Fantasy, Young Adult

Obernewtyn

113 Comments

Obernewtyn is the first in a series of books written by award-winning Australian writer Isobelle Carmody. It is a postapocalyptic story set on an earth in which many children are born with enhanced mental abilities. Those with these abilities are termed Misfits and are sought for either extermination or service in Obernewtyn. The story follows Elspeth Gordie, a young girl with the gift to read minds and communicate with animals. Discovery of her powers by members of the Council lead to banishment to Obernewtyn where Elspeth must learn to control her powers in order to save her friends, and herself, from the evil being wrought there.

Ms. Carmody’s books have just recently made their way across the shores and are among a number of books that are following a recent trend: being printed unabridged in both children’s and adult versions. I came across this book while I was perusing Spectrum 11 and noticing the cover art by Tristen Elwell. The coverwork for the adult version is by another spectrum alum, Donato Giancola. My initial impression was that the book was slow but by the time I finished the first chapter I was really into the story and finished the book in a day. The story moves along at a pace that keeps you interested in what is about to happen without being overwhelming. Ms. Carmody allows the reader to get to know her characters in such a way that you are interested in their respective fates. This is an appropriate story for children aged 10 and above but is by no means a “kid’s” story. I believe that the success of the Harry Potter novels has encouraged publishers to market books like the Obernewtyn Chronicles to children as well as adults. I would give the book 4 and 1/2 out of 5 stars…

Interesting facts:

Isobelle Carmody began Obernewtyn when she was just 14 years old.

The Obernewtyn Chronicles has spawned numerous fansites on which members can join guilds, get to know others, etc. as well as submit their own fanfiction based on Ms. Carmody’s characters.

Book 5, entitled The Sending, is rumored to be the last book of the series and is due out October 2005.

113 thoughts on “Obernewtyn”

  1. This book is terrible, very confusing and very very hard to get into too.

  2. Like I said, the book started slow but once you get a few chapters in it really does pick up and ends up being quite good.

    And Kudos to you for actually coming in this old of a post to give your opinion. I’m psyched! Cool!

  4. Actually all 5 books are already out, should be in the children’s section of your local bookstore or here at amazon.com

  5. i just searched the link above for book five but could only find the four; Obernewtyn, Farseekers, Ashling and the
    Keeping Place
    Are you sure the fifth book is out and if so what is it
    called?
    Thanks

  6. I looked also and can’t find it but I remember reading somewhere last year that there would be 5 books in the series….I guess I just assumed that all 5 were already published in Australia and would eventually be published over here.

  7. The fifth book in The Obernewtyn Chronicles is going to be known as ‘The Sending’ is coming out in October 2006 in Australia. I love the way Isobelle Carmody writes her books and i have waited for the fifth book for five years.

  8. Sounds good…wonder how long it will take to get published in the U.S….may have to break down and order one from Australia.

  9. loved all the books so far
    a stroke of genius
    cant wait for book 5 to be published

  10. Me too. I’m frequently convinced that the authors that I enjoy reading simply do not write fast enough! 🙂

  11. yes, when your waiting for that new book to come out it
    seems like forever. im so glad that ‘the sending’ is coming out in
    australia in only a few months.

  13. well im not quite sure
    maybe you could have a look around
    on some sites? i know you could probaly
    order the book from overseas if your desperate.

  15. The first thing I would do would be to point you to the Book Reviews and Y.A. book reviews in the Categories box in the upper right hand of the blog. I’ve reviewed several excellent books. It really depends on what you are into.

    Stardust and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman are two of my favorite books in all the world. They are magical and wonderful and filled with fantastic characters.

    The first book in the Dark Mirror Trilogy, The Water Mirror by Kai Meyer was a great young adult fantasy book that I read and reviewed just recently.

    The Knight and The Wizard by Gene Wolfe are somewhat more difficult reads but well worth the effort as the writing is amazing.

    I would say the same about the books of Patricia A. McKillip, Ombria in Shadow being my favorite. Her language style is very beautiful.

    Orvis by H.M. Hoover is a wonderful young adult book about a robot who is sent to decomission himself but decide instead that he wants to live.

    Jean Ferris wrote a terrific YA book with a strong male and female character called Once Upon a Marigold.

    Roald Dahl’s childrens books and adult short stories are unique and highly entertaining. Daniel Pinkwater also writes some very funny young adult stories, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death being my favorite.

    I also love Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat books (except the SSR Joins the Circus which is awful).

