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Post by Swallow on Jul 11, 2006 11:30:19 GMT 11
HOLY COW some of you guys are so OLD
young'ns these days. All excited and screaming all the time. Back in my day, we didn't scream, we didn't even have these internetty things.
Geez nych, what a way to make a person feel ancient. The books were published 20 years ago, you'd have to expect for there to be older readers simply based on the fact that IC can't finish a series to save her life  |
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Pippin
Gypsy
Thanks Min for listing the Avatar sites :)
Posts: 14
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Post by Pippin on Jul 11, 2006 19:27:58 GMT 11
It's nice to know other "Over 20s" are scrounging around in the "Childrens" / "Young Adults" section of the bookshop.  I thought I was the only one silly enough to still be hanging out for the completion of this almost 20 year series! I still love reading/re-reading them tho!!! Only problem is I've also fallen in love with Legendsong Series... I guess I'll just have to be content if I get to read them all before I'm so old my eyesight leaves me! |
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Post by Rilla on Jul 11, 2006 19:43:30 GMT 11
Lol, my mum first read Obernewtyn back when it was first published, and she loves it And she's 51 |
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Post by Marija on Jul 12, 2006 0:15:56 GMT 11
Pip- When I pop into the library I generally head to the young adult section first =P I'm a little older than the teenage audience they are aimed at but I like them better! =P And ohhh!! I want someone to have children so that I can buy them all the beautiful picture books out there.
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Post by Dark One on Jul 12, 2006 7:16:49 GMT 11
Well, as the oldest person on this site, i say it doesn't matter how old you are, as long as you feel young at heart!
I started reading (and finished) the first two books a few weeks before i found this place. I'd bought them a couple of years before and they'd just sat gathering dust for a while. One day i was looking on my bookshelves for something new to read, and found them. I haven't looked back since
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Post by Elspeth on Jul 12, 2006 11:01:25 GMT 11
I honestly think that the most original writing is actually coming out of the YA section. Recently, I picked up two books at the school library I work in. One was a fantasy book aimed at an adult audience, the other was aimed for a YA audience. The adult book bored me to tears, although I kept going for a hundred or so pages, hoping it might improve. There was nothing original in there, simply a re-hashing of old and hackneyed fantasy concepts. I gave up and started on the other book which is already far more interesting. It's not wonderfully written, but at least it has some interesting concepts. It's original and engaging and more rewarding than the fantasy book that was supposedly written for an older audience. Thus, I have no problems in drifting towards the YA section of bookstores or libraries. I'm almost certain of finding a far more interesting read there than I would in the mainstream, adult section.  |
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Post by Swallow on Jul 12, 2006 11:23:27 GMT 11
does it sound terrible to say that i'm moving further and further away from fantasy these days? I'm actually finding more joy in reading history real-life books, biographies and the like. I'm turning into a boring adult reader  I mean, i still like fantasy and all, but a lot of the fantasy books i pick up these days disappoint me so much in the reading i just can't sit through them.
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Post by Cat-Eyes on Jul 12, 2006 13:24:42 GMT 11
You don't like Billy Thunder, Cat-Eyes? What about her other books?? While I still hate Billy Thunder, I do like Darksong and Dark-forgotten it's name. Those are the only other ones I've read. ;D |
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sarahjane
Gypsy
Get me 30 cc's of chocolate milk and a choc mint cookie, stat!
Posts: 295
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Post by sarahjane on Jul 15, 2006 13:57:51 GMT 11
I started reading Obernewtyn in ... 2004. I had Lunicatcalledelf's copy of it in my room for a year. I read the first half heaps of times. I couldnt get into it. Eventually she made me though. And by the end I couldnt wait to steal the rest off her. They acutally pretty much made me friends with Talisha. Gave me something to rant to her about. Thanks Oberchron! |
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Post by Marija on Jul 15, 2006 16:08:06 GMT 11
I love your avvie Sarah Jane =)
Bunne- That's a really good observation! Actually, I think you are right =) With adult fantasy it seems like everything is the same, which is why my reading of adult fantasy isn't very broad.
Flit- Expanding your reading is great! What do you think of historical fantasy like the stuff by Juliet Marrilier (sp?)?
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Post by Megana on Jul 15, 2006 18:34:59 GMT 11
If I ever start reading proper adult books, someone shoot me lol, my shelves are packed full of Young Adult books, some of which I've had since I was a kid!! I just can't bear to part with them!! Even now, when I'm looking for new books, I head straight for the young adult section. Adult books just don't interest me ... I think it's the cover art. Has anyone else ever noticed that adult book covers are so dull compared to young adult book covers?? Maybe it's just me, but I can pick a young adult book section a mile away, simply because it looks brighter and more inviting than the adult section But that's just me
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Post by Cat-Eyes on Jul 15, 2006 19:23:25 GMT 11
I hate it how Harry Potter was also released with Adult Covers. What are they, too ashamed to read a kids book? And the covers suck! I much prefer YA covers to adult ones which are usually incrediably boring and the author's name is almost bigger than the title of the book.
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Post by Elspeth on Jul 15, 2006 19:32:12 GMT 11
The young adult versions are also cheaper. The last time I looked, they retailed for around $14.95, whereas the adult versions were more like $19.95. And yet, they both contain exactly the same words! Were there really adults out there willing to pay another five dollars just to have a more "mature" looking cover?
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Post by Cat-Eyes on Jul 15, 2006 22:17:19 GMT 11
Maybe it's compensation for the publishers having to create such a boring cover. Or they think that since these people are too high and mighty to look in the YA section they won't notice it's more expensive |
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Post by satania on Jul 16, 2006 14:50:55 GMT 11
i saw Obernewtyn at my primary schools book fair in 2001, and i completely fell inlove with it! i immediatly started searching for the other and read them. when i returned them i saw a whole section of IC's books and borrowed them all out. all during one week. |
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Post by Sezzaxox on Jul 22, 2006 22:17:29 GMT 11
I Started Reading them last year 'Cuase one of my aunts gave it to my for Cristmas along with Billy Thunder. I Love both of the Series and I want to Read DarkSong and Darkfall or what ever there called.
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Fuzzy Elf
Gypsy
Who will you stand with?[x=jacee494]
Posts: 81
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Post by Fuzzy Elf on Jul 24, 2006 13:12:37 GMT 11
I first ran into the Obernewtyn series at the university library. The book was Ashling (book 3, the ugly cover). Anyway, I read the descriptions in the front about guilds and places and other stuff and didn't really understand what the series was about. Then I got about 5-6 pages in and still didn't understand what was going on so I chucked it back on the shelf and labeled it as a crappy boring book. Then, at some point in the next couple of months I ran into the first Obernewtyn book and was hooked. When I got to book 3 again, I started reading and then went, "Hey, I remember this book." And funnily enough, it made sense and I loved it this time. I guess there are some series that are meant to be read in order. ;D Since then I've read all of Isobelle Carmody's books that have come out (at my library) and I really like Alyzon Whitestarr (hoping for a sequel). I also prefer the Young Adult books at the library. They are more fun because the authors don't go on, and on and on about really boring irrelevant stuff. The only thing that sucks is that most tend to be rather short (150 pages) but Obernewtyn is the exception which is great. And HP. Oh and my other all time favourite author is John Marsden. Tomorrow when the war began is also a great YA series. YA is the place to be in the library. I just wish Carmody would finish her series off soon (Darksong and Obernewtyn).  |
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Ceirwan
Gypsy
Yay for Wanderers!
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Post by Ceirwan on Jul 26, 2006 23:10:23 GMT 11
I'm one of the oldies as well.
I first read Obernewtyn in 1993. I was 11 in year seven at high school. I was on a shopping trip with my dad and as a special treat he said he'd buy me a book. I rummaged through the shelves and was intrigued by the cover of Obernewtyn. I know you guys have talked about an ugly cover, but in this earlier version it had a beautiful cover, with a girl wrapped in a blue cloak.
I absolutely adored the book, but I didn't get Farseekers until a year later.
I didn't get Ashling until it came out a year after that (1995) when I was in year 9, aged 14. I took it on a three-day holiday to Tasmania with my family. We were supposed to trek up Cradle Mountain. I remember spending about two hours on the trek, gave up due to the cold and rain, and spent the rest of the time obsessively sitting in front of the fire reading Ashling. That's all I remember of that trip - reading Ashling!
Those books defined my teenage years. No doubt about it. I think I have actually grown into a version of Elspeth in many ways because they were such formative years and I read those books so many times then.
I was so disappointed that there weren't any other books that I didn't really pick them up to read them any more after that.
Until 2003 - when I discovered that The Keeping Place had been released years earlier. So I re-read the series again. I cried a lot. I lost track of time when reading them. I'd forgotten how much I missed them.
I also felt exactly like Elspeth again - I think I matched her approximate age in the novels every time I first picked one up to read it. I grew up with her in so many ways.
After that, I made the serious decision to become a fiction writer. So the Obernewtyn Chronicles have defined my life. Strange when I contemplate just how much, but I've never loved any books with such passion or identified with anything else so closely.
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Post by conejita on Jul 27, 2006 1:52:25 GMT 11
I first picked up Obernewtyn when a friend of mine in year seven (1997) lent me a bunch of books knowing that I was a grade A bookworm. After that I have re-read it so many times as well as all the others. *sigh* Those were the days, sitting in our brown uniforms at art class not really working but having theories on who should play Rushton, and when was Mz Carmody releasing another book.
