Abarat

by Clive Barker

Candy Quackenbush lives in the most boring town in the world: Chickentown, Minnesota, USA. Their main "crop" is chickens (obviously), and the only thing even remotely interesting about it is a tale that hasn't even been confirmed, about a man whose family name was originally the name of the town, and was so devastated by its name change that he committed suicide.

One day, bored out of her skull, Candy wanders off, outside of the borders of the small town, and discovers a new, amazing, utterly different world: the Abarat. Teaming up with a master thief and his seven brothers (who are all just heads, attached to his head on antler-like protrusions), all named John, Candy begins her discovery of the world of the Abarat. In the Abarat, there are twenty-five islands, one for each hour in the day and the last a mysterious place.

The Lord of Midnight, Christopher Carrion, is after Candy for some reason. He wants her captured and brought back to his island, Twelve Midnight, also called Gorgossium. He sends his main henchman, the Criss-Cross Man, Otto Houlihan, to retrieve her, along with an endless supply of the bewitched rags called stitchlings. Candy is constantly on the run, learning as she goes along... and yet it all seems very familiar to her. Has she been there before? If so, when?

I really liked this book. It, unlike a lot of the other books I've reviewed lately, is a children's book, though it's quite a hefty read. Clive Barker also did all his own illustrations, to accompany the text. It's amazing, really, just how much work Mr. Barker put into one book alone--and there are at least two Abarat books, both in the same style of illustration and writing. I recommend them for someone who has a lot of time on their hands and loves a good adventure story. A word to the wise, though: if you carry it around for too long, your arms will get tired. It's a big book.