    There are probably several others but these and my book reviews are a good start. Again Gaiman gets my highest recommendation.

    By the way, where are all of you fellow Carmody fans coming from? How are you finding my site and this post in particular? Glad to have you!

  17. Of course Jeff, which is why you drove 9 hours to Chicago to get his autograph! 🙂

  21. Don’t know about Water Mirror’s availability in Australia. It is a German book that was recently translated and put out over here. Didn’t find out any information on The Sending coming out in the US. Amazon doesn’t show a listing yet but I’ll do some more searching. Its not like I’m short of books to read but I would like to be able to keep up with this series as well as pass it on to my wife and neice who are both enjoying it very much.

  23. Many of the people who post regularly on this site have but I am one of those who hasn’t. I’m not all that interested mostly because of the overwhelming popularity of them. I’m sure they are good books but writers I respect have said that they are not that much better than several other books out there and for some reason I have never really had a desire to read them. I’m weird! I also not the biggest fan of books that go into the upper hundreds of pages for each volume. They are usually just too daunting to even begin.

  24. i think bigger books allow for more details
    and the only reason harry potter book are a succes is because
    they are good

  25. I am sure they are very good or they wouldn’t be continuing to sell in such large amounts, I guess I’m just a little dubious about where some of her inspiration came from, how close Harry looks to other characters that were created before him, like Tim from Books of Magic. Ultimately though there is nothing new under the sun and many of my favorite books are ones whose ideas were based on ideas someone else came up with first but this writer put a new or different twist on.

    I can’t give any kind of critique on the HP books simply because I haven’t read them. I’m happy for JK’s success and I’m really happy that the HP books have created a surge in children’s reading, a surge in children’s literature, and an increase in parents reading/sharing books with their kids. Those things should definitely be a part of JK Rowling’s legacy. The downside is that publishers end up pouring a bunch of money into her books and copycat books while virtually ignoring other wonderful children’s books that are out on the shelves right now. That isn’t Rowlings fault, but it is the sad reality of the children’s book market right now.

  27. That’s true B, its the same way with movies. There are books and movies that I am passionate about that others who are also book and movie lovers just don’t think are all that great. Different things in books speak to people in different ways. The success of Rowlings books pointed to the fact that the children of today, and adults who are fortunate enough to still be in touch with the child within, were desperate for good fantasy fiction with characters that they could relate to. It is a trend which I hope will continue as so many people haven’t discovered just how wonderful it is to read great books.

  28. true, i heard awhile ago they had a program in england (i think)
    where they would tag books and just leave them at places like cafes
    someone picks one up reads it and returns it to where tthe tag says. i
    thought this to be very intresting and hoping they could introduce
    it to other places e.g. u.s or austrlia

  29. and i think youu would agree when i say that the book is always better than the film

  30. also you dont have to be in touch with your inner child just to read a fantasy books or any other lots of books are being made now for kids and adults like harry potter

  31. That sounds cool. There is a similar thing at the website http://www.bookcrossing.com where you print off a tag to put in a book you have read and want to share. You leave it somewhere in public and the idea is that someone picks it up, reads the tag and goes to the website and logs the book in, reads it, and then leaves it somewhere for someone else. You can then track where the book is going. Kind of an interesting idea.

    And most definitely books are generally better than their movie adaptations. I’m sure that is especially the case with HP since there is no way to put a 600-800 page book into a 2 hour movie format. You have to sacrifice a great deal of the story to do so.

  32. I recovered several of your posts that didn’t go through last night B. I think most of them were seen as spam because you accidentally doubled letters in words which happens alot in spam messages and so my spam program put them in the spam file. Any that were double messages I deleted. Just wanted you to know why some of your comments weren’t showing up last night.

  33. My psycho-babble about the inner child thing was meant to convey that some people seem to begin to lose their capacity for imagination and wonder as they get older. It is a special gift, I think, to be able to hold onto a childlike sense of awe as you get older and “real life” crowds in. I think the HP books were instrumental in reminding alot of adults who didn’t normally read or who hadn’t read books since they were young just how wonderful and fantastical reading can be. Many got it to read to their kids or to read because they wanted to know what their kids were reading and now are reading avidly. At least this happened at my workplace!

  36. Yes, I read Water Mirror and really liked it. I believe it is the first part of a trilogy and I’m not sure when book two comes out…they are already all out in Germany but the translation to English is being done slowly but surely. I did a review of Water Mirror here.

