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Clive Barker, known as a master of fantastical horror stories, has
ventured again into children's literature. Yet, his new novel
ABARAT, is quite different from his earlier children's work THE
THIEF OF ALWAYS, which was a simple and spooky tale. ABARAT is a
vast and colorful fantasy in the tradition of the Oz and Narnia
stories. The world of Abarat grew out of a series of paintings the
multi-talented Barker created. Inspired by his own imagination, he
wrote the story of the paintings and the characters and places they
portray. The book itself (the first in a projected 4-part series)
is full of these vivid paintings helping to transport the reader to
the new universe Barker has created.

The journey to Abarat is undertaken by the unassuming Candy
Quakenbush, a 16-year-old girl from Chickentown, Minnesota. Driven
to boredom, anger and frustration by her cruel teacher, alcoholic
father and distracted mother, she becomes intrigued by the
mysterious story of Henry Murkitt while writing a paper about the
history of Chickentown (previously named Murkitt) for school. Henry
died in a room of the Comfort Tree Hotel and left behind his
sextant, used to navigate the seas. When her mean-spirited teacher
rejects her school report, Candy flees the classroom and finds
herself in a field outside of town mesmerized by a cloud and in
front of a dilapidated lighthouse. Before she can solve the mystery
of what a lighthouse is doing in the middle of Minnesota, she finds
herself face to faces with a seven headed man. He/they tell her the
lighthouse, amazingly, once sat on the coast of the sea of
Izabella, a sea Candy, with some help from her new friends (yes,
each head is a distinct personality) is able to summon after a
dramatic battle with another monstrous creature. This sea carries
Candy far from her home, her school, and all that is familiar. Yet,
it draws her closer to Henry Murkitt.

And so begins Candy's journey to Abarat, a land of 25 islands; one
for each hour of the day and one for the time in-between time. The
isles of Abarat are as diverse as their populations. Candy is
enthralled by Abarat and its citizens, but those she meets think
she, as a visitor from the Hereafter, as our world is known, is
most exotic. But Candy hardly has time to take in the wondrous
sites around her. Her presence is immediately known by several
sinister men who realize the threat she poses to their evil plans
for domination. It seems Candy was destined to make this journey
(ah! now the prologue is beginning to make sense) and besides that
she is a scrappy fighter! Soon she is teamed up with a gentle
character named Malingo whom she has freed from slavery and
together the flee the dark and powerful forces around them. This
duo is surely destined for great things, narrow escapes and amazing
adventures!

What usually makes a fantasy novel successful is enough of the
familiar to make the New World easier to visualize and understand,
to make it somehow more plausible. This element of familiarity is
what has made other Barker novels, most notably WEAVEWORLD so
wonderful and engaging. With ABARAT he discards this formula and
presents many new creatures inhabiting a truly original landscape.
While in many ways this works, it is a bit overwhelming and
distracting. It is unbelievable that Candy would not be paralyzed
with shock at the spectacular newness she encounters: she seems to
so seamlessly make the transition between worlds. And, I can only
hope that Barker comes back to sew up all the loose ends he has
left dangling in this first installment.

However, Barker has succeeded in bringing a unique vision to his
readers. Perhaps the pace of ABARAT is so frantic is because it is
so clear in Barkers mind: it is obvious he has a whole new
mythology he would like to share and he can't get it onto the page
fast enough. As a novel, ABARAT is dense, detailed and sometimes
confusing. As a landscape and fairy tale it is enticing, dark and
beautiful. Most likely the young readers this book is intended for
will not be critical of the occasional sloppiness in the text and
most likely their attention will not be lost through the mental and
physical obstacle course Candy finds herself in when she journeys
to Abarat.