The Obernewtyn Chronicles Series by Isobelle Carmody

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... moreThe 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? less

A Children's Book Council of Australia Honor Book In this powerful sequel to Obernewtyn , young Elspeth Gordie-possessed of extraordinary mental powers-has united with others Misfits for refuge on the remote mountain keep of Obernewtyn. Yet the threat from the totalitarian Council to their safety is ever present. Their only defense is to work hard to develop their mental powers before an inevitable confrontation... moreA Children's Book Council of Australia Honor Book In this powerful sequel to Obernewtyn , young Elspeth Gordie-possessed of extraordinary mental powers-has united with others Misfits for refuge on the remote mountain keep of Obernewtyn. Yet the threat from the totalitarian Council to their safety is ever present. Their only defense is to work hard to develop their mental powers before an inevitable confrontation. But when Elspeth is lured off the mountain in a dangerous quest to rescue a powerful Misfit, the fate of the Obernewtyn colony will hang in the balance. less

There was a great crash and wood splintered...I had a brief glimpse of a group of Herder priests, bald and robed, peering at me, and then the sundered remnants of the locker door were torn aside and a rough hand reached in to haul me out by the hair. A Hedra captain stared into my face with eyes that burned with a fanatical fire above a thin nose and a lipless slash of a mouth..."You will die in great pain and very slowly, mutant," said the Hedra master... moreThere was a great crash and wood splintered...I had a brief glimpse of a group of Herder priests, bald and robed, peering at me, and then the sundered remnants of the locker door were torn aside and a rough hand reached in to haul me out by the hair. A Hedra captain stared into my face with eyes that burned with a fanatical fire above a thin nose and a lipless slash of a mouth..."You will die in great pain and very slowly, mutant," said the Hedra master. When Farseeker Guildmistress Elspeth Gordie sets out from Obernewtyn to travel to Sutrium at the end of wintertime, she quickly learns that not everyone welcomes the changes brought about by the rebellion. Captured by an old and vicious enemy, she is drawn deep into the heart of the Herder Faction, where she learns of a terrible plot to destroy the west coast. To stop it, Elspeth must risk everything, knowing that if she dies, she will never complete her quest to find the weaponmachines that destroyed the Beforetime. But if she succeeds, her journey will lead her to the last of the signs left for her by the seer Kasanda... Librarian's note: Penguin Australia is publishing the Obernewtyn Chronicles in six books, and The Stone Key is book five. In the United States and Canada this series is published by Random House in eight books; this Penguin Australia book is split into two parts and published as Wavesong (Book Five) and The Stone Key (Book Six). less

It came to me then, like a chilly draught from an unseen gap, that I had always known in my deepest heart that it would be like this, a slipping away from a life full of people I had come to love, in a place I had helped to shape, in a land I had helped to free. The time has come at last for Elspeth Gordie to leave the Land on her quest to find and stop the computermachine Sentinel from unleashing the deadly Balance of Terror arsenal... moreIt came to me then, like a chilly draught from an unseen gap, that I had always known in my deepest heart that it would be like this, a slipping away from a life full of people I had come to love, in a place I had helped to shape, in a land I had helped to free. The time has come at last for Elspeth Gordie to leave the Land on her quest to find and stop the computermachine Sentinel from unleashing the deadly Balance of Terror arsenal. But before she can embark on her journey, she must find a lost key. And although she has long prepared for this day, nothing is as she anticipated. Elspeth's search will take her where she never thought to go, and bestow upon her stranger companions than any she ever imagined. It will lead her far from her destination to those she believed lost forever. And it will test her, as she has never been tested before . . . less

The post-apocalyptic fantasy series reaches its heartbreaking, world-shaking conclusion! Award-winning Australian author Isobelle Carmody concludes the epic story of Elspeth Gordie, a heroine in the vein of Tamora Pierce's most memorable and empowering protagonists. The final chapter in the eight-book Obernewtyn Chronicles, The Red Queen is a YA fantasy novel decades in the making... moreThe post-apocalyptic fantasy series reaches its heartbreaking, world-shaking conclusion! Award-winning Australian author Isobelle Carmody concludes the epic story of Elspeth Gordie, a heroine in the vein of Tamora Pierce's most memorable and empowering protagonists. The final chapter in the eight-book Obernewtyn Chronicles, The Red Queen is a YA fantasy novel decades in the making. After years spent struggling to balance her desires with her responsibilities, Elspeth Gordie has fully embraced her role as the Seeker. Battle-scarred and lovelorn, haunted by memories of her beloved Rushton, Elspeth is not prepared for what she finds at the end of the black road she travels: the Compound, a lost community with a startling secret. As Elspeth strives against her captors, she learns that Rushton and her friends have fallen into the hands of the deadly slavemasters that rule the Red Land. And worst of all, as Elspeth stumbles, the Destroyer creeps ever closer to his goal: awakening the cataclysmically destructive weaponmachines that Elspeth has been charged with stopping. Has all her sacrifice been in vain? Full of romance, action, and suspense, The Red Queen is a worthy finale to such a breathtakingly elaborate series. (The Red Queen is the title of the final book in the series as published in Australia; a different book in the series as published in North America has also been tentatively titled "The Red Queen" but corresponds to the second half of the Australian edition of The Sending, book 6, and would not contain any part of this book.) Penguin Australia would like fans of Isobelle Carmody’s Obernewtyn Chronicles to know that we have made the decision to move The Red Queen from its planned 2013 release to an unscheduled date. We’d like to take this opportunity to reassure everyone, that Isobelle remains absolutely committed to the Obernewtyn Chronicles. The series has been an enormous part Isobelle’s life for over 25 years, and we strongly believe Isobelle should take the time she needs to make this installment, the very best yet. A message from Isobelle Carmody: I understand you have been waiting, impatiently or patiently, some of you for literally years. I thank you and I am touched and honoured that so many of you did not grow out of me, but have allowed Elspeth to visit you through the years. If you are one of these readers, then we have shared a long journey, and it is coming to an end. Forgive me for not rushing it but with each step, I am saying goodbye to a world I have loved.Let me hone and polish and conclude this last book at my own pace, without furious pressure. I promise it will be a better book for it. And isn’t that what we all want, in the end? Not a book produced to fit a deadline, but a book that was worth waiting for. less