    I think Carmody’s books were written for adults right, and then were published in the young adult format? I would consider the one I reviewed for children only because it is the children’s published version, but I would have to say it would obviously be for older children. These type of books, to me, are really all ages in the sense that they don’t have objectionable material and yet they aren’t “kiddie books”. They have depth and complexity to them and also have a straight forward enough story line that young people can read them and get alot out of them and adults can read them and get even more. To me that is what good young adult authors do. They don’t dumb things down for kids but they write in a universally appealing way that grabs young readers’ attention and keeps them involved. Adults are more prone to give a book time to develop but I’m not sure all kids are.

    Anyway, there is a long rambling statement and I didn’t really answer your question. I would consider Obernewtyn a young adult book mainly on the basis that its protagonist is a young adult herself.

    And not that you asked, but I will go head and state here that I do not think that adult fiction is superior to young adult fiction. In fact I often feel just the opposite again because of the fact that I think it takes a unique talent to write to a younger audience while at the same time appealing to an older audience, which is what generally has to happen for a young adult or children’s book to become a best seller or a ‘classic’.

  37. i myself am only 12 but i easily read and understood obernetyn and many other books that were published in a young reader’s edition such as ‘mao’s last dancer’

  40. No but I just looked it up and it looks interesting. Thanks for the kind words on the review. I didn’t realize when I started reading it that I would have to wait patiently for its sequels. Ah well, its not like there isn’t a pile of books in my house waiting to be read.

    My niece is 14 and pretty much every “young adult” book I get I pass on to her (after my wife reads them of course. She is a much faster reader than I and loves reading everything). Obernewtyn and its sequels have made their way to Haley as will the Sending…once it gets here.

    I am 37 and it was around age 12 that I started reading fantasy and science fiction and became hooked. Actually I became hooked on reading period. I try to do my part to get kids to read because if you learn to love reading when you’re young it really makes the world a much more interesting and exciting place when you get older. I’m sure you appreciate it now, but you’ll see what I mean after decades go by and you’re my age! 🙂

  41. well i hope you read maos last dancer.
    i actually met the person its about i think
    its lee cunxin

  44. also another book thats good is the fire within though
    it may be a little based for kids.
    its a trilogy with all 3 books
    available

  45. the Fire Within books look great. My wife and I both read a wide variety of books and we both love good children’s and young adult literature. Will have to check these out.

  48. No problem, I just remembered that site and there are some great books in there.

  50. i have to say some of the
    best books ive ever read are by gary paulsen (i think thats how you spell it)
    have you ever read the tommrow series? the beggining book is
    the day after tommorow very good i have nearly read them all
    u should look them up

  51. To my remembrance I have not read any of Paulsen’s books, at least none looked familiar when I checked them out just now on Amazon.

  54. Nope, haven’t read that one. After looking at all of Paulsen’s books none of them look familiar so I’m guessing that I’ve never read his stuff.

  57. Yes, I have read those, but I didn’t read them when I was a kid. I was given the box set by a friend about 5 or 6 years ago who was flabbergasted that I had never read them. I really enjoyed them and read several of the books to my daugher when she was younger. The movie was okay. The book was much better.

  58. well like i said before
    books are always better than the film
    you cant put that much deatil into a film

  59. That’s why I’m glad I saw the LOTR movies before I read any of the books. I really, really love the movies and the books as well and don’t spend time comparing one to the other because I was able to fall in love with the films first.

  60. i havent actually read the lotr books
    im sure ur shocked i just nvr knew that the films
    were based on books!

  62. I haven’t finished them all and like I said I hadn’t read any before the movie. I decided recently to read The Silmarillion first which is the history of how Middle Earth came to be. It was great, but I think a person has to be really in love with Tolkein’s world to get into it because it is somewhat like reading a history book. I enjoyed it and am now deciding if I’m going to reread all three books in the trilogy or just go pick up where I left off.

  64. Yes, that is the only one I read before seeing the movie and I really enjoyed it.

  65. just back to obernewtyn for a moment
    do you have any theories as to where dragon (the empath and coercer) came from?

  66. To be honest with you B, it has been so long since I’ve read this one and I purposely put off reading books 2 and 3 (though I did actually read a bit of 2) so that I could wait until the whole series was done because I didn’t want to forget whole chunks of stuff between books. I will be rereading Obernewtyn before I start up the series again just to get back into the groove.

