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It has been suggested that Obernewtyn, Farseekers, Ashling and The Keeping Place be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2007.

The Obernewtyn Chronicles are a series of science fiction/fantasy novels by Australian author Isobelle Carmody. They have a post apocalyptic setting, and depict a world struggling to come to terms with the environmental, bodily and mental damage caused by global nuclear holocaust. The series' protagonist, Elspeth Gordie, is a young girl with extraordinary mental powers who must battle fear and repression to survive in this harsh world. The novels deal with themes of responsibility, duty, prejudice, discrimination, tolerance and human and animal rights.

The books

So far, the series consists of four published novels:

• Obernewtyn (1987)
• The Farseekers (1990)
• Ashling (1995)
• The Keeping Place (1999)
• The Stone Key (2007)

and the yet to be released The Sending.

The series is narrated through the first person point of view of protagonist Elspeth Gordie.

Setting

Many years into the future the world has been ravaged by a great nuclear holocaust that came to be known as the Great White. Only small and remote areas were spared and in The Land, a Council of powerful farmers was formed to protect their community.

Any human or creature born mutated or not completely normal were condemned to be burned. The Council appointed a fledgling religious order called the Herder Faction to oversee these rituals. The Herders believed that the Great White was sent as punishment from God, who they called Lud. All artefacts of the old world were purged, and the Beforetime, as it came to be known, was shunned and abhorred.

Council law and the Herder Faction gradually fused, and those who opposed it were burnt as Seditioners or sent to work on Council Farms - a virtual death sentence. Orphan homes were set up to house those children of Seditioners left unclaimed by relatives.

After a time, it would become apparent that mutancies of the mind, not apparent at birth, could develop later in life. It was decided that those few people affected by mental mutancies would not be burnt, but labelled with the term Misfit and condemned to the Council Farms. The most savagely-afflicted Misfits were sent to the strange and remote mountain keep of Obernewtyn, to be treated and isolated in order that other 'normal' people would be spared of this horror.

Plot

Elspeth Gordie, the young orphaned daughter of burned Seditioner parents, is one of those affected by mutancies of the mind. These mutancies manifest themeslves as extraordinary mental powers, abilities which Elspeth ruthlessly conceals in order to avoid sentence as a Misfit. However, following a series of disastrous events at her orphan home, Elspeth is condemned as a Misfit by a fellow orphan. She is sentenced and sent to Obernewtyn, although neither the Council nor the keepers at Obernewtyn suspect the extent of her powers. It is rumoured that at Obernewtyn the enigmatic Dr Seraphim is working on a cure for afflicted Misfits, and those Misfits sent there are used as test subjects in his experiments.

It is at Obernewtyn that Elspeth discovers she is not alone in possessing enhanced mind-powers, or Talents. While plotting her escape with fellow Talented Misfits, she learns that the doctor is in fact a simpleton and his keepers are searching for forbidden Beforetime weapons. They hope to use Misfits with rare abilities to scry out the knowledge for them. However, they are thwarted in their attempts by Elspeth, her new friends and Obernewtyn's farm overseer Rushton Seraphim, who is revealed to be the true and rightful heir to Obernewtyn. Rushton and his small group of followers, Talented Misfits all of them, have long been planning to take over Obernewtyn, and the conflict that ensues between Elspeth and the keepers of Obernewtyn provide them with the opportunity to do so.

After the subsequent uprising at Obernewtyn, Elspeth and her new friends establish a haven for Talented Misfits, relying on their remote location and the rumour of a firestorm to keep prying eyes away. Under the guidance and leadership of Rushton, now Master of Obernewtyn, they work in secret to rescue condemned Talented Misfits from the Council Farms, and also seek out those Talented Misfits whose abilities have not yet been identified by the Council. Obernewtyn becomes both a refuge and a place where mental abilities are nurtured and explored. Obernewtyn also becomes a safe haven for animals, with whom many of the Misfits, including Elspeth, can communicate. The animals, or beasts, are treated as equals at Obernewtyn, and are given free reign to do as they wish.

