Weaveworld

Here is storytelling on a grand scale--the stuff of which a classic is made.Weaveworld begins with a rug--a wondrous, magnificent rug--into which a world has been woven. It is the world of the Seerkind, a people more ancient than man, who possesses raptures--the power to make magic. In the last century they were hunted down by an unspeakable horror known as the Scourge, and, threatened with annihilation, they worked their strongest raptures to weave themselves and their culture into a rug for safekeeping. Since then, the rug has been guarded by human caretakers. The last of the caretakers has just died. Vying for possession of the rug is a spectrum of unforgettable characters: Suzanna, granddaughter of the last caretaker, who feels the pull of the Weaveworld long before she knows the extent of her own powers; Calhoun Mooney, a pigeon-raising clerk who finds the world he's always dreamed of in a fleeting glimpse of the rug; Immacolata, an exiled Seerkind witch intent ondestroying her race even if it means calling back the Scourge; and her sidekick, Shadwell, the Salesman, who will sell the Weaveworld to the highest bidder. In the course of the novel the rug is unwoven, and we travel deep into the glorious raptures of the Weaveworld before we witness the final, cataclysmic struggle for its possession. Barker takes us to places where we have seldom been in fiction--places terrifying and miraculous, humorous, and profound. With keen psychological insight and prodigious invention, his trademark graphic vision balanced by a spirit of transcendent promise, Barker explores the darkness and the light, the magical and the monstrous, and celebrates the triumph of the imagination.

http://www.clivebarker.com/html/visions/bib/book/books/weave.htm

Imagine and dream...

Witching Season - PD Allen

Snatched this when PD posted it. Had to. Love it. And had to share also.

Find more in PD Allen's Quantum Meditations here

Dialogue with Llettynn

Llettynn

(A Siric is hard to corner; Blue River Frond is fortunate to have recorded these words.)

Blue: You are the Siric leader, Llettynn. How long have you held the position?

Llettynn: Too long.

Blue: I look at you and see a smallish humanoid dressed all in white. Please don’t take offense, but how do you inspire confidence in those you are forced to deal with?

Llettynn: Guardians are not forced into anything.

Blue: I seem to have offended you, after all. I’m sorry. For the record, white isn’t the only colour you wear about your person, is it?

Llettynn: The Siric wear white.

Blue: You are being coy. I am, of course, speaking of your wings. Wings and colour together define the Siric.

Llettynn: It does not.

Blue: Perhaps I didn’t say it correctly. I meant you wear colour upon your wings, and Siric read status by it. You, for example, carry turquoise…and that, I believe, is the mark of leadership. Others- Declan, for instance- carries red more markedly, because he is your deputy.

Llettynn: Your point?

Blue: Hmm, I see now why others name the Siric as cold. You do not share either information or emotion easily. Why is that?

Llettynn: Immortality teaches even the most emotional of beings to rein it in.

Blue: You’re jaded, is that what you’re saying?

Llettynn: No.

Blue: What do you mean?

Llettynn: Nothing. I suggest you ask a relevant question before I return to my duties.

Blue: Of course. What are your current duties?

Llettynn: The Guardians are present on Valaris, currently searching for hidden sites which may or may not lead to enlightenment. We do this because we hope to curtail Infinity in her desire to unleash chaos upon the universe. I cannot say more, and now I must return. If you seek greater insight, Belun of the Centuar is the Guardian to speak too. Not yet, Blue River Frond; time is of the essence for all of us and even Belun, loquacious as he is, cannot now be spared.

Blue: I thank you for your time and for the advice. Another time, then.

(Blue states years later she wished she had pushed the Siric leader harder; in Llettynn there resided a mind of absolute brilliance.)

The little things are fun

 Fun to find, fun to select, fun to put together...and fun to employ as tools for the multiverse.

Oh really??

Erm...writers would disagree!

More from 'Filtered Light' - Heikki Hietala

This is how Filtered Light and other stories opens:

*

(a real good opening, I think...sets the tone...)

