Waiting on Wednesday: ABARAT Absolute Midnight!

Yesterday, I started re-reading one of my most favorite books. Ever. It's called Abarat by Clive Barker.

Having read this first in my junior year of high school and quickly falling in love with it, I voraciously devoured the sequel: Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War, which came out in 2006.

The third book in the series, Absolute Midnight, has been pushed back for publication since... I'm not really sure. But it's already been five long years between the second and third installments of the series and really, I can only re-read these books a handful of times before I risk insanity. I'm definitely ready for the next one.

And finally we have a publication day in reach! The new release date is set for September 2011 and I absolutely can't wait!

If you want to know more about what this whole Abarat thing is about, let me share a little synopsis with ya: 

A journey beyond imagination is about to unfold....

It begins in the most boring place in the world: Chickentown, U.S.A.  There lives Candy Quackenbush, her heart bursting for some clue as to what her future might hold.

When the answer comes, it's not one she expects.

Welcome to the Abarat.

(Blurb from the semi-hardback edition)

Okay, so from that mysterious little blurb, it's probably a tad bit difficult to know what the book is actually about, so here are a few more juicy nuggets of knowledge:

• The books are illustrated. Each novel in the series has hundreds and hundreds of original artwork by the author Clive Barker. It may take a few pages to get used to it, but man, they really capture you in the story.
• The books are fantasy, through and through. The books of the Abarat are so fantastic, imaginative, weird, a bit spooky, and perhaps more than a little morbid. There is also little romance in them. But don't let that deter you, please! There is so much more in these books to enjoy.
• The Abarat is real. Seriously. While I'm reading Abarat (again), I literally feel like I am in the story. I am part of Candy's amazing journey. I am laughing and crying and feeling pain with her. I feel so completely immersed in the story that I find myself constantly smiling in anticipation of the next wondrous event or place that the Abarat will take us to.

That's what I'm waiting on this Wednesday! 

 

(And in other news... I found this giveaway for a signed copy of Maria V. Snyder's new dystopian novel Outside In on the My Bookish Ways blog! Maria is one of my favorite authors, so of course I entered. And so should you! Here's the link.)

Tweet