  67. make sense i suppose
    i found book 4 in a school library and
    tracked down the first casue it looked like a good read
    since then i read all of them in about 2 and a half weeks and
    going crazy waiting for the sending

  68. So far only the first 3 books are available over here and there is no telling when they will come out with the next ones. If I get desperate I can always order from somewhere but I really like the covers/quality of the books they’ve put out over here and would like to have a matching set when all is said and done. Eventhough I won’t want to know alot of details I look forward to hearing what you think about The Sending after it comes out and you read it.

  69. im into scary stuff
    so ive read quite a few of stephen kings
    novels have u read any ur self?

  70. Yes, but its been years. When I was a teenager I read The Shining (my first SK book), Thinner, Pet Cemetary…those were my favorites. I read the book of shorter novels that included Stand by Me and the story that was made into the movie Shawshank Redemption. I read Eyes of the Dragon in college and really liked that…more of a fantasy tale than a horror story. Most recently I read his how-to-write/autobiography On Writing and it was excellent.

  71. yeah, i thought eyes of the dragon
    was really no where near horror
    and a big turn from stephen kings normal
    books

  73. thanks il check that out
    i actually started reading a book called
    “the book of lies” not long ago
    by james moloney what made me read it was
    the blurb, i riddle infact u should check it out

  74. I’ll look at it on Amazon, B! My favorite place to go check out books and what people are saying about them.

  75. i just noticed it says
    75 replys on obernewtyn?
    is that a record? lol

  77. have u ever heard of john marsden?
    i just finished his popular book series-
    “the day after tommorow” about 7 kids
    who up up in the mountains when their country
    gets invaded a definite read.

  78. I looked them up on Amazon because that sounded so familiar and I have actually seen these but haven’t read them. They sound fascinating! Reminds me of that old movie Red Dawn that came out in the 80’s.

  79. is that about the guys who get stuck in the mountains
    and carry out attack on the enemy troops?
    that is the first thing i thought when i read the first
    book of the tommorow series

  80. As far as I can remember it is sort of like that. Its been a loooong time since I’ve seen it. I believe it was the communists who invaded and a group of school kids holed up in the hills and then fought back.

  82. hi i’ve never been here b4
    that carl.v dude man he must be old if he has a daughter
    oh well
    i feel bored
    not to mention hungry
    and bored
    oh well
    does anybody like tamora pierce?

  83. hang on
    i just read my comment and it sed i submitted it at 2:05 am……
    NOOOOOTTTTTT TRRRUUUUUUEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    i submitted it at 5:05 pm

  84. Odd thing about the time there Jimi. I’m at the ripe old age of 37 right now and my daughter is almost 14. I have not read Tamora Pierce but her books look interesting. What do you recommend?

  85. i just read another great book by isabell carmody
    called alyzon whitestarr very interesting read with
    orginal idea

  86. Its not even showing up on Amazon.com for the US yet and I’m not seeing it on Amazon for the UK either. Probably will be years before we see it over here. Will have to add it to my list.

  91. I’ve been reading this series since 1988, the first edition that was ever published. It’s fantastic. As the reviewer stated, it feels slow to get into but Ms.Carmody is skillfully setting up her main character’s background and the world so that you are completely absorbed by the end of the thrid chapter.

    This is the series that I have been known to buy as soon as I find it on the shelf and then not stop reading until it is completed, sometime that day. It was and still is my Harry Potter equivalent.

    The only frustrating aspect of this series is that Ms. Carmody enjoys creating new worlds and hasn’t finished her first ones. As stated I began the series in 1988. Almost 20 years later I am hoping it will be completed this year. However dates for this series get bandied around the internet, so I don’t think I’ll get my hopes up until I have the book in my hands. After this point I will be lost to the world until it is finished.

  92. Thanks for the visit and thoughts Risby. I agree about the frustration of getting the books and finishing the series. Hopefully soon.

  95. Hi B, good to hear from you again!

    I’m not sure Amy. It would definitely make an interesting one. There seems to be enough of a movement towards making children’s lit into movies right now that it may have a very good chance.

  96. Pingback: Stainless Steel Droppings » Friday Favorites: Donato Giancola

  97. wow havent beeon on this site for ages, just checking back. been reading the “artemis fowl” series, not bad, aimed for teens

  98. Hey, I was looking up one of Carmody’s recent novels, Alyzon Whitestarr, that I am re-reading when I found this site. I read the Obernewtyn series years ago before it was finished. It’s good to here that the final book is published. I think that I’ll have to re-read the whole series though!

    Anyway, I was just wondering if you have read any of her other books? They are quite good too. Unfortunately, she hasn’t finished some of these other series.