And here is an excerpt for you:

Add to that, these blurbs from the collection…


The Photo Opportunity: Sometimes the best photo doesn't exist.
Flash in the Pan: The brittle crack of ice, a flutter of wing, the price of hubris…
The Campsite: Vol. I – Forssa: When you see into his world, what does that say about you?
The Wind in the Pipes: Voices in atonal harmonies, released but not yet free.
Yessirree: There's nothing like it … nothing.
Carbon-Based: What you are is sometimes a matter of perspective.
Les Feuilles Mortes: Sometimes the music helps us see.
Lord Stanton’s Horse: Not everyone falls in battle.
The Dispatchers: Did you ever wonder who decides?
The Farewell Tour: Saying goodbye isn’t easy.

...and you know you must read this book!

Available here

Galilee: Another kind of multiverse

Every family has its secrets. The Gearys are no exception. As rich as the Rockefellers, as glamorous and powerful as the Kennedys, the Geary dynasty has held subtle sway over American life since the Civil War, brilliantly concealing the roots of its influence and the depths of its corruptions.

All that is about to change.

Rachel Pallenberg never dreamed she'd ever meet much less marry America's most eligible bachelor, Mitchell Geary. But their wedding is the last time she feels as though she's living a dream come true.

For the Gearys are still at war. Their enemies are another dynasty - the Barbarossas ó whose origins lie not in history but in myth and, whose influence is felt not in Washington or on the Dow Jones, but in the sensual exchanges of flesh and soul.

When the prodigal prince of the Barbarossas clan, Galilee who sails the world seldom setting foot on the land ó falls in love with Rachel, the pent-up loathing between the families erupts in a mutually destructive frenzy. Adulteries are uncovered; insanity reigns.

The secrets are out.

Galilee is a massive tale, mingling the powerful realism of Barker's bestseller Sacrament with the dark, genre-breaking invention for which he's known worldwide. The magical eroticism of Weaveworld, the chilling rituals of Hellraiser, the grand metaphysical visions of the Books of the Art. Galilee has room for them all.

Galilee is probably the first Clive Barker I read. Loved it. 


See more here

Patterns (so good, have to share)

Hey? A good one!

All together, the little things

Not a collage this time: all together in one space...

Dialogue with Saska

Saska

(Recorded before Saska vanished for a time amid the Pilanese)

Blue: My lady, you appear sad. Why is that?

Saska: I’m sorry, Blue, I know of your work, but I really don’t think it’s anyone’s business. Besides, I have somewhere to be.

Blue: Just a few moments. You know I don’t have to write it down; it won’t take long.

Saska: Taranis has wondered how you’re able to remember everything so well.

Blue: I’m not being interviewed, am I?

Saska: Hmm. Someone should. But I don’t have the time.

Blue: I’m thinking it’s a man. Making you sad.

Saska: Loss makes us sad, friend, whether of a loved one, a way of life…hope, faith, health…many reasons.

Blue: It’s a man.

Saska: Not that I’ll tell you.

Blue: And now you run from him. Do you hope he won’t find you…or do you hope he’ll act with sufficient commitment to discover your hiding place?

Saska: Neither. Both. Argh, he drives me insane!

Blue: Who, my lady? Perhaps I could put him to the question.

Saska: Oh, good luck with that. He won’t talk.

Blue: I’m thinking now it can only be the one they are calling Enchanter who does this to you. I’m also thinking you should expect as much. An enchanter? That is a lonely calling. He will find it hard to commit to a personal relationship.  Not so?

Saska: What do you know about it?

Blue: And there you confirm my suspicion. They call him Torrullin, I hear, and his name means Lifegiver and Destroyer simultaneously. My lady, how do you hope to reach through to someone like that?

Saska: By loving him, damn it! Not that it matters! He has chosen another! She is….argh!

