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Abarat (Abarat #1)

4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 · rating details · 11,735 ratings · 777 reviews

In Abarat, accomplished novelist and artist Clive Barker turns his considerable talents to creating a rich fantasy world for young adults.

Candy Quackenbush is growing up in Chickentown, Minnesota, yearning for more--which she finds, quite unexpectedly, when a man with eight heads appears from nowhere in the middle of the prairie, being chased by something really monstrous

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Paperback, 477 pages

Published September 1st 2004 by HarperCollins (first published January 1st 1987)

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Jul 20, 2011 Mariel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: wanted

Recommended to Mariel by: a post-it note to me I wrote in 2009

I think you have to want it to happen to you to open your mouth wide enough to swallow another land of magic, the best friends you'll ever have in your life, maybe you're more special than you realized and the funny feeling there's a movie of you going on is real (um, other people do do that, right?). All the eyes are on you and it's the nightmare that you're naked on the first day of... Oops. It's delicious fear feeling. You're naked and it's the first day of class! Open wiiiiiiiide. But you WA...more I think you have to want it to happen to you to open your mouth wide enough to swallow another land of magic, the best friends you'll ever have in your life, maybe you're more special than you realized and the funny feeling there's a movie of you going on is real (um, other people do do that, right?). All the eyes are on you and it's the nightmare that you're naked on the first day of... Oops. It's delicious fear feeling. You're naked and it's the first day of class! Open wiiiiiiiide. But you WANT it to happen. It doesn't make sense if you don't. Magic and great beyonds? Peace, love and understanding? It's in THIS world.

There is no plot description on the book jacket of the paperback copy of Abarat in my possession. The back cover is half rock star image of Clive Barker (he does pretty much everything in entertainment, I think. You get an earring for art and another earring for films. The goatee is for novels!). It's royal purple too! The rest is one word quotes from critics about qualities it possesses ("Clever" and "Whimsical", among others. Hey, they've got a thesaurus and a dictionary. I don't have one!). It doesn't tell you anything if you are like me and look over the already mega famous Clive Barkers of the publishing world. They'll always be there and didn't he do those Hellraiser films? They should tell you something, shouldn't they? Is this the fantasy book about a young girl who finds she is special in the land of adventure that you've always dreamed of reading again?

There are more critics quoted at length inside in the flap. One said stuff about how it turns Alice on its head, like a horror version of Alice and she meets dangerous people instead of friends. Um, no. Alice was the book where a girl didn't want what she wished for and met a whole lot of confusing assholes. Like a foriegner who dreams their whole life of the US of A (yay!) and gets there and Chinatown has the better food so they stay there and never talk to anyone else. I like that Candy Quackenbrush of Chickentown, USA (Minnesota) wants to be in the land of Abarat. She'd get off the tour bus if she were to travel to far off lands. That's the best thing Abarat has going for it.

Chickentown is pretty bleak. The chickens have large talons. There are jobs related to chickens and not much else. I'm a vegetarian so I was feeling (and kinda loving) the hell. I bet those heads run around without bodies and the bodies without heads! Clive Barker did a good job of Abarat, the alternative, too. The islands of the time of the day was a good way to do time travel (time is made up anyway and it can be a different hour if you hop a plane, right?). The people had their own lives and weren't there until the heroine showed up to save the day. That was the other best thing going for it. Like the real world has problems not in a deliberate mock-up of this world in that world problem (yay no world war II analogies!). It's just if you gotta live anywhere chances are pretty good it'll not be that great for everybody. The difference is living in color and living in chicken heads and feet colors. I've lived in nothing towns like that. It sucked!

The problem is not that it is Candytown. I was ready to destar this a notch, and the second book, when my suspicions of reincarnation/soul-body sharing turned out to be true. Of course it was true! That's why so much was a convenient coincidence. I can forgive time travel if there are rules in place. But this is like cheating on character development and that's like the worst thing ever in my book. Barker, you couldn't have come up with anything better than this is because it was what Princess Boa would have done? The there already to explain away because it had already happened before the story takes place? Nuh uh. Write about Candy if you want to write about Candy and write about this Mary Sue Princess Boa chick if you want to write about her. I know who I'd pick. There are too many chase scenes. The whole book is a series of chase scenes. I didn't mind so much until I got to the second book and there were more chase scenes. Boring.

Have you seen the film Labyrinth with David Bowie? This is very much one of those you gotta want it to happen movies. David Bowie in tights. If you don't want that then you won't like Labyrinth. So Bowie plays this questionable bird-like dude who reigns over pitiable monster like creatures and chases after the girl who will be his captive love and he can moon over and still be totally evil with, all the while claiming it'll be some great big change because he looooves her. That's Carrion of Abarat all the way. I liked the pitiable creatures. Shape, Carrion's deformed right hand (his left hand never trusts the right hand. Shape has a bad deal really and truly), was my favorite. It's not a travelogue or about saving the day for him. His life sucks and he hates who he is. I felt that.

