Abarat - Clive Barker

Abarat was a Christmas present for me that I've only just got round to reading. I was initially put off by the fact that it's an illustrated book, which my fiance thought was quite amusing. Once I picked it up, I knew it was a good choice. I am a huge Clive Barker fan, from my first Weaveworld I was hooked. Abarat is no exception. In the usual Barkeresque style, a magical world is created around you with an unbelievable depth to all of the characters. The story is set around a young girl called Candy Quackenbush who lives in Chickentown who's life is coming down round her ears. Her father is ... more

Candy Quackenbush has one great fear, she fears that she will never leave her home of Chickentown, Minnesota. It is only when asked by her loathsome teacher to do a project on her dull town that she finds there is more to the place than meets the eye. Following the suicide of the towns original namesake Henry Murkitt, Candy is drawn into a world known as "Abarat" filled with wondrous sites and horrific visions. Her first encounter with a genial eight-headed creature known as John Mischief leads her on a adventure in which she is to become an unlikely heroine. Endlessly pursued by agents of ... more

So being a student summer is work time for me, at the beginning of summer i worked hideous hours in a cafe as a barista and now the holidays are ending i have a couple of weeks temping in an office. I started this book before the summer and due to work just never found time to read it! Then a blessing in the form of temp. work means i've had hours sat at a desk with a book, and Abarat was that book... Yesterday 6pm just ready to go home finishing the chapter and then ummm blank pages... Hang on two blank pages then oh some writing, "here ends the first book of Abarat." My heart just feel to ... more

A fantasy aimed at both children and adults, written and illustrated by a master of the horror genre? Can such a thing exist, and if so, could it possibly be any good? Surprisingly, the answer to both of these questions is 'yes'. It most certainly does exist and it's both good and compelling. The wonder of this book begins with its cover, even down to the title. The script used looks very odd, so much so that you could misread the 'b' as an 'r', thus making the title 'Ararat. However, the reason for this becomes apparent if you look at the book upside-down and the title reads in exactly the ... more

As a children's story this is some seriously dark writing and may not be suitable of younger readers, but for adults it's an exceptionally good read. The heroine of the story, Candy, finds herself pulled into a parallel world by a strange sea, a world that consists of 25 islands. 24 islands represent a particular hour of the day with the 25th a dark place of murder and madness. This initial volume sees Candy's travels around a selection of these islands, meeting weird and wonderful characters on the way whilst trying to stay out of arms reach of the dark servants of the Lord of the 25th hour ... more

In one word that is what this book is. Although a childrens book this is a book can be enjoyed by children of all ages!!! The first of four books Abarat leaves you wanting to read the next installment as soon as you've finished it (though unfortunatly the second hasn't been completed yet- i think!). It took me only a day to read once I picked it up I just could not put it down (thank goodness for the christmas holidays!). It centres around a girl called candy quackenbush and her misarble life in a misarble town called chickentown. Candy is asked to find out about the town but can only come up ... more