Isobelle Carmody

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-10-09

Isobelle Jane Carmody is an Australian writer of fantasy, science fiction and children's fiction, born in Wangaratta, Victoria, in 1958. She began writing the first novel of the Obernewtyn Chronicles at fourteen, while still at school, and Obernewtyn was published by Penguin in 1987; the seven-book series, completed with The Red Queen in 2015, established her at the forefront of Australian fantasy, and its second book, The Farseekers, was an honour book in the Children's Book Council of Australia awards. Her other works include The Gathering (1993), joint winner of the CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers, the Gateway trilogy beginning with Night Gate, the eco-fantasy Little Fur quartet, which she also illustrated, and Alyzon Whitestarr. Across her career she has moved freely between fantasy for adults, young adults and younger children, often returning to ecological themes and to the relationships between people and animals, and the Obernewtyn books in particular have kept a devoted readership that waited nearly three decades for the series' conclusion.

Universe(s)

Books

• Obernewtyn (1987) · The Obernewtyn Chronicles Core Canon
• The Farseekers (1990) · The Obernewtyn Chronicles Core Canon
• Ashling (1995) · The Obernewtyn Chronicles Core Canon
• The Keeping Place (1999) · The Obernewtyn Chronicles Core Canon
• The Stone Key (2008) · The Obernewtyn Chronicles Core Canon
• The Sending (2011) · The Obernewtyn Chronicles Core Canon
• The Red Queen (2015) · The Obernewtyn Chronicles Core Canon

Aggregate across all universes

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 7 books
• Award recognitions across all universes: 4 (3 nomination, 1 honor mention)

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