Rating: 
Summary: Sometimes brilliant; sometimes silly ...
Review: I had mixed feelings about this book. It started pretty well, pretty deep, but towards the middle it looses momentum. We can never exactly figure out what are the reasons of Mamoulian. Marty Strauss is really a great character, but is plagued by having to share his room with the old cliche of an ambiguos and insecure beautiful female main character, whose only job is to give incomplete answers and put the heroe in trouble. The end of the history is original in the terror genre, having a happy ending . Anyway, Barker can write as few people can, and it is a good book to start with.
Rating: 
Summary: Horror in the true definition of the word
Review: Lately, Clive Barker's writings have taken a turn for the fantasy side of fiction, presenting bizarre alternate realities in the tradition of Tolkien. He does it well, but his true calling, his dark side, if you will, refuses to stay hidden. Even as his stories leave the realm of horror altogether, sometimes, in a passage not expected, he will unleash his demons, presenting the reader with an astonishingly vivid and graphic description of evil.THE DAMNATION GAME is akin to all of those small moments being placed in one truly gruesome piece of fiction. Clive Barker does not shy away from the grotesque. Neither does he feel the need to leaven his imagery with humour. The story is presented for maximum impact, and maximum horror. Defining the story is tricky. Suffice to say, it is a variation on the FAUST theme, with a man presented with the option to sell his soul, or save it. As in most Barker stories, neither option is particularly appealing. Those seeking escapist entertainment (not that there's anything wrong with that) should stay away. Barker is not a disposable novelist. Rather, like H.P. Lovecraft, Barker is more concerned woith scaring the bejesus out of you. He succeeds.
Rating:
Summary: Transending Standard Horror and Redefining Originality
Review: Hang in there with me as I set an example here; it is going to get off topic of the book at hand for a moment, but there is method in my insanity: "Did you read Clive Barker's first novel: The Damnation Game?" "Uh, huh. What's it about?" "It's about...well...um..." This is not an easy novel to attempt to describe. Say I were asked to describe Stephen King's Salem's Lot; I could say it is about vampires who invade a small town. The listener knows about vampires and what they generally do (suck blood, and create new vampires); and they know how small town horror works (slow creeping suspense, as all the people in town everyone formerly thought they knew starts to turn evil. There is generally at least one outsider that is the center of this evil.) By identifying the basic concepts, the listener can put it together and get a good idea what the book is about... But Clive Barker's debut novel is far too original to even attempt to describe in any concise space. The story is original, absorbing, and told with a degree of beauty and compelling a way only Barker could achieve--and apparently masterered in the very beginning. I cannot tell you even vaguely what this book is about without telling you the majority of the plot, but I can tell you that it is not a book you will ever regret reading (and re-reading, and re-reading.)
Rating:
Summary: The master of life's darkest and most deadly game awaits. .
Review: The Damnation game is a roller coaster of terror. It contains some of Barker's most disturbing visions. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a millionare tycoon with the world at your feet? Who hasn't, but Barker puts a new spin on this old fantasy. Here the promise of power and riches comes with a terrible price and at a tremendous risk, yet the promise is real for those who dare to play the damnation game. After the close of WW2, in the fog shrouded rubble, Europe is a nightmare. In this blasted place there are no rules and no rulers. In this horrible setting one man, a thief has come to test his considerable skills against the master of life's darkest game. Years later another thief is released from prison and has been enlisted to serve an old dying man. This is no ordinary elderly man for he is one of the richest men on earth and the price of his wealth is about to come calling. Containing one of the vilest villians in literary history, the Damnation Game is a ghoulish feast for the senses.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK!
Review: If you are a horror fan then by this book. It is one of the best books that I have read in a long time. The only reason that it has not been made into a movie is because it is soo weird and crazy. I LOVED IT.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Bad
Review: Just finished this book and it was'nt bad. It was not as scary as a lot of people and critics said but it had a good story and excellent characters my favorite was "The last European". If you like bizarre stories like the Hellraiser movies or even the movie In the Mouth of Madness then you would like this story. This is my first Clive Barker book I have read and am impressed, can't wait to start The Thief of Always next.
Rating:
Summary: Concession to personal taste
Review: Clive Barker and i have always had a wierd relationship--his Candyman was the only movie that has (and probably ever will) really scared me, and his Books of Blood were works i was a big fan of when i was first starting to write horror fiction . . . other than that, though, i've never been that interested in his stuff--for one reason or another, i've just never been enthralled with his stories (i'm from more the traditional, americana-type horror story background--a la King, Straub, McCammon, et al) . . . but when Barker is good, man alive is he good! Hearing all its accolades, i forced myself to read this book . . . or, really, forced myself to buy it--the book seemed to do more forcing than i did. The story, twists, and scenes in this novel are some of the most haunting i've pictured since i read the Exorcist, waaaay back when. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: One of Clive's best....
Review: To say that this book is good would be a terrible understatement to not only Clive Barker,but also to the Horror genre in the world today. The Damnation Game combines all the elements of a great story: Horror (Vile, Stomach-turning details), Passion, Disturbing visions, Fantasy, and most important, Imagination. I've been a Clive Barker fan for a little over a year, reading The Books of Blood, Sacrament, Galilee, The Great and Secret Show, and The Inhuman Condition, and with the exception of The Books of Blood, I think that this is one of his greatest books to date. Barker's imagery and details were so concrete..so real that I would shiver and sometimes have to stop reading for a minute or two so I could try to banish that certain vision or image from my thoughts. But, all along, the story was interesting, and very compelling to read. This book will have you at the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next, and who these people really are...and you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Gut-wrenching, edge of your seat read...
Review: I bought this book out of my love for great horror novels, based on the Clive Barker I know and love. Having finished Sacrament, I thirsted for a new horror from Barker...I got it. There are so many plot twists and horrific images that I never would have imagined. I couldn't put this book down from the very first chapter and still didn't want to at the end of the last. Barker presents his own "intellectual" horror, as I like to call it, and this book is such a great example of his work, that I heavily recommend it to ANY and ALL horror fans, and some who aren't. If I had to pick one word to describe it...ENCHANTING. Even as the most awful images are presented to you, you can't look away, and have to turn the page.
Rating:
Summary: This book was odd.
Review: In my opinion this was one of the oddes books I've read. It has a good ending to it and a very interesting, but unusual.It is filled with excitement and a bit of romance. If you are a big Clive Barker fan like me then you will enjoy this book. Just remember to really pay attention to this and you will enjoy it very much.
|
