What do you think?
Rate this book
With the end of the wintertime that isolates Obernewtyn from the rest of the world, Farseeker guildmistress Elspeth Gordie again sets out for the lowlands. But she soon finds that not everyone welcomes the changes brought about by the rebellion. There is a traitor among the rebels—a traitor whose hatred of Misfits puts Elspeth in danger as she attempts to thwart an invasion of fanatical Herders.
480 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
25 people are currently reading
848 people want to read
About the author
Isobelle Carmody
104 books1,734 followersIsobelle 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 has been favorably compared to The Wizard of Oz and the Chronicles of Narnia. The Little Fur quartet is an eco-fantasy starring a half-elf, half-troll heroine and is fully illustrated by the author herself.
Isobelle's most recent picture book, Magic Night, is a collaboration with illustrator Declan Lee. Originally published in Australia as The Wrong Thing, the book features an ordinary housecat who stumbles upon something otherworldly. Across all her writing, Isobelle shows a talent for balancing the mundane and the fantastic.
Isobelle was the guest of honor at the 2007 Australian National Science Fiction Convention. She has received numerous honors for her writing, including multiple Aurealis Awards and Children's Book Council of Australia Awards.
She currently divides her time between her home on the Great Ocean Road in Australia and her travels abroad with her partner and daughter.
Librarian's note: Penguin Australia is publishing the Obernewtyn Chronicles in six books, and The Stone Key is book five. In the United States and Canada this series is published by Random House in eight books; this Penguin Australia book is split into two parts and published as Wavesong (Book Five) and The Stone Key (Book Six).
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 has been favorably compared to The Wizard of Oz and the Chronicles of Narnia. The Little Fur quartet is an eco-fantasy starring a half-elf, half-troll heroine and is fully illustrated by the author herself.
Isobelle's most recent picture book, Magic Night, is a collaboration with illustrator Declan Lee. Originally published in Australia as The Wrong Thing, the book features an ordinary housecat who stumbles upon something otherworldly. Across all her writing, Isobelle shows a talent for balancing the mundane and the fantastic.
Isobelle was the guest of honor at the 2007 Australian National Science Fiction Convention. She has received numerous honors for her writing, including multiple Aurealis Awards and Children's Book Council of Australia Awards.
She currently divides her time between her home on the Great Ocean Road in Australia and her travels abroad with her partner and daughter.
Librarian's note: Penguin Australia is publishing the Obernewtyn Chronicles in six books, and The Stone Key is book five. In the United States and Canada this series is published by Random House in eight books; this Penguin Australia book is split into two parts and published as Wavesong (Book Five) and The Stone Key (Book Six).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
July 11, 2012
I am LOVING this series and need to slow down before I run out of books!
January 31, 2009
Book 5 of 8, I believe, though that has changed several times. It is actually pretty boring. The first three books I enjoyed, but this volume and The Keeping Place were too slow moving for my taste, and overly stuffed with characters. Clues and integral plot points are dispensed pell mell and rarely, so it feels like everything is just barely creeping forward. After years of waiting, I am anxious for the finale. Still, her post-apocolyptic world, the talents of the Misfits and the flashbacks to the beforetimes are intersting and those who like lots of political intrigue will enjoy the differing factions and how Elspeth and her companions have to navigate through them.
November 28, 2011
Yikes,
i didn't think that i was going to agree with the reviews that i read before i started this one but holy cow - the entire damn thing was prose. we get thrown so much background that it makes the reader's head spin. and it's four hundred pages that takes place in like, a week. it's confusing because it should be very fast paced and it drags on, and on, and on.....
needless to say i'm intrigued as to how the Faction is going to react to their leader dying and basically everyone else in control.
ps i'm so sick of savior Elspeth. someone else needs to have the spot light a bit.
i didn't think that i was going to agree with the reviews that i read before i started this one but holy cow - the entire damn thing was prose. we get thrown so much background that it makes the reader's head spin. and it's four hundred pages that takes place in like, a week. it's confusing because it should be very fast paced and it drags on, and on, and on.....
needless to say i'm intrigued as to how the Faction is going to react to their leader dying and basically everyone else in control.
ps i'm so sick of savior Elspeth. someone else needs to have the spot light a bit.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
November 25, 2008Like, maybe if she would actually write the damn thing?
Frankly, this is getting so long-winded that I am seriously considering giving up. The previous book was so badly-written that I had trouble even liking it in a trashy-fantasy kind of way.
ETA: according to the Random House website, it is a mere 480 pages long! Now I'm definitely going to read it: I simply must see how darling Isobelle contrives to compress the multitude of narratorial threads into such a relatively short book. Perhaps by sacrificing character development to the extent that all names are abbreviated to initials?
