Abarat

What if your ordinary life turned out to be anything but? That's what happens to Minnesotan teenager Candy Quackenbush when she meets John Mischief in a field one afternoon. He seems normal - aside from having seven talking heads with their own personalities that is. Candy will soon follow Mischief to his world of 25 islands (one for every hour of the day plus a mystical 25th hour).

You can tell throughout the story what an amazing imagination is present to build such an amazing world. Barker never writes what you expect to happen, and I love that quality in an author. Turning the pages of the Abarat is akin to floating through your own dreams in a half-wake state.

The story and characters are amazing. A friend suggested Barker to me, and my view of sci-fi / fantasy has never been the same. Abarat holds you spellbound with this fantastical world, and even hoping against reality that it's real. The special editions contain wonderful illustrations.

I will read anything by Barker because of Abarat. If you're looking for a break from the mundane and ordinary, hop on my sailboat and read along.
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This isn't my favorite of Clive Barker's works, but I do love the imaginative world he's created and I enjoyed this book enough that I'll continue on with the next book in the series.

What would raised my rating of this book? First, a stronger plot - although there are tense moments, much of this book seems to be more about description of the Abaratian world and the characters who inhabit it than about any real action, but I imagine that will change in the next couple books. Second, I think Barker's imagination way overshadows his skills as a writer. Not that he's a bad writer (The DaVinci Code, anyone?), but he's not excellent, either. There are ideas and descriptions that spark my imagination and give me insight I haven't had before, but never turns of phrase or word choices. It's been years since I read Barker's fiction for adult readers, so I am curious if his writing was simplified for the young adult novel, but my husband recently read The Great and Secret Show for the first time and he was not impressed with the writing in that, either. ( )

I have to say that Clive Barker's Abarat series is firmly planted in my upper echelon of favorite books. ( )

not the greatest, but the artwork was truly amazing. the story line was a bit dark and a little too unbelievable, but *hats off to the writer*. (by bookdevourer1416)
I really enjoyed this book. It was creative, fantastic, and showed that there can always be more out there in the world.( by anonymous)
it was very confusing! but it was pretty good. (by flying pig) ( )

All I can say is, the paintings made me weep for joy. What a pleasure, on top of a top-notch story too.