The Great and Secret Show
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| Author | Clive Barker |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Book of the Art trilogy |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Released | January 1990 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 5-551-55605-0 |
| Followed by | Everville |
The Great and Secret Show is a novel by British (although he now lives in the USA) author Clive Barker. It was released in 1989 and it is the first "Book of the Art" in a trilogy, but it also can be read on its own.
The novel is about the conflict between 2 highly evolved men - Randolph Jaffe and Richard Fletcher - over the mystical dream sea called Quiddity. Jaffe hopes to tap into Quiddity's power while Fletcher wants to prevent it from being tainted.
The conflict between the two men spills into the real world in a decades-long feud, distorting reality and affecting the entire human race.
Clive Barker has said in interviews that this novel was the hardest to write of all his books.
The novel contains a cameo appearance by supernatural investigator Harry D'Amour, who was first introduced by Barker in his short story 'The Last Illusion' from the Books of Blood volume 6.
The second part of the "Art" trilogy, Everville, was released in 1994.
[edit] Plot summary
PART ONE: THE MESSENGER
Winter, 1969, Randolph Ernest Jaffe starts work sorting lost mail in the dead letter office in Nebraska. Over a period of weeks he catches hints in various letters of a hidden realm beyond reality referred to as the Art. He also finds a strange medallion. When his boss Homer becomes suspicious of him Jaffe murders him and burns down the dead letter office.
Jaffe then wanders America on the trail of the Art, eventually ending up in the desert in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
In Los Alamos Jaffe meets Kissoon, the last of the ‘Shoal’ in a loop in time and learns of a magic sea called Quiddity and islands called Ephemeris. Kissoon tries to bargain knowledge of the Art in exchange for possession of Jaffe’s body, but Jaffe refuses and flees.
Jaffe then teams up with brilliant but disgraced scientist and drug addict Richard Wesley Fletcher for ‘The Great Work’: isolating and synthesising the force in living organisms that drives them to evolve. Through a combination of science and the occult Fletcher succeeds in this and names the resulting fluid the ‘Nuncio’, and proves its effectiveness by evolving an ape into a man-like creature he names Raul. Realising Jaffe will use the Nuncio for evil ends however Fletcher resolves to kill himself, Raul and destroy his creation, but the Nuncio itself infects him and Raul escapes.
Jaffe confronts Fletcher and takes the Nuncio himself. Both transformed men fight but find themselves evenly matched and flee, leaving Raul in the remains of the destroyed Mission de Santa Catrina where Fletcher had been conducting his experiments.
Jaffe and Fletcher continue to fight for the next year, Fletcher using armies of 'hallucigenia' - short-lived creatures drawn from the fantasy lives of men and women, with Jaffe using 'terata' - similar shades drawn from people's primal fears. Finding themselves again at a stalemate, they fight until both are exhausted and are blown on the winds to land in Palomo Grove, Ventura County, on July 27th 1971.
PART TWO: THE LEAGUE OF VIRGINS
Four teenage girls - Arleen Farrell, Trudi Katz, Joyce McGuire and Carolyn Hotchkiss (spied on by a boy called William Witt) take a swim in a storm lake in the Palomo Grove woods, where they are attacked and impregnated by the spirits of Jaffe and Fletcher.
Possessed by the spirits of Jaffe and Fletcher the four girls are driven into a state of sexual frenzy and following weeks of coupling with the menfolk of Palomo Grove all become pregnant (with the exception of Arleen who is revealed to be infertile).
Trudi gives birth to a boy - Howard Ralph Katz, and she and her family move away from Palomo Grove. Carolyn gives birth to a girl - Linda Hotchkiss, but kills her and commits suicide when she senses her possessed by evil. Joyce gives birth to twins - Jo-Beth and Tommy-Ray McGuire, and is forced to reveal the story of what happened to the four girls at the lake. Following this revelation the townspeople pay to have the caves at the location of the now dried up lake concreted over.
PART THREE: FREE SPIRITS
Eighteen years later Trudi Katz has died and her son Howard returns to Palomo Grove, where he meets Jo-Beth McGuire working in a steakhouse. With Howard the offspring of Fletcher and Jo-Beth the offspring of Jaffe the two had been intended to carry on their father's fight, but instead they fall in love and in frustration Fletcher and Jaffe crack open the concrete that entombs them beneath Palomo Grove.
