Absolute Midnight
Book 3 of the Abarat
Clive Barker

And so begins a new chapter in the epic story of sixteen year old Candy Quackenbush and her journeys through the world of the Abarat, where every hour is an island in one eternal day, and nothing is as it seems.
Candy travels through the Abarat from island to island and across the sea with an unlikely band of friends: the escaped prisoner Malingo the Geshrat, the quarrelsome John Brothers, who all share the same body but never the same opinion, and the many other colorful characters they meet along the way.
The problem is that trouble finds Candy wherever she goes. And soon she discovers a secret plot, masterminded by the diabolical Mater Motley, who is obsessed with becoming Empress of the Islands. Her method is simple, She will darken the skies, putting out the suns, moons, and stars. She will bring Absolute Midnight.

Yet another amazing and perfect novel from Clive Barker, Absolute Midnight is a novel for everyone. From young adults to adults, this novel has something for everyone. It's not too violent like many of Barker's novels and it's not boring at all like many novels that are acceptable for the younger crowd. Of course, you'll have to read the first two books in the series to have any idea what is going on, but it's well worth it as all three of these novels are five snail worthy.

This novel picks up where the last one left off and involves Mater Motley releasing the sacbrood that her grandson had tended to and wiping out all of the light in the sky. The darkness allows fiends of all sorts to come out once more and send the islands plunging into chaos.

It seems that Candy is the only one who has a chance of stopping this, but now that Boa has been removed from her, how will she be able to do much of anything without access to Boa's knowledge of the Abarat and its magics?

The ending is quite a literal cliff hanger and I cannot wait until Barker writes the fourth novel in this series. I will definitely be left hanging until that next novel is released.

I highly recommend this entire series for everyone of all ages.

My rating: Five out of five snails.