Book Description

The Obernewtyn Chronicles - Book OneFor Elspeth Gordie freedom is-like so much else after the Great White-a memory. It was a time known as the Age of Chaos. In a final explosive flash everything was destroyed. The few who survived banded together and formed a Council for protection. But people like Elspeth-mysteriously born with powerful mental abilities-are feared by the Council and hunted down like animals....to be destroyed.Her only hope for survival to is keep her power hidden. But is secrecy enough against the terrible power of the Council?

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In the '80s, American music experienced an Australian invasion, and the '90s brought a literary Australian invasion, with prominent Down-Under SF/fantasy writers like Stephen Dedman, Greg Egan, Sean McMullen, Lucy Sussex, and the late George Turner receiving new or greatly increased American exposure. Award-winning author Isobelle Carmody, whose Obernewtyn (Book One of the Obernewtyn Chronicles) is finally available in the U.S, belongs in these ranks as well.

Appropriate for adult and young-adult readers, Obernewtyn is a fine post-apocalyptic novel in the tradition of Andre Norton, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series, Leigh Brackett's classic The Long Tomorrow, and the post-disaster novels of John Wyndham (especially Re-Birth) and John Christopher.

After the nuclear holocaust of the Great White, the surviving humans condemn all Misfits (mutants) to either death by fire or exile to Obernewtyn, a remote mountain institution where mysterious experiments are performed on some exiles. Elspeth Gordie is a Misfit, struggling to hide her mutant mental abilities and earn a Normalcy Certificate. But when her secret is betrayed, she is sent to Obernewtyn, from which no one has ever escaped. At Obernewtyn she finds not only dreadful experiments, but ambitious overlords who seek to use the Misfits' paranormal powers to recover the devastating secrets of nuclear war.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--Cynthia Ward

From Publishers Weekly

In the tradition of Andre Norton and Marion Zimmer Bradley, Carmody embarks on a promising new series featuring telepathy, empathy and other psychic talents. On an Earth nearly wiped out by radiation and chemicals that have whitened the sky and poisoned the land, surviving humans have built a semi-agrarian culture. Though their own religious leaders, the Herders, have paranormal powers, they persecute the mutated Misfits, whose psychic abilities they view as a form of subversion. Thus, Elspeth Gordie, an orphan, conceals her exceptional abilities (prophetic visions, the ability to communicate with animals) from the other workers around her. Nonetheless, she is discovered and taken to the legendary Obernewtyn, an isolated town reputedly full of horrors. But instead of the tortures she expects, Elspeth finds friends and learns of the harmful experiments performed elsewhere upon talented Misfits and of the destructive powers that may have survived the Age of Chaos that ruined Earth. Though most of Carmody's characters are clearly bad or good, she avoids blatant stereotyping by imbuing many with conflicting interests. She also presents the Herders' primitive culture in considerable and vivid detail, from Elspeth's arduous ride through the Western Mountains to a farmer's daily life of toil and gossip. Despite their abilities, the Misfits are at the mercy of their superstitious culture and those who run ObernewtynAa plight that generates convincing plot turns. This is the first novel by Carmody, an Australian children's writer, to appear in the States. Readers will look forward to more. (Sept.)

From Library Journal

In a post-holocaust world of enforced pastoralism and strict adherence to a religion that bans technology, a young woman labeled a misfit or mutant finds herself condemned to a prison farm known as Obernewtyn. There, she encounters others with psychic powers like her own and discovers a dark secret concerning the mysterious triumvirate who control the destinies of the young people assigned to their care. An award-winning author of children's books in Australia, Carmody crafts a thought-provoking tale of courage and sacrifice that should appeal to adult and YA readers alike

From Kirkus Reviews

First of a post-nuclear science-fiction series, and first US outing for this Australian children's writer. Years after the nuclear-holocaust Great White, the repressive, all-powerful Council rules with the help of priestly Herders. Dissenters are condemned and burned; mutant Misfits are sent to the eponymous forbidding mountain fastness. Orphan Elspeth Gordieher--whose parents were burned--can hear people's thoughts and communicate telepathically with animals. She manages to conceal her deeper abilities from Obernewtyn's visiting Madam Vega, though she's still ordered across the Blacklands to attend the suitably gothic edifice, where she makes friends with Matthew, another telepath, and blind Dameon the empath. In turn, Rushton, the green-eyed overseer whose status and motives are unclear, notices Elspeth. Beautiful Cameo has been treated, her mind filled with hypnotic blocks. Dr. Seraphim, Elspeth learns, thinks demons lurk in Misfit minds and uses hypnosis to combat them, while Vega and the vicious Alexi seek a telepath to help locate powerful machines hidden since the Beforetime. Terrified, Elspeth feigns feeblemindedness, so Vega and Alexi focus on Cameo--and destroy her mind. The Council, meanwhile, has sent men to apprehend Elspeth. Somehow she must escape, braving the Blacklands, winter snows, and Obernewtyn's insensate, bloodthirsty guardian wolves. For some reason, Rushton's willing to help. Pedestrian and one-dimensional: Carmody's not the first to stumble attempting the transition to an adult audience.

From the Publisher

"Through the breadth of her vision, the depth of her characters, and the strength of her language, Isobelle Carmody has created a world completely realized in all its details and completely persuasive. Multi-leveled, multi-dimensional, the Obernewtyn Chronicles promise to be a major work of fantastic imagination-which, given our past history, may not be all that fantastic. Young adults will surely find it absorbing; so, too, will their elders."

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--d Alexander

"A very forceful and carefully constructed tale that keeps the reader engrossed. One will indeed look forward to the following volumes promised."

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--Andre Norton

"With its plucky heroine, post-holocaust setting, and the fascinating puzzle of mental abilities enhanced by genetic mutation, Obernewtyn reminds me of the best of Andre Norton's work. Carmody offers us a similar sense of mystery and wonder to Norton's classic novels, but with an original voice and great heart."

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--Charles de Lint

"A brave, multi-talented girl, her interesting friends, and animal characters with minds of their own--this book is a dream date for me."

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--Tamora Pierce

"Isobelle Carmody's writing possesses the rare qualities of clarity and restraint, making the fantastic, post-apocalyptic world of Obernewtyn seem absolutely authentic. I envy those in Australia who already have access to the remaining two volumes of Elspeth's adventures."

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--Jeffrey Ford

Book Dimension

length: (cm)19.7 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)12.8