Scatterlings

by Isobelle Carmody

Merlin awakes from a terrifying accident not knowing who, or where she is. All she knows for certain, is that this is not her world ... Bewildered and alone, Merlin sets out through an alien landscape to try and discover the truth about herself - as terrifying as it may be!

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fiction, Dystopia, Audiobook, Childrens

318 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

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 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).

Reviews

[April (Aprilius Maximus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really good! It took a while for the book to really pick up the pace, but once I got to around page 115, I couldn't put it down! Plus, the ending is so good and adorable omg

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I discovered Isobelle Carmody through her Obernewtyn series, and as I always do with any author I like, I toddled off to check out her backlist.

This post-apocalyptic tale was the one that interested me most (although I hope to try out her fantasy some time too) and when I saw the ebook on sale, I bought it, downloaded it and let it sit on my phone until I was ready to read it. After finishing Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, I decided to stick with the end-of-the-world theme and give Scatterlings a go.

First up, this is a children's book, probably aimed at preteens around 10 - 12 (although I have no experience with picking ages for books so don't take that as gospel). All the same, it is a nice, easy little read for an adult and I enjoyed it.

It doesn't have a lot of depth, but I did think that it matched the idea of the worth of survial against the need to preserve technology that I found in Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang. The Citizen gods in their domes are determined to survive, even if their time has passed and they are willing to use anyone and anything required to do it.

Meanwhile, the clans have adapted to survive in this new world (the cause of the old world's demise is never really addressed by the way) and their society is disrupted and thrown into upheaval by the intrustion of the Citizen gods.

I really liked the concept of honesty among the clans, and the way that the presence of telepathy made lying essentially obsolete. In many ways, this was the greatest difference between the old world and the new, not biology or technology but honesty.

There is not a lot of depth to the characters here, but I'm not sure that it was ever intended. This is a adventure story wrapped around a mystery and it does do both those things well.

The main character is Merlin, who at the beginning of the book wakes with no memory of who she is. I don't want to say anything about this as any discussion would involve spoiling the solution to the mystery, which I don't want to do. All I will say is that the answer is not what you might expect and very clever. I also liked the answer Merlin found to solve the main dilemma, one that managed to think of both sides of the problem and avoid lots of wanton destruction.

There is also an unexpected twist at the end that I thought was particularly well done. The solution was an apt one that was obvious when you stopped to think about it, but not something I had anticipated. In a way, that leaves the ending quite open, but to me it felt well finished all the same.

While nothing to blow the mind, I found this a very enjoyable story and I'm glad I found it and read it. If you'd like a pleasant little read and you see this in a secondhand bookshop or library, I'd recommend picking it up.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scatterlings is Isobelle Carmody’s second novel, written in 1991. The story follows Merlin, a girl who has woken up in a strange world she does not recognise. Merlin remembers our world, complete with cities, homelessness and cars. But this world is full of primitive seeming tribes, barter systems, a vast wilderness and strange new technology.

Merlin is an interesting character, she is quite difficult to relate to because the position she is in is a unique one. I myself have never suffered any serious sort of loss of memory. Though at the heart of her character was an insatiable curiosity, a need to know truth. That was her redeeming feature, because her drive was so strong I felt drawn along on her journey.

Merlin's relationship with Ford is a nice sideline to the main story. Merlin is a very moral character and the main story involves her struggling to do what she believes is right, with only a tiny amount of information to decide from. This book would be an excellent tool for studying ethics.

I would recommend Scatterlings as suitable for tweens, I would have enjoyed it most between the ages of 10 and 12. As it stands I took a lot from it a decade later. There are some really thought provoking themes which add gravity to a story full of quite basic characters. I love Isobelle Carmody’s interpretations of post-apocalyptic worlds. I love her portrayal of women limited not just to stereotypical roles but as individuals. I would definitely recommend Scatterlings to fans of dystopian, post-apocalyptic and middle grade fiction, though I myself am not a fan of the latter and still really loved it!

I owned Scatterlings for over a decade before I even picked it up to read. The thing that really turned me off the book is that my copy is old, the cover art looks quite dated. I added Scatterlings to my May ‘to be read’ list because I knew I needed to force myself to read it. I had a pleasant surprise when I opened it:

I think that inscription reads 'To Dear Harry - I hope you like this as much as you liked Obernewtyn! Isobelle Carmody’. I'd like to think Harry wanted to share it with someone else which is why he sold it on. I myself didn’t love Scatterlings as much as I loved Obernewtyn, but I still really enjoyed it!

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Merlin wakes up in a helicopter that has crashed in a forest. The pilot is dead, there's a metal collar around her neck with a broken chain hanging from it, and her memories are patchy and impersonal. Not to mention that these memories - memories of the world as we know it - do not match the world in which she finds herself: asphalt roads almost disappeared beneath grass, crumbling buildings and skyscrapers swallowed up by vigorous forest. It is silent and deserted, and Merlin wanders lost and confused until she meets Ford, a young man who looks nothing like the people in her memories.