Okay, so it is pretty obvious to anyone who has ever read one of these that Candy is gonna make friends. If you like this you want to know what's different. I'm grumpy in retrospect 'cause of the spoiler reason. I'm reading it 'cause of the making friends thing. If you can believe it. Is that lame? I was sad as hell when Dorothy has to go home, when Milo of The Phantom Tollbooth has to go home, the Narnia kids (until they become religious tight asses, anyway). I like that so much better than defeating the ass of evil parts. That's the dream, right? You can move somewhere different and you won't eat nothing but fortune cookies until you die.

The freaking spoiler reason. Too much foreshadowing and wise old ladies shades of Sleeping Beauty talking about what is gonna happen. No, no, no. I might be lured into love with David Bowie tights but I am not that easy!

Also, in book two Candy pisses me off for getting onto another character for stealing food as if she didn't totally steal food in book one. Hypocrite! God, how annoying. I stopped liking her after that, I must admit. It was like she was the resident and not the visitor in a bad way.

It depends on what you want, maybe. I want someone to believe in and root for. I've got a wanderlust thing going on and relate to the desire to pick up and run away at a moment's notice. Do they have to really be special for SPECIAL reasons? Can't they be special for some thing that no one would ever think to notice? That'd be pretty cool. I don't know. I kinda liked this but I felt something was missing and not something missing in the special girl goes to special lands and does special things formula. The missing ingredient is loooove. Love of what it started out with until my spoiler suspicion took overwhelming shape and I started to get ticked off. Maybe he'll redeem himself in the rest of the series. If there are more chase scenes I'll be ticked off again. That's a whole lot of redeeming to do. Don't run! Open wide.(less)

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Jul 03, 2012 Paul Beimers rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People who: love Clive Barker, want something unique from their YA, don't mind bizarre ideas.

Recommended to Paul by: Karen

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, magic, series

Thank you, Karen, for bringing this one to my attention! I would have (probably) never read it otherwise!

I had decided, prior to my reading of even the first page, that I was going to give this book an entire star purely for the illustrations, which I briefly skimmed beforehand. As such, my score breaks down as follows:

4 stars for the wonderful story, writing, and characters.
1 star for the gorgeous and enchanting artwork.

Anyway...

My very first Barker book! A marvelous novel, one that starts wh...more

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Jan 19, 2012 Kelly Leigh rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventurous-quests, contemporary-fantasy, fantasy, magic-abound, speculative-fiction, young-adult

Here’s the best way I can think of to describe the world of Abarat. Picture if you will: Dr. Seuss ambling along while rockin’ out to the fantabulous, psychedelic CCR song Looking Out My Backdoor. Completely distracted due to singing, Dr. Seuss falls down the infamous rabbit hole, crash landing into Wonderland. Got it? Can you picture Abarat now?

Disclaimer: Keep in mind that the following thoughts are coming from the mind of an Alice in Wonderland and Dr. Seuss fan. So I guess I was bound to be...more Here’s the best way I can think of to describe the world of Abarat. Picture if you will: Dr. Seuss ambling along while rockin’ out to the fantabulous, psychedelic CCR song Looking Out My Backdoor. Completely distracted due to singing, Dr. Seuss falls down the infamous rabbit hole, crash landing into Wonderland. Got it? Can you picture Abarat now?

Disclaimer: Keep in mind that the following thoughts are coming from the mind of an Alice in Wonderland and Dr. Seuss fan. So I guess I was bound to be biased from the get go.

The characters and the overall feel of Abarat are very reminiscent, in a non-derivative way, of Alice in Wonderland and Dr. Seuss. Wackiness and whimsy and anthropomorphism aplenty. However, Candy Quackenbush (protagonist) is no Alice. Where Alice was a privileged, bored, precocious child, Candy comes from an abusive, dysfunctional home and she most certainly isn’t well-heeled. Nope, Candy’s home life is much much darker than Alice’s. An aspect I rather enjoyed. I'm not one for happy home lives in literature. I like my characters Holly Black-ized.

So what is this world of Abarat like exactly? Well, I’ll let Candy explain this fantastical land to you: “Every Hour has its own island here, you see. You can sort of time travel by hopping from island to island.” Just like Candy explains, Abarat is made up of islands or Hours. 25 to be exact. The 25th island is obviously very special. So naturally some of the islands live in perpetual twilight. Gorgeous descriptions. And what I found so funny and ingenious was that Abaratians (people of Abarat) are well aware of Earth’s existence, they just think it’s the Hereafter. I'll spare you the snoozefest of story recapping. I believe the Goodreads description does a pretty good job of whetting one's appetite. Just know that . . .