One-time TV comedian Buddy Vance is lured to Fletcher and Jaffe's resting place by ghostly images of the four girls swimming in the lake 18 years earlier, and falls into the uncovered cave as the concrete is cracked open. Jaffe creates a terata from Buddy's primal fears and rides it towards the surface.
Journalist Nathan Grillo of the County Reporter is dispatched to Palomo Grove to cover the death of Buddy Vance and is caught up (along with Carolyn Hotchkiss' father) in a violent eruption from the cave as Fletcher and Jaffe escape.
PART FOUR: PRIMAL SCENES
Grillo interviews Buddy Vance's widow Rochelle and is secretly contacted by his servant and former lover Ellen Nguyen.
Jaffe reveals himself to the McGuire family, where Tommy-Ray goes over to his side but Jo-Beth rejects him. Eventually Joyce McGuire forces Jaffe and Tommy-Ray to leave by threatening to kill her daughter rather than give her up to Jaffe.
Guided by Tommy-Ray Jaffe begins a tour of Palomo Grove and begins amassing his forces by drawing terata from the vulnerable.
Grillo interviews Ellen Nguyen about Buddy Vance and catches the flu off her sick child.
Howard visits Jo-Beth, but scared of the forces around them she sends him away. Howard then meets Fletcher in the Palomo Grove woods who reveals his heritage and explains that the dream-sea Quiddity lies between this world (the Cosm) and the Metacosm and that the island Ephemeris contains The Great and Secret Show. When Fletcher tries to enlist his help in his war against Jaffe however Howard refuses and leaves Fletcher to gather his own army of hallucigenia.
While hiding out in a vacated property Jaffe and Tommy-Ray capture William Witt (now an estate agent) in the hope of drawing a terata from him, but he escapes and informs police officer Spilmont of events.
Grillo's assistant Tesla arrives in Palomo Grove. With Grillo sick with the flu Tesla meets Ellen Nguyen and is informed about a memorial party for Buddy Vance.
Police officer Spilmont investigates William Witt's story but falls into the clutches of Jaffe, and following the removal of his terata brands Witt a time-waster. Meanwhile Fletcher is finding Palomo Grove short of the necessary dreamers to create his army of hallucigenia.
While Pastor John is visiting Joyce McGuire Howard secretly visits Jo-Beth and the two reaffirm their love for one another. Jaffe, Tommy-Ray and a mass of teratas break into the house however and Jo-Beth agrees to leave with them to stop them from harming her mother. Howard flees from the McGuire household pursued by the terata, and heads towards Fletcher.
Tesla offers to drive the sick Grillo away from Palomo Grove and en route they find Howard fleeing from the terata. Tesla and Grillo become separated: Tesla goes with Howard to find Fletcher while Grillo goes to Carolyn Hotchkiss' father for help. They all converge at the market where Fletcher has broken in and set off the alarms to summon the residents of Palomo Grove. Sensing the weakness of Howard Fletcher entrusts his mission to prevent Jaffe accessing the Art to Tesla. Jaffe confronts Fletcher but Fletcher immolates himself, and in dying his essence is spread to the observing townspeople. Jaffe and Tommy-Ray depart the scene, leaving Jo-Beth once more reunited with Howard.
PART FIVE: SLAVES AND LOVERS
Inspired by the essence of Fletcher the townspeople of Palomo Grove begin to create their own hallucigenia. Following Fletcher's last instructions Tesla sets off for the Mission de Santa Catrina to see if any of the Nuncio remains. Jaffe sends Tommy-Ray in pursuit.
Jo-Beth resolves to try to save her brother from Jaffe's influence.
Grillo visits Ellen Nguyen again and begins an affair.
Jaffe has convinced Rochelle that he is the ghost of Buddy Vance, and similarly deceives his ex-comedy partner Jimmy Lamar when he arrives early for Buddy's memorial party.
Tesla arrives at the Mission de Santa Catrina and finds Raul still there having kept it as a shrine. As she is talking with Raul however Tommy-Ray arrives and claims the remaining vial of Nuncio for himself.
Jo-Beth and Howard encounter some of the hallucigenia of Palomo Grove. When they learn that Howard is Fletcher's son the hallucigenia mob him demanding instructions, and Howard flees.
