Imajica
#1734.17 adjusted 4.16 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 1991 Reading commitment Low Clive Barker Last reviewed 2026-10-28
Overview
Clive Barker’s longest novel, and the one he calls his favourite, imagines Earth as the Fifth Dominion of the Imajica, a system of five worlds from which ours has been cut off by a perilous void. Gentle, a London art forger and womaniser, is drawn into the attempt to reunite the Dominions when a shape-shifting assassin, Pie ’oh’ pah, is hired to kill his former lover Judith Odell, and the three travel through the hidden worlds toward a revelation about Gentle’s past and the god who divided creation. Published in 1991, it won French awards for best foreign novel in 1997 and 1998.
Dark fantasy, Portal fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Imajica Clive Barker
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Imajica | 1991 | 1 | core | 4.17 (24,990 ratings) |
Single novel, 1991.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Imajica? Imajica's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Imajica finished? Complete (1991).
- How much reading does Imajica take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is Imajica ranked? #173 in this site's official ranking, based on 24,990 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #173?
Ranked #173 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.17 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (24,990 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- 0.03 behind #172, Tales from the Chocolate Heart.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 1 book · Complete · 25k ratings · Ranks #173 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment dark fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- Prix Julia Verlanger (Best Novel), 1997: won: Imajica; Awarded for the French translation.
- Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire (Foreign Novel), 1998: won: Imajica
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.17 across 24,990 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: Imajica (Clive Barker, 1 book) accepted 2026-10-28
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Imajica Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-10-28
Rule: Core Canon = the single novel Imajica (1991). The 1995 two-volume paperback division into The Fifth Dominion and The Reconciliation is the same novel and is not registered separately.