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Obernewtyn - Obernewtyn Chronicles 1 - Isobelle Carmody Book Review

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Review Summary
Obernewtyn is set in the future after a nuclear holocust. The people in this book live in the Land, the only part of the world that is now livable. Fear dominates the Land as people are controlled by three groups, the herders; priests who burn people, and the Councilmen.

The book starts off in an orphan home where Elspeth Gordie lives with her 16 year old brother. Their parents have been burned some years before. Elspeth is 14-15, skinny with black hair. Elspeth has rare mental abilities. She can communicate with other minds like hers, mind to mind (farseeking), talk to animals in the same way (beastspeaking) and coerce. Coercing is making people do something, or not to do something with your mind.

At the start of the book Madame Vega, a representitive from Obernewtyn, pays a vist to the orphan home. Obernewtyn is a ploace surrounded by fear and suspicion and orphans go there and never come back. Madame Vega orders Elspeth to come to Obernewtyn, so Elspeth journeys to Sutrium, home of the Councilmen to be condemmed as a misfit. Misfits are what people like Elspeth, born with rare mental abilities are called. If you are condemmed as a misfit you are either burned or taken to Obernewtyn.

Elspeth then journeys to Obernewtyn. She finds that it is a massive series of buildings surrounded by farms high up in the mountains. At Obernewtyn Elspeth meets other people with the same abilities named Matthew and Dameon. She is forced to work all day in the kitchen or the farms. However, Elspeth and her freinds are unsettled and plan of escape. They think that there is something strange going on at Obernewtyn, behind the everyday things. There are also strange people at Obernewtyn. Ariel, a 12 year old blonde boy radiates power and is high up in the social structure. There is also arrogent Rushton, who is not a misfit but works on the farms.

For Elspeth life is bearable at Obernewtyn. However, who is the real master of Obernewtyn and why are people there so interested in misfits and their queer mental powers?

Daniella, Resident Scholar

Elspeth has been sent to the secluded mountain institution of Obernewtyn, where she thinks she is alone-that is, until she meets Matthew,Dameon and Cameo, others who share the strange mental abilities for which she has been condemned.
She and her new found friends are plotting escape, until they find something that will change them forever,each in different and subtle ways.

Maddi, Resident Scholar

In a world struggling back from the brink of an apocalypse, life is harsh. But for Elspeth Gordie, born with enhanced mental abilities that would see her sterlized or burned by the mysterious Heredr Faction if discovered, it is also dangerous. There is only survival by secrecy, and so she determines never to use her forbidden powers. But it is as if they have their own imperative, and their use inevitably brings her to the attention of the totalitartion Council that rules the land.
Sent to the remote mountain institution of Obernewtyn where escape is impossible, she must throw off her safe cloak of concealment and pit herself against terrible enemies.

John Green, Resident Scholar

A girl strugles to find out the truth about the land she lives in and what she really is, thinking that she is alone. She is sent to Obernewtyn as a misfit.
At Obernewtyn, things are not as they seem...there is a deep secret being hidden and a great overriding mission to accomplish.
READ THIS BOOK and I guarantee you will read the rest of the series.

Melinda Dean, Resident Scholar


Detailed literary breakdown of Obernewtyn - Obernewtyn Chronicles 1
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%




Tone of book - very upbeat
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past
Repressive society story Yes
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Who's a slave/repressed? - discrim against people with mental powers

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Age: - a teen
Has magical/special powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character: - can talk to animals - mind reading - mind control
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - can see into the future
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Physique - average physique

Setting
Terrain - Mountains
Earth setting: - distant future
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to Obernewtyn - Obernewtyn Chronicles 1
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The Keeping Place by Isobelle Carmody
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Nameless Magery by Delia Marshall Turner




Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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