what was that book I read?

[nyarla]

Hello! I'm trying to find out the name & author of a novel I once read. It was sort of fantastical and slightly horror-ish.. sci-fi I guess, set in our world... I don't think it was by someone famous or prolific.

The main bit I remember is the start of the story:
A family (parents + young children) driving along at night in a large motor-home type van. Weird lonely atmosphere. Some small evil rodent-like creatures start attacking the van from outside.. like, jumping off bridges onto the roof, chasing it, etc. There was the sense of the wider world having disappeared.

There was a lot of stuff about "the fabric of the world tearing apart" (not sure if it used those exact words). There was actually some kind of metaphysical world-fabric made from threads being woven on a loom, which had to be rewound. I think the cover art of the book had this on it.. colourful threads woven into a patterned square..

I think I remember a large US city being flooded towards the end of the book. The family with the van (er, possibly...it could have been another character) had to go there to re-wind this world loom thing.

Lots of this might not be accurate, I think I read it when I was 12 or 13. The bit with the small creatures attacking the van was definitely in it though.

Anyone got any ideas?

[benedictw]

Sounds like a Clive Barker book to me from the description.

[nyarla]

It does, doesn't it? Especially with that weaving stuff and his Weaveworld novel. It's not one of his though. It was less "adult" - it may even have been a juvenile fiction type thing.

[GigerPunk]

I wondered about Weaveworld as well, but having not read it, had to check with M-i-L who said nope. Doesn't sound familiar to her either and sounds like just her cup of tea

(I was reminded of Loom too but that's not even a book ;)
Not much help I'm afraid, but tried! And now I want to find out what it is too...

[Darkflame]

You should try asking vark.com, I think it particularly good for this sort of thing.
(if you got a google account, just enable it on your gmail and it appears in the chat without any more bother)

[F-ZeroOne]

Possibly a Piers Anthony, he did a whole series featuring characters like Death (NO, NOT ME, SOMEONE ELSE... ) and Gaia in the more-or-less modern world. I vaguely recall there was a kind of world thread but II never did read the whole series...

[Zoot]

Possibly a Piers Anthony, he did a whole series featuring characters like Death (NO, NOT ME, SOMEONE ELSE... ) and Gaia in the more-or-less modern world. I vaguely recall there was a kind of world thread but II never did read the whole series...

Speaking of Piers Anthony, I read one of his lesser-known books, "Steppe", about thirty years ago. My paperback copy lost about ten pages, so I haven't read it for ages, but always looked out for a new copy, but it was out of print.

I kept looking, and eventually Amazon came up trumps, and I got a new copy shipped from the States last week at a more than reasonable price. So, I read it, and enjoyed it very much, and looked on Wiki to see if there was a sequel (which there wasn't). There was a link to his website, however, so I fired off an email to him telling him the story, making comments on the book, and asking a few clarification questions. And I got a reply within about ten hours from the great man himself.

How cool is that? And how great is the intermaweb - first of all for helping me get the book, and secondly for the instant communication it sometimes affords.

Tangent ended - sorry!

[nyarla]

Zoot - yay for the internet! I remember the first two emails I ever sent, from an internet-connected BBS.. one to Douglas Adams, one to Terry Pratchett. So awesome

I'm pretty sure this book wasn't by Piers Anthony.. it was someone I'd never heard of, and I'd heard of him at that time because of the game Companions of Xanth. (though I've still never read any of his books!). It wasn't at all humorous either. I'll check out his bibliography though just in case....ta.

I wondered about Weaveworld as well, but having not read it, had to check with M-i-L who said nope. Doesn't sound familiar to her either and sounds like just her cup of tea

(I was reminded of Loom too but that's not even a book
Not much help I'm afraid, but tried! And now I want to find out what it is too...

hehe.. I think the book itself wasn't a particularly amazing one. I remember really liking the beginning, and then getting a bit bored by the end. I just wanna find it for research purposes! The beginning has always stuck in my mind and I'm working on a little project partially inspired by it at the moment.

You should try asking vark.com, I think it particularly good for this sort of thing.
(if you got a google account, just enable it on your gmail and it appears in the chat without any more bother)

Cool, I'll give it a shot. Thanks!

[Alarm]

This thread made me think of The Rats by James Herbert (it isn't that), then segued into remembering Slugs by Shaun Hutson. He is still writing, it would seem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_Hutson

[Muttley]

Possibly a Piers Anthony, he did a whole series featuring characters like Death (NO, NOT ME, SOMEONE ELSE... ) and Gaia in the more-or-less modern world. I vaguely recall there was a kind of world thread but II never did read the whole series...

Speaking of Piers Anthony, I read one of his lesser-known books, "Steppe", about thirty years ago. My paperback copy lost about ten pages, so I haven't read it for ages, but always looked out for a new copy, but it was out of print.

I kept looking, and eventually Amazon came up trumps, and I got a new copy shipped from the States last week at a more than reasonable price. So, I read it, and enjoyed it very much, and looked on Wiki to see if there was a sequel (which there wasn't). There was a link to his website, however, so I fired off an email to him telling him the story, making comments on the book, and asking a few clarification questions. And I got a reply within about ten hours from the great man himself.

How cool is that? And how great is the intermaweb - first of all for helping me get the book, and secondly for the instant communication it sometimes affords.

Tangent ended - sorry!

These guys can be a good place to find old book: http://www.awesomebooks.com/

Managed to find a omnibus copy of Piers Anthony's Of Manta and Man series from there (read the last book in the sequence about 25 years ago and could never find the others).

[Zoot]

Thanks for that Muttley. I must admit that I prefer new books, however, which makes them even harder to find!