Hands up: who likes novels with pictures in them? I don't mean pictures at the beginning of each chapter, those little sketches at the tops of the pages or whatever. And I also don't mean a color plate or full-page black-and-white every fifty pages, with a relevant line from the story to put it in context. No, I mean a picture a page (or even more frequent than that), with the words zig-zagging out of the way to avoid them. Full-color illustrations that really give you a reference point as to what the author really means when he describes a new character or setting. Now imagine a book like that, except it also weighs about 2 pounds because those gorgeous pictures (and words) are printed on glossy, photo-paper-thick pages. That's the Abarat series by Clive Barker.
The first three or four times I read the original book, Abarat, it would not stick in my head. I knew I had read it before - there aren't very many other books so heavy and full of color - but I could not remember the plot details. There was girl protagonist, I knew, ordinary young Candy who finds her way to the extraordinary world Abarat. The setting was unique: an archipelago consisting of 25 major islands, one for each hour of the day (and one extra), which exist permanently within that hour no matter how long you linger there. I could remember the story up to the point where Candy is swept up by a strange sea and taken from the middle of Minnesota to a seething, vibrant, totally alien culture where she somehow fits right in - but after that, nothing. I read this book four times, and each time the story was practically new to me.
I've gotten to the point now where I can recall the plot with a little thought, and I think I understand now why I had such an issue doing so in the past. Abarat is structured a little like a dream, with similar logic. Neil Gaiman has mentioned that dreams make terrible stories because "Dream logic isn't story logic. Transcribe a dream, and you'll see. Or better yet, tell someone an important dream - and watch their eyes glaze over." Yet in this book, it almost seems to work. The plot is surreal, but it's not all-over-the-place enough that you can't figure out what's going on. Candy does some island-hopping, enjoying or suffering brief encounters with very, very strange creatures. The diversity of the world is intense, and you get the feeling that the author is barely scratching the surface when he introduces the myriads of species that Candy meets. It's a world that is very clearly full, rich, vibrant, and most importantly, complete. Instead of reading about a world, you feel like you are exploring it, and that when you turn the corner, whatever is there has always been there - it wasn't just made up to advance a story or provide a twist. And isn't that how you feel in dreams, a little bit?
Side note: Barker began this series with the illustrations, with the plan of a book of short stories called "Book of Hours." Allegedly, when he realized the pictures were suggesting a more complex story, he changed his approach and turned them into a novel. Let me just say, I really like this. I love the idea that pictures inspired the story, and that feels like the key to my appreciation of the first book. At the risk of foreshadowing my own review, I'll say that the plot of the series worked much better when the pictures dictated it than when the author actually sat down and thought up the story on his own. The organic feeling of art inspiring story is what makes Abarat so special to me.
The book ends with a lot (A LOT) of storylines unfinished and questions unanswered, but not in, like, a "LOST" sort of way, where you're disappointed and left thinking, "But what just happened?" Which brings me to...the sequels!
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That was part one of my review of "The Books of Abarat." Part two will be along within a week because it's taking too dang long to write. :)
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