Abarat: Absolute Midnight

This is the third book of what I understand to be eventually a five-book series. I read the last one six years ago and was looking forward to getting back into the world of the Abarat. Candy Quackenbush, the young teen from Chickentown USA, has a powerful enemy in Mater Motley, the grandmother to Christopher Carrion. Mater Motley has apocalyptic plans for the twenty-five islands of the Abarat archipelago. I enjoyed the story and rich imagination behind it, but I did like the first two books better. Still, this was a fun continuation of the story. There were some nice surprises. But the sudden love match that Candy gets involved in seems to come completely out of the blue. And the ending really makes you wonder where the author will go in book four.
This is also quite literally the heaviest book I've ever read. It's about three pounds at least. The pages are thick and sturdy and frequently feature the authors own artwork. The artwork is by turns creepy and phantasmagoric. I wonder how long the wait will be until book four gets published?