As her life at Obernewtyn progresses, Elspeth learns that the animals regard her as the prophesied Innle, the person who is fated to lead the beasts to freedom. It becomes apparent to her that she is also destined to be The Seeker, whose responsibility it is to seek out and eliminate the dormant weaponmachines of the Beforetime before they can be used to create another terrible and final holocaust. In this quest she has a fated opposite, aptly named The Destroyer, who is seeking to find the weaponmachines and use them for their evil ends. Elspeth's only guidance in her quest are the clues and hints left for her by the mysterious Beforetime seer Kasanda. The fey cat Maruman and noble horse Gahltha are her only confidants.

Woven amongst Elspeth's private quests are the quests of Obernewtyn as a whole, to provide refuge for Talented Misfits and to establish itself as a force in The Land. The Land is also entering a period of turmoil, as the Rebels, with whom Obernewtyn has an often-fraught relationship, begin a rebellion against the Council and the Herder Faction. The elusive Gypsies, especially those of the pure-blooded Twentyfamilies, likewise play an important role in the political and social struggles of The Land. Elspeth also begins to discover a link between the Twentyfamilies and Kasanda that will aid her in her quest to destroy the weaponmachines.

Elspeth's story is set against a backdrop of scattered references to the Beforetime; indeed Elspeth routinely dreams of, or mentally travels to, the Beforetime. The Beforetimers who populate her dreams seem to hold important clues about her quest and the significance of Obernewtyn. Particularly startling is her discovery that mental powers existed in the Beforetime, and so the abilities of Talented Misfits are not mutancies caused by nuclear contamination, as the Council claims, but the natural evolution of the human brain, catalysed into powerful manifestations by the force of the Great White. This has the potential to be vital in the Misfits' quest to be considered 'normal'. Importantly, the Beforetimers and their world bear a remarkable similarity to our own world, and it seems that we are supposed to read the novels at least partly as a comment on the evils and dangers of the modern world.

Powers of the mind

Powers of the mind may manifest themselves in a variety of ways and as a variety of abilities. Minor, weak powers, such as the ability to true dream or the possession of a canny knack for guessing correctly, seem to be rather widespread, although mostly these abilities exist only in the unconscious levels of the brain. As such, many individuals with these powers are not aware of their abilities and cannot control them. Stronger, conscious powers are called Talents, and may be used at will by their possessor. The seven most common Talents, as defined and named by the Misfits of Obernewtyn, are farseeking, coercion, empathy, healing, futuretelling, beastspeaking and 'teknoguilding'. A Talented Misfit may possess one or more of these Talents, although one particular power will usually manifest itself more strongly than the others. Some combinations of Talents, such as farseeking and beastspeaking, are quite common, while others, such as coercion and empathy, are extremely rare.

At Obernewtyn, each Misfit belongs to a group, or guild, consisting of similarly-Talented individuals. A Misfit is free to choose which guild he or she wishes to belong to, but usually the guild corresponding to their strongest Talent is chosen. Each guild is led by a leadership group consisting of a Guildmaster or Guildmistress (who is usually, but not necessarily, Obernewtyn's strongest possessor of that Talent), a Guilden and one or more Wards. Guilds are responsible for nurturing their members' abilities, and also for contributing something to Obernewtyn as a whole (the Farseeker Guild, for instance, is responsible for scrying out Talented Misfits). Guild leaders meet to discuss the affairs of Obernewtyn in meetings called guildmerge.

The seven Talents, examples of powerful possessors of each Talent, and each guild's master are outlined here:

Outside of these seven powers, other powers have emerged or have been expressed in different ways from the normal way.

Elspeth possesses a mysterious power known as the killing power, something she has described as a 'dark snake' coiled at the base of her mind. It has the power to kill individuals as shown in 'Obernewtyn', which she used to kill Madam Vega or be used to augment her own powers to increased levels (shown in 'Ashling' to break through Dragon's mental defenses and in 'the Keeping Place' to break through the demonband static).

Other powers to have emerged includes Dragon's illusion-generating abilities, which has been described as the result of a critical mass of coercion mental power (other coercers display this power but not to the same degree). Freya's empathy also displays abilities outside of the normal range, her power is described as 'enhancing' allowing people under its affect to perform better than they otherwise would.

