I think I am so addicted to my childhood with the chronicles that I can no longer really be objective about them. I know that Isobelle has;
a) taken forever to finish the series
and
b) drawn out the series with each new book

but damn I still love them anyway. Part of the fun for me is the minute details of the character’s lives. I actually enjoy the slow burn of this series and there is so much else going on that I rarely ever feel bored (the one exception being The Keeping Place. I mean… what was that Isobelle?)

Isobelle is THE major young adult fantasy player in Australia atm. She has written alot. I also highly reccomend The Gathering and Alyzon Whitestarr (two stand alone books). The unfinished Legend Song trilogy is for older readers but was also very good.

The Stone Key amazes me for how much Isobelle fits into it narratively! I love the way the past intertwines with the present. She did the same thing with Darkfall etc but in a less cool way imo.

My friend and I have a photo with Isobelle with us wearing screen printed t shirts with Maruman printed on them!

Of the series I think Obernewtyn remains my favourite. For the most part it has a single driving theme with the two(or is it three) themes that run through the series only introduced right near the end. Come to think of it, that may be another reason why it seems different than the others. by the end Elspeth has achieved the goal of personal security that was her driver and the later books move onto the more esoteric goals of regime change, misfit-species survival and the hinted at(for far too long imo) threat of a second apocolypse.

Welcome back from your holiday – hope you had a good time.