(Saska dematerialises at this point, her pain and anger causing her to flee. Blue is left wondering how she can create an opportunity to speak with Torrullin.)

Filtered Light from Heikki Hietala

I have a copy of Filtered Light and other stories and I have fallen in love with it! This is the kind of book one can savour- read one, sigh...and come back later for another. Do NOT miss out.

Spine-tingling, thought-provoking, nostalgic, surprising, eerie, insightful—a collection of tales from award winning short story writer, Heikki Hietala.

Like filtered light casting shadows in a dense forest, playing tricks with your eyes ... the dark chill lurks.

(Awesome blurb!)

Available free for a limited time here

and come back for more right here on Multiverse!

The sages of our age

We find truth everywhere. We also find inspiration and hope.

The unicorn speaks

A touch of humour for you!

Freedom

Freedom is more a state of mind than a condition of circumstances. Of course there are factors that need be in place to ensure the process, whether physical or emotional, and yet freedom is of and for the soul first before all else. In darkness and confinement a soul can yet experience freedom, although few will know...and few will agree. There is another type of freedom and it is flight. Free of gravity a soul is also free of cares.

Free: Amazon and Smashwords

When something strikes a chord...

When something strikes a chord it is time to share.

The multiverse in our hands...

Awesome!

Colour...!

Fair or not?

What is fair? Answer that, and you solve the riddle of universes.

Excerpt from 'Book of Sages' 

Free here and here

Three Gates

In the friendly light the islands were softened, nestling into the calm ocean, slumbering before the heat of the day.

Three islands, close and visible to each other, rose sheer on all sides out of the sea as if pulled by an almighty force from the depths. The cliffs were a brilliant, sparkling white, smooth, with no handholds, impossible to scale, but carved into the side of each island there was a gentle meander of time-worn stairs rising from the deep ocean, here so like a lake, spiralling around the outcrops of land until they gently gave way to the plateaus above.

When she came with Vannis the day before the stairs were there, although substantially eroded, and the sea beat itself senseless against unforgiving grey cliffs. The land, though level, was black and brittle underfoot, as if scorched for ages. A harsh place, sustaining no life, not even a hardy seabird. Now, after the uncloaking, the plateaus were uniform emerald, grass cropped short as if a contented herd of horses had been a-grazing but moments ago. There were no horses, but there were birds; strange, little yellow creatures with long scarlet legs and sharply pointed blue beaks. They fluttered here and there and every time they moved their wings, the sound of mournful flutes filled the air. They walked with graceful, dainty steps and every time their small three-toed talons touched ground, the sound of tinkling bells was heard. Saska was entranced by the little creatures, and by the happy-sad melodies of their movements.

Yesterday Vannis whistled a short, complicated tune that brought them to him in greeting, their fluttering causing flute music to rise and fall in deliberate melody. Communication, she realised. She had never before experienced such complete serenity.

‘They are sky-born,’ Vannis whispered, tears in his eyes. ‘They are the very last of their kind, rescued from a far planet poisoned by darklings. They are almost sentient and would have achieved it if they continued undisturbed. The Valleur call them Ephnor, an ancient word for Heavenly Music.’

‘Why do they not fly away?’

‘This is their home.’

‘Vannis, has all the life around the sites been in stasis?’

‘Time has no meaning out there in the magical realms, Saska. For the Ephnor, for every blade of grass, it has been but a moment, a blink, a thought.’

Incredible. She looked at them now, the birds of music. How happy they seemed; how sad they had lost their sentient future.

She raised her eyes to the nearest arch, still amazed by it, by all of them. The birds had so taken her in yesterday that it was a time before she actually looked at the islands; aptly named little spits of land, for to any eye it was three gates. Upon each island there stood an iridescent blue arch, free-standing in splendid isolation, structures at least ten times higher than the average woman, seemingly sculpted from one solid block of stone. What stone it was, she could not comprehend, but she knew there were no joins; the surfaces were smooth and unblemished.

