Post by Cesaria on Jun 8, 2011 0:26:42 GMT -5
Did I miss something? Typo? Did I get something wrong? Want to add to this list? Post in this thread.[/size]
It might also be useful to have another list of information we have about the coming books that did not come from "Beneath the Surface."
I tried to break up this list into the following subsections, which are each in one of two sections: future and present. Each subsection is, for the most part, organized chronologically by what was said first in the interview in the companion book "Beneath the Surface of Clive Barker's Abarat." The last section has interesting stuff from other interviews.
I tried to keep the stuff that's already happened or is already true in the Abarat in the "present" section, even if this information was not available in the first two books. Events that will transpire in books 3-5 can be found in "future."
INFO ABOUT THE FUTURE
- Information about Book 3
- Information about Book 4 and 5
- Information about the future in general, interesting quotes, and other important information regarding future books
INFO ABOUT THE PRESENT
- Facts about the Abarat
- Facts about existing characters
- Facts about Barker and the books themselves
INFO FROM OTHER INTERVIEWS
SECTION ONE: FUTURE
Book Three[/size]
The Abarataraba is a great system of magic, and whenever magic is used the power of the abarataraba is used. In book three we will see a few of the eight total pages of the abarataraba, and these pages and the abarataraba itself are "going to become incredibly important in the books, starting with Book Three...it's really a hugely important power."
The beasts of Efreet were created, not born, and we will find out more about their creation and will have "clear indications of who their creators were" in the third book.
We will find out why the Abarat is flat in Book Three.
The John brothers "get very argumentative in Book Three but they work well together."
Christopher Carrion's father will play a "major part" in Book Three.
"By the end of Book Three it will be very obvious what is being fought for here."
Book Three will explore the backstory of the Abarat and the Hereafter, particularly dealing with the Abarat's interactions with the Hereafter in the 19th century, as well as Mischief and Shape's "pursuit of the key into the Hereafter."
The Nephauree, a force more evil than Mater Motley, will appear in Book Three. They are "the creatures that hide behind the stars." We see one of them in Book Three, and "it's a very terrible sight." They may or may not have been born evil.
The Nephauree have a plan that has to do with both the Abarat and the Hereafter which takes advantage of Mater Motley's ambitions and uses them for their own purposes.
In Books Three and Four, Candy will "follow the pattern of an epic hero in terms of a journey that she takes in order to emerge changed and ready for the final battle in Book Five."
Book Three deals with four major "subjects," one of which has something to do with Candy's conflict with Boa. Boa does control Candy's thoughts "to some extent," and Candy will want to get rid of her, but Boa doesn't want to be "kicked out" because she won't "have a body to go to." However, Candy "wants Boa gone" because Boa is "not a very good human." Boa is meant to be the opposite of "good" princesses like Sleeping Beauty.
Another of the "subjects" is Carrion's father, Zephario Carrion. Zephario is "one of the most powerful figures in the book."
In the third book, Bill will show himself as a very bad human being. He finds Wolfswinkel's hats and sews them into a shirt, which gives him the power to get the people of Chickentown to follow him. Bill will become less one-dimensional in the third book.
Malingo and 7,000 other people will summon a glyph, of which there is a huge painting.
Book Four and Five[/size]
In Book 4 we will see more of Miss Schwartz, who will appear "in a very different form or a very different shape...we're not done with Miss Schwartz yet...She is going to be more of a monster than we think; it's going to be great fun."
The origins of the Fugit Brothers and Abraham Hollow may be "central to what happens in the rest of the books." We will find out "where they were born and how they got there and why Abraham Hollow is there, but it probably won't happen until Book Four or Five."
Candy has "not been more than 50 yards into [the 25th Hour] itself," which is why she, the Fantomaya, Abraham Hollow, and the brothers have not gone insane or disappeared like everyone else who goes into the 25th does. "In Books Four and Five, particularly in Book Five, she will have to venture deeper and will have to face the forces that would drive other people crazy."
The facts surrounding the dragons' involvement with the Abarat and the reason that dragons are the only Abaratian things that Barker did not invent himself are "tied up with the Fantomaya and more will be disclosed in Book Five."
It is implied that Candy introduces a new solution to problems that does not include simply killing people to get what you want, and that this strategy will be very important in the "final battle" of Book Five.
Dragons have a connection to "an older human mythology which I am going to be using later in the books...it is going to be, probably, the single largest part of Book Five."