Fleeing the Mission de Santa Catrina Tommy-Ray shoots and mortally wounds Tesla. Pursued by Raul he accidentally breaks the vial of Nuncio and becomes infected, is transformed into the Death Boy and departs. Raul uses the last drops of Nuncio to save Tesla's life and she herself is transformed into a higher being. During this process her mind is summoned to New Mexico where she meets Kissoon. Kissoon explains more concerning the Art: that the Shoal was a group of seventeen people dedicated to keeping Quiddity and the Art pure, but that all but Kissoon had been murdered; that just as the Cosm is ruled by humanity so on the far side of the dream-sea Quiddity the Metacosm is dominated by an evil race called the Iad Uroborus. Kissoon bargains to take control of Tesla's body so he can leave his time-loop and defeat the Iad, but Tesla becomes suspicious and returns to her own body in the Mission. She leaves with Raul.
PART SIX: IN SECRETS, MOST REVEALED
Tommy-Ray heads back to Palomo Grove, along the way gathering a murderous army of the dead.
Tesla and Raul arrive at Tesla's home in Los Angeles and Tesla is once again summoned to Kissoon's time-loop. While approaching Kissoon's hut she sees an injured woman, but before she can question her she is attacked by the Lix - snakelike creatures made from a mixture of Kissoon's excrement and semen - and spirited away. Tesla agrees to convince someone else to let Kissoon use their body, and on leaving she sees the injured woman again and manages to rescue her, bringing her back into her Los Angeles home.
The guests arrive for Buddy Vance's memorial party, and Jaffe begins building more terata from them.
The woman Tesla rescued from Kissoon's time-loop is called Mary Muralles and she reveals that it was Kissoon (who actually works on behalf of the Iad Uroborus) who murdered the rest of the Shoal, but Muralles survived and by trickery she trapped Kissoon in the time-loop. To silence her revelations however Kissoon sends his Lix to attack her and Muralles is killed. Through the Nuncio in his system Kissoon then captures Raul and transports him to his time-loop. Tesla heads back to Palomo Grove.
Grillo goes undercover to Buddy Vance's party and meets Jaffe. Jimmy Lamar changes his mind about working for Jaffe but is killed by Jaffe's terata when he tries to flee. Tommy-Ray arrives at the house but is refused entrance by the guards.
Howard is once more approached by the hallucigenia of Palomo Grove, and this time they convince him to lead them in an attack on Jaffe before he can use the Art. Accompanied by Jo-Beth they head towards Buddy Vance's house.
Following attacks from Tommy-Ray's undead followers the guards at Buddy Vance's flee. Looking for his sister Tommy-Ray returns home but finds only his mother, and against his instructions his undead followers kill Joyce McGuire and destroy the house. Tommy-Ray flees from the undead spirits and, pausing to pick up William Witt on the way, heads back towards Buddy Vance's house.
Jaffe uses the Art to tear a hole in reality through to Quiddity, but almost immediately tries to halt when he realises the powers he is dealing with. Howard and Jo-Beth arrive at Buddy Vance's house and their army of hallucigenia battle Jaffe's army of terata, the two forces cancelling each other out. Tesla arrives at the house and rescues Grillo, while the rest of the memorial party guests have been dragged into Quiddity. Tommy-Ray and William Witt arrive at the house, and Tommy-Ray takes Jo-Beth through the hole in reality and into Quiddity - Howard follows them. Tesla, Grillo and a severely injured Jaffe flee from Buddy Vance's house.
PART SEVEN: SOULS AT ZERO
As they float together in Quiddity Tommy-Ray tries to reconcile himself to his sister, but when Jo-Beth learns of her mothers death she turns on him and breaks free, while Quiddity uses her anger to begin transforming her physical form.
Overnight the majority of the inhabitants of Palomo Grove have fled the town. Grillo and Tesla decide to find Jaffe to see if he can be persuaded to close the hole in reality through to Quiddity, and accompanied by William Witt they eventually track him down to the caves from which he first emerged. Tesla and William Witt head off to find Carolyn Hotchkiss' father to get equipment and descend into the cave, while Grillo goes to check on Ellen Nguyen.
As he floats in Quiddity his army of undead spirits return to Tommy-Ray, and the sea sets about transforming him. Meanwhile Howard is washed up onto the shores of the island Emphemeris along with a number of others from the memorial party. At the centre of Ephemeris is a peak whose summit is hidden by a wall of smoke. Howard meets an entertainment lawyer called Garrett Byrne who attempts to climb the summit, but Garrett falls and dies and is transformed into a 'larvae' with knowledge of Ephemeris' mysteries. Garrett informs Howard that the Iad Uroborus are crossing Quiddty to invade the Cosm, and that Howard must return to stop them. On the shores of Ephemeris Howard is reunited with a transformed Jo-Beth, and together they re-enter Quiddity.
