[BOOK REVIEW] Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War by Clive Barker

Title:  Abarat:  Days of Magic Nights of War

Author: Clive Barker

Genre: Fantasy / Supernatural

Year Published: 2004


Year Read: 2012


Series: Abarat #2

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 13+ (Death and Scary Imagery)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

Scary, exciting, weird, adventurous, awesome and so many things that describe just how brilliant and horrifying this book really is!

After I had finished reading Clive Barker’s first “Abarat” book, I was just dying to read more of this fantastic and scary world that our heroine, Candy Quackenbush has gotten herself into!  So, I finally got around to reading the sequel “Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War” and I was just so impressed with what I have just finished reading!  “Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War” is definitely one sequel that you just have to check out!

Candy Quackenbush still continues her adventures at Abarat along with her new friend, a geshrat named Malingo and they traveled among the islands of Abarat together.  Unfortunately, the Lord of Midnight, Christopher Carrion wanted to capture Candy for he senses something unusual about Candy’s presence in the Abarat and he sends the Criss-Cross Man, Houlihan after them.  Now Candy and Malingo are on the run from the Criss-Cross Man but further in the story, Candy soon discovers that Abarat feels familiar to her since she could call out magic spells that she has never learned before and seems to escape danger wherever she is.  The more Candy starts to discover more about herself and her connections with Abarat, the more that she starts to realize the intentions of Christopher Carrion, the Lord of Midnight and those realizations could change Candy’s life forever.

Can I just say that I think that this sequel of the classic “Abarat” series is WAY better than the first book?  I loved the first “Abarat” book just as much, but the second book in the series “Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War” really got me hanging on the edge of my seat as it was full of action and pure shock value that really got me invested in this book.  Clive Barker has done a fantastic job at making this story extremely exciting and scary at the same time and I really enjoyed the adventures that Candy had when she was on the run from Christopher Carrion and meets new people on her journeys.  Candy Quackenbush has always been a great heroine to me as she is shown to be kind-hearted and brave and I loved the way that she cares so much for her friends and is willing to put her own life on the line in order to save the people she cares about.  I also loved the way that Clive Barker started to unfold Candy’s backstory and how she is connected to the wonderful and strange world of Abarat since I was curious in the first book about how Candy suddenly felt like she belonged in Abarat.  I was pleasantly surprised when the mystery of Candy’s backstory was revealed and now I am more determined than ever to see how Candy handles the new revelations she discovers about herself.  I have mentioned so many times now that this book was a bit scary and that is all thanks to one of the big villains in this story, Christopher Carrion!  I loved the way that Clive Barker really made the readers feel frightened whenever Christopher Carrion comes up in the story and in this book, Christopher Carrion was beyond scary as he tortured many innocent people and the whole idea about living nightmares swimming around his face and eating off of people’s fears whenever they are free was just as disturbing.  I was also interested in learning more about Mater Motley, Christopher Carrion’s grandmother, who seems to be more evil than Christopher Carrion himself, which is saying something because in the first book, she seemed more like a background character, but Clive Barker further developed her character in this book and the results were amazing!  Clive Barker’s illustrations are just as wonderful and surreal in this book as they were in the first book and I loved how all the characters look like from the Abarat as you have images of some characters being a mixture of animals and human beings and the illustrations are wonderfully colorful.  I especially loved the images of Christopher Carrion himself as he looks truly frightening as his face looks like a skeleton and he has worm like creatures swimming in a container he has attached to his face.

This book might be a tad bit more disturbing than the first book since there is more nightmarish imagery and many characters are killed off in this book.  The images of Christopher Carrion are a bit too disturbing especially the images of Christopher Carrion getting angry and his skeletal face is a bit scary for anyone who does not like seeing skeletons in books.  Also, the biggest shock factor for me in this book was the fact that many characters are killed off and that might be unsettling for people who do not like reading about death.

Overall, “Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War” is easily one of the best sequels I have read from any book and now I am definitely looking forward to reading the third book, “Absolute Midnight” just to see how everything goes for Candy after all this!

