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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 18:35:06 GMT
Really ? Is Scarlet Gospels bad ? Was considering getting a copy, but a few people have said its poor. Yeah, it's pretty awful. The prose is nowhere near the quality you'd expect from Barker; the dialogue is terrible; the plotting is slack, with several key points being simply dropped without explanation; and, worst of all, the whole thing displays an utter paucity of imagination, falling back on the usual Christian Hell demons and angels bollocks. I'm not being facetious when I question whether Barker wrote it. It reads like bad fan fiction. |
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Post by andydecker on Oct 23, 2015 19:20:22 GMT
There was some speculation that the novel was supposed to be much longer but was cut and parts re-written. By comic writer Mark Millar, who worked with Barker on this. Normally I don't give much about reviews, but boy, this took a trashing.
I wanted to buy this, but after reading a bit about I lost interest. Another journey through hell? Not terribly originell. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 21:28:59 GMT
There was some speculation that the novel was supposed to be much longer but was cut and parts re-written. By comic writer Mark Millar, who worked with Barker on this. Normally I don't give much about reviews, but boy, this took a trashing.
I wanted to buy this, but after reading a bit about I lost interest. Another journey through hell? Not terribly originell. It certainly reads more like Millar's work than Barker. I'd be interested to know a bit more about its journey to print. If it turns out that Barker wasn't the primary authorial voice then it's a bit of a cheek to put it out under his name. Whatever the case, I'll never read another one of his novels unless the reviews are unanimous that it's a) good, and b) his own work. |
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Post by mrhappy on Oct 24, 2015 3:10:06 GMT
The Scarlet Gospels was a major disappointment. The prologue was the most interesting part of the book. It almost felt as if the prologue was written years ago and then abandoned. When it was picked up again, all of the original magic was lost.
Mr Happy
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Post by gjkendall on Jan 4, 2016 20:18:41 GMT
Its scandalous that such a good post hasn't had any votes above  I haven't read all of The Books of Blood, but I voted for my top 4 stories: "The Forbidden," "In the Hills, the Cities," "Sex, Death, and Starshine," and "The Last Illusion." Barker has a great imagination, though he can be a bit over the top for my tastes. I have a fairly expansive Barker collection and have a signed copy of tapping The Vein 5. Scarlet Gospels is the first Barker book to disappoint me...it really doesn't read like it came from the great man's pen! |
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Post by Mike Brough on Jan 5, 2016 20:20:22 GMT
The Scarlet Gospels was a major disappointment. The prologue was the most interesting part of the book. It almost felt as if the prologue was written years ago and then abandoned. When it was picked up again, all of the original magic was lost. Mr Happy You've just saved me 15 quid, Mr Happy. I read the opening chapter on Amazon and thought it looked interesting. But, if that's as good as it gets, maybe not. |
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Post by bobby on Jan 7, 2016 1:23:15 GMT
My pre-ordered copy of Tonight, Again came in yesterday.
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Post by Mike Brough on Apr 24, 2016 11:28:08 GMT
I went ahead and ordered a used copy of The Scarlet Gospels. It was OK and showed some flashes of the old Barker but, overall, he seems to have lost his mojo. Rather than the horror of the Books of Blood, or the dark fantasy of Weaveworld, it was very much a Jim Butcher Dresden Files. Very pedestrian.
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Post by franklinmarsh on Nov 15, 2018 14:19:41 GMT
Used to have 5 of the 6 Spheres back in the day. Now just have two big compilations. Found 1 - 3 last night, and inspired by Human Remains in the Giant (sic) Book Of Vampires, plunged straight into Book Of Blood (v good), and got halfway through The Midnight Meat Train which is also very interesting (especially as I had to put it down at a crucial point, and won't be able to return until at least tomorrow.)
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Post by franklinmarsh on Nov 17, 2018 21:47:00 GMT
The Midnight Meat Train - cheeringly nasty horror tale with a soupcon of fantasy threatening to derail (sorry) it towards the end. Looking forward to catching up with the film version.
Pig Blood Blues. It would be terribly easy and lazy to describe this as a mixture of Scum and Razorback (which it kind of is) but it goes a bit loopy folk horror at the denouement which gives it a nicely unbelievable WTF edge.
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Post by fritzmaitland on Oct 24, 2020 22:46:18 GMT
October 24th - Jacqueline Ess : Her Will And Testament. Jacqueline has had enough of life and attempts suicide. Rescued, brought back to life by her doctor and her husband, Jacqueline finds she has the power to...amend other people's bodies. This does not end well for Doc and hubby. Jac goes out in the world to learn about power and masculinity, and how she can subvert them both. Head-scratcher of an ending, but lots of grue and tension along the way. Barker can at times resemble a gory Aickman.
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Post by fritzmaitland on Oct 13, 2021 7:56:58 GMT
October 12th - New Murders In The Rue Morgue. Clive drags Edgar Allan into the last quarter of the 20th Century. Must admit I enjoyed this even if some of it was bit icky. Interesting rumination on old age, after Ray Bradbury's look at the perils of childhood. Horrific and sad.
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Post by Middoth on Oct 14, 2021 9:54:14 GMT
I'll leave here "The Man Who Collected Clive Barker" by Kim Newman. somewhere there was still a thread about book collectors, but I can't find it
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