Frankly, this is getting so long-winded that I am seriously considering giving up. The previous book was so badly-written that I had trouble even liking it in a trashy-fantasy kind of way.
ETA: according to the Random House website, it is a mere 480 pages long! Now I'm definitely going to read it: I simply must see how darling Isobelle contrives to compress the multitude of narratorial threads into such a relatively short book. Perhaps by sacrificing character development to the extent that all names are abbreviated to initials?
July 18, 2009
After my grave disappointment with The Keeping Place, I was reluctant to begin Wavesong and kept finding excuses to put it off. However, I finally did pick it up, only to discover Book 5 is a happy surprise. Once the pace really got going, about a fifth of the way in, it never relented because from that point on it is almost nonstop adventure, danger, and intrigue, rife with seat-of-the-pants decisions and skin-of-the-teeth survival, all of it ending on a cliffhanger that had me immediately reaching for The Stone Key. I'm glad I gave Wavesong a chance. It brought the excitement of the series back to me.
October 19, 2010
I was so worried to get going with this series again because the fourth one was, not horrible, but much slower than the others. It was a pointless fear. This one took off from the beginning and didn't stop till the last page, and even then I was left staring wide eyed at the blank page signaling the end of the book. What the?! I need more!
June 26, 2016
Fantastic! This is actually part 1 of the American release of The Stone Key. So much happened to further the story in this book, more than any of the previous books in the series- I couldn't put it down (especially when I'd gotten to the latter part of the book). I highly recommend it!
July 12, 2017
Hmm. The ending pages of this one were very beautiful. Book 5 of Obernewtyn. I'm still frustrated by the weaknesses of her writing, while also feeling like I have invested so much into reading this series that I have to see it through to the end. 3 more books!
August 9, 2010
I'm really enjoying this series...finally YA books that aren't focused on sex, wanting to have sex and more sex!
I particularly like the story line & the protagonist. I love her name...Elsbeth.
I particularly like the story line & the protagonist. I love her name...Elsbeth.
February 7, 2013
The main character keeps "almost" dying and coming back to life, it's geting anoying!
August 25, 2014
And I'm waiting.... And I'm waiting... Oh look something mildly related to the main storyline has happened!!
March 10, 2015
awesome - read my review in book one....they just keep dragging me further and further into the Obernewtyn hide-away and deeper into the Land and its inhabitants
November 20, 2015
Loved this book so so much, just like all the others!
February 24, 2019
Well, I really don't want to give this book two stars, but that's where it falls on my scale.
I've decided on one problem to write about for this review, which isn't necessarily as bad as some of the other problems this book has, but did bother me the most. That being: Elspeth finds many people who are sympathetic to her cause, who all have diverse in personalities and backgrounds, however anyone in opposition to her is seen as this generic bad person who has very few distinguishing features from other bad people, other than the fact that they are bad. As Elspeth is a coercer, it's easy to get these people on her side, but I would have thought that she would at least try to win some of them over to her side. This isn't as much of a problem in other series that have a "good versus bad" setup, but it doesn't work here because the misfits are set up as a group of open minded individuals who are wrongfully and automatically viewed as evil by large segments of society. It seems hypocritical to me, and worries me for future books (,because yes, despite my rating, I'm invested in this now and will continue to read this series).
My favorite thing about this book was the communication patterns of the dolphins. It was fun to read, and I feel overall that it was a great and creative choice.
I've decided on one problem to write about for this review, which isn't necessarily as bad as some of the other problems this book has, but did bother me the most. That being: Elspeth finds many people who are sympathetic to her cause, who all have diverse in personalities and backgrounds, however anyone in opposition to her is seen as this generic bad person who has very few distinguishing features from other bad people, other than the fact that they are bad. As Elspeth is a coercer, it's easy to get these people on her side, but I would have thought that she would at least try to win some of them over to her side. This isn't as much of a problem in other series that have a "good versus bad" setup, but it doesn't work here because the misfits are set up as a group of open minded individuals who are wrongfully and automatically viewed as evil by large segments of society. It seems hypocritical to me, and worries me for future books (,because yes, despite my rating, I'm invested in this now and will continue to read this series).
My favorite thing about this book was the communication patterns of the dolphins. It was fun to read, and I feel overall that it was a great and creative choice.
December 28, 2020
Had an eye infection in the middle of this so took a bit to get to . It's also 366 apages long not 380. At least the one with my isbn number. And also they split the book into two. So the title Wavesong doesn't appear anywhere in the original series of book names. Why they felt the need to split the book I don't know. Harry Potter was rather long and that was on a full hardcover.
