Barker, Clive Books

Abarat

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 185 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In Abarat, accomplished novelist and artist Clive Barker turns his considerable talents to creating a rich fantasy world for young adults.

Candy Quackenbush is growing up in Chickentown, Minnesota, yearning for more--which she finds, quite unexpectedly, when a man with eight heads appears from nowhere in the middle of the prairie, being chased by something really monstrous. And so begins Candy's epic adventure to the islands of the Abarat. Peopled by all manner of creatures, cultures, and customs, the islands should prove a fertile setting for the series that Barker is calling The Books of Abarat. Candy is an intelligent and likable heroine, and the many supporting characters are deftly drawn, both in words and in the full-color interior art that Barker has produced to give the story an extra dimension.

Abarat delivers the rich and imaginative storytelling that Barker is known for, with less overt horror or violence than one of his adult novels might include. However, Candy's path isn't an easy one, and young adult readers should appreciate the hard choices she must make along the way. --Roz Genessee

Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War (Abarat)

Clive Barker

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 61 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The eagerly anticipated second volume of Clive Barker’s four part fantasy series, Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War, picks up right where the highly praised first novel leaves off. Candy Quakenbush is still on the run from the Lord of Midnight, Christopher Carrion, who plans to establish a Permanent Midnight throughout the 25 islanads that make up Abarat. Candy, aided and abetted by a host of colorful new characters, including Malingo (the affable geshrat she rescued in Book One), continues to dodge Carrion’s hired assassins, as forces gather on both sides of Day and Night to prepare for the inevitable war between the Hours.

Days of Magic, Nights of War is a true series book--those who have not traveled to Abarat before will have a difficult time picking up the threads of Barker’s complex mythical opus without having read the first installment. But teen readers who have been waiting breathlessly for Candy’s return are rewarded with a stunning sequel that reveals her true identity at the novel’s smashing climax. As in Abarat, Clive Barker's full-colored, organic illustrations of Abarat’s inhabitants stalk and swim across the pages like a Stephen King-meets-Dr. Seuss circus. There seems to be no end to Barker’s ever-expanding idiosyncratic vision, and for that, fantasy fans of all ages can be grateful. --Jennifer Hubert

The Thief of Always

Clive Barker

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 131 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Light, Imaginative Thriller 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Ten-year-old Harvey is bored. He is sitting in his bedroom one February afternoon, watching the rain outside, feeling as bored as he's ever felt. He feels like he might die of boredom. Then, to his surprise, a little person flies through his window. This little man promises Harvey a wonderful vacation where he'll have lots and lots of fun--as long as he doesn't ask any questions. Harvey isn't quite sure about going with the man.

However, a week later, the man shows back up and Harvey decides that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to go with him just for a little while. So Harvey walks with him across town through a high wall that isn't really a wall, into a place of magic. Here, at the Holiday House, everyone gives Harvey everything he's ever wanted. Every day holds all of the seasons--in the morning it's like springtime, in the afternoon it's summer, in the early eveing it's fall and time to go trick-or-treating, and in the later evening it's winter and Christmastime. There are two other children there with Harvey--Wendell and Lulu. Lulu, though, has started to go a little bit crazy, so Harvey and Wendell don't spend much time with her.

Harvey intends to only stay at the Holiday House for a few days, but after a couple of reassuring phone calls to his parents when they tell him they want him to stay, he begins to relax. However, he shouldn't relax too much. There are some strange things going on at the Holiday House that aren't fun and exciting. Will Harvey figure out what is going on in time to escape?

I liked the whole idea of the Holiday House--what a perfect vacation spot for little children! I also liked the characters of Rictus, Jive, Marr and Carna. They embodied all characteristics that would be useful for keeping children there. I thought a couple of things weren't believable, though. Harvey seemed to have an undue attachment to Lulu. He barely even knew her, but he was very concerned about her, more so than most ten-year-olds would be. I also didn't buy Harvey's thievery toward the end of the story. It seemed less possible than the rest of the story.

