Synopses & Reviews
The sequel to the
New York Times-bestselling
Abarat!
Candy Quackenbush's adventures in the amazing world of the Abarat are getting more strange by the hour. Christopher Carrion, the Lord of Midnight, has sent his henchman to capture her. Why? she wonders. What would Carrion want with a girl from Minnesota? And why is Candy beginning to feel that the world of Abarat is familiar to her? Why can she speak words of magic she doesn't even remember learning?
There is a mystery here. And Carrion, along with his fiendish grandmother Mater Motley, suspects that whatever Candy is, she could spoil their plans to take control of the Abarat.
Now Candy's companions must race against time to save her from the clutches of Carrion, and she must solve the mystery of her past before the forces of Night and Day clash and Absolute Midnight descends upon the islands.
A final war is about to begin. And Candy is going to need to make some choices that will change her life forever...
Review
"The whimsy is back in full force...but this story is quirkier, much darker, and laced with real horror....Barker lovingly and graphically describes the wonders of a magical world, and his vivid scenes...will keep readers on the edge of their seats." Booklist
Review
"Abarat is an intriguing creation, deserving of a comparison to Oz. Barker pours out an utter phantasmagoria, ruled by the logic of dreams." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Barker has succeeded in creating the first significant imaginary world in the 21st century." Rocky Mountain News
Review
"This is the Wizard of Oz on LSD, with a dash of Alice in Wonderland on steroids." San Antonio Express-News
Synopsis
Candy Quackenbush's adventures in the Abarat continue as she makes a startling realization as to who she is, and the forces of Night begin plans for war.
Synopsis
Clive Barker, author of The Thief of Always, delivers an epic battle filled with fantasy and adventure that readers won't want to put down
All things in their time . . .
Candy Quackenbush's adventures in the Abarat are getting stranger by the hour. Why has the Lord of Midnight sent his henchman after her? Why can she suddenly speak words of magic? Why is this world familiar?
Candy and her companions must solve the mystery of her past before the forces of Night and Day clash and Absolute Midnight descends upon the islands.
A final war is about to begin. . . .
Don't miss this second book in Clive Barker's New York Times bestselling Abarat series.
Synopsis
Candy Quackenbush's adventures in the wondrous world of Abarat continue with the henchmen of the evil Christopher Carrion in close pursuit, with murder on their minds. With the aid of his fiendish grandmother, Mater Motley, her stitchling army, and the fabled Sacbrood insects, Carrion's plot is unfolding. The Army of the Night will soon conquer the islands, unless the forces of Day can ready themselves and Candy can unlock the mystery she carries inside.
Days of Magic, Nights of War is the much anticipated second book in Clive Barker's New York Times bestselling Abarat series. Once again this lavish hardcover features over one hundred full-color paintings by the author.
About the Author
Clive Barker is the best-selling author of eighteen books, including his first book for children,
The Thief of Always. He is also an acclaimed artist, film producer, and director. For four years Mr, Barker has been working on a vast array of paintings to illuminate the text of
The Books Of Abarat.
Mr. Barker lives in California with his partner, the photographer David Armstrong, and their daughter, Nicole. They share their house with four dogs, five goldfish, a parrot, fifteen rats, innumerable wild geckoes, a cockatiel, and a parrot called Malingo.
Author Q&A
The books of Abarat are a departure from the kind of writing you've become well known for. Where did the idea for it come from and what made you go in this direction?
As a kid I was a huge reader of what we would call fantasy, though I don't think it was called fantasy back then C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and also that bundle of influential Edwardian writers: Kenneth Graham, J.M. Barrie, Lewis Carroll. I also took a piece of advice from a much earlier fantasist, William Blake, who said, "Make your own laws or be a slave to another man's." I think that's what many of these authors did they created alternative worlds where the rules were different, crazy, surreal; where miracles and wonderment happened.
I put away in the back of my head the idea that, one day, I would do what C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien had done, and create an entire world for a younger audience that could be revisited in a series of books. But I didn't know how or when I would do that.
Which came first, the story in your mind, or the art?
The art. As Michael Crighton writes in Jurassic Park, "Life will find a way," so will dreams find a way too. Imagination will find a way. Prevented from being fully realized in literary form, this world I had put to the back of my head started appearing on the canvas. I was just beginning to paint in oils, and pictures began to appear which were unlike anything I'd painted before. It slowly dawned on me and it was slow that I was painting a world.
I had been painting the art for two years before I even began to seriously think about what the story would be. I didn't have a clue who would be the hero or heroine. I was just painting, and I took to heart a line from the Belgian painter, Paul Klee, who said that "drawing was taking a line for a walk." I didn't go to a canvas and think, "This is what I'm putting on there." I went to the canvas with a brush with a color on it. And that one thing leads to another.
What is your favorite island of Abarat and why?
I have to have two favorite islands. Odom's Spire which is the 25th hour the time out of time is the first. It is the hub of the wheel; the island that lies in the very center of everything. What's great about the 25th island is that you could meet yourself there as a baby, or as an old man or woman. It's a place of magic and transformation.
The other is Midnight, or Gorgossium, the home of Christopher Carrion who is one of the villains of the book. Carrion's world is a world of midnights. It is a world where all the Halloweeny things that you might imagine really do exist. It's a world that pays homage to some of my favorite painters Heironymus Bosch would be a good example medieval painters who created extraordinary paintings of worlds.