The descriptions within this novel are so fantastical. Clive Barker writes in such a way where you as a reader feel like you’re in Abarat. Oh how I wish. Let me just say, this man’s imagination is boundless. So much so that I fell in love with each and every character, even the devilish ones.

So, if you love fantasy. If you love quests. If you love adventure. If you love Alice in Wonderland. Then this is the book for you. Unfortunately, I read this on my Kindle, so I was unable to take in Mr. Barker’s artwork, which I’m sure is breathtaking. So these thoughts are coming from a reading experience only, no artwork peppered throughout. And to conclude, I believe this novel embodies the very definition of pure escapism. Pure whimsy. Unputdownable. And because of aforementioned reasons, I absolutely adore the world of Abarat. Oh, and one more thing, I would love to see what the amazing Tim Burton would do if he got his hands on this series. I believe the world of Abarat is right up his alley!

ETA: I read this beautiful story on my Kindle sans artwork. I feel I should mention that the story clearly stands strong on its own, no artwork needed to move the story along.
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Feb 21, 2008 Sarah Camp rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who enjoys a good fantasy from time to time

Recommended to Sarah by: Uncle Davey

I was never a fan of Clive Barker's. In fact, I find most of his movies laughably bad. So when my uncle gave me this book for Christmas and I saw Barker's name written across the top, I am sure my uncle received a very strange and questioning glare from me.

But then he explained to me why he bought it. We are both artists, and the book is based upon a series of paintings that Barker spent 6 years creating. My uncle had read the book and wanted to share it with me.

Boy am I glad he did!

While the fi...more

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Feb 22, 2008 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People who like pretty pictures

Shelves: fiction

I read this book some time ago, so my memory of it is fading, but the thing I remember the most about it is that it failed to ever develop a plot that drew me in and held me there. I love the illustrations, and some other details about Abarat, but the admittedly whimsical descriptions of this foreign land were not enough to fill 500 pages. I even read the second book but I was so unimpressed that I don't remember anything about it. Still, three stars for the awesome illustrations and imaginative...more

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Jul 05, 2007 Angela rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fantasy junkies

This is one of those books that I adored in a way that I can't really describe. I'm sorry, I just can't. It was amazing in ways that I can't tell you.

If you like fantasy or science fiction or horror or anything along that particular slant, read. this. book.

If you're going to BUY Abarat, be sure you pay a little extra and get the version with the full color illustrations throughout. It would NOT be the same without them.

5 likes · like · see review

Jul 17, 2012 Monica! rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012, whee-pictures, you-go-girl, yippie-kay-ai-motherf-cker, the-sparkles-mean-its-magic, genres-are-so-last-week, goodreads-made-me-do-it, but-wait-theres-more, hark-a-questing-beast, ust-ftw

Guys.

This book.

Um.

So I'm just going to read the second one, now.

Could someone else read this damn thing too, while you're thinking about it?

So I have another person to discuss how undiscussably awesome Abarat is?

Thank you.

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Jan 21, 2011 Jennifer Graham rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-fiction

The trip to the other world is a time-honored trope in children's storytelling, one which can provide rewardingly rich material when done well. Unfortunately the YA shelves are full of derivative trips to fairy-land: a tarnished Oz here, a wonderless Wonderland there, where the author uses the journey as a bland gimmick. So I was skeptical when I picked up Abarat--a girl in boring humdrum real world is whisked away to fantasy land? Of course she is.

But Abarat surpassed my expectations--it's bea...more

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Jun 29, 2008 Vikki rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who likes crazy things.

This book is very very interesting.
To anyone who reads this book, I suggest either getting the hardcover, or at least renting the hardcover from your local library. I say this because Clive Barker has painted very beautiful and strange pictures to help the reader understand this very strange world he has created.
This story is about a girl named Candy Quackenbash (weird name I know) who gets tired of her normal life and ventures into the sea with a very strange creature who has one head plus 6 ot...more

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Feb 20, 2008 Jen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fantasy fans

Shelves: booksfornephewsandnieces

I needed an imaginative fantasy romp, so I just finished Clive Barker's Abarat. It's sort of The Thief of Always (darkish kid's book) meets Weaveworld (for awesome otherworlds). And the thing that makes this book extraordinarily special: color drawings by Barker interspersed throughout the text. In a fantastical world like Abarat, it's immeasurably cool to see a piece of art depicting, say, a Sea-Skipper, sort of an elegant cross between a human and a sea horse, or a crazy island shaped like a m...more

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Sep 24, 2007 Erika Griffin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who enjoys fantasy or is a Clive Barker fan, this is a must!

