Rating: 
Summary: One of my favorite books
Review: This second book in the Obernewtyn Chronicles is a fantastic sequel and a joy to read in and of itself. While the first book, Obernewtyn, kept to a typical first book style (i.e. it could have stood alone as a single book), The Farseekers takes its place as part of an ongoimg story.For background, the world that Carmody has created is a post-apoctalyptic one. The consequences of the Great White, as it is called in the books, are rampent. Besides tainted land and water, there are numerous mutations amoungst the people of the land, both physical and mental. In the land, there exists an oppressive Council to control the people and the mutations with a strict hand. These books tell the story of a special group whose mutations have given them special mental abilities (esp, ability to talk with animals...). At their mountain home at Obernewtyn, they must hide from the Council, but also fulfill their goal of making Misfits (as they are called) acceptable in the land. Obernewtyn has become a haven for such Misfits and there they are trained to use their talent well. But the main character, Elspeth Gordie, has a mission that goes beyond her fellow Misfits' plans. No one but her knows about it, and even she is not all clear on the details. It is in The Farseekers that she discovers more about who she is and what she has been called to do. So The Farseekers tells of Elspeth's mission and of the plans and purposes of Obernewtyn - which for now are bound together. The adventures that Elspeth and company engage in are exciting and are meaningful due to the ultimate purposes of the group. It is the story of a quest across land and water to find an old library and a very powerful Misfit. As they journey, they meet others in the land who oppose the Council as well as face the harsh realities of danger and death. As one reads, one realizes the significance of details mentioned in book 1. New characters and new plots are revealed and new relationships form. The strong points of the book, besides a really great story, are the details and the character development. Isobelle Carmody has a fantastic way with details. Everything has a purpose in her books, which is hard to realize during the first reading. By the end of the second book, and most certainly by the end of the subsequent books, one absolutely has to reread the earlier books. In addition, the characters in the books are very real. Carmody describes them in many facets - physically, emotionally, intellectually ... etc. One becomes attached to the characters very quickly and (at least for me) I feel like I am Elspeth as I read. It is almosr painful to finish the book because I so want to be back in her world, in her place. Conversations are realistic. For example, three, simple, short words said by one character to another near the end of The Farseekers (you'll know them when you read them) are in my mind the most tender and emotionally wonderful words I have ever read. Buy this book, buy all the books and read them over and over again. Enjoy them. I can't praise them enough. This is the best fantasy series I have ever read. (Book 4 is only available from Australia right now, and we are all desperatly awaiting book 5)
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite books
Review: This second book in the Obernewtyn Chronicles is a fantastic sequel and a joy to read in and of itself. While the first book, Obernewtyn, kept to a typical first book style (i.e. it could have stood alone as a single book), The Farseekers takes its place as part of an ongoimg story. For background, the world that Carmody has created is a post-apoctalyptic one. The consequences of the Great White, as it is called in the books, are rampent. Besides tainted land and water, there are numerous mutations amoungst the people of the land, both physical and mental. In the land, there exists an oppressive Council to control the people and the mutations with a strict hand. These books tell the story of a special group whose mutations have given them special mental abilities (esp, ability to talk with animals...). At their mountain home at Obernewtyn, they must hide from the Council, but also fulfill their goal of making Misfits (as they are called) acceptable in the land. Obernewtyn has become a haven for such Misfits and there they are trained to use their talent well. But the main character, Elspeth Gordie, has a mission that goes beyond her fellow Misfits' plans. No one but her knows about it, and even she is not all clear on the details. It is in The Farseekers that she discovers more about who she is and what she has been called to do. So The Farseekers tells of Elspeth's mission and of the plans and purposes of Obernewtyn - which for now are bound together. The adventures that Elspeth and company engage in are exciting and are meaningful due to the ultimate purposes of the group. It is the story of a quest across land and water to find an old library and a very powerful Misfit. As they journey, they meet others in the land who oppose the Council as well as face the harsh realities of danger and death. As one reads, one realizes the significance of details mentioned in book 1. New characters and new plots are revealed and new relationships form. The strong points of the book, besides a really great story, are the details and the character development. Isobelle Carmody has a fantastic way with details. Everything has a purpose in her books, which is hard to realize during the first reading. By the end of the second book, and most certainly by the end of the subsequent books, one absolutely has to reread the earlier books. In addition, the characters in the books are very real. Carmody describes them in many facets - physically, emotionally, intellectually ... etc. One becomes attached to the characters very quickly and (at least for me) I feel like I am Elspeth as I read. It is almosr painful to finish the book because I so want to be back in her world, in her place. Conversations are realistic. For example, three, simple, short words said by one character to another near the end of The Farseekers (you'll know them when you read them) are in my mind the most tender and emotionally wonderful words I have ever read. Buy this book, buy all the books and read them over and over again. Enjoy them. I can't praise them enough. This is the best fantasy series I have ever read. (Book 4 is only available from Australia right now, and we are all desperatly awaiting book 5)
Rating:
Summary: One adventure after another.
Review: When i say one adventure after another i mean this book being an adventure after the first but also in the book itself. Starting with Elspeth Gordie seemingly much later after the inccident with Alexi, Ariel, and Madam Vega, Elspeth is now the guildmistress of the Farseekers.(Hence the name of the book.) It's obvious that Rushton and Elspeth are destined to be together but neither seem to realize it. A blindness not of sight, but mind. After the group leaves Obernewtyn and is captured by Henry Druid's men, i felt drawn to Gilbert, a kind man who spoke his mind which seemed to differ from the other armsmen. Even though he said that mutants cant be all that bad i got the impression that if he knew Elspeth was one he would have recoiled and had her and her compainons burnt. After their escape i was shocked that there could be a city underneath a mountain, i wondered once more in what part of the world we know today do they live in? At first i didnt trust Kaylen and her husband, but i grew to trust them. I was shocked at the Herder's brutallity in Aborium. But escape was a releif to my conscience. Ghosts seemed strange to Isobelle Carmody's world, i couldn't picture it in the world of sedition and magic. Not ghosts, they were to supernatural for this book. But upon meeting Dragon i was puzzled as to how she could have survived without food and water in such a waste land. I have no more time to explain the rest of the book but this book deserved a full 5 stars. But anyone who wishs to read this WILL ABSOLUTLY HAVE TO read Obernewtyn (volume 1 in the series) first.
Rating:
Summary: A Magical Book...
Review: Without ever resorting to anything so prosaic as magic. Brilliantly written, it is well worth traversing Obernewtyn (which isn't bad), in order to arrive at Farseekers, and then Ashling. The series captures so very much of life itself. I actually read this book first (then went back to Obernewtyn), and never regretted it. Although difficult to get hold of some parts of this series in the U.S, it is worth the search...
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