So begins Scatterlings, one of my favourite books by one of my favourite authors. It's fantasy with, I guess, a sci-fi bent, and philosophical underpinings. I love the twist at the end. Ok, it's not a "twist" like in Fight Club, but it's a perfect resolution to the mystery of Merlin.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting re-read. I'd read Scatterlings once as a young tween/teen (my name is written very carefully, painstakingly and in childish writing on the front page which is how I can pinpoint it), but didn't really like it or get it. As a result, I'd forgotten the whole story beyond something something girl loses her memory. Coming back to this as an adult, I was struck by how cleverly written this is (especially for Isobelle's second or third book!) and just how complex the moral and ethical questions are about the role of memory in identity, what constitutes savagery, and who deserves life versus extinction. In many ways, I agree with another reviewer who states this book was way, way ahead of its time as a dystopian piece. It's also terribly sad and a little depressing that Isobelle and others were banging on about climate change and its dangers back in the 80s and 90s and no-one listened. I grew up in a regional mining town where my parents were 'greenies' and attended frequent protests around the same time Isobelle wrote this book. I suspect if they'd ever met, they'd have got on.

[Jody Ellis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolute junk. All Carmody has done is take Ober' chronicles and change tiny bits. Even her obsession with repetitive language like her infuriating attachment to 'incredulous' are in your face.

Carmody insults readers with this rubbish. I don't think I can touch another of her books from fear I might have a bonfire and save the world from her trash writing.

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average read, some interest but nothing that stands out as being overly memorable. It feels like the book of an author who is honing her craft and growing in it. This is not her first book, but it is an early one, and it maybe just me but it does have that feel about it. A decent read but again, not something I would return to.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did finish this novel, but I just found it hard to get through and thought for a moment that I would never get through it. I felt bad because it has won so many awards, and I just did not enjoy that much. I just couldn't relate to any of the characters. I didn't really enjoy the world they were in. I just feel indifferent too it. Didn't hate it, didn't really love it either.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part I was distracted by the rambling, repetitive, slowburn that I should have been ready for having read Carmody previously. However, I was reminded during the second half of the book why I am drawn to Carmody. The ideas were engaging, thought provoking and the world building all came to an ending that was tragically endearing.

[Tina Ambury · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very confusing to start off with and another dystopian society.

[Sonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scatterlings is a quiet but powerful post-apocalyptic story that stayed with me long after I finished it. The writing is gentle, atmospheric, and surprisingly emotional, and she builds her world in a way that feels both strange and real.

I love how the themes of identity and prejudice are handled with care.

[TheCosyDragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review has been crossposted from my blog at The Cosy Dragon . Please head there for more in-depth reviews by me, which appear on a timely schedule.

Merlin wakes with no personal memory of who she is, just a jumble of memories that point to a world that seems long gone. A journey that should seem simple enough in order to find answers turns out to be fraught with dangers that have not yet been explored by anyone.

There is no feeling of Merlin as a character as she begins simply as a construction of impersonal memories. The novel is plot based, and moves at a relatively fast pace once Merlin encounters other inhabitants of the desolate world. As long as you read this lightly without too many preconceived notions of how an apocalyptic novel should go, you will enjoy it.

Perhaps oddly, the female character on the front of the novel reminds me of Isobelle herself. It’s the free-flowing red hair and the slightly otherworldly skin. I also take issue with the male character that is Ford who should by rights be missing an eye.

Again and again in Carmody’s fiction we see her preoccupation with the many ways humans can destroy the earth. In Obernewtyn, we see what could happen after a complete nuclear disaster. In Alyzon Whitestarr, a sickness rises and contaminates people to create hatred. Here is the outcome of

Other reviewers have ripped this novel apart for simply reusing apocalyptic world atrocities and not bothering to make sense of the characters. They seem to forget that this is a relatively early novel and it is now more than 20 years old. I’d have to say it would have been a ground breaker novel in its time. People continue to put their heads in the sand about Global Warming and the mess that humanity will never be able to extract itself from.

