Sacrament
Clive Barker

Living and dying, we feed the fire.
Sacrament is a novel unlike any that Clive Barker has written. Neither horror nor fantasy, though partaking of both, this masterful work plunges far deeper and soars even higher.
It is the story of Will Rabjohns, perhaps the most famous wildlife photographer in the world, who has made his reputation chronicling the fates of endangered species. Including his own. For even as Will rises to the pinnacle of his career, he is witnessing his own world - the close-knit San Francisco community that has nurtured and liberated him - ravaged by AIDS.
Then an almost mystical encounter with a bear in the Arctic leaves Will all but dead. In the depths of his coma, he revisits the wilderness of his youth in England and relives the terrifying encounter that created him, both as an artist and a man.
Befriended by a mysterious couple, Rosa McGee and Jacob Steep, the young Will is granted the love he has been denied by his own family. But with that love comes a grim education. For while Rosa shows him the cruelties of passion, Jacob teaches him the purities of death - seducing him with the possibility that he might one day slaughter the last of a species and thus change the world forever.
When Will stirs from his long sleep, he realizes that this dark dream, which he thought he had put behind him, is still very much a part of who he is. Haunted by its echos and driven by the certainty that he must face Rosa and Jacob one final time, he sets out on a journey of self-discovery - a journey that will lead him from the familiar streets of San Francisco, back to the Yorkshire moors, and on to the stark beauty of Scotland's Western Isles. There he will penetrate the ultimate mystery - the Domus Mundi - and finally discover the secret that links his destiny to that of the innumerable creatures with whom we share our planet.

I had to really consider if I wanted to write this review or not. On one hand, some of the sexual content of Barker's novels (this one more so than any other I have read) can get to be a bit much for the average reader. On the other hand, this was an absolutely amazing novel. So, I decided on a compromise, I would review it and give it its due, but I will not be posting this review on my facebook page since that is not an all adult page.

That being said, this book is very much for adults only. If gay sex, graphic sexual situations of an "odd" manner, or a woman who has a thing for boys would make you absolutely disgusted, then do not read this book. If you have never read a Clive Barker novel, then do not start with this book. If you have read Barker's works and understand that they do get perverted at times, and if you like his works, then I highly recommend this. Yes, there are some situations that will make you wince, but they are needed for the plot. And the plot is amazing.

The jacket description says that this is neither horror nor fantasy, though I would say it is indeed fantasy, and an epic one at that. Spending the time in the coma, we get to see Will's childhood and that is essential to understanding who he has become and why. His parents only cared for his older brother, and when he died, neither had an interest in him. Yet two odd people (and I use the work people in the loosest possible sense) named Rosa and Jacob who have a very obvious evil streak befriend him, care about him, and put him on the path to becoming the man he is today.

Of course, today Jacob feels that the two of them are too intertwined and now Will must be killed. So, he attacks his father brutally in order to draw Will back to England. The two might not get along, but Will does have a sense of duty as a son even though his father doesn't want to admit he exists.

The novel is absolutely enthralling and is quite impressive. With the warnings that I have stated above (this book is not for everyone!) I would highly recommend it to the right people.

My rating: Five out of five snails.