Weaveworld / by Clive Barker

Weaveworld is the story of a rug ... like no other. Its seams magically woven with the strands of time, it fabricates a strange and enchanted otherworld. It is the world of the Seerkind, an ancient race far older than man, who wield an awesome power to devise magic. It was long ago that the Seerkind were nearly wiped out by a horrendous evil known as the Scourge until, on the brink of extinction, they wove themselves into the rug for safekeeping. Since that time the rug has had human caretakers--guardians worthy of its untold potential. The last caretaker, having died before the rug’s succession, allows a diverse mix of characters (some good, some evil) to now pursue possession of the rug and the power it contains.

This is fantasy at its best. Clive Barker has an incredible ability to illuminate the extraordinary and Weaveworld, written in 1987, demonstrates just that. It's a story which stays grounded through suspended reality, even while it constantly strains the boundaries of the abstract, making the un-realistic believable.