‘The Three Gates,’ Vannis said, rather obviously, causing her to smile. ‘The Gate of Forgotten Past,’ and he gestured to the arch left of them, ‘and the Gate of Remembered Future.’ He pointed right. ‘This one before us, sandwiched between Past and Future, is the Gate of Present Dreams.’ They had uncloaked from the central island. ‘Self-explanatory, I would think.’

House of Valla 

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Smashwords

I listened to my soul

Dialogue with Margus

Margus

(Recorded outside the entrance to the cave system contained within the Stairs Mountains on Valaris)

Blue: My lord, a word please?

Margus: Who are you?

Blue: Folk call me Blue and I record the words of others.

Margus: You are akin to a reporter?

Blue: I am surprised you know what a reporter is.

Margus: I did not attain adulthood in a vacuum. My homeworld was advanced. How did you get here? Can you not see Valaris is about to enter a state of war? What do you want? I should kill you now and be done with this distraction.

Blue: Sometimes one needs take the risk for posterity. You may not win this thing you are engaged in. I may never speak to you again.

Margus: You definitely will not be speaking to me again. I do admire your courage, however. You have two minutes.

Blue: How are you called and where do you come from?

Margus: I am Margus and I come from a world beyond the Rift.

Blue: We’ve heard a tear erupted in space. And we also heard you brought an army with you.

Margus: My soltakin, yes.

Blue: The term is new to me. What is a soltakin?

Margus: A wraith. A soul without a body. It appears as a shadow and its touch is deadly. It hates and its sole purpose is to kill. It wants, above all, to extinguish the light in everyone and everything. Creatures after my own heart.

Blue: What is you plan for Valaris?

Margus: Valaris will be mine.

Blue: Was that Infinity I saw with you a few minutes ago? Have you made a deal with her?

Margus: Your time is over.

Blue: Please answer the question…and one other. I shall be on my way after.

Margus: I want the dara-witch’s darklings under my control. The deal I made with Infinity will last only as long as it takes to achieve that. Then? Use your imagination.

Blue: Yes, she is hard to abide, isn’t she? Few will mourn her passing, I think.

Margus: Your final question.

Blue: Who is Margus the man?

Margus: I am no longer a man. Your question has no relevance.

Blue: What are you?

Margus: I am the Darak Or, little girl. Now get from my sight before I prove exactly what that is.

(Blue River Frond decides to leave then. She never does speak to Margus again.)

We like the little things

Need I say anything? We DO like the little things.

Look over the wall...!

Flow Dynamics

There is something entrancing about PD's work- do not miss out!

PD Allen's Quantum Meditations available here

Dialogue with Taranis

My name is Blue River Frond and I am from Charikian. We are people watchers and we are scribes. Every being in all time and space has a place and a purpose and to that end we record the words they speak, for posterity…and for insight into the past. Please call me Blue and read my dialogues:

TARANIS

(A dialogue recorded on abandoned Mon Unon before the Guardians embarked upon The Game.)

Blue: We should begin with who you are, should we not? Many know your name, but we are now speaking to those who do not. Tell us a little about yourself.

Taranis: I don’t enjoy talking about myself. I’d rather discuss the role of the Guardians.

Blue: And we’ll get to that. Perhaps talking about yourself will reveal the Guardians also.

Taranis: Well, I guess you could say I was chosen to lead…

Blue: Let’s not be coy, my lord. You are Taranis, Lord of the Guardians, and there are those who call you Lord of the Deities.

Taranis: The latter is pure misconception…or misguided perception.

Blue: Humankind, I believe, refers to you as Lord of the Deities.

Taranis: Not humankind in general. Only on Valaris.

Blue: Why?

Taranis: Millennia ago a creature known as Drasso attempted to conquer Valaris, with the help of his mother…

Blue: Infinity, right?

