Hindsight can be a wonderful thing sometimes. Earlier this year I awarded The Great and Secret Show (TGaSS), Clive Barker's first book on The Art, a score of 4/5. This now seems somewhat unfair as, for all it meanderings and its falling quite comfortably into Barker's niche (most of his works concern an alternate world or worlds to our own), the book itself was really quite wonderful. It also left the story wide open for continuation, which is where Everville, its sequel, comes into play.
Everville does what all sequels should do: it takes the established cannon established in the original and expands. In typical Barker fashion, character that were minor in the beginning are now in the forefront and story arches that were innocuous become necessary to the narrative. The main difference between this and TGaSS however is that, having already established the world, the story flows much more smoothly. Where Quiddity featured only in the latter third of TGaSS, much of Everville is set there. The Iad have a much bigger role also and, in the book's most fascinating turn, the motivations surrounding Kissoon, TGaSS most mysterious character, are gradually explained in their entirety.
If there is anything that Everville can be faulted for, it is merely in it's placement as part two of a planned trilogy that has yet to be finished. It is obvious that Barker has intended a third part but even now, some 16 years down the line, the final part has yet to materialise, which is a shame as Everville does what all good middle child's do and creates an ever growing sense of dread. There is an end game to be played here and story arcs to finish yet, with Barker being somewhat evasive as to whether he will finish the story of The Art, fans like myself will have to wait an hope. It's a shame really as collectively, TGaSS and Everville are near masterpieces of dark fantasy.
I await the conclusion of Tesla, D'Amour and Kissoon with baited yet excited breath.
4.5/5
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