"Fantasy worth reading by high school students as well as adults"
Beyond the realm of Earth lies the archipelago of Abarat
where every island is a different time of day. Candy
Quackenbush, originally from the Midwestern town of
Chickentown is brought for reasons she doesn't quite
understand to this new world where magic works. What she
does know is that Christopher Carrion, the Lord of
Midnight, wants her brought to his home in Gorgossium, a
place where monsters obey their lords' bidding and night
never ends. He sends his minion the Criss-Cross man to
bring her to him but he dies trying. Carrion and his grandmother Mater Motley plan to bring war
to Abarat so that darkness will reign forever over the
land and the champions of light will be defeated. They
fear that Candy and her allies will stop them but Carrion
has another reason to capture Candy, one that he doesn't
understand himself until he recognizes who she really is.
While evading Carrion's minions, she has plenty of hair
raising adventures on the various islands but always she
is forced to move on or be caught in her enemy's web. Clive Barker has made his mark as one of the best fantasy
writers of young adult tales since C.S. Lewis's Chronicles
of Narnia. This book contains 125 illustrations that raise
the bar of excellence even more. Candy Quackenbush's
adventures can be compared to a magical version of The
Perils of Pauline. Candy doesn't know her purpose for
being in Arabat is to avert a war but she does her best to
help people who are victimized and manages to find a
little time to have some fun. DAYS OF MAGIC, NIGHTS OF WAR
is a fantasy worth reading by high school students as well
as adults. Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted September 15, 2004
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted January 19, 2007
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