Taranis: Yes, Infinity was Drasso’s mother, and caught between the two of them Valaris was about to succumb. We’re talking poisoned air and absolute annihilation of the population. The Guardians stepped in and because we were seen as fantastical as Drasso and Infinity were, well, Valarians came to regard us as gods. Deities.

Blue: And you led them.

Taranis: Something like that.

Blue: We hear there are temples and churches dedicated to the worship of Taranis.

Taranis: Not my doing.

Blue: How did you become leader of the Guardians? You are, after all, a human, and humans cannot be said to have the ability to do what you have.

Taranis: I guess my humanity during the time of Drasso aided us to victory. I was able to use the kind of strategy humans could identify with. It is a truth we would not have won had it not been for the people of Valaris gifting us their support. Many paid for it with their lives. My colleagues in the Dome saw the time of humankind had arrived in the universe…and chose me as leader.

Blue: A human Immortal. How is that possible?

Taranis: Anything is possible if you want it enough. I do not care to discuss my longevity further.

Blue: The Dome you refer to is the gathering place for the Guardians. Would you care to describe it for us?

Taranis: It’s a dome.

Blue: It’s more than that.

Taranis: It’s made of crystal and obsidian and travels through the ages due to inherent magic, but it is still a dome.

Blue: In vacuum.

Taranis: The vacuum protects it, yes.

Blue: We hear you are married.

Taranis: Was. My personal life isn’t the issue here.

Blue: My lord, female readers like to…

Taranis: My heart is spoken for, and that is as much as I’m prepared to reveal.

Blue: Who is she?

Taranis: This interview will end now…

Blue: Very well, no more of that. Where do you call home, my lord?

Taranis: I consider myself nomadic. Duties to the Dome do not allow for much personal space.

Blue: My sources tell me you have a home on Thisseldrum, but Thisseldrum isn’t the place of your birth.

Taranis: No one is born to Thisseldrum.

Blue: So we hear. It is a world for the wealthy, a chosen destination for those with the means to live there. It follows thus…

Taranis: I am not a wealthy man. I simply require privacy.

Blue: Your status granted you the right to residence.

Taranis: Yes. How did you discover this? Not even the Guardians know where I call home and I would prefer to keep it that way.

Blue: I doubt a Guardian will read the transcript of this dialogue, my lord. Your secret is safe. Where were you born? It must have been a human world.

Taranis: It doesn’t matter where I was born. What matters right now is that the Guardians face a new threat.

Blue: The dara-witch Infinity has a new game to play, we hear.

Taranis: Indeed, and the Guardians will step in once more. We are the protectors.

Blue: And the universe is aware of that and many appreciate you for your calling, but many more wonder how it is Infinity has gone unpunished for so long. Will you finish it this time?

Taranis: The witch is slippery. Our hope is to negate her.

Blue: Where will you do so? Which field of battle has she chosen this time?

Taranis: Valaris. Again.

Blue: It smacks of revenge.

Taranis: It is.

Blue: Valaris. Where humankind already regards you as a deity. That could work in your favour.

Taranis: I am inclined to think it will disadvantage us. Our appearance as gods to the rescue could spread the kind of fear we shall be hard-pressed to function within. It is better, this time, to remain as anonymous as possible. Do not make this public knowledge.

Blue: All transcripts have to be vetted. This one won’t be filed for at least another year. Now, if I may ask: what about you, the man Taranis?

Taranis: I don’t follow.

Blue: What do you do for fun? What do you read, if you read? Where do you go to relax, if it isn’t Thisseldrum? Tell us about yourself.

Taranis: I read histories, mostly, and I enjoy fishing in isolated places. Relaxation is relative, but when it can be found I usually chose green worlds where fish teem in the rivers. I’m a simple man, really.

Blue: Does she accompany you on your fishing trips?

Taranis: No.

Blue: Would you like her to?

Taranis: This interview is over.

Blue: My lord…

Taranis: I have duties.

(The dialogue come to an abrupt halt at this point, but there is a further interview recorded with Taranis, not yet vetted.)

Life on Earth