Abarat

Teenage Candy Quackenbush has always dreamed of escaping the small town where she lives with her depressed mother and abusive, alcoholic father. That escape comes unexpectedly when she meets John Mischief and becomes the keeper of a key-the key that holds all hope for the future of Abarat, a group of islands in a parallel universe. New York Times best-selling author Clive Barker brings his unique vision to children's literature and creates a fantastical world that rivals Wonderland and Narnia.

Candy Quackenbush's adventures in the amazing world of the Abarat are getting more strange by the hour. Christopher Carrion, the Lord of Midnight, has sent his henchman to capture her. "Why?" she wonders. What would Carrion want with a girl from Minnesota? And why is Candy beginning to feel that the world of Abarat is familiar to her? Why can she speak words of magic she doesn't even remember learning? There is a mystery here. And Carrion, along with his fiendish grandmother, Mater Motley, suspects that whatever Candy is, she could spoil their plans to take control of the Abarat. Now Candy's companions must race against time to save her from the clutches of Carrion, and she must solve the mystery of her past before the forces of Night and Day clash and Absolute Midnight descends upon the islands. A final war is about to begin. And Candy is going to need to make some choices that will change her life forever ... Performed by Richard Ferrone

Horror master Clive Barker is a New York Times best-selling author. This is the amazing second installment in his critically acclaimed Abarat fantasy series. Ever since the Lord of Midnight dispatched his emissaries to retrieve her, Candy Quackenbush's life has grown stranger and stranger by the minute. But why does he want with her? Find out in this spellbinding tale of magic, mystery, and mischief.

Candy Quackenbush's adventures in the amazing world of the Abarat are getting more strange by the hour. Christopher Carrion, the Lord of Midnight, has sent his henchman to capture her. "Why?" she wonders. What would Carrion want with a girl from Minnesota? And why is Candy beginning to feel that the world of Abarat is familiar to her? Why can she speak words of magic she doesn't even remember learning? There is a mystery here. And Carrion, along with his fiendish grandmother, Mater Motley, suspects that whatever Candy is, she could spoil their plans to take control of the Abarat. Now Candy's companions must race against time to save her from the clutches of Carrion, and she must solve the mystery of her past before the forces of Night and Day clash and Absolute Midnight descends upon the islands. A final war is about to begin. And Candy is going to need to make some choices that will change her life forever ... Performed by Richard Ferrone

Internationally best-selling author, painter and film director Clive Barker is widely acclaimed for his visionary works of dark fantasy. In this third installment of his Abarat series, 16-year-old Candy Quackenbush continues her trek through the Abarat-a fantastic world where trouble lurks around every turn. Candy travels the archipelago with an unusual band of companions, including Mischief, whose seven brothers live on his antlers, and Malingo, the pure-hearted geshrat. When they discover a secret plot to create "absolute midnight," it becomes clear that they must fight to save the islands' future.

"I know that many of you here have waited years for this Hour," Mater Motley said, using that voice that, though it was barely conversational in volume, was somehow heard everywhere. "The waiting is over. Tomorrow there will be no dawn. Only midnight, absolute and eternal." And so begins a new chapter in the epic story of sixteen-year-old Candy Quackenbush and her journeys through the world of the Abarat, where every hour is an island in one eternal day, and nothing is as it seems. Candy travels through the Abarat from island to island and across the sea with an unlikely band of friends: the escaped prisoner Malingo the Geshrat, the quarrelsome John Brothers, who all share the same body but never the same opinion, and the many other colorful characters they meet along the way. The problem is that trouble finds Candy wherever she goes. And soon she discovers a secret plot, masterminded by the diabolical Mater Motley, who is obsessed with becoming Empress of the Islands. Her method is simple. She will darken the skies, putting out the suns, moons, and stars. She will bring absolute midnight.