Ashling (The Obernewtyn Chronicles, #3)

Ashling (The Obernewtyn Chronicles: North American Editions #3)

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4.15 of 5 stars 4.15  ·  rating details  ·  2,821 ratings  ·  91 reviews
Reminiscent of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover novels, Obernewtyn introduced Isobelle Carmody as a writer to watch and began a series of novels to entice and enthrall readers of all ages. The Farseekers continued the saga of Obernewtyn and its band of Misfits, children outcast from society because of their psychic abilities—and the story of their heroic leaders, Elspeth G...more
Paperback, 480 pages
Published October 19th 2003 by Tom Doherty Associates (first published 1995)
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Community Reviews

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Ksenia
So I got the first one from the library and towards the end of the first book I knew this was something interesting. But it wasn’t until the second book (at the end of the second book no less) when I knew I had something fascinating in my hands. The moment that really got me was when the horse Gahltha pledges his loyalty to Elspeth and promises to help her and never leave her side (there’s a reason why of course) but I was so moved by this previously-arrogant horse and his devotion, that my hear...more
Kerry
Apr 29, 2009 Kerry rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: 2009, 9, ya, sf, fantasy
Reading The People of Sparks and then The Dreaming Place got me into a YA mood, making me conquer my I’m-so-worried-about-what-will-happen-to-Elspeth collywobbles and I picked up Ashling, the next in Isobelle Carmody’s Chronicles of Obernewtyn. This is a great addition to the story, flowing along at a steady pace and shifting location and focus several times. That meant I stayed interested and didn’t have time to stress too much about Elspeth, concentrating on the story instead.

Elspeth rescues a...more
Shannon
Book 1: Obernewtyn
Book 2: The Farseekers
Book 3: Ashling
Book 4: The Keeping Place
Book 5: Wavesong
Book 6: The Stone Key
Book 7: The Sending
Book 8: The Red Queen (final book, to be published November 2013)

(view spoiler)[ The romance angle kind of left me cold, especially being spread through so many books, but otherwise I really enjoyed it. (hide spoiler)] Very exciting, and gradually moves the story arc along.
Brice
Summary:
Interesting items: plot line, misfit magic system
Drawbacks: No resolution of plot threads
Suggestion: Power skimming makes this book better

Detail:
The plot is engaging, but by the end of the book nothing is resolved. That doesn't make me want to read any more in the series for fear of being endlessly sucked in.
Misfit magic system:
Three general categories of people: normal humans, misfits (special mental powers), and normal humans who have mind blocks that protect them from misfit interfere...more
Dr.q
*Spoilers Implied*

I think that Carmody just gets better and better. it's obvious that the series started while she was a young writer, (i believe she was in high school when she started it) but it has progressively evolved to having a solid voice. I'm in love with all of her characters, that being said all of the perifery characters have more depth than the protagonist. Elspeth is pretty pig-headed and refuses to evolve. Her acceptance at the end of the novel comes out of the BLUE and isn't real...more
Kirstie
Ashling is the third volume of the Obernewtyn Chronicles and follows Elspeth Gordie as she attempts to convince the rebels to accept her and the other Misfits of Obernewtyn, return an injured gypsy to her people and take on the notorious slave trader Salamander. Just a few tasks.

Elspeth has a hectic couple of weeks to deal with in this volume, but I can't help but question (just as teenage me did back when I first read this book) when the heck she was going to finally get around to finding and d...more
Leila
This started out incredibly slowly--so get past the first 80 pages--and then it really picked up pace. Annoyingly, there are certain plot points that seem really obvious to the reader (oh, does ARIEL have something to do with the slavery?) that are not obvious to the characters. That is incredibly frustrating. But it's nice to see many of the characters grow and develop--except for poor Dragon, put in a coma through the entire book (sorta like a character on a soap, when her contract is under di...more
Grace
A good book. :) I'm too tired to write a proper wordy review but I will quickly say that although I doubt I will read this again, I did enjoy it. There's something about carmody's writing that is vaguely hypnotic, I find it sucks me int the stor but I can't quite pinpoint why. I doidn't however like this books pacing, it was rolling along nicely with one plot then in the last quarter made an abrupt turn down a plotline which really could and perhaps should have been turned into another book. I d...more
Alexandra
Spoilers for the first two Obernewtyn books.

