Clive Barker is the bestselling author of 18 books, including his first book for children, "The Thief of Always." For over four years he has been working on a vast array of paintings to illuminate "The Books Of Abarat," a four-book series in the making. Over 100 of his paintings made it into the print version of the first volume, "Abarat."
Barker lives in California with his partner, the photographer David Armstrong, and their daughter, Nicole. They share their house with four dogs, five goldfish, a parrot, 15 rats, innumerable geckoes, a cockatiel and a parrot called Malingo.
"Abarat" is the epic adventure of a teenager, Candy Quackenbush, who is growing up in Chickentown, Minn. When Candy chances upon a creature with eight heads during a walk on the prairie, her mostly boring life takes a sharp turn. She is brought to Abarat, a mysterious archipelago of 25 islands where she journeys from one amazing place to another. Making fast friends and encountering treacherous foes -- mechanical bugs and giant moths, miraculous cats and men made of mud, a murderous wizard and his terrified slave -- she begins to realize something: She has been here before.
Listen to Richard Ferrone read the prologue from "Abarat," courtesy of Harper Audio.
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