Weaveworld
Clive Barker

Review by Andy Reynolds

Weaveworld was Clive Barkers second novel written in 1989 and the reason 
that it warrants a review still here in 1997 is that because it is so 
outrageously good.

Set in modern day England it follows the actions of two ordinary people
and how their lives are overtaken and then engulfed by the mythical 
fugue.  The fugue is a land within a land where a race of people known 
as the Seerkind live.  The Seerkind are more than human and possess 
magic known as raptures which has led to their persecution for many 
years.

The need a place to hide from the rest of humanity and have managed to 
weave their little part of England in to a carpet where they will stay 
in sleep until the persecution they have faced has died down.  The 
safety of this carpet is left to some Guardians who will unweave the 
carpet and release the Seerkind in a time and place where it is 
considered safe.

However, the last reaming Guardian is dying of old age and one of the
Seerkinds number, Immacolata who has been outcast by the rest of the 
Seerkind for her cruelties and crimes has vowed revenge on the 
inhabitants of the fugue for her banishment.  Events are brought to head 
and a struggle for possession of the carpet is paramount until it is 
inevitably unwoven.

Barker has tackled, and pulled off, a massive project.  His stunning 
style and prose lend credence to an idea that is fantastical by 
definition and his vision brings a breathtaking realism to the events 
that unfold.  Barkers plot lines are cunningly woven without ever 
becoming too complex and as one major threat is resolved so another 
comes in to play to take its place.

The characters in this novel are portrayed with due care and attention 
but the only criticism I can levy at some of them, notably the human 
characters when faced with the fantastic, is that they seem to accept 
whatever Barker throws at them with a shrug of their shoulders.  Their 
fatalism and quick acceptance when faced with the outr=E9 is something 
that all Barkers characters from his other stories seem to just accept, 
assimilate and attempt to deal with.  If only once, one of them would 
say, "Hang on a minute, I'm not buying this."

But this is a small criticism to levy at such a work and you have never 
read a Clive Barker novel before then Weaveworld is a perfect place to 
start.