The book was hard to get into primarily because I knew some of what would happen given the previous sample in book 4. So it took a bit but about the middle of the book things sped up nicely and finished within a few days. in fact read about 200 pages or more since yesterday morning. Since they chopped the book into two books there is no real ending to this book. Guess I'll find out the rest in The Stone Key. There was alot of meh about the beginning 25-30 % of the book but it wasn't bad. I liked Book 4 more. But that's just me. The series continue's it's twists and turns and we have come to know.
The book was hard to get into primarily because I knew some of what would happen given the previous sample in book 4. So it took a bit but about the middle of the book things sped up nicely and finished within a few days. in fact read about 200 pages or more since yesterday morning. Since they chopped the book into two books there is no real ending to this book. Guess I'll find out the rest in The Stone Key. There was alot of meh about the beginning 25-30 % of the book but it wasn't bad. I liked Book 4 more. But that's just me. The series continue's it's twists and turns and we have come to know.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 4, 2022
Fourth in the Obernewtyn series, this penultimate volume continues the story smoothly and compellingly in unexpected directions. I enjoyed seeing both familiar and new faces/characters during Elspeth’s ongoing journey, and observing her growth and self-awareness through the twists and turns as a helluva lot happened to her. It was heartening to see former Malik/Vos follower Kevrik, the shadows of the Herder’s Faction compound, and others all willingly join the Misfits in their revolution versus fanatical tyranny. The Matthew segments and Beforetime memories were intriguing so I look forward to their resolution in the last book. Ditto regarding the titular wavesong and Elspeth’s blooming connection with the sea and its denizens.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 23, 2018
Reading this the first time it was ny least favourite. Rereading it in full knowledge of what was to come wasn't very enjoyable but it was nice to refresh my memory, though I was surprised at how much I remember.
It probably has to so with the fact that my favourite book, The Keeping Place, coming right before and my favourite character Dragon taking a side line and not being very present after being the focus.
It probably has to so with the fact that my favourite book, The Keeping Place, coming right before and my favourite character Dragon taking a side line and not being very present after being the focus.
April 25, 2020
Massive massive improvement on The Keeping Place, so glad I continued! There's a lot of action and finally matters with the Herder Faction have come to a head.
I like the moral code the author presents in these books. She strikes me as a very intelligent and creative individual. Her writing, of course, is exquisite.
The one thing that detracted from this book was once again too many characters that we really don't know much about popping up for a line of dialogue here and there. That's why this book loses a star from me.
I like the moral code the author presents in these books. She strikes me as a very intelligent and creative individual. Her writing, of course, is exquisite.
The one thing that detracted from this book was once again too many characters that we really don't know much about popping up for a line of dialogue here and there. That's why this book loses a star from me.
February 13, 2017
There were a few issues with this book - notably some name/character confusion errors - that made it feel as if the writing was rushed. Nonetheless I enjoyed it a lot more than the previous novel and finished it in days rather than the months it took me to read "The Keeping Place".
February 29, 2012
True confession: I have a journal in which I keep track of the dates I start and finish books, and according to that journal, it has been almost eight years since I read The Keeping Place, the fourth book in Isobelle Carmody’s Obernewtyn series. Wavesong, which is book five, has been out for several years now, but it’s taken me awhile to finally read it, mostly because I had an ambition to reread the first four beforehand, as I had forgotten the majority of what happened in them. I reread the first two, which was helpful, but I balked at the sizes of books three and four and decided that if I insisted on rereading them too, I might never get around to the newer books. I figured the important things would come back to me, or would be explained in the text anyway, and that turned out to be true. There were some things I wish I remembered better, but my confusion was minimal. The map and character list in the front help. Side note: if you, like my best friend, are put off by books that are complex enough to require maps and character lists, this series probably isn’t for you. The flip side, however, is that these books are very rich and the world-building complete and fully-realized. Elspeth is also a fantastic heroine.
Full review here: http://wp.me/pv3iF-6n
Full review here: http://wp.me/pv3iF-6n
October 16, 2010
I did like this one better than the last one, but not by much. I don't know. I feel like it takes too long for things to happen--the books get longer and longer, and yet it still feels like it's taking soooo much time for Carmody to move the story along. And I miss the characters I've grown to actually care about--Elspeth spent the vast majority of the book away from everyone that matters to me: Dameon, Rushton, Dragon... As far as I know, there is only one more book in the series, and I'm certainly ready to get to the end, but at the same time, I find I barely care what happens anymore as I've been so bored with the getting there. At first I felt bitter about the fourth book going so far downhill, but now I almost feel more bitter about the third book being so good and setting me up for such disappointment! Hopefully the next one makes it all worth it somehow. But I have my doubts. :(
P.S. Well, crap. Looks like there are actually three more books, not just one. I wonder if I'll make it through...
P.S. Well, crap. Looks like there are actually three more books, not just one. I wonder if I'll make it through...