I've never been particularly good with fantasy novels. Perhaps it's the--in many cases--absurd abundance of characters, creatures, environments, and plot-lines, but I've always found them hard to follow.

In the case of ABARAT, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Clive Barker had created a giant, diverse world with an array of colorful characters...and made it easy to follow. Sure, there are one or two snags, but the entirety of it is so consuming and interesting that you ultimately...more

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Nov 02, 2011 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was uninterested in reading any more of Clive Barker's children's novels, because I don't remember enjoying The Thief of Always. However, this series was recommended to me by another person, and so I tried it, and so far, I am enjoying the book and the illustrations.

I have finished and am intrigued enough to continue the series. This book is definitely for teen and up, in my opinion. There are some scary parts and the illustrations would give kids a good scare, especially Christopher Carrion's...more

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Jan 04, 2009 Ramlaokami rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of my favorite series (so far, since there are only two books out now), the first one is really a set up for the rest of the series. In the beginning, especially at the scene with the lighthouse, I hesitated to continue but discovered that the book was actually truly entertaining. There is a constant stream of bizarre and interesting characters as well as the introduction to a very different sort of fantastical world. Its not another Harry Potter teen series or Wonderland. Its more of a dark...more

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Jun 19, 2009 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I always tell my students that if Clive Barker weren't so talented, he would be eating people for a living. Though this is a young adult novel, it still has elements of the macabre. Occasionally Barker becomes enthralled by his own imagery, but overall, the plot moves quickly, and you really care about what happens to Candy and what will become of our world once the fate of the Abarat has been decided. I was eager to start book two and have not been disappointed with what I've read so far-about...more

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Dec 20, 2011 Roberta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2007

Clive Barker ( qui il sito ufficiale) è uno scrittore di horror/fantasy dai molti interessi: attivo nel campo del cinema e dei videogiochi è anche un meraviglioso illustratore.

Abarat è il primo volume di una quadrilogia purtroppo ancora incompleta (questa è l’unica controindicazione di questa lettura): mancano infatti il terzo e il quarto volume. Si tratta di una saga di dark fantasy per ragazzi ma di grande interesse per i lettori di tutte le età.

Protagonista è Candy Quackenbush, una ragazzina...more

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May 13, 2013 Alice rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is truly an innovative book. Clive Barker has an imagination unlike anything I've encountered, so if you're looking for a book that throws you head first into the world of your wildest dreams, this is the book you've been looking for. This is my favorite book of the series because it introduces you to Abarat and its wonders. The actual plot line is in it's infant form but it offers up enough questions to keep the reader engaged. A lot of the "answers" given are vague and you don't really kn...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Dark-Draco rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-series, favorites

This is the story of Candy, bored of her life in Chickentown USA. Pushed too far by a bully teacher, she gets up from her desk and walks away, into a rather strange adventure. First, she meets John Mischief, who carries his seven brothers on antlers on his head. John is being chased by a fearsome, one footed man and when Candy agrees to help him, she finds she is soon the one being pursued. Conjuring up a magical sea in the middle of the American plains might seem a bit strange, but soon she is...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first read Abarat in high school, and the sequel as soon as it came out. Having heard that the third book is finally on it's way I decided to pick the series up again and read it over.

While the book is good, it is not for everyone- my boyfriend flat out refused to even consider reading it after he found out the main characters name is 'Candy Quackenbush', which is obviously somewhat strange! The book's setting is the Islands of the Abarat, an unusual magical land.

If you can get past the strang...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Frank rated it 5 of 5 stars

WOW! I read this book during the summer and the other two in the series and it was probably one of the greatest series I have read.

If you liked Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland then you will like to read this series. You can picture all the characters and destinations that are in this book.

Candy Quackenbush is the main character that you follow throughout the novel. You first see Candy hating her life in her small boring town. One day at school Candy gets fed up with her teacher she runs out o...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Von Fritz rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-and-fantasy

OMG! I was effin right about this book. It's awesome. Saw a hardbound copy of it at NBS eons ago...couldn't afford it. And when I saw a bargained copy lately...I bought it right away. Ohlala...being in Abarat is effin great!

Clive Barker is the epitome of dark fantasy. Oh yeah...I'm a fan of Neil Gaiman. But really, I can say that Clive Barker is in my spotlight right now. The only Gaiman that can equal Abarat is Stardust. And nothing else.

Welcome to Abarat. Meet Candy Quackenbush who is effin ti...more OMG! I was effin right about this book. It's awesome. Saw a hardbound copy of it at NBS eons ago...couldn't afford it. And when I saw a bargained copy lately...I bought it right away. Ohlala...being in Abarat is effin great!

Clive Barker is the epitome of dark fantasy. Oh yeah...I'm a fan of Neil Gaiman. But really, I can say that Clive Barker is in my spotlight right now. The only Gaiman that can equal Abarat is Stardust. And nothing else.

