Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody
Series: The Obernewtyn Chronicles
Publisher: Tor, 1999
Genre: Fantasy
Sub-genre: Post-apocalyptic
Rating: 4 pints of blood
Obernewtyn came very enthusiastically recommended by aurillia, our awesome Australian babe, who is currently lying in fear for what I might have to say about her beloved novel. It may come down to fisticuffs. I'm currently taking bets over how likely people think it is we'll break out into a scuffle, and which of us would win. I think she's taller, but I'm pretty scrappy.
Isobelle Carmody is an Australian author who primarily writes fantasy for children and teens. In fact, even though the version of Obernewtyn I have here is marketed as adult fantasy, it's being reprinted by Random House
as YA later this year. Carmody has done very well down under, but it's only been relatively recently that her books have become available in North America. Which is a shame, because if this book is any indication, we've been missing out on a lot.
Obernewtyn is set generations after the holocaust of the "Great White," which is heavily implied to have been a nuclear war, although the survivor's descendants don't know what happened. Virtually all knowledge of the "Beforetime" has been lost, and society has reshaped itself into a strict, fearful hierarchy. All "Misfits" (anyone who deviates from normal, particularly mutancies caused by nuclear exposure) are killed at birth. This becomes more difficult in people who have developed mental abilities, which don't become apparent until a much later age. These particular Misfits are sent to Council farms, where they are set to work at jobs considered too dangerous for the rest of the population, where they aren't intended to live long. Anyone with Misfit family members are regarded with suspicion, and enough Misfits have been taken that hundreds of children are left orphaned each year. A network of orphan homes have been established, but these are harsh places, and society looks suspiciously at orphans, since most of them are there because their parents were Misfits.
Elspeth is such an orphan, cautiously keeping her distance from all the others to protect her dangerous secret: she's also a Misfit, with telepathy and an ability to "dream true." She manages to hide her abilities for years until a visitor comes to the orphanage. Madam Vega is the head keeper at Obernewtyn, a distant institution where rumours state the Misfits taken there are subjected to tests and treatments in an effort to cure them. Madam Vega immediately recognizes Elspeth for what she is, although the keeper doesn't realize the extent of what Elspeth can do.
Officially declared a Misfit and sent to live at Obernewtyn, Elspeth finds her cautious nature is quickly overcome by others like her, a telepath named Matthew and a blind empath named Dameon. The three find themselves immersed in mystery, eager to discover not only who runs Obernewtyn and what its purpose is, but why the animals Elspeth can communicate with all seem to think she's the subject of a dark prophecy. Knowledge is dangerous in a place like Obernewtyn, though, and the threat of the doctor's treatments is constantly looming overhead, especially with reminders in the form of fellow Misfits, having been driven insane by the treatments. But Elspeth's curiosity is strong, and the animals' talk of destiny only makes her more determined to take risks.
I have to say, I loved Carmody's prose. Some books are about the story they tell, and some books are about the telling. Obernewtyn is one of the latter, and as a result, even when the plot was slow moving, I couldn't stop reading. The world is well drawn, with just the kind of dark intensity that draws me, and the simple beauty of the language had me devouring the book like Cookie Monster with, well, cookies.
So what are the flaws? Actually, Elspeth covers them pretty much all on her own. I never did get much of a feel for her personality, in spite of the first person narrative. I'm not sure if that was perhaps a conscious choice on Carmody's part, providing a convenient place for reader insertion, but it bugged me a little that even the animals seemed to have more definite personalities than the protagonist. (I adored Maruman, the slightly insane cat, but that comes as no surprise to anyone.)
The other issue I had was the way Elspeth seemed to add new abilities to her collection like charms on a bracelet, with no explanation or foreshadowing. We need to get through those heavy padlocks to find out what's behind the door? No problem, Elspeth can suddenly pick locks with her brain! And in my nitpickiness, I'm about to get all spoileriffic here, so I'll write the next bit in black and you can highlight it if you've read the book or don't mind having me completely ruin the ending: At the very end, Elspeth randomly figures out how to kill people with her brain, which not only had me unfairly flashing back to River Tam, it left me wondering why there was no fallout to her decision. I'm reasonably sure most of us consider killing someone to be a pretty big deal, even if it's in self defense, but Elspeth doesn't seem to have any emotional response at all. Perhaps she's a burgeoning psychopath?
Alright, spoilers over.
My issues with the protagonist aside, I really enjoyed the book, which goes to show you just how awesome the writing really is. Obernewtyn kickstarts a series of 6 books, which I'm now going to have to get my paws on.
Curse you, aurillia and your need to add more books to my TBR pile.
