Abarat

Abarat
Clive Barker

A throw-away read bought on a whim when I was looking for something mindless. Clive Barker certainly has quite the imagination - I had trouble visualizing half the characters, they were built so strangely - but ultimately mediocre writing leaves me flat, no matter how interesting the story. When I find myself editing while reading, removing myself from the plot long enough to feel mild disgust at the clear lack of a thesaurus (or the overuse of one), it turns me off. This book is clearly set up as the first in a series, so the novel ends with about five strings hanging loose - unsatisfying. But probably fine as an airplane read.