Welcome to Abarat. Meet Candy Quackenbush who is effin tired of reality and decided to leave home for good...into the islands of Abarat. Now, Abarat has a total of 25 islands...each island has a time of its own with the 24 hours. Of course, there's this mysterious 25th hour that you get to stay as you go on with Candy's adventures.

Meet the wonderful creatures of Abarat. Ohlala...these things were actually based on the paintings of the author himself. He painted the magical world of Abarat before writing books about them. Meet Mr. Mischief and the Sisters Fantomaya and Malingo the Geshrat and Kaspar Wolfswinkel and and Rojo Pixler and Otto Houlihan and Mendelson Shape...and the vilest of them all, Cristopher Carrion, the Lord of Midnight.

Now, there's this thing that I love about Carrion. It's the same thing that I felt with Darth Vader and Voldemort and Sauron. Pure Evil. Haha.

I love savoring every page. Abarat is easy to imagine. This is far great than reading American Gods. A lot of adventure in only 400+ pages. The 25 islands are amazing...makes me wanna be a tourist in Abarat. Haha. There's dar comedy...and literary intelligence. Clive Barker is not just a literary entertainer. he is deep...and I love how he played with words.

Now...let's speak about the movie. I WONDER WHY THERE"S NONE. In my research, I found out that the rights of the book was sold to Disney. And they were planning to have a theme park about the islands of Abarat. But then, that was an update about three years ago. What happens now? I want some effin movie adaptation.

Abarat is the best escapism fiction I've read. I'm certain of that. The ending is kind of a cliffhanger but I understand...that the story might be neverending.(less)

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Mar 09, 2013 Micael Martel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So here you go, a review of the first opus of the young adult series by horror novelist Clive Barker. You might know Clive Barker for his work in movies (hellraiser and candyman series), comics, or his famous Books of Blood collection. He usually writes horror novels and he’s pretty good at it. In 2002, he derived a little bit from his usual material to create a new book that would be for a young audience and the result became what is know today as the Abarat series, which is set to be a 5 books...more So here you go, a review of the first opus of the young adult series by horror novelist Clive Barker. You might know Clive Barker for his work in movies (hellraiser and candyman series), comics, or his famous Books of Blood collection. He usually writes horror novels and he’s pretty good at it. In 2002, he derived a little bit from his usual material to create a new book that would be for a young audience and the result became what is know today as the Abarat series, which is set to be a 5 books adventure. Three of them have already been published under the following titles: Abarat, Days of Magic, Nights of War and Absolute Midnight.

The series stars a young girls of 16 years of age named Candy Quackenbush, not the greatest character name in history but definitely one with flavor, who lives in a tiny little and boring town of the Minnesota called Chickentown. As you can guest, the town is known for it’s chicken industry and our main protagonist is bored to no end by it. One day, she receives an assignment by her teacher to do a story about their town. Candy, annoyed, try to find a different story to tell than the one everyone else is sure to do and that is, chicken industry. She ends up uncovering a dark secret of her town and doing her report on this, which her teacher absolutely detested. Following an argument with that same teacher, she flee the school, guided by a strange feeling and wandered outside the skirt of town where she find a strange lighthouse in the middle of an empty field. Strange is the word to describe the situation until she stumbled on an even stranger thing, a sort of man, called John Mischief. This encounter leads to a typical turn of events that send out heroine in a parallel world named the Abarat.

Extraordinary, the Abarat is a world consisting of twenty-five incredible islands, some crazier than others. In this world, Candy discover that a major shift in its history is happening and become entangled in a tricky situation when Christopher Carrion, the most dangerous and cruel man in the world, becomes obsessed with her. The story then becomes a game of hide-and-seek between her and the various minions of Carrion.

Now that we know a bit more about the series, let’s talk about the book itself. Clive Barker sure know how to tell a story, I find Abarat to be a very good paced and enjoyable story, filled with mystery and adventure. If you want to go on a big and exciting travel in a fantastic world this is the one book you should seek. Barker built a world so extreme and imaginative that you feel like you have to dive in. Quite frankly, I have never seen such a beautiful and evocative destination building in a book for young adults. You can almost feel the temperature see the sky and smell the odors that pertains the streets of the Abarat archipelago.

Every story has its downside and I have to say that this one is undoubtedly its main character, Candy Quackenbush. On the whole I have to say that she is the typical boring heroine you see in way to much books; too nice, too comprehensive, too emphatic, in short too perfect. There is nothing that annoys me more than a character without faults, who sympathize with everybody and understand everything. There is no challenge in that, in fact, she doesn’t even feel like entirely human. I’ve never met anybody so selfless and comprehensive, and it’s annoying to no end. One other thing you could say about her is that she find herself entirely comfortable in this incredible world and doesn’t even bother to show even the blink of an eye at the most extreme weirdness that Mr. Barker throw at her. She’s just like a fish in the water, and it feels a bit too easy for her. She’s even puzzled by it herself.