Ashling. The point at which Carmody's editor said, let's make it big! Sigh. 520-odd pages is large. Still, she is a page turner, so it didn't take me that long to plough through it a second time.

The book opens with a halfblooded gypsy about to be burned at the stake by a Herder, which is nicely dramatic and also introduces the gypsies themselves, who have only been vaguely alluded to in the previous books. Here, beginning with Elspeth's rescue of the g...more
Rachel
The first three books in Isobelle Carmody’s science fiction series, The Obernewtyn Chronicles, take place after a tragic event called the Great White has killed most of the population and caused some survivors to inherit special mental talents that allow them to read minds, coerce people and speak to animals. These people are called misfits and are unwanted members of society. Often hunted and killed by the government and fanatic religious groups, these misfits must hide their powers at all time...more
jo mo

it isn't necessarily because #1 and #2 of the obernewtyn chronicles were not this good, quite to the contrary. it took some time for me to truly comfortably lose myself in carmody's writing and appreciate her books for their mostly complex characters (except the villains who seem to be cookie-cutter characters, pity that) and engaging plot. i'm pleased with the directions ashling took and can't wait to find out what happens next ...

book pairings:
The Darkangel (Darkangel Trilogy, #1)
Funky
This book is ok, but I think there is too much happening. Too many characters / factions introduced, too much predicting through prophesy and too much rubbish about the "beforetime".

To be honest, I kind of liked how the first two books glossed over the beforetime world; I couldn't care less how people behaved before the apocalypse, nor cared they were experimenting on misfits and mind abilities.

This book is kind of depressing as well. There are quite a few characters who end up in disposed and...more
Caitlin
I think that Carmody gets better and better in her Obernewtyn series. Ashling is the best so far. it has an edge-of-the-seat plot, strongly characterised protagonists and is written very beautifully. It is extremely hard to put down, and it keeps you reading till way past midnight. i used to read other books till i fell asleep. When i read Ashling, i couldn't fall asleep. Every page makes you want to turn to the next.
The characters seem so real, and every thing about them is strongly detailed. t...more
Anthony
Jul 21, 2012 Anthony rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: young adults
Shelves: young-adult, youth
The first two books in the Obernewtyn Chronicles ('Obertnewtyn' and 'The Farseekers', respectively) were easy to read and flowed reasonably well. However, with 'Ashling', the overall story became tedious and, for me, bordered on ridiculous. I'm probably reading these books with eyes that are too old and possibly too critical - not the intended audience. At times, though, when reading the Obernewtyn chronicles I'm reminded of 'The Hunger Games' trilogy (actually, really the other way around - whe...more
Shannon (Giraffe Days)
This review contains spoilers.

Re-reading the third book in the Obernewtyn Chronicles, I was quickly reminded of why it was my favourite for such a long time: things REALLY start happening, on so many levels.

A year has gone by since the events of The Farseekers , making Elspeth about eighteen years old (I'm determined to keep track of her age this time, as it's never mentioned since she was first introduced to us at the age of fourteen). There are again rumours of a soldierguard camp planned for...more
Noodle
Just finished reading Ashling by Isobelle Carmody, book three in The Obernewtyn Chronicles.

I'm enjoying this series immensely. It's a Young Adult or Teen Fiction series, but I think only because the characters are teens themselves, it certainly has a depth beyond an average Teen Fiction story.

It's not always an easy read, but it's captivating and addictive.

What does it get?

