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2011, HarperCollins
ISBN: 978-0060291716
Available: New and digital.
Abarat: Absolute Midnight is the third book in the Abarat series by Clive Barker. If you’re coming to this book fresh, without reading the first two, you may be a little lost at first, but Mr. Barker does a wonderful job of bringing you up to speed. To sum up briefly: Candy Quackenbush, a sixteen year old from Chickentown, Minnesota, finds herself transported to the islands of the Abarat, an archipelago – or island chain – where every island exists at a different hour of the day. Here she has had adventures made great friends, like Malingo the geshrat – a reptilian creature who walks on two legs and has ears that act as large leather wings – as well as many others.
Two of the people Candy has encountered are Christopher Carrion, lord of Midnight, and his grandmother Mater Motely. At the end of Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War Mater Motley has risen to full power of the kingdom of Night. She wishes to become Empress of the Abarat, and to that end she hatches and brings forth a plan to create an absolute midnight, darkening the skies of the Abarat forever. Will she be successful? Will Candy Quackenbush and her friends save the Abarat? To find out you must read this. This is highly recommended for fans of the strange, weird, dark fantasies, and a good old fashioned adventure story. The paintings in the hardcover version, are truly spectacular and all painted by Clive Barker himself!
Contains: Gruesome Imagery, Violence, Profanity
Reviewed by: Benjamin Franz