Book 7: Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War

After the letdown that was Surfacing, I decided to take a short break before I read the next Atwood book on my shelf. Clive Barker's first Abarat book was amazing, so I decided to pick up the sequel.



I loooved the first Abarat, because it's a completely different reading experience than I'm used to. If you do decide to read it, make sure you get an edition (paperback or hardback) that has Barker's illustrations. They're beautiful, and they really add a lot to his descriptions of the fantastic events in the book.

Abarat and its sequel tell the story of teenager Candy Quackenbush, who lives in a suburban town centered around a chicken processing plant. One day, she walks past the edge of town and into a whole other world, where she has special powers and meets outlandish characters. In this new world, called Abarat, she lives a completely different life from her life in Chickentown. In the sequel, she discovers more about her past and why it was so easy for her to adapt to life in the Abarat.

The Abarat itself is a pretty original world. It's mostly a sea (the Isabella), which has 25 islands. There is one island for every hour of the day, plus one island known as the mystical "25th hour." Instead of having the islands all go through all the hours of the day, it is always a given time on each island. There's a noon island, where it's always midday, and a 6PM island, which is always at dusk. It's a pretty original concept that works well for the story.

I can't stress enough that this book is fantastic, but even if it wasn't, the pictures make it worth reading. READ IT.