Two children described in the series: Lidgebaby (first seen in 'The Farseekers') and Gavyn ('the Keeping Place') also have strange abilities. Lidgebaby's coercion powers allowed him to link other Talents to him, effectively binding them to him to the effect that they were compelled to protect and love him above all else. A side-effect of this never-seen-before merging was the generation of mental static that cancelled out all other powers (as experienced by Elspeth in 'the Farseekers'). Gavyn is described as adantar, translated Elspeth as meaning link, he has an unusual amount of control and effect over animals even though he isn't a beastspeaker. Elspeth and the beasts believed he is some sort of enthraller whose powers only affect beasts.

In addition, the animals of Obernewtyn have formed the Beast guild. Their leader is the mare Avra. The Beast guild have equal rights to participate in guildmerge. It seems that most, if not all, beasts can communicate with each other mentally. Most species of beast are also able to communicate with any human beastspeaker, although some (such as cats, dogs and horses) are more able to do so than others (such as cows and wolves).

Beast language

The animals of the Obernewtyn world are described as sentinent beings capable of speech. However their form of communication is not oral but mental in nature. This form of mental communication has been described as a blending of word and mental images coupled with empathised emotions, making beast-speaking (the ability to communicate with animals) a hard talent to master.

The beast language also uses different words to humans, this has appeared time and time again in the series. Such words include: funaga (human), equine (horse), barud (home), gehdra (the invisible ones), jahran (the cold ones), vlar-rei (children of the waves), coldwhite (snow), galta (nothing) and Innle (seeker). The beast language also tends to run words together to form a single word, examples include freerunning, strongminded, gladshield etc.

Another aspect of beast language is the tendency to use multiple words for the same meaning and often interchangeablely. This is displayed often. For example at the end of 'the Keeping Place' when Maruman is talking to Elspeth he says 'do not wish them gone/away'. Other examples include: I will run by/with you, we are glad/enriched by your coming etc.

Characters

The Obernewtyn Chronicles are populated by a large cast of characters. Only the most important of these are listed here.

The Misfits

• Elspeth Gordie: young Misfit daughter of burned Seditioner parents, and an orphan at the Kinraide Orphan Home until she is condemned to Obernewtyn. An extremely powerful Misfit, Elspeth possesses farseeking, beastspeaking and coercion Talents in equal and prodigious strengths (a trait that is unique to her - no other known Misfit is so strong in three separate Talents), and also bears some abilities associated with futuretelling, healing and teknoguilding. Elspeth is Guildmistress of the Farseeker Guild, and, later, Mistress of Obernewtyn in Rushton's absence. She is also The Seeker and the fated Innle of beast legend, identities she keeps secret from all humans. Loves Rushton.
• Rushton Seraphim: eldest son of former Master of Obenewtyn Michael Seraphim and his lover, and a Misfit with latent powers. Rushton is first known to Elspeth as the farm oveseer at Obernewtyn, a post he holds while he plots to claim his birthright to Obernewtyn from his defective younger half-brother's evil minders. As Master of Obernewtyn, Rushton transforms Obernewtyn into a haven for Misfits and beasts alike. Loves Elspeth.
• Dameon: powerful, blind empath, and, with Matthew, one of Elspeth's first friends at Obernewtyn. Dameon is the beloved Guildmaster of the Empath Guild.
• Matthew: farseeker, and, with Dameon, one of Elspeth's first friends at Obernewtyn. Matthew is the first human with whom Elspeth communicates mentally, and the first Talented human, other than herself, whom Elspeth encounters. He is later made farseeker ward, a post he holds until he is captured by slavers. His current whereabouts are unknown, although he appears in Elspeth's true dreams so he is presumed to be alive.
• Dragon: young wildchild, and extremely powerful empath-coercer. She is discovered and rescued on a Farseeker expedition to the West Coast, and named Dragon by Elspeth for her flame-red hair and fiery temperament. Dragon is probably the daughter of the Red Queen from the distant and mysterious Land of the Red Queen, and as such she holds important clues to Elspeth's personal quests in the deep subconscious levels of her mind.
• Domick: one of Rushton's allies early in the series, and later coercer guilden. Domick is sent to establish a safe house for Obernewtyn in Sutrium, the capital of The Land. There he infiltrates the Council as Obernewtyn's spy, and his espionage work sends him almost insane. He later renounces his ties to Obernewtyn.
• Kella: healer guilden and Elspeth's only female friend. She accompanies Domick to Sutrium, although his work at the Council cause the two to become estranged.
• Daffyd: armsman for the Herder renegade Henry Druid, and Misfit. Daffyd is sympathetic to Obernewtyn's cause and friends with Elspeth and Rushton, but is currently searching for his Misfits friends, who disappeared after the Druid's camp was destroyed by a firestorm.
• Ariel: a Misfit with unidentified Talents, and Elspeth's principal enemy. Canny, rude and ambitious, Ariel was, before Rushton's coup, favoured by the keepers of Obernewtyn and assisted them in their failed quest to find the Beforetime weaponmachines. He is now somehow linked to the inner ranks of both the Council and the Herder Faction, and also to the mysterious slave master Salamander. Elspeth, and many readers, presumed he is the Destroyer, but Carmody has said in interviews that that is 'not necessarily' the case. He is also presumed to be H'rayka, which in beast language means 'one who brings destruction'.