‎8/10: "Excellent read, well written, fell right into the fictional world created" on the NBRS.
Karen
I'm on hold for the 4th book so it might be a little while before I get to it. I really like that Elspeth is growing up. It's a bit odd that I'm saying this because I keep forgetting just how young the characters in these books are. This one in particular brings it up constantly, but I keep seeing them in my mind's eye as late twenties or even older (Rushton I have to keep from giving salt-and-pepper hair too sometimes). I really look forward to reading the next ones when they are available.
Erin
I'm noticing little flaws in these books that I didn't notice the first time around (and maybe I've become a more critical reader in the intervening years, although I still think I'm pretty uncritical), but those flaws don't keep me from loving them, since I still find the characters and world extremely compelling. To an extent, this book suffers from "middle-book-itis" in that not enough gets resolved, but there was enough development of the characters and broader plot to keep me happy.
Had Venture
I've really fallen in love with the Obernewtyn series. Ashling was not as satisfying for me as the story arc was a bit all over the place compared to the first two books in the series. However, it introduced a few more fascinating characters and allowed the main characters to grow and expand. If you like Susan Cooper or Ursula K. Le Guin you should enjoy these.
Neill Smith
., In the third book of the Obernewtyn Chronicles Elspeth is torn between her need to pursue her quest to find and destroy the beforetime weapons and the chain of events that keeps her finding people and alliances to help the rebels in their battles with the Council. Her search leads her to the desert country where the Misfits must challenge the rebels to prove that the powers of the Misfits will help the rebels in their upcoming war.
Alivona
Having just read the first two novels, I found the plot dragged on in parts. It almost seemed that the necessary actions, having been outlined earlier in the plot, took too long to be fulfilled. For me it lessened the emotional impact. However, I still found myself eager to read on. It was with a strange ambivalence of satisfaction and concern, I suppose, that I finished the novel.
Laura
This series continues to get just a little bit better with each book, and by the end of this one, I'm actually excited to start the fourth to find out what happens to Elspeth and her friends. It's kind of annoying that Elspeth and her fellow band of Misfits haven't seemed to figure out quite *how* bad Ariel is, because unless my guess is wrong (and at this point it is just a guess, but all clues seem to be pointing that way), he's totally *the* bad guy, but overall a fast and interesting read.
pinknantucket
Again, quite enjoyable. Sorry, not giving very informative reviews today! Same quibbles as for book two - some clunky recaps. Also the "northern" accents bug me a bit (it did in all of them), but I think I'm just not a fan of characters speaking in dialect. I have to think too much when I read it, and we wouldn't want that!
Miranda
really like this heroine-- smart, clever, brave, but still with believable flaws that don't prevent me from really liking her. Enjoyed the plot development. Very gripping. I'm totally sucked in, hooked, and addicted to these books! I must find out what happens next!
Elizabeth
The third story in the Obernewtyn Chronicles has an interesting story line, but mostly sets up the possibility for some fantastic future stories. Sadly I have to wait for the library to get the 4th book (but this does mean I got a few nights of sleep, so maybe this is good).
Jami Leigh
Plot: 4 stars
Characters: 3 stars
Style: 2 stars
Pace: 4 stars
I actually liked this one better than the first two in the series. Hope they keep getting better. They read more on level with Rick Riordan and other middle grade authors than full YA, but still enjoyable.
Jeanne Boyarsky
I liked this one better than book #2. I think it was because the scene changed and the plot advanced more. It also set the stage to move on from Obertnewtyn even more from book 4. Not that they spent so much time in there this book or last.
Alissa
Ashling is my least favourite of the Obernewtyn chronicles - why, I'm not sure. I think there's too much sadness in it and that makes it hard to read. I start, and then remember what is coming next, and then have to put the book down for a while.
Chris
I enjoy this series, but I have some issues with how it sometimes reads like a teenager who read too much bad epic fantasy (e.g., all the guilds) and how everything happens because of fate, not because Elspeth has some other redeeming qualities.
Taylor-paige
This series is a challenge to keep on reading in my opinion, but after you pass the second book in the series, i feel like you no longer have to force yourself to keep reading.
The characters (Ruston and Elspeth) are adictive to follow!
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Ashling (The Obernewtyn Chronicles, #3)
Ashling (The Obernewtyn Chronicles, #3)
Ashling. Isobelle Carmody (Paperback)
Ashling (The Obernewtyn Chronicles, book 3)
Ashling (ebook)

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Isobelle Carmody began the first novel of her highly acclaimed Obernewtyn Chronicles while she was still in high school. The series has established her at the forefront of fantasy writing in Australia.

In addition to her young-adult novels, such as the Obernewtyn Chronicles and Alyzon Whitestarr, Isobelle's published works include several middle-grade fantasies. Her still-unfinished Gateway Trilogy...more
More about Isobelle Carmody...
Obernewtyn (Obernewtyn Chronicles, #1) The Farseekers (The Obernewtyn Chronicles, #2) The Keeping Place (The Obernewtyn Chronicles, #4) The Stone Key (The Obernewtyn Chronicles, #5) Darkfall (The Legendsong, #1)

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