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Isobelle Carmody

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The Stone Key: The Obernewtyn Chronicles 6 Kindle Edition

by Isobelle Carmody (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.6 77 ratings

Book 6 of 8: The Obernewtyn Chronicles

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Friend becomes foe and trust is a thing of the past when the Misfits’ most relentless enemy turns Elspeth’s world upside down. Through coercion and mind control, Ariel stands on the cusp of his ultimate revenge—and it falls to Elspeth to rescue a former ally whose mind and body have been manipulated to unleash a plague that will destroy all it touches.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Engaging characters, pacing, and plots.”—Publishers Weekly

“Blends graceful storytelling with appealing characters.”—Library Journal

From the Paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001FA0JMS
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House Books for Young Readers (December 3, 2008)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 3, 2008
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3236 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 498 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #225,133 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #156 in Teen & Young Adult Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic eBooks
- #166 in Teen & Young Adult Survival Stories eBooks
- #451 in Teen & Young Adult Dystopian eBooks

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4.6 77 ratings

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Isobelle Carmody

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I am an Australian writer of science fiction, fantasy, children's and juvenile literature. I divide my time between a home on the Great Ocean Road in Australia and my travels abroad. I began work on the Obernewtyn Chronicles when I was fourteen years old. I continued to work on these while completing a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in literature and philosophy, followed by a cadetship in journalism. The first two books in the Obernewtyn series were short listed for the CBC Children's Book of the Year in the Older Readers category; My third book Scatterlings won Talking book of the Year. My fourth book The Gathering was a joint winner of the 1993 CBC Book of the Year Award and the 1994 Children's Literature Peace Prize. Another book, Greylands, won an Aurealis Award and a White Raven at Bologna Book Fair while Billy Thunder and the Night Gate was shortlisted for the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature in the 2001 NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Both Little Fur and A Fox Called Sorrow received BAAFTA Industry Awards for design. Alyzon Whitestarr won the coveted Golden Aurealis for overall best novel at the Aurealis Awards. Nan Mc Nabb and were the participating editor of a two book collection of stories titled respectively The Wilful Eye and The Wicked Wood, released in 2011. My recent book The Red Wind won Book of the Year. My latest book is a collection of critically acclaimed stories called Metro Winds, and I am currently working on the final book in the Obernewtyn Chronicles, The Red Queen and another book, The Cloud Road.

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4.6 out of 5

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Carole Eggum

Excellent series

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2009

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This was the hardest book to read because the next in the series is not yet available. These series of books are excellent reading, at times I've had to put a book down for a few days because they seemed bogged down in details. But when I picked it up again I was anxious to continue reading. Am looking forward to the next book.

3 people found this helpful

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daphnicorn

So great

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2014

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I AM IN LOVVVEEEE WITH THIS SERIES AND THIS BOOK DOES NOT DISAPPOINT!!!!! OMG I'M SO SAD ITS OVER BUYING THE NEXT ONE NOW!!!

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R. M. Fisher

"To Ride Swift is to Arrive Soon..."

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2018

Every book in Isabelle Carmody's "The Obernewtyn Chronicles" is longer than the one before, which accounts for the splitting of the fifth volume into two parts. Though "The Stone Key" was originally published by Penguin as a singular book, American publishers Random House split it into Wavesong and "The Stone Key", turning the original volume into the fifth and sixth books in the series.

As I'm a New Zealander, I ended up reading the Australian copy of the book, so any American readers should consider this a review of "Wavesong" and "The Stone Key." By this point we're several books into the series, with dozens of subplots and an even larger cast of characters, so there's no use trying to jump on board the bandwagon with this book. You'll have to head back to Obernewtyn if you want to understand what's going on here.

Elspeth Gordie is a young woman with immense psychic power; a gift that's dangerous to possess in a post-apocalyptic world that's only just beginning to regain some measure of civilization. All across the land rebels are waging wars against the religious fanatics known as the Herders, who enlist or execute people with Talents like Elspeth. She and her people initially took refuge in an isolated sanctuary called Obernewtyn, and have only recently committed to overthrowing the Herders.

Elspeth has a particularly vested interest in defeating the sect: her love Rushton was captured by them and tortured into near-madness. Now he hates the sight of her, and she can't foresee a time when he'll ever be able to regain his affection for her.