I owned this novel for many years without reading it. After meeting Isobelle Carmody twice in the space of a month, I got this novel signed. Then it came to rest on my direct to-be-read pile as a personal choice novel. I feel strongly about all Isobelle Carmody books in giving them positive 5 star reviews. This one is no exception.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another re-read for an English class.
While in some ways this could be viewed as simplistically written, Scatterlings is a wonderful example of post-apocalyptic children's literature, a sub-genre which Australians have all but owned. As a piece of Sci Fi / Fantasy crossover, a domain Carmody clearly enjoys, it certainly ticks the boxes in relation to exploring current social concerns relating to our exploitation of the environment, overweening faith in and reliance on technology, and the ever-present social divide that is highlighted by modern technocracies. It is, however, her exploration of the idea of self that I find most enthralling.
Our protagonist awakens into a world which she does not recognise and with no personal memories. While her immediate concern is to figure out where she is, this quickly shifts to a more pressing question of who she is. Throughout most of her journey, Merlin maintains a conviction that she must discover her personal history in order to regain an understanding of her self. This represents a stream of personality theory that understands self to be a core entity constructed and/or maintained by memory.
Merlin's view is opposed by Ford, who at first appears to be a rather typical egotistical teen. As the plot unfolds, however, Ford emerges as a character who is both motivated and defined by his actions and, perhaps more importantly, his relationships. Countering the idea that self is a given that must be remembered, Ford is a constructionist who understands self to be a present construct of one's relationships and commitments. He maintains that Merlin does not need to discover who she was; rather, she must understand who she consistently becomes in the present.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a little while to completely fall for this book, but I persevered with it because I loved Obernewtyn so much and I'm glad I did. A successful mesh between fantasy and sci-fi genres is VERY hard to achieve and yet Carmody does it perfectly and plausibly. From begining to end this book is driven by burning pulsating questions: who is Merlin? who are the Citizen gods? who is William? what is it like inside the dome?
These questions alone would make it a successful novel, but the characters are well thought out, the world creation is impeccable and the moral content is thought provoking. And I love a thought provoking book.
I think I would have gotten into this book faster had it not been for the illustration on the front. It gave me an image in my head that competed with what my imagination was coming up with. I hate it when little things like that mess with your head. In some ways I think book covers should be plain... but as a graphic designer I could never condone such a thing. *sigh*
Oh well, overall it was an excellent novel, one that I will be thinking about a lot in the weeks to come.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this novel. Written with her recognisable haunting imagery and style, Isobelle Carmody weaves an impossible tale of Merlin, a character out of time who does not even recognise herself. I was hooked from the beginning, with a sense of dread and anxiety as Merlin wakes amid burning wreckage, a collar around her neck. She does not know who she is, where she is or why she is there. As with many of her characters, Isobelle's Merlin has a sense of self-inflicted isolation, with an instinct to distrust, and who is quite guarded. In order to find her place in such a mysterious world though, these are some challenges that she must overcome. This is a book that I re-read many many times. It is one of my 'comfort reads'. Typical of Isobelle Carmody novels, this book will entertain readers young and old, regardless of genre preferences. Treat yourself, you won't be disappointed!

[Erin Wasley · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, although Carmody often takes the easy route when creating plotlines and doesn't bother to develop her characters. The premise is intriguing and the possibilities vast - the idea of an advanced civilisation manipulating 'savages' through false religion and psychedelic drugs would be fascinating if Carmody bothered to explore it. Instead, the reader is left with an overly simplistic bedtime story, focused entirely on a happily-ever-after for the main character with no consideration of the political vacuum left by the author's obvious and unconsidered ending.

[Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book in one sitting and freaking loved it! That's how addictive this book was. Although I found the beginning slow and almost gave up, I absolutely find that matter trivial now coz DAMN this was an awesome book. Thank goodness I didn't stop reading. Merlin is one of the very few protagonists I don't find annoying, and the whole story is unpredictable. This book manages to pull off the 'crazy scientists' trope very well and...goodness gracious...wow, I really enjoyed it! 5 STARS!! ;)

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading this book a number of times in the 90s, picking it up from a "Point" spinner in my local library. Wanted to see if I still enjoyed it as much as I did then!

The story is prototypical of the Hunger-Games- and Divergent-shaped YA of the 21st Century, but it comes with its own charms (and blemishes) from the SF of the period. The characters and the world are maybe a little vaguely drawn, but almost all endearing and fit-for-purpose.

Still honestly a fun read!

[Cathy]

Nice read. One of my teachers read the first bit to us at school, and I've never forgotten that there's a fragment of a Bob Dylan song in there that made me kind of warm to it even when for some reason I really didn't think I liked Isobelle Carmody. (I soon changed my mind.)

[Annabelle Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book.
It's aimed at young adults but I still liked it.
There aren't a lot of psychic books out there and I have found a lot of vampire books lately and found this a nice change.

[Rambling Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Need to reread as an adult, but absolutely loved it as a teenager.

EDIT: Have just re-read. A little of the magic is lost as an adult as the book is clearly written for teenagers but nevertheless an enjoyable way to pass a few hours.

[SBC · Rating 5 out of 5]

1998 - five stars
1999 - five stars

2003 - five stars - each time I read this I feel I pick up new things!

2013 - five stars

[Amy Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this late in primary school and then re-read it through high school and beyond. It is absolutely one of my favourite books, although I should re-read it to see how I feel about it as an adult.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting dystopian. not like any others that I've read, and written before the dystopian genre became the in thing.

[Andie Hanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the ending to this book. Actually, I love this whole book. And this is the probably the 16th time I've read it.

[Elizabeth Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book as a teenager, to the point of wearing it out. Sadly, it doesn't hold up to a re-read, either in my remembering of it or compared to current dystopian YA.

[Julie-anne Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a teen. It plays nicely with end of world and world reborn themes.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember really enjoying this as a teenager. It's still pretty good.