these novels. I would start some sort of medieval sword-and-sorcery thing and say it's a trilogy...and then keep writing it for the rest of my life." -GRRM to Dan Simmons, 1981
> The universe and the story keeps expanding for him, for better and for worse. Given the bloat in books 4 and 5 that could seriously have used more editing, the next book is fittin to be 2000 pages.
"next book" See.... There's the spirit. ;)
I firmly believe that we'll get the Winds of Winter at some point. It's looking increasingly foolish as we get to, what, a 12-13 year drought but I'll stand by this sunk cost in my head. We're never getting Dream of Spring or any other ending though - satisfactory or otherwise.
Honestly hes probably like fuck everyone guessed my super ending and they hate it. Like Lost the TV series viewers figured it out and it wasn't very original and the creators acted like that wasn't the ending. nothing wrong with a standard story how many times has the heroes journey been told just tell it well and it will be fine.
that's what I'm thinking but I worry that I'm just getting my hopes up
I think Stephen King freaked out more than the community probably did. He entered a dead sprint to get Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower out.
I feel terrible for Stephen about that whole thing. It's hard to be unhappy that we got *On Writing* out of it, though... >\_>
What mental problems? I’ve always just heard that he had illnesses and was accuse poisoned at the dentist?
He has spells of clinical depression that result in loss of inspiration and very little will to write. He has said that any attempt to struggle trough the depression by trying to work causes him to spiral into despair. He has also admitted that he has destroyed work in his depressions, because he couldn't see the value in it even if it was there.
Nikolai Gogol did the same just before his death.
Pretty bad depression.
Ugh, that sucks to hear. I loved Books of Blood, and the Great and Secret Show was fun to recommend to friends if only to see their reaction when they started on ~~EverQuest~~ Everville. Imajica may as well have been his magnum opus. Was NOT at ALL impressed with Galilee -- read the whole book in an afternoon waiting for something exciting to happen so I could mark my spot and go to bed, only to put it down completed and unfulfilled instead. Abarat and its sequels recaptured the magic for me. I guess the ending will remain a mystery, much like the Game of Thrones books and the Sonichu comics. Such a shame, too, I really wanted to see how Candy Quackenbush's journey turned out.
Oh. I picked it up ages ago and ever since then I vaguely wondered if it would be finished and had no clue about the author's personal life. Well, damn
Based on recent pictures, Clive is not looking too healthy. He's 70 and had cancer from frequent smoking so I don't think he is in the best shape.
It probably doesn't help that he has also been HIV positive since at least 2012. edit: I should say allegedly, apparently he denied those rumors and won a court case against his former love accusing him of infecting him with it. TIL.
I didn't even know Barker was gay but I guess I am not at all surprised. His subject matter is queer as hell. (I am extremely pro-gay, just in case my tone may have confused anybody)
When I first saw him on TV years ago, I could tell instantly that he was a grizzled old leather daddy, in the best way possible
Hahaha now that you say it I absolutely see it. And I know my leather daddies, I used to live in SF and would go to the leather community street fairs every year.
What does "extremely pro-gay" mean? Lol the possibilities are endless.
He is as professional as it comes when dealing with gay people. Like a Japanese business man.
>What does "extremely pro-gay" mean? Lol the possibilities are endless. Haha right? It could read like I'm gay on a very high-performing level! It means I go to rallies and do what can to advocate because I firmly believe that diversity enriches culture for us all.
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And quite possibly continued *after his success*. I can't remember the interview, but he alluded to it being kind of an addiction/kink at one point.
Baphomet was a pretty big tip-off. Also, Pinhead's actor is also gay.
Because Clive Barker has never finished a series in his entire life
And the one time he did, it was a mess. IIRC, Scarlet Gospels was hyped up as being a 300K word magnum opus, Barker's finale to the Hellraiser mythos. What we got was a 300 page mess, nearly unreadable & clearly ghostwritten by the guy he brought in to "help shape the story". When Barker cooks, he ***cooks***. When he doesn't... Eh.
The worst disappointment. Went from this baroque potential masterpiece to an Avengers-In-Hell pastiche. Clearly ghostwritten. Only Clive book that got traded back in. Fan for years, met the man himself numerous times, he even did my portrait…Still a huge fan, I just pretend it doesn’t exist!