July 13, 2013
It's been several months since I finished this, but I wanted to comment before I forget completely: I like that the misfit community is peaceful and seems to value life. I did not like that main character (Oh, goodness, I have forgotten her name!) comes to basically worship herself and this nothingness that she believes is the true core of everything, yes, everything; every person, animal, every thing. That's a hindu perspective, is it not? That is a sad lie to believe. As is typical, there is good in there, but the foundation is just sad to me. I've come to realize that stories written with the core view being set in Christianity offer the best stories. Not the outwardly, preach-y Christian fiction, but real Christian themes such as self sacrifice, love being putting another above oneself, transcendence beyond humanity with the Greater being Good, submission to Good and things of the like. I love taking recommendations.
April 30, 2016
ok so I started on book one and now I'm on this I really like it I love how she can heartbreak with the animals I like to hear there thoughts so from book one that I really liked about the book I haven't gotten tired of them I feel like she's now a adult teenager and I just am disappointed that she finally is with rushing and he then doesn't have feelings at all anymore it's crazy I am half way done this I keep thinking somehow Ruston is not himself that would make sense on why he won't let her look in his mind to fix him but altogether I love these book I got them on overdrive the library app and they are all available so I saved 100.00 and I really can't put these books down I do feel like Elspeth could be more friendly I mean she has the animals but she doesn't seem extra close to anyone except Matthew and dameon and I dont understand why she does show Dragon with her mind or on the dreamtails that they were close but anyway I'm really enjoying the series I hope they get better
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 27, 2017
I'm pretty confused about this one. I personally don't feel it deserved as high a rating as it's gotten, but it seems like everyone always enjoys the number in the series I don't care for, be it books or movies or video games. The book had action, and it was the most linear book thus far, which I was really happy about. But it had another really weird ending like the third book did, and despite the intervention of Atthis, the whole thing with the Herders seemed entirely unrelated to her quest except perhaps that Elspeth is potentially close to meeting Ariel in person for the first time. They never got into his room and that frustrated me. Yes, taking over Herder Isle is an extension of the rebellion, but it felt like this entire book was more of an aside than anything else. It's a precursor to her getting to the west coast and shouldn't have taken up the number of pages it did.
December 14, 2009
I'm counting this as read even though I gave up on it about 100 pages from the end. I just couldn't do it anymore. I don't know what it was about the plot or story or characters or whatever, but I found myself getting increasingly irritated by all the talking and planning and random crap just happening to the character completely out of her control... come on! Move it along already!
Ah well. Good ideas, wish I knew how it was going to end up, but ya know... there have been so many references to things and I think I've guessed the story of the next THREE books (because there is nothing concise about this storyline), and I think I'll wait till my blood has settled and I'm less annoyed by the lack of movement and so on before I try to read these again.
Ah well. Good ideas, wish I knew how it was going to end up, but ya know... there have been so many references to things and I think I've guessed the story of the next THREE books (because there is nothing concise about this storyline), and I think I'll wait till my blood has settled and I'm less annoyed by the lack of movement and so on before I try to read these again.
November 2, 2011
This is the first book of the series that I couldn't put down. The pace was much faster in comparison to the previous books; it's non-stop danger and excitement! And stuff actually *happens* in this book rather than a lot of talking and planning for stuff to happen. It's obvious that a lot mokre needs to happen before the end, but at least with this book I felt we made several steps in that direction. It ends abruptly, which I'm sure is because when originally published this was just the first half of a book, so I have high hopes for the next book.
October 15, 2018
I'm increasingly disappointed with these books, which sucks, because the plots are really awesome. I'm just not finding any of the characters likable or even particularly memorable. I'm not sure if it's that there are too many characters that get swapped out too frequently and are hard to keep track of, or that any attempt at emotional depth falls unfortunately flat. I'm going to keep reading, because I am really interested in how everything gets resolved, but they're no longer books that I'm excited to sit down and read in one sitting.
November 14, 2012
Oh god. This took me forever to finish. She ends up on Herder's Island, and she meets these weird Shadow people who freak me out. The last scene is her on the back of a dolphin, which is called ship-fish, or something equally idiotic. She and Rushton are finito, which makes me happy, as I had always pegged him as a douche. I still have my hopes up for Damon, and if not him, Swallow. Oh, and Dragon hates her, and she's gone to the South to save everybody's lives from Ariel> I can't take his name seriously. Really.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2016
Unfortunately, this was a step back in quality compared to the three previous installments. The prose was often awkward and the pacing was very uneven. A lot of plot-driving information is dropped very quickly in the last fifteen pages and though things were always *happening* in the previous 450 pages, it always felt like you were floating slightly above it. The second half of the book also introduced a ton of new characters (who we will likely see very little of again) and it grew quite difficult to keep track of who's who. Fingers crossed that quality improves again going forward...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews