Absolute Midnight
“I know that many of you here have waited years for this Hour,” Mater Motley said, using that voice that, though it was barely conversational in volume, was somehow heard everywhere. “The waiting is over. Tomorrow there will be no dawn. Only midnight, absolute and eternal.”
And so begins a new chapter in the epic story of sixteen-year-old Candy Quackenbush and her journeys through the world of the Abarat, where every hour is an island in one eternal day, and nothing is as it seems.
Candy travels through the Abarat from island to island and across the sea with an unlikely band of friends: the escaped prisoner Malingo the Geshrat, the quarrelsome John Brothers, who all share the same body but never the same opinion, and the many other colorful characters they meet along the way.
The problem is that trouble finds Candy wherever she goes. And soon she discovers a secret plot, masterminded by the diabolical Mater Motley, who is obsessed with becoming Empress of the Islands. Her method is simple. She will darken the skies, putting out the suns, moons, and stars. She will bring absolute midnight.
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Clive Barker
Clive Barker is a name synonymous with boundary-pushing imagination and a mastery of blending horror with the fantastical. From his early days as a writer and artist in England, Barker's creative journey has been one marked by daring narratives that explore the darkest corners of the human psyche while celebrating the beauty of invention. His work is not just about fear—it's about transformation, the collision of desire and dread, and the uncharted territories of the mind.
Born in Liverpool in 1952, Barker’s love for storytelling began at a young age, where he would often turn to the gothic, the grotesque, and the mythical to feed his imagination. His early exposure to both the arts and the horror genre shaped the unique voice that would later captivate audiences worldwide. Drawing inspiration from his own experiences and his deep love for the supernatural, his stories offer a rich tapestry of vivid imagery and intense emotion. His novels, short stories, and plays all reflect a mind that refuses to be limited by genre conventions, instead choosing to blend the horrific with the beautiful in ways few authors dare.
Abarat
In the Abarat series, Clive Barker crafts a world where reality and imagination collide in a breathtakingly vivid way. Set across twenty-five islands, each representing a different hour of the day, this fantastical realm is as much a journey through time as it is a plunge into the darkest recesses of the human soul. With Abarat, Barker creates a world of boundless adventure, but also one where danger lurks just beneath the surface, waiting to consume.
Abarat consists of three books and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of two more books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Reviews and Comments
It's been a long while since the second book and I think rereading the first one before opening this book might be a good idea. It makes you understand more subtle references in the book, although I note that the book seems very different from the first two. The two books before this have been strolling on and focused on Candy's adventures, but this one has relatively larger scale and the events get more complicated. New characters are introduced and things a reader though sure are turned upside down. Big changes are coming... The text itself was guaranteed Clive Barker style and I'm sure Abarat lovers will love this book, too. It has more action and more twists than I certainly expected and after it I was left with a wee bit confused expectation of the fourth book. Whereas the second book had in a way a clear cut ending, the third does not. So many things are left open-ended and questions are still unanswered. A good read that keeps up the high quality of the series.