Days of Magic, Nights of War is the second book in the Abarat series penned by Clive Barker. While Barker is perhaps best known as a author of nightmarish horror and dark fantasy, the Abarat series chronicles of the adventures of a young woman with the unlikely name of Candy Quackenbush. Due to a mistake of circumstance (or is it?) Candy finds herself traveling in a fantastical world known as the Abarat, where each island kingdom represents a specific hour of the Day or Night. Of course, Candy’s journey is not a solitary one. She has strange friends such as Malingo the geshrat for companionship and is continually chased by the minions of the sinister Christopher Carrion. The plot is somewhat formulaic; when the secret of Candy’s mysterious origin comes to light it is hardly much of a surprise. Despite this, Days of Magic, Nights of War manages to pack in some truly subversive content for the young adult audience it is aimed at. While the first book of Abarat made deft remarks about our consumer-driven culture, this volume makes insightful comments about same-sex partnerships and religious fundamentalism that are guaranteed to at least get kids thinking.

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