Kathleen Karr (Children's Literature)
What can one say about the paper reprint of a proven best-seller? For starters, it is a handsome paperback. Instead of the usual pulp paper relegated to reprints this one retains its thick, glossy, heavyweight pages--the better to showcase Clive Barker's hundred-plus full color paintings scattered through the text. It's still the same story, though: a fantasy about the teenage Candy Quackenbush from Chickentown, U.S.A., and her adventures in the mythical world of Abarat. Therein lies the problem. Writer and film director Barker has apparently studied the genre, made a list of every conceivable situation, every conceivable grotesque character, and cobbled them all together--not particularly well, either (although to be fair, John Mischief and his brothers hold a certain charm.) Unless, of course, the book was meant as a tongue-in-cheek caricature from page one. Since the story dead ends in the middle of nowhere with the promise of a second book to follow, this scenario is unlikely. While awaiting the second coming, aficionados of true fantasy might prefer returning to the masters: Tolkien, Mervyn Peake, Philip Pullman. 2003 (orig. 2002), Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins, $11.99. Ages 12 up.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2002 (Vol. 70, No. 17))
A new series revives the almost-extinct genre of the fantasy travelogue. Candy Quackenbush is fed up with her life of "boredom, violence, and tears" in unbearably ordinary Chickentown, Minnesota. After a typically brutal school day, she runs away to the prairie, only to fall into a most extraordinary adventure. Helping the improbable John Mischief (whose seven brothers all grow from horns on his head) escape creepy Mendelson Shape, Candy magically summons the Sea of Izabella, which links our world to the archipelago of Abarat, where the chief islands are each governed by a single Hour of the day. Candy easily finds friends and guides among its fantastical inhabitants, including Samuel Klepp (publisher of the indispensable Almenak) and the downtrodden slave Malingo; but she also accumulates powerful enemies in the dastardly wizard Wolfswinkel, the ambitious tycoon Pixler, and Shape's terrifying master Christopher Carrion, the Lord of Midnight. Eventually Candy realizes that her journey is no accident, but part of a mysterious destiny. Abarat is an intriguing creation, deserving of comparison to Oz. Filmmaker and adult-novelist Barker (Coldheart Canyon, 2001, etc.) pours out an utter phantasmagoria, ruled by the logic of dreams. Yet there is a peculiar lifelessness to all this imaginative fecundity; fascinating in its minutiae, the world fails to cohere about a compelling narrative or charismatic central character. Like the dozens of illustrations by the author, it dazzles with color and detail, but on closer inspection proves curiously flat, all surface and no depth. Still, with three promised sequels on the way, many readers will, like Candy, want to "trust to Mama Izabella" to take them somewhere worth the trip. 2002, HarperCollins, $24.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 12 up. © 2002 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Michele Winship (KLIATT Review, November 2002 (Vol. 36, No. 6))
The first in a four-part series, Abarat takes readers into Clive Barker's imagination, abundantly illustrated with his own dark, exotic images. Teenager Candy Quakenbush of Chickentown, Minnesota, stumbles upon a skeletal lighthouse in a field along with John Mischief, a "man" with the seven heads of his brothers growing from the antlers on his head. With Mischief, she crosses the border between her reality and that which lies beyond, finding herself in Abarat, a parallel world of 25 islands, each representing a different hour of the day, as well as the mysterious 25th hour. Candy takes possession of a key, and in doing so becomes the target of the evil Lord Carrion and his minions. As Candy travels through the islands, she encounters fantastic creatures, places, and adventures. Barker's world is complex, as is his writing, making Abarat more suitable for advanced readers of fantasy who can piece together multiple plots and tease out the underlying logic of an unfamiliar world. The illustrations help readers visualize Barker's creatures and the layout of Abarat. The appendix at the end of the book describes each of the islands and their characteristics, and might be a good place to begin reading. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: SA--Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2002, Harper Collins, 432p., $24.99. Ages 15 to adult.

