Abarat

Abarat it unlike any of Clive Barker's other works that I have seen. It is a fairytale-like story with adult elements like dark twists and freakish characters who is good and evil undefined leaving you to guess everyone?s true intentions. Abarat is world with endless possibilities and this book a great start for a series.

The closest thing I could compare Abarat is, to American McGee?s Alice In Wonderland the computer game. Very enjoyable, kept me hooked till the end. Like a good videogame that is satisfying and begs a sequel.

Great little book. Far out story line. Great detail. The narrator does an excellent job of telling the story of Candy Quackenbush and her amazingly weird adventure. Most writers borrow from other stories to create their own works... Clive breaks out of the mold every time he puts ink to paper.

Everthing about this book seems to be deliberately original in thought and different than anything I've ever read. He appears to be the type of author that likes to ask the unnusual "what if" questions about reality and then builds the fantastic on that "what if" until he has a story, making him similar to Ray Bradbury in a lot of ways...

In this story, the thought is: "What if there's an unknown and unremarkable town somewhere in the Midwest, we'll call it "Chicken Town", that was actually something completely different and fantastic in it's past. What if it's past is so completely out of sync with reality that nobody believes it or they have forgotten it as just another silly story because it doesn't fit with the mundane-ness of the town as it is now? What if a child is the only person with a mind open enough to truly discover the town's past?

This is the building block upon which rests "Abarat". Great story for adults and kids. It is calisthenics for the imaginations of children and adults alike.

There are some death scenes in the story and some of the characters may be too freaky or scary for the youngest of minds.

When I first downloaded and listened to Abarat, I was expecting a very dark and scary tale since I associate Barker with both of these traits (based on movies I've seen based on some of his works), but the book was not at all scary or dark. Abarat has the feel of an unusual fairy tale written for an adult audience. I found Abarat very entertaining and I highly recommend it to everyone- horror fan or not.

I love fantasy and sci-fi books so I was excited to listen to this Clive Barker creation. It was rated so highly here on audible I was enthusiastic to try it out--but I just couldn't get into the book. I didn't really like any of the characters. I didn't care of they lived or died. I found my mind wandering, even during very key scenes and battles. That has never happened to me with any other book (and I've listed to well over a hundred). The writing is a bit simplistic. The dialog between characters seems trite. The story doesn't go anywhere. It took me 3 different attempts to finish the book (restarting from the beginning each time) since I just didn't care. Finally the reader is not well suited to this type of book. His voice is low and gravelly and he doesn't have much in the way of different voices for different characters. He definitely isn't a good pick to be the voice of a young girl either. I can recommend "Snow Crash" if you want a good adventure with great writing and an excellent reader.

The first time I read this book, I thought, "Now, why didn't I think of that??" I love the idea of a world in which each island represents a different hour of the day. This book is Clive Barker at the top of his game. It's incredibly well written, and I think that there's a piece of Candy Quackenbush in all of us. Although Barker wrote this as a young-adult story, I believe that it can easily hold the interest of an adult, too. There are countless stories that could be told about the Abarat, and I look forward to many other sequels in this series.

This was amusing and funny. I somewhat liked the idea of the story
but didn't feel it measured up to Barkers other books.

Halfway between Anthony's Xanth and Gaimon's Coraline, Abarat is too mature for kids; it's just right to rediscover the elusive feeling that only a well-told fairy tale used to provide. Cozy, hypnotic fantasy- enjoy this one on a long car trip, or on the couch with a glass of wine.

I enjoyed this audiobook. It does have a fairy-tale feel, and you should be aware that it has a sequel, so expect a sudden ending with no conclusion. Unlike the other reviewers, I feel it is definitely similar to the author's other works, just not his most popular or commonly known ones. The unusual characters reminded me of "Cabal" and the overall feeling of unreality and the matter-of-fact transitions to & from the various islands and the "real world" felt like "Great and Secret Show."

This book wasn't fantastic, not the best book I've ever read, not even Clive Barker's best, but it was enjoyable and passed the time quite pleasantly. The book has a way of skimming over darker issues so that it seems like a light tale suitable for children, but in the tradition of all fairy tales, certain scenes still leave you with a feeling of unease, as if something more terrible actually happened but the author wanted to spare you the details.

The narration was the same, good not great, and nothing to complain about.

The world of Abarat is detailed and charming, both good and evil characters are alive and weird in many ways (I especially love it in Barker books). Also, the narrator is divine. I mean it! I did hear those different voices and felt those emotions Richard Ferrone was performing. This book is not as epic as, say, Holy Bible. But the world this book speaks of is fascinating, unusual and passionate. I can't wait for the Absolute Midnight to come!

I can see how kids would find this book enjoyable but it is too simple for adults. The protagonist is never in real danger. Though a young girl in a supposedly new and savage world she is never frightened, maybe because she meets friends at every turn. The villains are either clowns or evil caricatures. However, the world was interesting and the narration was very good. Young children should find this enjoyable and easy to follow.