Chiliad: A Meditation
A two-part novella. Dust jacket and interior illustrations by Jon Foster.
Welcome to the world of Chiliad, an astonishing two-part
novella by the incomparable Clive Barker. A brilliantly composed
narrative filled with unforgettable images, this visionary meditation on time, history, and human suffering is surely one of Barker’s most
distinctive — and distinguished — creations.
Chiliad consists of two interrelated stories, stories filtered through the melancholy imagination of a narrator perched on the banks
of a river that flows backward and forward through time. The first
movement, “Men and Sin,” takes place in the millennial year of 1000 AD.
The second, “A Moment at the River’s Heart,” occurs exactly one thousand years — the length of a “chiliad” — later, as the new millennium
approaches. At the heart of these stories are two savage, seemingly
inexplicable atrocities, each of which reaches across the centuries to
reflect and connect with the other. As the narratives unfold and time
becomes increasingly permeable, Barker creates a dark, sorrowful
portrait of the ancient human capacity for cruelty and destruction.
Writing always with lucidity and grace, he addresses a host of universal concerns, among them the power of guilt and grief, and the need to find signs of meaning in the chaos that surrounds us. In the process, he
examines the endless chain of consequences that inevitably proceed from a single act of violence.
At once hugely expansive and deeply personal, Chiliad is a compact masterpiece, a resonant reminder of Barker’s ability to create fictional worlds that enrich and illuminate our own.
Chiliad will feature a full-color dust jacket, as well as duotone endsheets and interior illustrations by Jon Foster.
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Clive Barker
Clive Barker is a name synonymous with boundary-pushing imagination and a mastery of blending horror with the fantastical. From his early days as a writer and artist in England, Barker's creative journey has been one marked by daring narratives that explore the darkest corners of the human psyche while celebrating the beauty of invention. His work is not just about fear—it's about transformation, the collision of desire and dread, and the uncharted territories of the mind.
Born in Liverpool in 1952, Barker’s love for storytelling began at a young age, where he would often turn to the gothic, the grotesque, and the mythical to feed his imagination. His early exposure to both the arts and the horror genre shaped the unique voice that would later captivate audiences worldwide. Drawing inspiration from his own experiences and his deep love for the supernatural, his stories offer a rich tapestry of vivid imagery and intense emotion. His novels, short stories, and plays all reflect a mind that refuses to be limited by genre conventions, instead choosing to blend the horrific with the beautiful in ways few authors dare.
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