Book Excerpt For The Day

    She made one circuit of the tree, and was about to return to the path when she saw a pair of living eyes staring out at her from the leaves.  She yelped.  They blinked.  Tentatively, she reached forward and parted the twigs.

    The head of the man she’d taken for dead was on almost back to front, and his skull had been cracked wide open. But everywhere the wounds had bred sumptuous life.  A beard, lush as new grass, grew around a mossy mouth that ran with sap; floret-laden twigs broke from the cheeks.

    The eyes watched her intently, and she felt moist tendrils reaching up to investigate her face and hair.

    Then, its blossoms shaking as it drew breath, the hybrid spoke.  One long, soft word.

    “Amialive.”

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    (from Weaveworld by Clive Barker)

     8*/10.  The full review is here.

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