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MajiKat
Guildmember
Signs of the Sacrifice[x=Mysterikat]
Posts: 1,202
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Post by MajiKat on Aug 5, 2006 17:12:20 GMT 11
hmmm okay. i picked up Ober after reading Louis Lawerence's 'Children of the Dust', which i kind of liked, so i was into that post-apocalytic theme. i think it was when i was in year 7, so thats makes it, ummm, about 1992... so i took it home and devoured it (Bunne - mine was the one with ugly cover too! athough, strangely enough, that cover kind of drew me in, cause it was so ugly...). anyways, it went from there. i made my mum buy me Ober, then the Farseekers. i think i was in year 9 when Ashling came out. between these i had bought Scatterlings and The Gathering. IC did a talk at a local school when i was in year 8 so i got to meet her and get four of my books signed. she actually had her manuscript for Ashling with her, and my teacher (who was a big fan) had a sneaky peak at it and Isobelle caught her! its was so funny! later that night, IC did a talk for the local arts society, and my friend and i got to go and hear her and talk with her again. it was awesome. it was one of those defining moments, listening to her talk, and it made me realise that i needed to write my storied and my poems. i had been feeling a bit weird about writing all the time (no one in my family writes, none of my friends wrote) but listening to IC made me realise that it was okay to be a wirter. so i've been a fan and been hopelessly addicted to her work (she has not written anything that i haven't fallen in love with, for different reasons) for 14 years! i sometimes can't believe i have been following one author so closely for so long. thats nearly half my life! boy do i feel old... and yeah, i'm a huge fan of YA fiction - i don't know what it is about it, but it interests me far more than alot of other stuff (i've been reading heaps of the Quentaris books lately). for instance, i don't read crime, i don't like to read mystery and i'm very very picky with my fiction. i love historical fiction however, if its well written and well researched. and i enjoy the 'classics'. |
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scruffy
Gypsy
hehehe... Sheepies... :)[x=drscruffy]
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Post by scruffy on Aug 5, 2006 19:54:26 GMT 11
Old *cough*...  My father gave me Obernewtyn for christmas in 1988 - I was 9 (yes, that meansI'm actually closer to 30 than I am to 20) . I remember unwrapping it and thinking "What? Why would Dad buy me this ugly book?" However, my parents had instilled in my (even at that age) that you should never judge a book by its cover - and this book has a little sticker (an actual sticker!) on it saying it was nominated for the Children's Book of the Year, and I was bookish enough to know that they don't just hand those out.... So I read the blurb and thought "what on earth was Dad thinking???" Utterly uninspired, but too polite to let my dad think he'd dudded on the christmas present I started reading it. I loved it. From the very first sentence, I loved it. I couldn't put it down and as soon as I finished it, I insisted my parents read it (I'm always insisting that everyone I meet reading them, as it turns out). Then, when I was in my first year of highschool (1992) I found Farseekers in my school library... Obernewtyn was (and still is) on my high rotation list, and I recognised the title before I recognised the author... I read it and loved it (I actually only managed to buy a copy last year!). That was when the waiting began. So... in summary, I started in 1988, and I was 9. I'm 27 soon, and I'm still waiting. I'm very patient. |
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MajiKat
Guildmember
Signs of the Sacrifice[x=Mysterikat]
Posts: 1,202
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Post by MajiKat on Aug 5, 2006 21:28:36 GMT 11
you're the same age as me Scruffy - you just found the book earlier than i did - by a few years!
i too am very patient...i've had to supplement my authors and reading material in between IC books - there was a time when it seemed she'd put a new book out every year...or there abouts...
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Post by Elspeth on Aug 5, 2006 23:29:17 GMT 11
So I read the blurb and thought "what on earth was Dad thinking???" Utterly uninspired, but too polite to let my dad think he'd dudded on the christmas present I started reading it. That was pretty much my reaction when I kept picking the book up in my school library. The name "Obernewtyn" was so appealing but the blurb just didn't sound like anything at all original. It was only because I had exhausted all other possiblities that I eventually gave up and borrowed it. |
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scruffy
Gypsy
hehehe... Sheepies... :)[x=drscruffy]
Posts: 249
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Post by scruffy on Aug 5, 2006 23:44:13 GMT 11
Yes, I think the blurb writer should have been taken out and beaten around the head with a wet fish...
It manages to summarise the story whislt at the same time killing any possible imagination or sparkle that the book has. It's very naf.
What is the blurb like in later editions?
(I must admit that I am now very fond of that cover image though... Especially the way Maruman is a non-descript colour except for the gold eyes...)
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Roland
Guildmember
Ashlings' Prankmonkey 
Healer's Guildleader[x=crazedturkey]
Posts: 1,622
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Post by Roland on Aug 6, 2006 13:18:28 GMT 11
So I read the blurb and thought "what on earth was Dad thinking???" Utterly uninspired, but too polite to let my dad think he'd dudded on the christmas present I started reading it. That was pretty much my reaction when I kept picking the book up in my school library. The name "Obernewtyn" was so appealing but the blurb just didn't sound like anything at all original. It was only because I had exhausted all other possiblities that I eventually gave up and borrowed it. LOL me too. I'd pretty much exhausted the rest of the library, so I finally read that one! Glad I did |
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I thought I was the only one silly enough to still be hanging out for the completion of this almost 20 year series! 
I mean, i still like fantasy and all, but a lot of the fantasy books i pick up these days disappoint me so much in the reading i just can't sit through them. 
