Rating: 
Summary: A grand tale with high payoff for the reader...
Review: I read this maybe 5 years ago after a friend suggested it. I had mentioned at the time how much I had loved Stephen King's The Stand and my friend suggested I would really enjoy this as well. At the time I doubted anything could be as epic and grand as The Stand was but after reading the entire book in a day or two I realized I was very wrong. The way Barker brings the characters to life is wonderful and I can not begin to describe how well paced the book is. You are constantly wanting to read further and discover what lies on the next page and what great thing will happen to these characters you feel you know. The book is a very long one but you will be unable to tear yourself away and will fly though it much as I did. If you enjoy King or Koontz at all you will love this book and wonder why you haven't read it before.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing.
Review: Having read Clive Barker's (Amazingly Written) The Books of Blood, I choose The G&SS largely based on my read and these Amazon reader reviews. I am generally a fan of the SciFi Fantasy genre and have on occasion read some Stephen King. My expectations for this book may have been too high and that may be part of the problem here. To start with, the developemnt of The Jaffe character and his acquisition of the ART, was surprissing brief. This is a 700 page book and for my tastes I would of preferred more development. On the contrary, I thought the story of the League of Virgins to be the best part of the book and it was at that point that I was drawn into the story. After that however, I became bored and had a REAL hard time finishing The G&SS. I always finish a book and found myself not picking up the book for weeks on end until I could muster enough strength to finish it. I am not saying that the whole book was boring. There are some parts of it that I did find fascinating to read. The whole Tommy Ray thing was great but for my money didn't go anywhere and was left on the clothesline like a pair of dirty underwear never properly washed so you really aren't sure whether or not you want to wear them again. In a nutshell, take the middle of this book (after the League of Virgins), send it to the recycling plant and do some good for the environment.
Rating:
Summary: Sticks with you! Stunning!
Review: OK I am a Clive Barker fan now! I don't know what took me so long to discover Clive, but now I am motivated to read a lot more of his stuff. The Great and Secret Show was a fantastic story that had everthing. Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi and at times some beautifully written prose. Some of the scenes are beautiful, some haunting, and some incredibly disgusting! All in all this is one worth reading!
Rating:
Summary: The greatest book ever..
Review: this book is absolutely amazing.. it is, in my opinion, the best work of Clive Barker.. or of any author, in this generation.. it is a mesmerizing mix of action, suspense, horror and fantasy.. Clive knows how to take the reader on an amazing journey.. if you are someone, like me, who enjoys reading a book that you know could NEVER be made into a movie, this is for you.. the demand this book places on each individuals own imagination is too immense for any director to ever caputre correctly on film.. buy this book .. read it.. then read it again..
Rating:
Summary: Superfantastic !
Review: Clive Barker is the most innovative as well as the most vivid imaginitive fiction writer i know of. His characters spring to life and stay with you even after youve set the book aside. You can tell Clive cares about his characters and that he is sharing his personal Visions with us. The best writers and writings come from the heart. I Have enjoyed this book each of the 3 times i have read it since its first release. I also reccomend Galilee.
Rating:
Summary: weird but awesome
Review: at fist i was reluctant to read this one but when i accually started to read it i was hooked. he has such a good discription of it that i still think about it all the time and i am already ordering the next one.
Rating:
Summary: A book about true Art; or, Romeo, Juliet & her brother
Review: Clive Barker has the gift; that much is evident. The way he weaves together seemingly distant threads of story is masterful; characters all too human, pitted against the miraculous - the imagery invoked by Barker simply has no peers. I thought about rating this book considerably lower, since its direct sequel "Everville" was, to me, something of a disappointment. After some internal struggle, I decided to review the book at face value; this book deserves every single star, even if further work on the subject doesn't. In spite of all the above, I still deem Barker's earlier work superior to this. Other readers probably find in it more depth than I did, and I found depth enough.
Rating:
Summary: Clive Barker is a genius
Review: I finished reading "The Great and Secret Show" last night, (Actually it was this morning because I couldn't stop) and I just can't take my mind off of it! I thought the Damnation Game and the Books of Blood trilogy were fabulous, but nothing could have ever prepared me for the brilliance of this book. Never have I had my breath taken away on such a regular basis or cared so much about any novel. I felt so sick and restless everyday at work because I could only think of getting home to continue this masterpiece! The Great and Secret Show is an experience I'll never forget, and it's visions of extreme beauty and dread will always haunt me and play in my dreams. I'll be buying Everville tonight!
Rating:
Summary: Barker never ceases to amaze
Review: This, simply put, is one of the best books ever written. The characters are well drawn out, the plot never stops twisting, and there is more imagination put into the inventions in this book than in any other two. It is not a hardcore horror novel but there are some interesting, cerebral scares nonetheless. Clive is able to create other worlds and conventions so efforlessly that concepts like The Art, The Shoal, and Quiddity seem commonplace once you are done the book. The characters got to be so familiar that I couldn't wait to read Everville (also mind-bogglingly amazing) so I could revisit old friends and places. If you want to introduce yourself to Barker or are already familiar with his work and haven't read this novel, you WILL buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: INCREDIBLE! from an avid horror/fantasy/dreamworld fan
Review: I've read many horror/fantasy/mystery novels in my time, some by Clive Barker, Stephen King, V.C. Andrews.. I have to say the way this was constructed, the imensity of thoughts/dreams it provokes, the normal turned insane characters, the way the illusions are described.. to give a glimpse at a reality beyond all our understanding just makes me want to scream its so WONDERFUL yet scary!!! i could not stop reading.. (even while i was driving i probably risked my life to read a few lines!!) i cant wait to read the next in the series... PLEASE READ IT!! I want as many people as possible to share my experience!
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