* 2004 Bram Stoker Award for Young Readers

[BOOK REVIEW] Abarat by Clive Barker

Title:  Abarat

Author: Clive Barker


Genre: Fantasy

Year Published: 2003

Date Read: 3/14/2005

Series: Abarat #1

Publisher: HarperCollins

Source:  Library

Content Rating: Ages 15+ (Violence and Frightening Imagery)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository
 

I remembered reading Clive Barker’s classic story, “Abarat” years ago when I was in high school and I remembered really enjoying the story when I first read it.  Now, I have taken the time to re-read this book again and lo and behold, I love it just as much now as I did years ago!  “Abarat” is clearly a truly creative and exciting for fans of Clive Barker’s novels and exploring surreal fantasy worlds!

Candy Quackenbush was just a normal girl who lived in a boring town called Chickentown, where everything revolves around the history of chickens.  One day however, when Candy spots a strange man named John Mischief (whose brothers all stay on the horns of his head) being chased by a frightening creature named Mendelson Shape, she realizes that her world will change forever since she is thrown into a completely strange and fantastic world called Abarat.  Once Candy stays in Abarat meeting new friends and enemies most notably Christopher Carrion the Prince of Midnight, she starts to realize many unanswered secrets about herself that could decide the fate of Abarat! 

I will admit that this was quite an unusual book to read!  Clive Barker has done an excellent job at both writing and illustrating this book about a young girl traveling to a strange and unknown world while finding out more about herself in the process.  Clive Barker’s writing is extremely interesting and beautiful as Clive Barker details everything that has happened in Candy’s journeys in vivid detail.  I loved the way that Clive Barker describes Abarat as being a place full of wonder, especially the part about how Abarat is a world that has islands that represent a different hour of the day such as the Great Head that represents eight in the evening and Gorgossium is an island that represents midnight.  I also loved the way that Clive Barker unfolds the histories of each character little by little without spoiling too much for the readers until the end of the novel which makes me really want to solve the mysteries of each character as the book goes on.  The characters in this book were fantastic, especially Candy Quackenbush and John Mischief as they brought life to the story.  Candy Quackenbush was quite an unusual heroine as she just easily gets used to the surreal nature of Abarat, which adds more mystery to her background and I also loved the spunky personality that Candy possesses as she always speak her mind and can be a friendly person if she is not threatened.  John Mischief is another character I was quite interested in, especially the fact that on his horns, he has the seven smaller heads of his brothers living on his horns, which I found extremely odd yet fascinating at the same time.  I also loved how brave and kind hearted John Mischief is, even though his past history is quite questionable.  Clive Barker’s illustrations are extremely colorful and creative and I loved the images of the islands that are in Abarat as they are colorful and gorgeous to look at, especially when the lands are surrounded by water and you cannot help but feel like you are actually experiencing the wonderful world of Abarat.  I also loved the images of the strange creatures that live in Abarat such as the image of John Mischief himself as he has red skin and has horns where seven small heads (which are his brothers) occupied his horns and some images of birds with skulls for heads.  I also loved the fact that Clive Barker manages to make this story have a perfect blend of “Harry Potter” (the magic elements) and “Alice in Wonderland” (main character travels to a strange land) as it made the story extremely creative to read.  Here is how I compare the characters from “Alice in Wonderland” to this book:

Alice – Candy Quackenbush

The White Rabbit – John Mischief

The Queen of Hearts – Christopher Carrion

Wonderland – Abarat

The only problem with this novel is that there are some violent content and disturbing images that some readers might not like.  Some of the violent content included are a fight with a dragon that involves stabbing and a few beatings of a character.  There are also some images that are a bit frightening to look at such as the image of Christopher Carrion himself as he has a pale face and he has a red box shaped mask that shows green worm like things that are the nightmares he keeps in the red box shaped mask.

Overall, “Abarat” is a truly wonderful book that anyone who loves reading fantasy adventure books will enjoy for many years to come! Now, I am off to read the second book in the “Abarat” series, “Days of Magic, Nights of War.”

*  2002 Borders Original Voices Award for YA or Independent Reader