Clive Barker - Abarat

Pros: unpredictable, fast-moving, the pictures!
Cons: some creepy pictures, weird elements, doesn’t totally click

Pick up a copy of Clive Barker’s Abarat and it’s pretty clear this is not like any YA fantasy you’ve read before. Instead of the requisite cheesy “sword and sorcery” cover, you get a jacket with a patchwork of slightly ...

Pros: Great illustrations, and Clive Barker's still better than pretty much anyone else.
Cons: NOT his best, and that ending sucks!!!

I’ve always loved Clive Barker’s work. I remember the first story I read, THE HELLBOUND HEART in the back of the car on the way to the Metallica/Guns N’ Roses concert in 1992. It’s not just his imagination, which is incredible, but his ...

Pros: Amazing illustrations and fantastic story...
Cons: Rather dark, somewhat convoluted language...

Who woulda thunk it. Clive Barker, a children/young adult novelist? Will wonders never cease? Act ...

Pros: An engrossing and richly detailed otherworldly tale, with cool illustrations
Cons: The ending leaves too many unanswered questions

I read this book several years ago, and though it’s not as fresh in my mind as some of my all-time favorites, it still conjures up good reading memories. Though I’ve been told numerous times over the years by many friends to read Clive ...

Pros: Simplistically written, non-stop action.
Cons: Billed as a children's novel. Implausible.

Candy Quackenbush has one great fear, she fears that she will never leave her home of Chickentown, Minnesota. It is only when asked by her loathsome teacher to do a project on her dull town that she finds there is more to the place than meets the eye. ...

Pros: Shockingly, surprisingly beautiful. Actually fun to peruse for hours. Remarkable.
Cons: You’d have to justify to your friends why you were reading a Clive Barker.

Kudos to Clive Barker. Kudos indeed. I admit right here and now, in the presence of every good Epinion reviewer, that I walked into a reading of Barker’s, “Abarat” with a great deal of suspicion. To my mind Barker had several elements ...

Pros: Great character development, wonderfully built fantasy world, awesome pictures
Cons: Themes and vocabulary may be lost on younger readers

Abarat is Clive Barker's second attempt at fiction for children/adolescents (the first was The Thief of Always, which was aimed at a younger audience) and his first intended as a series. Barker wrote this book around a group of vivid paintings, many of...

Pros: Great illustrations, uplifting story (if your kids are not easily scared).
Cons: Too scary for younger, or sensitive children.

Wow, this would have scared the be-Je5u5 out of me at any age under ten. The paintings alone could have done it. Don't get me wrong, I loved the book and think it gives some hope (albeit unrealistically, as TV is slowly eroding all of our imaginations) ...

Pros: Imaginative and witty, while touching the dramatics of our every-day monotonies....
Cons: slightly scary cover art

My, my, my, this book has definitely got what others in this genre are definitely lacking. I definit ...

Pros: Great plot, great setting, great characters, great paintings, great everything!
Cons: Umm.... cliffhanger ending?

Abarat... Abarat is one of the best books I have ever read. Clive Barker's magical manipulation of words has you hooked and turning pages faster than you can say Quackenbush. The wonderful plot, magical locations, lovable and hatable characters whose intertwining paths and heated struggles shape an utterly outstanding yarn for the ages. And to top it all off, Mr. Barker has kindly given us a huge assortment of excellent paintings to give us readers a boost as we flip through the pages of his masterpiece.