Future In General / Quotes / Other Important Things[/size]
We will find that because the island at 5am (Speckle Frew) is at a point where "the moon has gone down but the sun has not yet risen," 5am "truly is the darkest hour."
"Light is the oldest game in the world because it's the game that defines us...watch the way the candle plays with the shadows of all the objects in the room, that is the most beautiful and wonderful game that the Creator ever gave us--light is so beautiful...I think God just has to be in love with light."
Barker says that a person can only be evil if he is not psychologically impaired and understands the difference between right and wrong but chooses to be evil anyway.
The Fantomaya are "magic users," not "witches," and "use magic the way a doctor would use ointment to help a wound heal."
When asked whether Candy will become a member of the Fantomaya, Barker says that he's "going to keep that in my back pocket because I do have an answer to it but it's a bit of a surprise."
There are more than three members of the Fantomaya, and Barker implies that there are members of the Fantomaya whose identity as a member is yet to be revealed. Right after this, he says that "I'm going to give a little clue here--there is one species in the Abarat which I did not invent. Most of the creatures in the Abarat I invented but the one I didn't invent, obviously, is the dragon, yes? And there's a reason why the only thing in the Abarat which I did not invent is the dragon and that fact is tied up with the Fantomaya and more will be disclosed in Book Five."
At some point, Candy will touch the Skein, which connects all life, and will "understand the pattern of all living things." By offering a solution that is not simpling killing your enemies, she will "redefine the function of the hero in epic fiction."
Finnegan is going to "fail as an epic hero," and it is implied that his solution of killing dragons is the wrong one and that this has something to do with the reason why dragons are the only creatures Barker did not invent.
Barker does not know whether Malingo will reunite with his family.
The Time Out of Time is similar to the state described in the Great and Secret Show: "the past, the future, and the dreaming moment between." It seems to be all of time in one moment; it is a "broader view" of the world that a single person cannot possess, which is assumedly why a person can meet themselves there as an older or younger version of themselves.
Shape fought alongside two other generals during the nine wars that have already been fought between Night and Day, and apparently cherished their memories.
Houlihan's and other characters' tattoos have meanings.
There is something important located in the Ring of Darkness.
Dragons originated on Earth and went to the Abarat. They are connected to "an older human mythology."
There are many seriously evil characters and many new characters in general to come in future books.
Redemption will be a major theme of the series.
Much of what Norma Lipnik says will turn out to be foreshadowing. In fact, Barker says that many hints have been dropped in the first books of the series which will become apparent as the series continues.
Absolute Midnight will be a catastrophe on a large scale, but will also "be played out on a very localised, very intimate scale."
"Stuff" related to the Abarat has been dumped on Chickentown and will be revealed as the waters recede.
SECTION TWO: PRESENT
Abarat Facts[/size]
The Abarat is flat, and we will find out why in Book Three.
Clive Barker estimates that the Abarat is about as big as the North American continent (the US and Canada) but he isn't sure.
Each island does not have its own seasonal changes.
The Abarat does not rotate on an axis. The Abarat is "like a living watch," and each island is a number but also a "state of being." Each has its own sun or moon or star, and "there's no need for it to rotate because the sky that is over that particular island is unique to that island." The islands are "their own night or day," so they don't need to rotate.
An Abarat year is the same as a Hereafter year because the Abaratians adopted our system of time when they interacted with humans in the 19th century because "they wanted to do business with us...There was a much, much more ancient system which they put aside in favour of doing business with us."
The 25th Hour can be considered a sort of mainland to the Abarat.
Roughly halfway between each island is fog, and when one travels from one side of the fog to the other, they are in the next "time-zone...between Noon and one o'clock - that's happening at 12:30, somewhere between two islands."
Rather than using a special watch, Abaratians use their instincts to "know where they are," but also use "our watches." This is because "Abaratians are very instinctive people, they think with their hearts, not with their heads...it's a generalisation but I like people who think with their hearts and I like Abaratians more than I like people from the Hereafter."
The Izabella should be thought of as "a river that can burst its banks, as it obviously does in Book Two in which the flood comes through from the Abarat and drowns Chickentown." In the days when there were many links between the Abarat and the Hereafter, one could use one of these rivers and sail to the Abarat on a boat. Later, Barker mentions that Shape and Mischief were carried to the Hereafter on a single wave of the Izabella.