  99. No, only this series. I will keep the others in mind when I’m out book shopping, thanks.

    Hey B…haven’t read those either. Isn’t that always the case, there are more books that one wants to read than there is time to read them.

  100. You guys are aware that there are now 6 book in the Obernewtyn Chronicles and that the 5th isn’t even out in Australia yet? I read Obernewtyn back when i was 11 (when they were new!) and have been waiting all these years for the end!!

    Penguin say they will be releasing book 5 (The Stone Key) in November in Australia and then book 6 (The Sending) in 2008 sometime.

    I am so excited i could bust – good luck getting a copy over there. Send me an email and i’ll get one for you if you want 😀

  101. It is a little strange to me that these are being published in such an odd fashion. Once they came over here and sold some copies I assumed there would be a bit more simultaneous publishing going on, but that is obviously not the case. Since it has taken so long for these books to get out, I really hope they are all worth it in the end. 🙂

  102. Carl I recommend Garth Nix, my kids and I are reading the Keys to the Kingdom series (starts with Mister Monday, then Grim Tuesday, etc). Good reads and very original.

    [sorry this looked as good a place as any to recommend something]

    p.s. Have you started reading Harry Potter yet? I read them before letting my kids do so. I was amazed, ther series gets better with every novel. Just read the first one (smallest of the lot). The best plotted is Prisoner of Azkaban.

  103. According to her major fan site, there will be six books. Ms. Carmody originally intended “The Sending” to be a single volume, but in order to meet the November 2007 deadline (in Australia) she had to split the volume into two books. “The Stone Key” will be Book 5, out this year, while the final book, “The Sending”, will apparently be out the same time 2008.

    I’ve been reading these books since I was thirteen. I was somewhat miffed to no end when I saw so many other books being authored by Ms. Carmody while the Obernewtyn Chronicles was incomplete. I believe the delay was because there were so many threads to tie up and such. I hope the books are good – authors can change a lot in ten years, and I believe it has almost been that long (round about! It might just *feel* that long!) since the last book came out…

    The new covers are great on the “revival” editions (to work up interest and enthusiasm for the arrivals of Books 5 and 6). I’m also happy to see they’re making they’re way over to the US now, too. Hope you lot enjoy them. 🙂

  104. i thought there would be 7 books, guess i was wrong!! great story but i wish she was a bit clearer on the whole rushton-and-elspeth thing. are they actually, like, married or is that just the way beasts perceive any relationship? coz the only time i ever heard elspeth refer to rushton as her ‘mate’ (ie. as in romantic partner) was when conversing with beasts.
    not expecting reply, by the way! (-;

  105. by the way, 4 anyone interested in seeing artist’s ideas of what ‘newtyn characters LOOK like, i’d highly recommend ‘loneriders’. its a site set up by this arty chick whos actually really good. some of her pieces are, like, identical to my personal ideas of what certain characters look like. i especially like ‘escape’ from bk 1, ‘ravek’ from bk 3 and ‘older dragon’ from bk 4. sorry. i’m going this time, i really am. bye!

  106. Ian, nope, haven’t started reading Harry Potter yet. Don’t know when, or if, that is going to be on the agenda. 🙂

    Iz, thanks for the art link, I look forward to checking it out.

  107. i think these are exelnt series of books, it took 100pgs to get into the first one and i didnt find it confusing! im reading the 3rd they are so great, almost as good as harry potter!

  108. i am really confused… i got the first 4 books for christmas and loved them so am trying to find the next one… i am from aus so didn’t think it would be that hard but when i look it up on the internet a book called ‘wavesong’ keeps coming up as book 5 but at the back of the books it says ‘the stone key’ is book 5… also how many books are there??

  109. I have no idea, unfortunately. These things take so much longer to make their way over here to the U.S. I haven’t even seen book 4 over here.

  110. its ok i have worked it out… u will get it as two books in the US i think, wavesong will come out first then you will get the stone key whereas in aus we get it all in one really long book… also there is a 6th (7th for you) called the sending that i think is coming out late 2009 in Aus… i hate that cos i got into it before i realised they weren’t all out so now that i am hooked i have to wait ages for the last one!!!!!

  111. You got that right, this is a series that has taken forever to come out. I hope in the end that it is all worth the wait. Thanks for the update.

  112. The Obernewtyn Chronicles are awesome and whoever says they aren’t is crap. anyways… the sending is actually the sixth and final one it goes obernewtyn the farseekers, then ashling, then the keeping place, then the stone key and the last one is the sending. six books not five.

Comments are closed.