At the Nguyen household Grillo finds Ellen has been having a sexual affair with the hallucigenia of the dead Buddy Vance and he leaves her to meet up with Tesla, William Witt and Hotchkiss. Tesla receives a phone call from an acquaintance of Hotchkiss supernatural investigator Harry D'Amour (see the short story 'The Last Illusion' in Barker's Books of Blood volume 6) who confirms that his psychic contacts are confirming the approach of the Iad Uroborus.
Tesla, Grillo, William Witt and Hotchkiss go down into the caves beneath Palomo Grove. On the way they are caught by a flood of water and Witt is killed. Eventually they find Jaffe and Tesla persuades him to return to the surface with them and attempt to stop the invasion of the Iad Uroborus.
Palomo Grove begins to collapse into the shifting caves beneath it, as the authorities begin to arrive and seal off the area. Tesla remembers that Kissoon let slip a fear of the word 'Trinity' and sends Hotchkiss to the mall to see if he can find any references in any books that can help them. While at the mall Hotchkiss encounters Raul/Kissoon who has just arrived in Palomo Grove. Tesla, Grillo and Jaffe break through the police cordon and return to Buddy Vance's house, but Jaffe is unable to close the hole through to Quiddity.
Hotchkiss finds a reference to Trinity as the place where the first atomic bomb was detonated, but he is then immediately killed by Lix controlled by Raul/Kissoon. Later Grillo finds the book and returns to inform Tesla, who decides to try to take the hole in reality with her through to Kissoon's time-loop. As she begins this task she is distracted by the appearance of Raul/Kissoon, but Jaffe attacks Raul/Kissoon and Tesla manages to transport the schism and the surrounding area into Kissoon's time-loop in Trinity. Howard and Jo-Beth emerge from the schism and have been transformed by Quiddity, the two now linked together. The transformed Tommy-Ray also emerges but is rejected by Jo-Beth, and along with Grillo Howard and Jo-Beth flee to escape Trinity. Jaffe kills Raul/Kissoon and is re-united with Tommy-Ray. The massive Iad Uroborus begin to emerge from the schism. Tesla runs to Kissoon's hut, where she finds Kissoon's real body being kept alive by the dispossessed spirit of Raul. Tesla persuades Raul to give Kissoon's body up and take shared existence in her own body; as his body dies Kissoon's time-loop disintregates and the atomic bomb drops, destroying the schism and the Iad Uroborus who were forming. Tesla/Raul escape Trinity using the same powers that transported her there.
As the bomb detonates Grillo, Jo-Beth and Howard cross the edge of the time-loop and emerge back into the safety of real time; after a while the changes Quiddity wrought on Jo-Beth and Howard begin to recede. The majority of Palomo Grove is destroyed by earthquakes and fire over the coming days. Later Jo-Beth and Howard leave Palomo Grove for Chicago, where they are visited by Harry D'Amour who asks for their story. Tesla/Raul finds Grillo, and informs him that the worshippers of the Iad Uroborus are still active and will try to summon them again - probably starting in New York.
THE END
[edit] External links
- Revelations - The Official Clive Barker Resource Constantly updated news and archive of fascinating comment.
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| Novels, novellas, and Short story collections |
|---|
| Stand-alone: The Damnation Game | The Hellbound Heart | Weaveworld | Imajica | Books of Blood | The Thief of Always | Sacrament | Galilee | Coldheart Canyon |
| Books of the Art: The Great and Secret Show | Everville |
| The Abarat Quintet: Abarat | Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War | Abarat: Absolute Midnight | Abarat: The Eternal | [untitled fifth book] |
| Short story collections: Books of Blood | Cabal | In the Flesh | The Inhuman Condition | The Scarlet Gospels |
| Films |
| Directed by Clive Barker: Salome | The Forbidden | Hellraiser | Nightbreed | Lord of Illusions | Tortured Souls: Animae Damnatae |
| Directed by others: Rawhead Rex | Underworld | Candyman | Saint Sinner |
| Other |
| Art collections: Clive Barker, Illustrator | Illustrator II: The Art of Clive Barker | Clive Barker Visions of Heaven and Hell |
| Plays: Incarnations: Three Plays | Forms of Heaven: Three Plays |
| Video games: Clive Barker's Undying | Demonik | Clive Barker's Jericho |
| Recurring characters |
| Cenobites | Pinhead | Harry D'Amour |
