| See all titles by Clive Barker. Clive Barker, the sultan of fantastic horror, has ventured out with
another project aimed at younger audiences, this time a weighty and
spellbinding first book in a series dubbed The Books of the Abarat.
Candy Quackenbush is a troubled yet good-natured Minnesotan girl, but
when she ventures into an empty field one day and meets John Mischief,
a creature with seven extra talking heads on his antlers, she's
rendered awestruck and knows she's bound for a heap of adventure. Soon
the two are narrowly escaping a dark hunter sent by the evil Lord
Carrion and diving into the Sea of Izabella, a vast ocean containing 25
islands that stand for each hour of the day, plus a mystical
Twenty-Fifth Hour. As Candy embarks on her adventure throughout this
mind-bending archipelago, she visits the average citizens of Yebba Dim
Day, joins a clan of tarrie-cats and slothlike Malingo to battle the
dastardly Kaspar Wolfswinkel, and even gets a horrific taste of the
Twenty-Fifth Hour itself.
Barker's first installment will send you excitedly jumping headfirst
into the unknown, and you'll be itching to read more. An introduction
to a fantastic world, Abarat
introduces readers to an abundance of characters who play both major
and secondary roles, but all seem to have a reason for being included
-- not necessarily revealed here -- which makes the plot that much more
suspenseful and thrilling. Candy is also a likable heroine, and her
gutsy yet modest demeanor is an interesting fit with Abarat's
quirky and surprising creatures. Complete with more than 100 pieces of
color artwork by Barker himself, this is the start of an adventurous
new series sure to win over Barker fans. |