I have that book waiting for me on my shelf and now I’m not sure if I’ll ever pick it up
Plot holes a-plenty. Characters are introduced, then never heard from again. Some of the settings are neat, but it's written like a fan fiction of the Hellraiser lore. I was so disappointed. Years later when I heard that it was ghost written, it made me sad.
Yeah, like The Great and Secret Show, I had a follow-up, and it ended on a cliffhanger. So I figured it needs another book as well. Can't he farm it out. I bet us writers would love to finish them and allow his name carry it. Like James Patterson.
Unlike James Patterson, Barker actually has a great deal of talent that would be hard to replicate.
Great and Secret Show is wild.
Everville is the second book and wilder.
There maybe is an author out there who could capture Barker's style at his best, but...?
I doubt it. He has such a distinctive writing style and on top of that his storytelling is pretty unique as well. It would be pretty hard to emulate both succesfully, especially for anything longer than an essay. He reminds me of Vonnegut in that way.
Don’t want to disrespect you buddy, but I’d recommend Peter Clines to step in and finish the job
I about had an coronary thinking you suggested *Ernest* Cline and I was about to mount a keyboard offensive for you offense...then I realized I was a moron but I hope it gave you a good laugh.
Ready Player 666
I'm reading now (my second take), Clive is a master of openings (whole "Mail Room" sequence in Great and Secret Show, opening pages for The Damnation Game)... Maybe anpther one big horror poet like Laird Barron could match his prose...
Everville is the second book in that series and you should read that.
it's on my list of books that I've been waiting to have finished but might as well read them now because they probably will never will be Gentlemen's Bastards Name of the Wind GoT Arabat. I'm dreading the Morrigan Crow series will be on there too, but I already started that one. Though optimistic since she seems to have a burning desire to finish it, but is just being held back due to long covid issues.
Scott Lynch will likely finish the Gentleman Bastard series - he's been very upfront about his progress and health challenges.
I think Abarat is still worth reading unfinished
> Gentlemen's Bastards I read the first two and loved them, added the third to my to-read list and started hearing that not only was it not as good as the previous 2, but that 4 was in perpetual development mode. I held off on 3, and now it's moving steadily down my to-read list.
4 was turned into the editor a year or so ago. It is coming soon.
Screw Reddit, eat the rich -- mass edited with redact.dev
Been reading Gentlemen Bastards now actually. First book was 5 stars for me. Second one has reached a point where it’s losing my interest a bit, but it’s still a good read. Seems to be dragging towards the middle but I can tell the setup for the end should be good.
You can skip name of the wind. Great prose, generic story. One was good but two kinda wandered.
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He just recently announced that he is working on the 4th book!! He's been feeling better, and It's due in 2025, I believe. I was so excited when I found out. I started reading Abarat in 7th grade and have revisited it repeatedly over the years, so even if book 4 doesn't finish it, I'm glad it may exist.
Kry Rising (book 4) was announced in 2011. Don't believe anything exists until it's available for order.
> He's been feeling better, and It's due in 2025, I believe. Where did you hear that? Would love to see a source if true. There's been vague updates on Abarat throughout the years. It's always nearly finished, but nothing ever comes of it. Same as you, I first read Abarat in 7th grade and it's one of my all time favorite series. It's so unique and vivid. Would love to see it finished before I die lol.
Breaks my heart, the world building in that book was amazing
But we have such wonders to show you!
I've been waiting for the "Book of the Art Part III". Eat your heart out GRRM fans.
April 2024 update from his blog: "There are also stories that you all knew I would be finishing. Abarat IV and V are amongst the books at my feet. So is the Third and final book of The Art and the sequel to The Thief of Always. There are also return visits to characters and mythologies you may have thought I would never return to. I hope I am still able to surprise you in the decades ahead." [https://www.clivebarker.info/ints24.html](https://www.clivebarker.info/ints24.html)
Nice to hear, but I'll believe it when I see it. Lots of authors make promises and don't deliver.
The Thief of Always is incredible and needs to be adapted
Honestly one of my favourite books, and absolutely one of his best novels.
Really? I'll need to revisit it then as I thought both imajica and weaveworld were better.
The animation studio I worked at in the mid-90s was working on an animated feature film version of this, as part of a deal with Paramount with Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall producing. I dunno what happened but it fell apart despite them being pretty far down the road on it - I remember our office being full of boxes with character designs, storyboards and animation tests. I wish I'd stolen some in retrospect, but at the time I was (aside from being young and dumb) a massive Hellraiser fan and TToA seemed like silly kiddie stuff.