It "seems to be an accident" (emphasis added) that some of the links between the Abarat and the Hereafter have not been properly destroyed.
There is only one link between the Abarat and the Hereafter, and that is the jetty and lighthouse that Candy uses to cross.
Abaratian civilization predates the Egyptian and Assyro-Babylonian civilzations by "many tens of thousands of years."
Abaratian philosophers are unsure as to which came first: myths of the Abarat told by humans or the Abarat itself. Barker, however, says that the Abarat definitely came first.
The living mud is a naturally occurring resource similar to the gold, diamonds, oil, etc. that we find underground in the Hereafter. The mud has "a heartbeat and intelligence" as soon as it comes out of the ground; it is "very smart mud."
Abaratians are all about living life in the moment and never wasting time being bored.
The name "Fantomaya" comes from two separate words related to the word "spirit." The name is meant to sound benevolent. Barker says that "these are spirits of spirits, these are spirits times spirits, they are very powerful beings."
Nine wars have already been fought between Night and Day.
Character Facts[/size]
Mischief's people can be considered nomads or gypsies, and their origins are probably "lost to history."
When the Fugit brothers were born, they "were born without any features on their faces at all...these things...pushed their way through the skin of his face and appeared, you know the way a puppy is born blind...[and] after a couple of weeks there was this movement in their faces and these strange, crab-like things pushed their way through a layer of skin and became their features."
The Fugit brothers were not born on the 25th Hour. This may be "central to what happens in the rest of the books."
The Fugit brothers know the difference between right and wrong and choose to do bad things.
Munkees are an Abaratian version of monkeys. Barker states that "you can't rely on munkees; they lie a lot, they lie a lot."
Mespa, Joephi, and Diamanda are not the only members of the Fantomaya. Candy may or may not become a member.
Boa is actually a very bad person and is meant to be the opposite of good princesses like Sleeping Beauty. Boa can indeed control Candy's thoughts "to some extent."
Carrion's father is named Zephario and definitely survived the fire. He will become important.
Shape was once a general during at least one of the nine wars fought between Night and Day, and prophets say that one final war is to be fought. Shape lost his foot in the ninth battle and his swords belonged to two generals that he fought alongside. He keeps them "as a sort of memory of who they were."
Carrion does not need to eat food because he eats nightmares. Barker has no idea where he got the tank he wears on his head, but says that he looks old because he is "so driven that he has no desire to sleep."
Carrion was born good, like all humans; his treatment and lack of love made him evil.
At the beginning of the first book, Candy is "on the fence" of good and evil; she could go either way.
Barker compares himself to Carrion in several ways, saying that "love has not always been good with him," that he "eats his nightmares," and is "very lonely a lot of the time...people look at [him] very strangely sometimes and they are very quiet around him...behind closed doors, Christopher Carrion is sad and alone and...wants very much to be redeemed, he just doesn't know how to be redeemed."
Book Facts[/size]
The first three paintings were of Kaspar Wolfswinkel, the Princess Breath, and John Mischief, in that order.
If the Abarat ever became a movie, Barker wants it to be live action and have impressive effects, great performances, etc. He implies that if the books become movies, it will be after they have all been finished.
Abarat Three had at least five drafts, each of which were about 2,000 handwritten pages long.
Shape, Wolfswinkel, Houlihan and Diamanda died quickly in the story because Barker wants his readers to "understand that my characters are in real jeopardy...even though I'm writing a fantasy, it's still got to be rooted in the reality of the pain that we feel when we lose people and I want that to be part of the experience of reading Abarat."
Barker has eight dogs and many birds, so we can expect more of his characters to be named after his pets.
Barker's favorite island is the Nonce because he takes naps at 3pm.
Barker intends to write "lost appendices" to explain things that are not important to the action of the story.
Barker really likes red.
The hardest book to write was the third, and the most fun was the second.
Barker writes poetry to relieve writer's block.
Barker feels that fantasy gives him more freedom to express the themes of the story.
Barker is currently trying to figure out the "metaphysics" of the 25th hour.
SECTION THREE: INFO FROM OTHER INTERVIEWS
There is a character called sometimes Gaz or Gazza named for his nephew who will "impact one particular character on his very first appearance in the book." So, I think this is the name of a new important character. Earlier on he talks about how a characters name changes throughout the book, so I think this "Gaz" will be around a lot. (contributed by requiax)