"The Stone Key" is a rather episodic novel, which has Elspeth face a range of challenges over the course of the story. From assisting in the rebellion, to a magical sea voyage, to finding Beforetime ruins, to discovering more clues in an ancient prophecy, every few chapters takes a different tangent. There's also a mystery involving the identity of a slave-trader, the reappearance of an old nemesis who assisted in Rushton's torture, and plenty of other subplots involving Elspeth's fellow Misfits. It's no surprise that the uncut version of "The Stone Key" is the size of a brick.

As ever the story is told in first-person narration by Elspeth herself. She has a down-to-earth perspective on things, and is often surprised when others are impressed by her wisdom and experience. By now I've grown fond of her as a protagonist, but it's a little harder to keep track of the wide range of supporting characters, especially since many of them have similar-sounding names. (Though Maruman, the aging, cantankerous, one-eyed cat is always a delight).

It took me about three months to get through "The Stone Key", such was its size and pacing. Carmody has created an immense world with its own traditions, histories and cultures, and it's to her credit that she's managed to keep track of her wide array of plots and subplots – so far. This may be the book that has Misfits and rebels defeat the oppression of the Herders, but there's still a long way to go if Elspeth is to achieve peace and tranquillity throughout the land.

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Kim rawlings

love it

Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2012

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try them all great read, the whole concept draws you in you are just busting to find out what happens to the seeker next i love it

One person found this helpful

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S. Postel

17 year old daughter loves this series!

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2009

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My 17 year old asked for the next book in the series, as she "loves" the story so far! She is a big reader of fantasy, and said this one fits right in great!!

2 people found this helpful

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Teresa Woodson

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2014

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great read, fantastic series, read all 7 books one right after another, kept me on my seat!

One person found this helpful

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Cherub

I love this series!

Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2013

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Great series, I love them all! I Definitely recommend to anyone wanting a fantasy adventure, regardless of age. Very addictive.

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Darcy K Creviston

I continue to love most of Carmody's characters

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2015

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I continue to love most of Carmody's characters. Brydda has always been a favorite. And I continue to love the strong female characters throughout the entire story. We need more stories with strong female characters. I also really like that Carmody has constructed a very sound fantasy/sci-fi world with very solid rules that it's guided by. In a lot of ways, I think she writes with the same depth and epic scope as Brandon Sanderson.

That said, I continue to have a few ongoing frustrations with some of the themes throughout the series. First, the Sadorians are supposed to be peace-loving people who abhor slavery, yet in other respects, they are violent people who disregard the will and freedom of others. This is evidenced by their poor treatment of disfigured children, the way they allow men to "hunt" for brides, and also by the code that once a man has proposed, he must kill himself if he is rejected. This seems contradictory to me.

Also, there was a moment toward the middle of the book where I wanted to slap Elspeth in the face. Roth had just helped her more than she could have expected, more than she could have ever hoped. He gave her food, money, clothing, a horse, and helped her to get Domick out of the city, and all she can do is say to him in about as self-righteous a way as she could, that once she leaves the city with the horse that she will have to set him free because she believes that animals shouldn't be owned by people......Pick your battles, honey, and show a little gratitude. And while you are out there saving the world, maybe consider that you are doing the same thing to others as you have been struggling with all along: forcing your will on them. For someone who has lived her entire life trying to struggle to survive and being forced to live by the rules of others, maybe she could lead by example rather than being so blatantly preachy.

Lastly, it's the sixth book into the series, and Rushton and Elspeth have finally gotten together, and I find that I don't really care. I would be less sad if he had died than if Brydda, Matthew, Jakoby, Daffyd, Maruman, or almost any of the other main characters died. Besides a few memories of when they were together, and examples of how good of a leader Rushton is, Carmody hasn't convinced me why I should want Elspeth and Rushton to get together. He's only ever a peripheral presence in any of the books, and you never see him and Elspeth working together at anything. Honestly, right now I'd be much happier if Elspeth ended up with the Swallow than with Rushton. We know a lot more about him. We know that there's an attraction there, or was. We know that he has made multiple sacrifices for her. And we have seen them fight side by side. The overall plot is very engaging (I've read the first six books in about a week), but I am not buying into the Rushton romance.

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Top reviews from other countries

MWL

the good read keeps up...

Reviewed in Germany on February 4, 2015

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...every new book seems to get more stiffly to the Point, but it still keeps me riveting to the lines... until the Story wraps up, I'll love goin on with the kid and her lovely animal friends... (not so the other humans, they are kinda boring... ;-) )

drazzywazzy

I love Isobelle Carmody

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2013

Verified Purchase

I love all the Obernewtyn books. Exciting and you get totally involved in the world. Couldn't put any of the books down.

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The Stone Key: The Obernewtyn Chronicles 6 Kindle Edition

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