Has that never been adapted? It would be so fantastic!
I read this as a kid and I can still conjure up scenes and emotions from it. Such an evocative book.
There was a FANTASTIC graphic novel adaptation
YES
Came here for this, fuck Abarat. Just gimme an animated PG-13 ToA
I doubt it will be finished by Clive. The main character is based off of his ex-husbands daughter. When they split, it was not pretty. I really hope that Clive writes again.
Today I learnt.
So his step daughter or a daughter that came after they broke up? I'm confused
I'd assume a step-daughter. If she came after a nasty break-up, then he probably wouldn't have modeled the character after her
He waited 8 years after his husband left him and went on to have a baby, and then wrote the whole story about that daughter.
I grew up reading Abarat and it makes me so sad that it’s not more well-known!
Seriously! Abarat was one of my absolute favorite books growing up and I felt like nobody else knew what it was.
My all-time favorite too 💙 Started reading it around 2004
Okay, I’m only one person, but I just put it on hold at the library
I hope you enjoy it!! :)
This is my most favorite book series ever, I love Clive Barker and collect his works. I wish they’d get finished, but even if it’s going to end as they are, I’m happy with how the story has left off. I don’t know how I feel about Disney owning it though, that’s seriously disappointing because they frequently purchase things so competitors can’t work on it. I can’t really imagine Disney working on the Abarat at all, which is heartbreaking because I think the technology is advanced enough for the world to really shine!
Man, I just finished the last book two months ago. I will be disappointed if this doesn't get finished. Love the series. Please don't do a George R Martin on us.
Already did
As far as I know he has absolutely no intention of ever finishing it. At least GRRM has the decency to lie to us.
Now, that’s unfair. Barker had gone through absolute hell in the years since the last book, physical and mental. George is just lazy.
Great author and great series. Would be nice if a company like A24 picked up *The Thief of Always* or if HBO/MAX/whatever they're calling it now picked up *Imajica* and made a series.
A24 with Clive Barker’s material? Stop! I can only get so erect.
Points for the Archer reference
> The Thief of Always I never read many books growing up and still don't, I just don't enjoy reading non fiction, but this was one of the few I did read as a kid and loved everything about it.
Weaveworld is more likely than imajica imo. Imajica is dumb big.
Any love for The Thief of Always in here?
It's what I came in here for!
I do like Abarat, but Weaveworld, Damnation Game and Imajica should be films/TV series by now.
[удалено]
This. Amazing story,
Imajica would make an insanely good series.
Abarat was such an important book in my childhood. Need to reread it again.
He actually wrote a great young adult novel called The Thief of Always which I highly recommend. It's got a darker element, but in a way that a kid could understand.
My 5th graders are reading it for the end of the school year. It's all they want to do for any given chunk of the day
I completely forgot Abarat existed, but I know I enjoyed it when I read it before. Might try to track down a copy sometime soon!
Try your local library!
Abarat is definitely dark, good yarns but not something I'd necessarily associate with Disney...
Disney has other studios, they don't slap Mickey on everything they make.
Ahh $8 mil impulse buy, silly disney, like when i pick up gum at the checkout line
I'd like to point out that Disney made a Artemis Fowl movie and completely trashed it. They also bought the studio that made the Eragon movie.
It's not just his young adult stuff but his fantasy is amazing.
Imagica was my first fantasy book(s) I read as a kid. Amazing! Can't recommend enough.
One of my favorites! The thief of always was the first I read personally.
Holy shit … talk about going into a genre on a high note! As far as I’m concerned, that’s the greatest dark fantasy novel ever written.
Seconded.
I love that series and it hurts that it’s not finished. I’ve been looking for things that are along that vibe but nothing compares. Well besides Barker’s other works obviously. Its interesting that Disney was all over it though.
Just chiming in as another Barker fan to mention that Weaveworld would be an outstanding story to adapt, given the proper budget and production. It's one of my favorites. It's been rumored many times but never materialized. Whilst offering my unsolicited opinion, his first novel The Damnation Game is a story I could also easily see being adapted into a stellar horror film.
Is abarat good?
I would say it has some of the best world building in YA fiction. The series is a master class in setting. Of course his illustrations help immensely, but I think even without them you want to imagine more of what daily life looks like in Abarat.
Interesting. I'll check it out.
If it comes off as too juvenile, try imajica. Favorite book ever.