Janice M. Del Negro (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March 2003 (Vol. 56, No. 7))
Candy Quackenbush has an abusive father, a passive mother, and a bullying teacher. In a moment of breathless abandon, she flees the halls of her school and follows an unused road to a grassy pasture where she meets John Mischief, an eight-headed master criminal from the Islands of the Abarat. Given the opportunity, she unhesitatingly joins with Mischief to escape her stultifying life and quickly becomes enmeshed in the machinations of politics and power on the fantastical archipelago. The pace is breakneck and breathless, the story brimful of mystery and tragedy. Barker jumbles a plethora of wildly diverse species, characters, and locales into his phantasmagoric plot, and the beginning is so full that at first it appears to be a confusion of strange characters and alternative locations. Once the heroine sets forth on her journey, however, that confusion crystallizes into purpose. Candy is on a quest, but she doesn’t know it; she is in possession of a valuable talisman, but she doesn’t know what it is; and she is in grave danger from the Lord of Midnight, Carrion, although she doesn’t know why. The reader begins to get inklings of Candy’s importance in the evolving mythology of Abarat long before Candy herself, and that adds a soupçon of suspense to the already packed pages. Assisted by a variety of helpers, she negotiates her way through the islands and their strange mixture of magic and technology. By the conclusion, Barker has established Candy and friends as forces to be reckoned with in this almost overwhelmingly rich alternative world, and the cliffhanger conclusion will surely bring readers back for the second installment. Fantastical color illustrations add to the dreamlike intensity of the text. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2003, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2002, Cotler/HarperCollins, 418p, $24.99. Grades 6-10.

Sabrina Izbrand (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 15, No. 4))
Clive Barker, well known for his horror stories and movies, has written another fantasy story for young adults. Unlike his previous young adult novel, Thief of Always, Abarat is the first in a series about adventures on the islands of Abarat. Candy Quackenbush is an unhappy, bored teenager trapped in a less-than-healthy family environment. Like Thief of Always, the protagonist is rescued by a most unusual character and taken to a place of magic, mystery, adventure, and danger. The story is imaginative, and the color illustrations provided by Barker enhance the story. The protagonist is one that young adults can relate to, and the choices she makes can be understood and appreciated by them. The ending does not, however, provide a wrap-up of the story, so don't be disappointed, as this is the first book in a series, and the unresolved strands introduced will probably be resolved in the upcoming series. Fiction. Grades 7-10. 2002, Joanna Cotler Books, 388p, $24.99. Ages 12 to 16.

Ann Welton (VOYA, October 2002 (Vol. 25, No. 4))
Candy Quackenbush, intelligent, creative, and outspoken, lives a life of quiet desperation in Chickentown, Minnesota. Raised by two stereotypes-abusive, alcoholic father and beaten-down, apathetic mother-she feels alienated from her family and her peers. All of that changes when her English teacher assigns a paper on the history of Chickentown. Mrs. Quackenbush sends her daughter to talk to the manager of the Comfort Tree Hotel, who tells Candy the story of the mysterious and tragic Henry Murkitt. Because of hearing the story, Candy walks away from school and out into the prairie where she meets an antlered man. He induces her to call the sea, and she is summarily swept away from quotidian Minnesota to the Abarat, a world composed of twenty-four islands, each set at a particular hour of the day, plus one mysterious island-place that is out of time. Adult market horror writer Barker's first novel for teens is a weird but workable combination of Ken Kesey and Lewis Carroll. Candy's adventures have a definite hallucinogenic feel to them. As she moves from peril to peril, relentlessly pursued by old bad magic and new bad technology, she meets strange allies in unlikely places and begins to suspect that she has a destiny to fulfill in the Abarat. Character development is a bit thin, but the plotting is strong and the world building competent, at times even inspired. Numerous murky drawings accompany the text but add little to what could be supplied by the author's manic yet supple prose and the reader's imagination. A great introduction to more complex works of fantasy featuring strong female protagonists-the work of Robin McKinley and Tamora Pierce come to mind-this novel has the same antic charm as Paula Volsky's The Grand Ellipse (Bantam, 2000/VOYA April 2001), though without the polish. Sequels are promised and will undoubtedly be anticipated by young fantasy buffs. PLB $26.89. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P M J (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2002, HarperCollins, $432p, $24.99. Ages 11 to 15.