However, I can say this about the rest of the cast, they are very enjoyable, the bad guy is really evil, and his minions are vividly mean and cruel, but without loosing a sense of personality. Every single character seems to have its own singularities. But like Candy, there seem to be no middle ground in them, they are either black or white, no shades of grey in the world of Abarat, simply pure goodness or evilness and the infinite boring theme of the necessity of balance of good and evil in the world

Nevertheless, Clive Barker achieved a very nice story that is enjoyable and throws us in a vibrant world filled with mystery and magic. This kind-of-dark, fairy tale is beautifully illustrated by the author himself. The van goghesque illustrations help to become completely immersed in this incredible and bizarre universe and make us feel as if we are shadowing the characters of this story, making us not only silent observers like any books, but a part of the archipelago. As if we we’re walking the streets and fields of the islands ourselves. The brush strokes make us feel as if we are walking completely awake in a disturbing and fun dream, and you will want to go back to it as many times as possible.

In the end, even though the main protagonist is a bit boring, the rest of the cast is brilliantly woven and the story move at a pace that everybody can find satisfying and it feels like we have entered a new kind of fairy tale that is refreshing and comforting, It is definitely a book you should read and I assure you, you will enjoy it, even if only for the great illustrations.

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Feb 28, 2013 Ameru rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favorites, fiction

Saya baca buku ini pertama kali waktu kelas tiga SMP. Buku ini nyempil di antara buku pelajaran di perpustakaan daerah tempat saya tinggal. Pertama kali lihat langsung penasaran karena sampulnya glosy dan gambarnya yang aneh membuat pikiran saya menerka-nerka. Tapi saya langsung pinjam, tidak baca di tempat karena perpusnya sudah mau tutup.

Waktu pertama saya buka, saya ber-oh dan ah karena bukunya dipenuhi gambar-gambar keren macam gaya Tim Burton (saya suka gaya animasi Tim Burton) yang dicetak...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Anastasia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I first read this book when I was a mere 8 years old because the magnificent artwork fascinated me to the point of obsession. I wanted to know the meaning of the images, and why they were in such an order, or what they represented. The only problem was that I hated reading. I never had the focus or the motivation the read until this book. I realized that words could be just as beautiful as the colorful art pieces that entranced me. Clive Barker took me to a new dimension, a world where I could p...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Amanda rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first read this many years ago, prior to joining goodreads. Since the third book finally came out I decided to go back and reread the first two.

Then it all came back to me. All those things that drove me crazy. They were still there. Not that I expected they wouldn't be, it's just that so much time had passed I'd forgotten about them.

The only things I could recall before rereading were having both a lukewarm feeling about the first two books and, rather strangely, a lingering desire to find o...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Melissa Prange rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s, fantasy, fiction, young-adult

Candy lives in Chickentown, Minnesota with her harried mother and drunken father. Like any good heroine, she doesn't feel like she fits in with her small, boring town. She doesn't have friends, her teachers dislike her, and her father's abusive. It's not until Candy learns about Henry Murkitt's suicide that things really begin getting interesting.

Candy decides to write about Henry Murkitt in her school report on Chickentown. She writes about the bloodstains on the hotel walls, the sextant in th...more Candy lives in Chickentown, Minnesota with her harried mother and drunken father. Like any good heroine, she doesn't feel like she fits in with her small, boring town. She doesn't have friends, her teachers dislike her, and her father's abusive. It's not until Candy learns about Henry Murkitt's suicide that things really begin getting interesting.

Candy decides to write about Henry Murkitt in her school report on Chickentown. She writes about the bloodstains on the hotel walls, the sextant in the drawer, and his death. Unfortunately, the teacher isn't amused by what she considers gossip and hearsay. The teacher berates Candy in front of the entire class and sends her to the principle's office. Candy doesn't go to the principal's office. Instead, she walks right out of school, right through the streets of Chickentown, and right out of the town.

She walks and walks until she comes to a curious place on the plains. There, she finds seashells and ship's wreckage and even a lighthouse. These things definitely do not belong in the middle of Minnesota. Her surprise at her discover is quickly eclispsed by the arrival of John Mischief, his eight brothers (all of whom are faces on the antlers on Mischief's head), and the creature that is hunting them. Candy gets caught up in the business between these strange creatures. To save John, she lights the lighthouse and brings the Izabella down on Minnesota. The Izabella sweeps her out to sea and into the otherworld of Abarat.