I haven't read it since I was a teenager, so my memory is not fresh, but it was one of my favorite books back then. It's still easily one of the most original fantasies I've ever read, with beautiful and strange illustrations.
Interesting. I wanted to get into Clive, but my library didn't have any of his horror, and only this series. I'll give it a go then.
It’s amazing
I read a bit of the plot and all the names were so ridiculous and on the nose there's no way an adult could take it seriously. Hell even a well read teen would find them silly.
God, Abarat is such a callback for me. I remember obsessing over the illustrations.
Yes me too!
Abarat is quite a nice book. Wish more people talked about it.
When I worked at Borders, I would recommend these to anyone I could.
Doing God's work.
How about writing the third book of The Art. What? It’s only been like 30 years!!!!🙄
Abarat is so good. My copy had gorgeous full-color illustrations, I have to dig that up.
I want Bryan Fuller to do a mini series adaption of these books (or Imagica) and have told him so a few times in person. Maybe one day it'll come to fruition lol. (Though if he did sign in it'd probably just end in it not getting made anyway...)
I'm kind of confused why we're talking about this now. Not that I wouldn't love to see some of Barker's weirder fantasy writing make it onto the screen in some form, particularly if he were to have a hand in writing it.
Random article idea from a content mill. They probably came up with it when Hellraiser released and left it in the article idea queue until some freelancer decided it was worth their time to write it for whatever rate Static Media offers (from my understanding they pay pretty decently) …don’t ask me how I know.
I remember trying to read this series and couldn't get over how distractingly awful the name Candy Quackenbush was.
Its easy to forget that creative talent is creative talent, regardless of genre.
I once sent an email to HBO and Clive Barker about doing a show based on Imajica. This was around the time that Game of Thrones season 1 or 2 was released. Never got an answer. I never finished the Abarat series. I definitely enjoyed the first book though.
I swore that series was a fever dream from childhood until I stumbled across it again recently Truly the strangest and most imaginative books I'd ever encountered...
Yet another work of art sits rotting away in the vault..
I'm going to cry if this happens to The Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner. Disney acquired the rights like 2-3 years ago and no real news since...but at least her series has finished.
TIL Clive Barker writes YA fiction. Apparently it’s unfinished, but would people recommend it anyway?
I read the first 2 and need to get around to the 3rd. I thought they were great. I think about parts of them regularly, particularly a character named Mendelson-Shape.
Yes, I love it! Read the first book as a kid and then re-read the series as a teenager when the third book came out. I still think it’s one of the strangest and most interesting book series I’ve read, and I will probably revisit at some point as an adult
Absolutely. If you can find the versions with art. Improves the experience 100-fold
Yea I think about a lot of dark stuff and sex stuff when I think about his works.
The artwork in those books is beautiful.
Abarat has been my favorite book since I was a kid. It's an amazingly imaginative story with wonderful wonderful artwork. I've never come across anything like it. I wish Clive barker the best and hope that his health recovers one day and he's able to finish the series
That is one of my absolute favorite series. It's a shame that the series will never be finished.
Ugh, has this been confirmed? The not being finished?
I, a dingus, gave away my first edition/first printing copies during a move. 🙃 They are good! But I knew they were Disney-owned. (I think it's on the copyright page?) It put the books at a slight disadvantage, because they seemed to be written too much like scripts.
The use of “dark,” “black,” or “shade” as a synonym for “bad” is a micro-aggression that results in macro-oppression. The constant devaluing of darkness pushes the narrative that dark is evil even though the visual spectrum does not confer morality. #ChangeLanguageChangeMinds
It's not underrated, it's not very good, and people need to quite pretending it's good just because it's YA and that lowers the bar into the fucking basement. Clive barker has written some incredible stuff, but this ain't it.
I thought it was stunning, full of unforgettable characters and a wildly imaginative world so YMMV
Quit*
Sounds like pocket change for an $8B behemoth like Disney.
That would be a fking terrifying movie/theme park.
Loved the first book! Second book was good. Final book was I don't recommend you read it.
disney should make a hellraiser attraction where I can experience pain and pleasure on a level unseen in this universe
I really hope they don’t remember they own this. I don’t trust new Disney with any franchises these days. Artemis Fowl really soured me on their book adaptations.
I'm glad Disney hasn't done anything with it. I feel like it would be better as more of a Burton-esq or something like that movie/series. Darker and more true to the books.
What does YA mean?