Editorial Review:

Mr. Hood's Holiday House has stood for a thousand years, welcoming countless children into its embrace. It is a place of miracles, a blissful rounds of treats and seasons, where every childhood whim may be satisfied...

There is a price to be paid, of course, but young Harvey Swick, bored with his life and beguiled by Mr. Hood's wonders, does not stop to consider the consequences. It is only when the House shows it's darker face -- when Harvey discovers the pitiful creatures that dwell in its shadows -- that he comes to doubt Mr. Hood's philanthropy.

The House and its mysterious architect are not about to release their captive without a battle, however. Mr. Hood has ambitious for his new guest, for Harvey's soul burns brighter than any soul he has encountered in a thousand years...

The Thief of Always: A Fable

Clive Barker

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The Best Book Ever! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Thief of Always is a exciting, fun book that keeps you want to keep on reading. A little scary but addicting. The expression bored to death, which was created by Zeus when Hermes told everlasting jokes to a monster, just means your bored for a couple minutes and then you find something to do, but to this boy he is literally bored to death and is taken to a holiday house, a kid's dream! Then things begin to change......if you want to find out what happens I suggest you read the book, The Thief of Always!

Editorial Review:

Mr. Hood's Holiday House has stood for a thousand years, welcoming countless children into its embrace. It is a place of miracles, a blissful round of treats and seasons, where every childhood whim may be satisfied...

There is a price to be paid, of course, but young Harvey Swick, bored with his life and beguiled by Mr. Hood's wonders, does not stop to consider the consequences. It is only when the house shows its darker facewhen Harvey discovers the pitiful creatures that dwell in its shadowsthat he comes to doubt Mr. Hood's philanthropy.

The House and its mysterious architect are not about to release their captive without a battle, however. Mr. Hood has ambitions for his new guest, for Harvey's soul burns brighter than any soul he has encountered in a thousand years...

Thief of Always-20.00

Clive Barker

List Price: $4.98 By: World Publications Amazon Marketplace: 4 new & used starting at $35.50

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The Great and Secret Show

Clive Barker

List Price: $15.95 By: Harper Audio Amazon Marketplace: 9 new & used starting at $1.63

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 85 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

One of the best novels I've read 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I have always enjoyed Clive Barker's writing. His writing is not necessarily "horror" in the Lovecraft sense of things. He is more mythical in his writings, and the horror that does come comes subtle and sublime. The Great and Secret Show is just that, all the myths and whispers that underline the American facade. It, and its sequel, work together to present the ideas that would happen if Carl Jung's writings became physical and tied intuitively with the United States across the decades and the peoples. The characters are not so black and white that you know exactly how they will react in the next scene, though there are some that could be classified as good and evil. If you want horror, pure horror, go for Stephen King. He is as good as it gets, when he hits the right book (such as The Stand, Salem's Lot, and the Dark Tower series). Clive Barker is more dark fairytale, tied together with the mythos of the United States. That is really what the Art series is about, in my opinion. There is only one problem with the Clive Barker books I've read, especially those proposed to be series. He doesn't seem to know how to finish his series. The Art series has been around for more than a decade and a half, and he still hasn't written book three, the final book in the trilogy. Same thing with the Galilee series, book two hasn't even hit drawing board from what I can tell...then there are several other series that he's started that don't seem to be completed. I think that it isn't that Clive Barker doesn't know how to finish, I think that his problem is that he has too good of an intelligence and imagination and he has trouble fitting the puzzle pieces together. Still. I highly suggest that the bright person out there read most of Clive's books. They are well worth the time and effort. I have to say that if I had to nail five books that have influenced my thoughts and considerations over the years, Great and Secret Show will be one of them.

Editorial Review:

In battling for "The Art"--the greatest power known to mankind and a doorway to the dream-life of the species, two bitter enemies prepare to fight through their children--until their children fall in love. 2 cassettes.