Somehow, Abarat manages to be weirder than both Alice in Wonderland and the Oz books. I don't know how Clive Barker came up with some of the creatures in this book, but they seem to be inspired by those incomprehensible pictures that preschoolers draw. There's people with roving features, heads on antlers, and strange mechanical additions. Some of it really creeped me out, and, normally, I don't even mind weird. This was a little too much for me. I probably wouldn't have even bothered finishing it if I had known that it wasn't a stand alone book. I mean, I knew it was one in a series, but I thought some of the plotlines might be wrapped up by the end. No such luck. Of course, I am in no way tempted to pick up the next in the series. The plot and the characters were just too overshadowed by all the oddness.

The plot, such as it was, was decent. It's nothing I haven't read before, but the strangeness, at least, made it somewhat original. (Of course, for me, this wasn't really a selling point.) I, however, was disappointed by the deus ex machina ending. I would have liked Candy to get herself out of trouble a bit more. She had to rely a bit too much on the acts of others. Also, I would have liked for the villains to have more face time towards the end. Carrion completely dropped off the scene about halfway through the book. I really wish Candy could have gotten a look at him. As it was, the bit between the other villain, Rojo, and Candy made Rojo seem almost completely harmless. He wasn't nearly the brilliant, psychopath I expected him to be. I think the plot might have been a bit more enthralling if either Rojo or Carrion had been better presented and better written. A good antagonist might have made the weirdness worth it.

If you don't mind your fantasy strange, you might enjoy Abarat. As for me, I'd prefer to forget a lot of what I read in this book and reread Harry Potter or something equally lucid. (Those head antler things gave me the willies.) (less)

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Feb 14, 2012 Jack rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: interesting, surprisingly-good, i-am-going-to-finish-this-series, fantasy, win

For the first 15-ish pages, I had no clue what was happening. I almost put the book down and stopped reading then, because it seemed so bad. Looking back, I'm glad I didn't, because reading it brought me to a land where anything is possible and the extraordinary is ordinary.
Admittedly, there are a few places that I lost track of what was happening, mainly when Candy traveled to the 25th island. Other than that, there aren't many flaws. Some of the dialogue is confusing, and it's occasionally har...more

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Feb 01, 2012 Donovan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This is the first of a series from Clive Barker and is aimed at a younger audience. It's doesn't contain anywhere near the same level of violent/shocking imagery that he has become renown for.
The rights for a movie have been picked up by Disney.

Plot ***Spoilers***
Abarat focuses on Candy Quackenbush, a teenage girl frustrated with her life in Chickentown, Minnesota. After an argument with her teacher over a school project, Candy leaves the school and goes to the edge of town, where she sees the r...more

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Jan 11, 2012 Clint rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

I think after Galilee in the late 90's, Clive Barker kind of lost interest in writing. Not that he stopped (though he did slow WAY down), and not that he ran out of ideas (he never runs out of ideas, he's like an undying, constantly-ejaculating volcano of ideas), but he seems to have lost interest in language. I guess he got really into painting or something, but nothing after Galilee seems to have ever been through a second draft. That's really my only complaint with this book, besides the usua...more

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Jan 11, 2012 Ehren rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Clive Barker is known for, probably more than anything else, creating the movie Hellraiser. And a lot of other horror movies. And some pretty dark, dark books. The intensity and extremity of those stories are impressive, but not what i'm talking about here. With a few exceptions,I''d not call his books horror. I think of them as dark fantasy.

Abarat is different from his other books, in that I can read them to my grade school age daughters. And have. And they loved them. There are intense moments...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Phillip rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Abarat is an interesting and suspenseful book written by Clive Barker.

I read Abarat two years ago as I found it in a library and thought it would be interesting to read, I read the synopsis and thought it would be very interesting and suspenseful to read. and it was.

This book is about a girl called Candy Quackenbush, a teenage girl frustrated with her life in Chickentown, Minnesota. After an argument with her teacher over a school project, Candy leaves the school and goes to the edge of town, wh...more Abarat is an interesting and suspenseful book written by Clive Barker.

I read Abarat two years ago as I found it in a library and thought it would be interesting to read, I read the synopsis and thought it would be very interesting and suspenseful to read. and it was.

This book is about a girl called Candy Quackenbush, a teenage girl frustrated with her life in Chickentown, Minnesota. After an argument with her teacher over a school project, Candy leaves the school and goes to the edge of town, where she sees the remains of a lighthouse. She then encounters a master thief named John Mischief, whose brothers live on his horns. Because he is pursued by a sinister creature named Mendelson Shape, Mischief sends Candy to light the lamp in the lighthouse, which summons an ocean known as the Sea of Izabella from a parallel world. After giving her a key to protect and extingushing the light, Mischief and Candy ride the seas to Abarat. A group of creatures carry them to a nearby island where Candy is separated from him. On the island, Candy learns that the Abarat consists of twenty-five islands, each occupying a different hour of the day, and was formerly connected to Candy's world before the harbor's destruction by Abaratian authorities. Thereafter the story follows her adventures as she discovers the crises affecting the Abarat, and gains intimations that she may be destined to conclude these. The story also introduces her chief antagonists: the sorcerer known as Christopher Carrion, his grandmother Mater Motley, and the industrialist Rojo Pixler, all of whom seek to dominate the Abarat.