Publisher: Tor, 1999
Genre: Fantasy
Sub-genre: Post-apocalyptic
Rating: 4 pints of blood
Obernewtyn came very enthusiastically recommended by aurillia, our awesome Australian babe, who is currently lying in fear for what I might have to say about her beloved novel. It may come down to fisticuffs. I'm currently taking bets over how likely people think it is we'll break out into a scuffle, and which of us would win. I think she's taller, but I'm pretty scrappy.
Isobelle Carmody is an Australian author who primarily writes fantasy for children and teens. In fact, even though the version of Obernewtyn I have here is marketed as adult fantasy, it's being reprinted by Random House
as YA later this year. Carmody has done very well down under, but it's only been relatively recently that her books have become available in North America. Which is a shame, because if this book is any indication, we've been missing out on a lot.
Obernewtyn is set generations after the holocaust of the "Great White," which is heavily implied to have been a nuclear war, although the survivor's descendants don't know what happened. Virtually all knowledge of the "Beforetime" has been lost, and society has reshaped itself into a strict, fearful hierarchy. All "Misfits" (anyone who deviates from normal, particularly mutancies caused by nuclear exposure) are killed at birth. This becomes more difficult in people who have developed mental abilities, which don't become apparent until a much later age. These particular Misfits are sent to Council farms, where they are set to work at jobs considered too dangerous for the rest of the population, where they aren't intended to live long. Anyone with Misfit family members are regarded with suspicion, and enough Misfits have been taken that hundreds of children are left orphaned each year. A network of orphan homes have been established, but these are harsh places, and society looks suspiciously at orphans, since most of them are there because their parents were Misfits.
Elspeth is such an orphan, cautiously keeping her distance from all the others to protect her dangerous secret: she's also a Misfit, with telepathy and an ability to "dream true." She manages to hide her abilities for years until a visitor comes to the orphanage. Madam Vega is the head keeper at Obernewtyn, a distant institution where rumours state the Misfits taken there are subjected to tests and treatments in an effort to cure them. Madam Vega immediately recognizes Elspeth for what she is, although the keeper doesn't realize the extent of what Elspeth can do.
Officially declared a Misfit and sent to live at Obernewtyn, Elspeth finds her cautious nature is quickly overcome by others like her, a telepath named Matthew and a blind empath named Dameon. The three find themselves immersed in mystery, eager to discover not only who runs Obernewtyn and what its purpose is, but why the animals Elspeth can communicate with all seem to think she's the subject of a dark prophecy. Knowledge is dangerous in a place like Obernewtyn, though, and the threat of the doctor's treatments is constantly looming overhead, especially with reminders in the form of fellow Misfits, having been driven insane by the treatments. But Elspeth's curiosity is strong, and the animals' talk of destiny only makes her more determined to take risks.
I have to say, I loved Carmody's prose. Some books are about the story they tell, and some books are about the telling. Obernewtyn is one of the latter, and as a result, even when the plot was slow moving, I couldn't stop reading. The world is well drawn, with just the kind of dark intensity that draws me, and the simple beauty of the language had me devouring the book like Cookie Monster with, well, cookies.
So what are the flaws? Actually, Elspeth covers them pretty much all on her own. I never did get much of a feel for her personality, in spite of the first person narrative. I'm not sure if that was perhaps a conscious choice on Carmody's part, providing a convenient place for reader insertion, but it bugged me a little that even the animals seemed to have more definite personalities than the protagonist. (I adored Maruman, the slightly insane cat, but that comes as no surprise to anyone.)
The other issue I had was the way Elspeth seemed to add new abilities to her collection like charms on a bracelet, with no explanation or foreshadowing. We need to get through those heavy padlocks to find out what's behind the door? No problem, Elspeth can suddenly pick locks with her brain! And in my nitpickiness, I'm about to get all spoileriffic here, so I'll write the next bit in black and you can highlight it if you've read the book or don't mind having me completely ruin the ending: At the very end, Elspeth randomly figures out how to kill people with her brain, which not only had me unfairly flashing back to River Tam, it left me wondering why there was no fallout to her decision. I'm reasonably sure most of us consider killing someone to be a pretty big deal, even if it's in self defense, but Elspeth doesn't seem to have any emotional response at all. Perhaps she's a burgeoning psychopath?
Alright, spoilers over.
My issues with the protagonist aside, I really enjoyed the book, which goes to show you just how awesome the writing really is. Obernewtyn kickstarts a series of 6 books, which I'm now going to have to get my paws on.
Curse you, aurillia and your need to add more books to my TBR pile.