Book Review: Days of Magic, Nights of War

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Days of Magic, Nights of War     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Clive Barker
Class/Genre:   Fantasy   Young Adult   Juvenile
Series: Abarat # 2
Harper Collins, Sept 2004, $24.95, 512 pp.

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.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner