Isobelle Carmody
Created | Updated Sep 17, 2002
<GUIDE><BODY>Isobelle Carmody is an Australian author of fantasy and science fiction novels. While her books are mainly aimed at children and teenagers, they are intelligent and many adults would also find them entertaining and thought provoking.
<SUBHEADER>A Short Biography<SUBHEADER>
Isobelle Carmody began writing her first book, <I>Obernewtyn<I>, the first in the Obernewtyn Chronicles while she was at high school, and completed it while getting a Bachelor of Arts and then a Journalism cadetship. She completed her most recent books <I>Darkfall<I> and <I>Greylands<I> whilst in Prauge and now splits her time between her travels abroad and her hom on the Great ocean Road in Australia.
<SUBHEADER>Her Books <SUBHEADER>
Carmody's most famous and popular series is the Obernewtyn Chronicles, and is as yet unfinished. So far it consists of four books. In order: Obernewtyn, The Farseekers, Ashling and The Keeping Place.
<BR/>
The series is set in a dark future many centuries after a nuclear holocaust, called the Great White by those who not inhabit the Earth. The Land is ruled over by a Council which crushes any rebellion mercilessly and is assisted by the fanatical Herder Faction. Together, they have decreed that any person born with a mutation must be killed, sent to mine a radioactive substance or, probably the most feared, be sent to the mountain stronghold of Obernewtyn.
<BR/>
The series is told from the point of view of Elspeth, a young woman who posesses a mutation which gives her unusual telepathic powers. When she is discovered, she is sent from the life she knew to Obernewtyn. Once there, she discovers others like her and together with Rushton Seraphim, they take control of the fortress and form a haven for others of their kind.
<BR/>
The second book--The Farseekers-- introduces the larger plot of the series, a quest that Elspeth must undertake to destroy the weapons that caused the original holocaust. Each book focuses in part on this and also on the mission of the people of Obernewtyn to gain acceptance and overthrow the Council.
<BR/>
The series is based around the age old tradition of a quest. However, it also brings in other themes such as opression, descrimination and racial hatred, all seen through the eyes of one girl.
<BR/>
<I>Darkfall<I> is the first of the Legendsong Trilogy, soon to be followed by <I>Darksong<I> and follows the common path of having two normal teenagers from our world pulled into another, fantastical one. However, instead of just having to save the other world from destruction, the two girls, Glynna and Ember also have to save their own. The two worlds are linked by the ancient song of the Unykorn the mysteries of the Unraveller, the Man-Beast and Shenavyre.
<BR/>
<I>Billy Thunder and the Night Gate<I> also transports a child from our world to another. Rage Winnoway is lured through a gate of brambles to Valley along with her three dogs, Billy Thunder, Elle and Mr Walker and the goat Goatee in order to find the Wizard to get some healing magic for her mother who is in a coma. Once there, she encounters a world on the edge of ruin. The Valley is being leeched of the magic that keeps it alive. This book is more of a children's book than the others, however it is still inteligently written and also deals with the nature of rules and wether they should be obeyed completely all the time.
<SUBHEADER> Other Books <SUBHEADER>
Here is a list of her other books, that I cannot review as I do not yet have them.
The Gathering
Dreamwalker-A Graphic Novel
Greylands
Green Monkey Dreams-A Collection of short stories
Scatterlings
<BR/>
She is also found in the anthology <I> This Way Out<I> and will also be found in the soon to be released <I> The Road to Camelot<I> a book of short stories about the characters of the Arthurian legends before they arrived in Camelot.
<SUBHEADER>Fandom<SUBHEADER>
The Carmody fandom mainly comprises of people in Australia and New Zealand, with a few people from America. People from other countries, even England are a rarity. Despite this, the fandom on the internet is doing very well, with new people joining everyday.
<BR/>
On the internet, there are two major sites, where most of the online community spend their time. The first is the Unofficial Obernewtyn Fanclub.
<BR/>
<LINK>www.obernewtyn.net<LINK>
This site is very popular and is very good, comprising of message boards, fanfiction, guilds, art gallery and countless other things.
<BR/>
The second is the official site, Carmody-Online
<BR/>
<LINK>www.carmody-online.com<LINK>
Don't let it's official status put you off however, as it is not a publisher site. It is run by fans, for fans, with no interference at all. This site is much smaller than the Obernewtyn fanclub however it has very active message boards, with topics for theories, book discussions, a reading group, fanworks and poetry, a very good RPG and of course, the main conversation board. There is even an official drink and snack-Blue Drink and Tim Tams.
<BR/>
As most of Carmody's books are difficult to get outside Australia, this site
<LINK>www.bookworm.com.au</LINK>
can ship them to you at very reasonable prices. they are well worth the extra expense. </BODY></GUIDE>
<SUBHEADER>A Short Biography<SUBHEADER>
Isobelle Carmody began writing her first book, <I>Obernewtyn<I>, the first in the Obernewtyn Chronicles while she was at high school, and completed it while getting a Bachelor of Arts and then a Journalism cadetship. She completed her most recent books <I>Darkfall<I> and <I>Greylands<I> whilst in Prauge and now splits her time between her travels abroad and her hom on the Great ocean Road in Australia.
<SUBHEADER>Her Books <SUBHEADER>
Carmody's most famous and popular series is the Obernewtyn Chronicles, and is as yet unfinished. So far it consists of four books. In order: Obernewtyn, The Farseekers, Ashling and The Keeping Place.
<BR/>
The series is set in a dark future many centuries after a nuclear holocaust, called the Great White by those who not inhabit the Earth. The Land is ruled over by a Council which crushes any rebellion mercilessly and is assisted by the fanatical Herder Faction. Together, they have decreed that any person born with a mutation must be killed, sent to mine a radioactive substance or, probably the most feared, be sent to the mountain stronghold of Obernewtyn.
<BR/>
The series is told from the point of view of Elspeth, a young woman who posesses a mutation which gives her unusual telepathic powers. When she is discovered, she is sent from the life she knew to Obernewtyn. Once there, she discovers others like her and together with Rushton Seraphim, they take control of the fortress and form a haven for others of their kind.
<BR/>
The second book--The Farseekers-- introduces the larger plot of the series, a quest that Elspeth must undertake to destroy the weapons that caused the original holocaust. Each book focuses in part on this and also on the mission of the people of Obernewtyn to gain acceptance and overthrow the Council.
<BR/>
The series is based around the age old tradition of a quest. However, it also brings in other themes such as opression, descrimination and racial hatred, all seen through the eyes of one girl.
<BR/>
<I>Darkfall<I> is the first of the Legendsong Trilogy, soon to be followed by <I>Darksong<I> and follows the common path of having two normal teenagers from our world pulled into another, fantastical one. However, instead of just having to save the other world from destruction, the two girls, Glynna and Ember also have to save their own. The two worlds are linked by the ancient song of the Unykorn the mysteries of the Unraveller, the Man-Beast and Shenavyre.
<BR/>
<I>Billy Thunder and the Night Gate<I> also transports a child from our world to another. Rage Winnoway is lured through a gate of brambles to Valley along with her three dogs, Billy Thunder, Elle and Mr Walker and the goat Goatee in order to find the Wizard to get some healing magic for her mother who is in a coma. Once there, she encounters a world on the edge of ruin. The Valley is being leeched of the magic that keeps it alive. This book is more of a children's book than the others, however it is still inteligently written and also deals with the nature of rules and wether they should be obeyed completely all the time.
<SUBHEADER> Other Books <SUBHEADER>
Here is a list of her other books, that I cannot review as I do not yet have them.
The Gathering
Dreamwalker-A Graphic Novel
Greylands
Green Monkey Dreams-A Collection of short stories
Scatterlings
<BR/>
She is also found in the anthology <I> This Way Out<I> and will also be found in the soon to be released <I> The Road to Camelot<I> a book of short stories about the characters of the Arthurian legends before they arrived in Camelot.
<SUBHEADER>Fandom<SUBHEADER>
The Carmody fandom mainly comprises of people in Australia and New Zealand, with a few people from America. People from other countries, even England are a rarity. Despite this, the fandom on the internet is doing very well, with new people joining everyday.
<BR/>
On the internet, there are two major sites, where most of the online community spend their time. The first is the Unofficial Obernewtyn Fanclub.
<BR/>
<LINK>www.obernewtyn.net<LINK>
This site is very popular and is very good, comprising of message boards, fanfiction, guilds, art gallery and countless other things.
<BR/>
The second is the official site, Carmody-Online
<BR/>
<LINK>www.carmody-online.com<LINK>
Don't let it's official status put you off however, as it is not a publisher site. It is run by fans, for fans, with no interference at all. This site is much smaller than the Obernewtyn fanclub however it has very active message boards, with topics for theories, book discussions, a reading group, fanworks and poetry, a very good RPG and of course, the main conversation board. There is even an official drink and snack-Blue Drink and Tim Tams.
<BR/>
As most of Carmody's books are difficult to get outside Australia, this site
<LINK>www.bookworm.com.au</LINK>
can ship them to you at very reasonable prices. they are well worth the extra expense. </BODY></GUIDE>
