Everville is Clive Barker’s sequel to The Great and Secret Show. The two books are also known as the first and second books of the art.

          It would be possible for a reader to read Everville without first having read its predecessor, but I really do think that it makes a better read when you realize what has gone before and The Great and Secret Show paves the way beautifully for those who pay a literary visit to Everville.

          Everville sees the return of some old friends: Tesla Bombeck and Nathan Grillo. Both characters featured prominently in the first book, but their adventures have left them a little the worse for wear and time has taken its toll on them. Barker’s demon-busting, ass-kicking detective Harry D’Amour, who also made a brief appearance in the first novel, is back to kick a little more demon ass in Everville and figures a little more prominently in the proceedings this time.

          Along with the old favourites there are also plenty of new characters, like the mysterious Owen Buddenbaum whom, it is obvious from his very first appearance, is no ordinary homo sapien and seems to have a hidden agenda. Then there is Coker Ammiano: a strange creature indeed, who rips the very wings off his back to offer his support to a lady in need.

          Everville is set part in the real world and part in another: a world of strange lands populated by even stranger people and separated by the dream sea of Quiddity.