The Beasts

• Maruman: fey, battered cat, and the first being with whom Elspeth communicates mentally. Maruman endures frequent bouts of madness, and even at his most sane he is prone to making cryptic predictions about Elspeth's fate. It is from Maruman that Elspeth learns most about her roles as the Seeker and Innle. According to prophecy, Maruman is the Moonwatcher, one of Elspeth's guardians in her quest.
• Gahltha: noble, black horse, originally mad and spiteful due to mistreatment by his former human owners, but now wise, calm and understanding. Gahltha is Elspeth's constant mount on all her travels, and is probably the Daywatcher, the second of Elspeth's fated guardians.
• Atthis: leader of the Agyllians (or Guanette birds), a powerful, wise and ancient species of bird. Atthis is also one of Elspeth's main sources of information regarding her quest. Atthis often communicates with Elspeth through Maruman.
• Darga: small dog belonging to young farseeker Jik. Darga proved extremely adept at navigating safe pathways through contaminated land. He was lost and presumed dead in the firestorm that destroyed Henry Druid's camp, although Maruman has since said that his return will be important.

The Rebels

• Brydda Llewellyn: seditioner and rebel leader. Brydda becomes friends with Elspeth and is sympathetic to the Misfits' cause. He invites Obernewtyn to join the rebellion against the Council, although this proposal faces stern opposition from many of the other rebel leaders. Brydda was the chief organiser of the rebel alliance in its early stages, although control has increasingly been wrested from him by others, most notably Malik and his allies.

The Gypsies

• Swallow: a Twentyfamilies gypsy, son and heir of the D'rekta (the leader of the Twentyfamilies) who later accedes to the D'rektorship himself. He is somehow connected to Elspeth and her quest, possibly as the fated 'one of Kasanda blood' who will accompany Elspeth on the final stages of her quest. Swallow is a code name; his real name is unknown.

The Beforetimers

• Kasanda: mysterious Beforetime seer, also known as Cassandra Duprey (or Cassy). She lived through the Great White and into the first years or decades following it, when the world was in turmoil. Kasanda was the first gypsy D'rekta and the sister-in-law of the first Red Queen. Before the Great White, she foresaw Elspeth's quest, and following the holocaust, she left scattered clues that will aid Elspeth in fulfilling her quest.

External links

• Obernewtyn.NET The Official Obernewtyn Chronicles Fan Club
• Carmody-Online Isobelle Carmody Fansite
• Penguin Books Official Obernewtyn Chronicles Site
• The Obernewtyn Chronicles series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

• Misplaced Pages articles with plot summary needing attention from July 2007
• Articles to be merged from May 2007
• Science fiction novels
• Science fiction book series
• Novel series