Rating: 
Summary: in all the wrong places
Review: Wanting to be more than a horror writer, Barker wanders off into Anne Rice territory and comes up his own overlong exercise in excess. Had this work been plotted with half the focus and forethought of Weaveworld, Secret Show, or even Everville, this could have been an excellent experiment into a new genre. Ultimately it comes off as rambling, indulgent, and unfocused. Leaving the reader asking, "what was the point?" That should never happen, especially with a writer as talented as Clive Barker.
Rating: 
Summary: Barbara lives on
Review: I read Imajica (both volumes) last year, and I must say I was gobsmacked by the sheer brilliance of Barker's narrative and imagination. So I started reading Barker's Galilee with relish, expecting an intriguing and fascinating tale of mysterious gods and goddesses, etc. But, woh! After some 200 hundred pages, it felt like I was fourteen again, reading my daily Mills & Boon paperback! I mean, the Rachel character was just soooo predictable and how on earth did Galilee decide she must be the one and only after sooo many (women...and men...and children...)? Nope, your standard Barbara Cartland yarn here: from rags to riches lass finds out her handsome John John Kennedy look-alike husband has somehow turned into a monster, but fortunately is bedded by the super-endowed Galilee who whisks her off (eventually...) to his "kingdom". Boring....and Barker must definitely have a sequel in mind.....
Rating:
Summary: Great Story for mystery, romance, and fantasy readers
Review: This was the first Clive Barker novel I have read. I thought the first 150 pages were tough to get through, but then suddenly the story becomes completely engrossing. I couldn't stop turning the pages wondering how the story was going to twist. It is a story about two competing sensualistic families, one rich, famous and in complete despair, while the other supernatural deities in the human form also in despair. Complex story and one must use the family tree in the back of the book to keep the characters straight.
Rating:
Summary: Galilee hohum
Review: I am a fan of Clive Barker but I found Galilee to be a big dissapointment. The reader was promised a firecracker ending but in the end only got a damp squib.
Rating: 
Summary: Bizarre
Review: I would give this novel a zero if I could. It has no redeemingqualities. The story is a hallucinogenic nightmare of cliches,predictable (boring) characters and the requisite orgy scenes mentioned in passing.Another reviewer correctly summed it up as a cross between X-Files and a soap opera. Add a dash of salacious talk show and you've got the plot. Pure drivel.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing for Barker's fans
Review: I am a great fan of Mr Barker's previous work (such as Imajica, the Great and Secret Show, and so on) partly, I think, because of his vision. He makes you see things that you'd never thought existed. I therefore eagerly started reading Galilee but although the writing is near perfect, I also found it pretty empty. For pages and pages nothing seemed to be happening. After a while I finally gave up. The book is probably a good one but it is not the kind that Mr Barker's fans might be expecting, where layers and layers of people's skin are torn off (sometimes quite literally) to expose the hurting flesh beneath. Galilee seemed to be bland in comparison. I don't recommend investing in the time it takes to read it.
Rating:
Summary: a real dud
Review: I've enjoyed several of Clive Barker's novels, including Weave Worldand Sacrament, so I had at least moderate expectations approachingthis book, particularly in light of the reviews (I should know better by now). The Kirkus reviewer likened this to an amalgam of John O'Hara, Faulkner and Cartland. I don't know about O'Hara, having never been interested in reading him, and the only thing I know about Barbara Cartland is what I gleaned from a 60 Minutes episode. But I have read everything I could ever find by Faulkner.... About the only thing remotely resembling that esteemed author is a southern setting. I have to admit I gave this novel a swift burial half way through the book. When hot-house Rachel discovers Galilee washed ashore at Maui or wherever it's supposed to be, I threw the book in the trash and said "I can't take anymore of this!" I don't care if it's passed off as tongue-in-cheek or not. It's still soap-opera dreck. It's worse than Harlequin romance because it's affected. At least Harlequin writers make no bones about their intentions. This is just disingenuous drivel. And the guy wants to write a sequel? Please, Mr. Barker, spare us. Find something worthy of your talents.
Rating: 
Summary: a challenging read
Review: There is really know doubt that Clive Barker is an extremely talented writer. The metaphysical analysis of earthly worlds' and the spiritual plain are incredibly complex. Although I enjoyed Galilee I found it a little too long winded. There is far too much metaphysical posturing by Maddox, the astute reclusive narrator. I also found myself wanting more of the "soap opera" narrative of both families. The other reviewers are right - there are sections where it reads like a cheap Southern Californian day time television show! However, Barker's cleverly insightful style and his eye for the passionate and sexual save this novel from being just a slice of the mediocre. New York has never looked so sinister and Hawaii has never appeared more beautiful - especially as a background to the steamy and exotic sex scenes with Rachel and Galilee. And then we have some remarkable characters, Cesarina, born of the earth and the stars; the very essence of life itself. Galilee isn't as successful as Barker's ealier Sacrament and the characters' are not as varied and interesting, however, in places it is still a riveting read. I also found admirable the references to the American Civil War and Thomas Jefferson: the astounding way he weaves fact and fiction to paint a total picture. The novel is truly epic in scope - a multi-generational saga which is incedible detailed and very interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a usual Barker book
Review: This book is surely a great one, but it is very different from the other Clive Barker's usual books.It is a dreamlike book that talks of the story of two very strange family. Of course as in every Barker book the characters have crazy personalities. This is truely one of the best books I ever read.
Rating:
Summary: A strange souffle
Review: A huge fan of Clive Barker's, I found this novel a very strange mixture: sort of "Days of our Lives" meets "X-files". The characters are oddly lifeless and extremely stereotyped and the first-person narrator often gets himself into nasty non-sequiturs. The love story between Galilee and Rachel lack the passion and conviction of some of Barker's other star-crossed lovers and the supporting cast seems to have been drawn from various soap-operas. Having said all that, I couldn't put the darn thing down. Even when he's not at his best, Barker is still better than most.
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