I’m putting the ball in your hands. Your challenge is to tell me about some thing (or things), that will enrich my life. I’m not going to give you completely free reign though… so you don’t have to wonder to yourself “But Scott, where do I even begin”? I am going to take some of the hard work out of it for you and narrow it down to some specific areas: Music. Books. Movies. Computer Games. Blogs.

So here’s what I want from you. I want you to recommend to me one example from any or all of those categories that you think I would enjoy/would move me/would make me think/or have some otherwise decent impact on me. But that’s not all. I want you to tell me why you are recommending it to me, and if you’ve got the time, let me know what sort of effect it had on you. That is, give me a reason to take you up on your recommendation.

For example, say that you were going to recommend a genre of music to me, yeah? Say Neo-Fusion Rockabilly, right? Don’t just say Neo-Fusion Rockabilly. Tell me why. Otherwise, knowing not a skerrik about Neo-Fusion Rockabilly, I’m not going to have the foggiest idea where to start, and likely just discard the whole thing and move on.

So you have your marching orders, should you choose to accept them. Tell me about Music, Books, Movies, Computer Games and/or Blogs that I should experience. I’m counting on you to add a little something something to my life.

Wait wait wait, before you go scurrying off into the comments, why don’t you consider asking your own blog readers (if you have a blog), to do the same for you. You never know, they may just have a few gems that you would never have discovered before if you had not asked. And if you do post asking them this same question, make sure you leave a link to the post in the comments here as well. That way, I can stop by. I may even have a suggestion or two of my own to add.

The Vampire Myth has done a great amount of solidifying thanks to the swarm of Vampire Fiction flooding the market in recent times (I put the blame pretty squarely on Ann Rice). Unfortunately, the Cyclops Myth has gotten very little air play outside of ancient Sinbad tales. But, hey, if you’re going to allow bloodsuckers, then why not let in the occasional one-eyed chap as well?

Given then that you have both wandering around, undoubtedly causing mischief, it seems to me that its only a matter of time before you have a Vampiric Cyclops. Or is that a Cyclopean Vampire?

Notice it only has one fang?

I love the idea of freak show rides. The rides with the rollercoaster type cars that travel along a predetermined path of tracks carrying its cargo on a short but mysterious journey through the strange and weird. Participants giggle nervously, a mixture of trepidation and excitement, fear of the unknown and an eagerness to see it all.

Of course at the beginning, it’s a fairly mild affair after all you’re just getting warmed up. Then each subsequent exhibit becomes more eye opening. And shocking. A FeeJee Mermaid here. Over there is a “pair” of Siamese Twins. Followed up by a two headed goat, and then oh yes some shrunken heads. Of course, just as soon as you arrive at one exhibit you are hurried on to the next so that you never have adequate time to soak up all the details. “Want to see it again Mr.? You can always pay to take the ride again…”

Abarat, by Clive Barker is the literary equivalent of a freak show ride.

In the beginning the read is fairly mild, almost mundane, as you follow Candy Quackenbush through her daily life. Then things start to get progressively more interesting, as she first encounters John Mischief (a thief of some renown, but not in our world), whom comes complete with a pair of antlers, on which each prong is topped off by an independently thinking (and often speaking), head. All of which are also named John.

Mr. Mischief (and company), as one would gather from his name, despite being a seemingly polite gentleman, draws Ms. Quackenbush into the beginning of an adventure that forms the rest of our freak show ride through Abarat. Then the subsequent exhibits become more eye opening. Water-walking Card Players here. Over there is Lord of Midnight with nightmare worms squirming around his face. Followed up by a squid called Squiller that serves as high powered binoculars when you wear him on your head, and then oh yes a wizard that obtains all his power from that pile of hats on his head that he claimed from his fellow wizards after helping them meet an untimely end. Of course, just as soon as you’re getting comfortable with one character you are hurried onto the next before you have adequate time to soak up all the details. Unfortunately there’s not a lot that that return rides will grant you.

There is no real meaty story line evident in Abarat. Oh sure Ms. Quackenbush appears to have lived some sort of previous life in the world of Abarat, though when she returns no one appears to recognized her except for three witches. There’s a mysterious key and your fairly archetypal bad guy brooding in the background (the already mentioned Lord of Midnight). You reach the final page being pretty much none the wiser about what is really going on, as you were when you thumbed over the first page. What you are left with is a hanging “And?”

However, Clive Barker has done an outstanding job of creating a journey that keeps you turning page after page. Perhaps it is the onslaught of new oddities; each one briefly looked at before you’re hurried onto the next. You’ll find yourself thinking “just one more page” often.

Of course it should be mentioned that Abarat, is not a stand alone work. The follow-up, Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War, hopefully reins everything in and makes a nice meal out of all the ingredients that are assembled here. Worth you time, but perhaps only if your time includes allowances to read the follow-up as well.

Related Resources:

Abarat at Amazon

Abarat’s Official Site

Abarat on Wikipedia