Abarat was a very entertaining and interesting book to read, the book had many suspenseful moments and many different types of climaxes which made the book extremely entertaining to read.

I liked the fact that this book was always interesting and entertaining to read, it had many different types of climaxes and used a variety of language features which captivated me and inspired me to read onward.

I did not like the fact that this book was quite strange at some points, the plot lacked in detail and it strayed from the main point many times.
Although this book had many climaxes, it used them at strange times which made the book very weird to read and sometimes made the book annoying to read.

I would recommend this book to young adults between the age of 15 to 20, as this book uses very strong language features that minor's may not understand.
The language features used were extremely powerful but only to that of people whom know them.

This book completes the category: "A book with a female main character" on the bingo board.

(less)

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About Clive Barker

Clive Barker was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Joan Rubie (née Revill), a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm. Educated at Dovedale Primary School and Quarry Bank High School, he studied English and Philosophy at Liverpool University and his picture now hangs in the entrance hallway to the Philosophy Department. It...more Clive Barker was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Joan Rubie (née Revill), a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm. Educated at Dovedale Primary School and Quarry Bank High School, he studied English and Philosophy at Liverpool University and his picture now hangs in the entrance hallway to the Philosophy Department. It was in Liverpool in 1975 that he met his first partner, John Gregson, with whom he lived until 1986. Barker's second long-term relationship with photographer David Armstrong, ended in 2009.

In 2003, Clive Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards. This award is presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for any of those communities". While Barker is critical of organized religion, he has stated that he is a believer in both God and the afterlife, and that the Bible influences his work.

Fans have noticed of late that Barker's voice has become gravelly and coarse. He says in a December 2008 online interview that this is due to polyps in his throat which were so severe that a doctor told him he was taking in ten percent of the air he was supposed to have been getting. He has had two surgeries to remove them and believes his resultant voice is an improvement over how it was prior to the surgeries. He said he did not have cancer and has given up cigars. On August 27, 2010, Barker underwent surgery yet again to remove new polyp growths from his throat. In early February 2012 Barker fell into a coma after a dentist visit led to blood poisoning. Barker remained in a coma for eleven days but eventually came out of it. Fans were notified on his Twitter page about some of the experience and that Barker was recovering after the ordeal, but left with many strange visions.

Barker is one of the leading authors of contemporary horror/fantasy, writing in the horror genre early in his career, mostly in the form of short stories (collected in Books of Blood 1 – 6), and the Faustian novel The Damnation Game (1985). Later he moved towards modern-day fantasy and urban fantasy with horror elements in Weaveworld (1987), The Great and Secret Show (1989), the world-spanning Imajica (1991) and Sacrament (1996), bringing in the deeper, richer concepts of reality, the nature of the mind and dreams, and the power of words and memories.

Barker has a keen interest in movie production, although his films have received mixed receptions. He wrote the screenplays for Underworld (aka Transmutations – 1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986), both directed by George Pavlou. Displeased by how his material was handled, he moved to directing with Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. His early movies, the shorts The Forbidden and Salome, are experimental art movies with surrealist elements, which have been re-released together to moderate critical acclaim. After his film Nightbreed (Cabal), which was widely considered to be a flop, Barker returned to write and direct Lord of Illusions. Barker was an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which received major critical acclaim.

Barker is a prolific visual artist working in a variety of media, often illustrating his own books. His paintings have been seen first on the covers of his official fan club magazine, Dread, published by Fantaco in the early Nineties, as well on the covers of the collections of his plays, Incarnations (1995) and Forms of Heaven (1996), as well as on the second printing of the original UK publications of his Books of Blood series.

A longtime comics fan, Barker achieved his dream of publishing his own superhero books when Marvel Comics launched the Razorline imprint in 1993. Based on detailed premises, titles and lead characters he created specifically for this, the four interrelated titles — set outside the Marvel universe — were Ectokid, (less)

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Quotes from Abarat

“Darkness always had its part to play. Without it, how would we know when we walked in the light? It’s only when its ambitions become too grandiose that it must be opposed, disciplined, sometimes—if necessary—brought down for a time. Then it will rise again, as it must.” — 54 people liked it

“Believe me, when I say;
There are no two powers
That command the soul.
One is God
The other is the tide.
-Anon
From the novel Abarat” — 32 people liked it

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