Abarat is a fantasy novel chronicling a young woman's journey into the mystical and weirdly wonderful world of Abarat. She discovers herself in a role she had never envisaged making a barrage of fiercely loyal friends simultaneously battling the dark forces of the evil overlord Christopher Carrion. The story is being written in the format of potentially a quintet by the English visual artist, film director and author Clive Barker. Only two volumes of this franchise have been published so far, the third book titled: Absolute Midnight has been slated for release at the end of this year.

Unashamedly I am a little in love with this book despite its target audience being young adults (aka 13-16 year olds). For me the 'appeal' of this book comes in the realization of the characters and the depiction of the world of Abarat through Barker's gorgeous pictorial creations. Yes, the story is written in a style clearly directed at younger people but the overall compostion of the book delves into mature themes without patronising older readers as well as enticing younger readers into the story.

The main hero of the story Candy Quackenbush, a young sixteen year old is suddenly transported from Chickentown, Minnesota to the magical archipelago of Abarat where each island is one hour of the day. Her journey is not easy as she immediately becomes the focus of much unwanted attention by the Lord of Midnight Christopher Carrion. He believes Candy's presence in the Abarat is a destructive force to the order of his world. In the second book the numerous characters introduced in the first book are elaborated, grander themes are explored and Candy begins to understand her purpose in the world of Abarat.

The book has an excess of fascinating creatures and personas all complimented with rich, vivid oil paintings. The works presented in the novels may not be to everyone's taste however I find the eccentricities of each painting endearing. If the book had lacked the artwork that Barker took six years to create, maybe the power of the story would not have been fully realized. The images are significant in enjoying the story and rendering the world of Abarat in this medium only adds to its quirkiness. Amongst the art world Barker's works may lack sophistication but for Abarat the illustrations are perfect.        

Progressing now onto the characters themselves. There is Candy Quackenbush the supposedly ordinary girl in an extraordinary situation. Except that over the two volumes of the story, this has proven to be false. The excitement of her present adventure in Abarat contrasts with the mundanity of her life in Chickentown. However the wealth of anger within Candy is present in both worlds. In Chickentown she has a volatile relationship with her father Bill who is a lazy, violent and drunk layabout. It is with her mother, Melissa, that she has the strongest emotional rapport. However this is obstructed by Candy's frustration with her mother. She stays with her abusive husband because she loves him even though he beats her, ignores her and treats her like dirt retold in several informative episodes. In Abarat Candy appreciates the full meaning of friendship only to have it thwarted by the efforts of Carrion to kill her. She does not understand the significance of her role within Abarat becoming angrier at Carrion's repeated efforts to capture her.

The main villain of the first book is Christopher Carrion who is perceived as a monster by the rest of the Abaration population. In his mental musings, he is revealed to be a sympathetic and lonely figure who is simply heartbroken. His history recounts his efforts in trying to attain the affections of a beautiful princess called Boa were rebuffed. She chose to marry another man by the name of Finnegan (he was handsome, kind etc, etc) much to Carrion's chagrin. This is what is so fascinating in regards to Carrion: he is capable of great monstrosities but willing to reform if given a chance to be happy and in love. However this is no firm basis for real change as the story unfolds.   

It is this trait however that makes him markedly different from his Grandmother: Mater Motley who emerges as the archetypal villain. She is a ruthless murderer, not in the least bit sentimental killing members of her own family. This woman craves power, hating everything and everyone. Why is this? This question is never clearly answered: maybe she has always been this way, envious of everything she wishes she was but never had the chance to be. Perhaps more of her history will be elaborated in the next book which I am eagerly anticipating. She is also atrocious in appearance. People populating the Night islands are hideous not necessarily reflecting the notion that evil appearances accommodate an evil personality, rather misshapen beasts are deformed because they carry internal anguish wrought from true agonies and despair. Maybe Mater follows this pattern.

There are many more characters in the world of Abarat which have not been discussed in this article however there will be more material on them in the near future especially with the pending release of the next book later this year.