Member Reviews

It all begins five hundred years after the end of the world – at 7 o’clock on a Monday morning, to be precise – when Maddy Smith discovers goblins in the cellar again… Not that anyone would admit it was goblins. In the new world, order rules: chaos, the old gods and magic were all supposedly vanquished. But Maddy knows better and the ‘ruinmark’ on her palm testifies to it – it makes the other villagers shun her (except when they have an ‘unnameable’ problem in the cellar to be dealt with). Her only friend is the mysterious traveller, One-Eye, who – with his own mark – is also an outsider and is secretly teaching her the forbidden magic.

Being neither particularly ‘good’ or pretty, Maddy is a disappointment to her father. Instead she is a feisty, little dreamer, with a quick mind and eagerness to learn, who I instantly loved! Even though she is ostracised by the other children, blamed for any trouble by the villagers and bullied by the spiteful Adam Scattergood (her employer’s son), she doesn’t let it get her down or stop her being herself. Hence her friendship with enigmatic One-Eye, who is showing her how to harness the power of the Aesk rune she was born with on her hand. And, it turns out she is pretty powerful!

Now about One-Eye – any of you with even a vague knowledge of Norse mythology have probably worked out who he could be, so I don’t feel it is a spoiler to say he is Odin. Once the General of Asgard and the gods, after Ragnarok, he survived in a weakened state. Taking on his favoured disguise of an old traveller he walks this new world observing and biding his time. And, it was no chance meeting between One-Eye and Maddy on the road, years before, as she believes, but all planned as he sensed her power and destiny. Which leaves you never really knowing if you should trust him!

The crux of the story comes, when, with the growing threat of being discovered by the Order (the new ruling faith), One-Eye sends Maddy, alone, into Red Horse Hill in search of a powerful treasure, that could turn the tides in their (his) favour. Trustingly Maddy sets off into the dark, twisting tunnels with only her otherworldly sight to find it. What follows is an epic, magical romp, which sees Maddy meeting a tricky individual, by the name of ‘Lucky’; facing dangerous enchantments; talking to ‘The Whisperer’, awakening the ‘Sleepers’ and fighting the devastating power of the Order’s ‘Word’.

Altogether I thought Runemarks was seriously good fun and a wonderfully irreverent new take on the old Norse tales, which I’m sure could be enjoyed by all readers, young and old.

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This was the first book I'd ever read by Joanne Harris, and I really enjoyed it. The depiction of Loki was just as mischievous and dark as I'd hoped for, but I would have liked to have seen more of him throughout the story. The writing style was elegant and the action scenes were great.

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It has taken me forever to read this book. It's not the books fault, I think I've just been in the wrong frame of mind for it and that coupled with not getting a huge amount of time to read thanks to a certain small human has meant it's been pushed aside a lot for something I'm more in the mood for.

And yet I've actually enjoyed the book. Not really a fan of Maddie but can't quite put my finger on why. The story itself is enjoyable if a bit slow in parts. I love Loki and the way the author has written him. It's young adult fantasy so not as heavy going as some fantasy books can be and while we're not bogged down with facts and all that there's enough information in there that you do get a good sense of the world and the characters in it.

Will definitely be looking to read the sequel at some point.

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Nostalgic to the extreme in the way the author details about popular mythology and uncanny folklore, Runemarks is one not to miss. Runemarks can easily be seen as a younger Neil Gaiman brain-child, if Gaiman got rid of his annoying habit of drawing out scenes just to add extra dialogue.

I'm very thankful Harris doesn't do this at all, which is evident in her great plot-driven novel.

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The adventures of Maddy Smith with her only friend One-Eye form part of the retelling of stories about the Norse Gods. Maddy has a ruin mark on her hand and some strange powers. The Outlander One-Eye who only visits every few months calls it a rune mark and teaches her a lot about the world. She has no friends in this village and some are actively hostile. It seems she is just waiting for the day when something will happen. And then the hillside opens.
A great story with humour, betrayal, death and Gods bickering. What's not to like?

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A cool story filled to the brim with action and adventure. Very enjoyable.

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Joanne wonderfully evokes the crazy world of the Norse gods. Compelling and magnificent.

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I received a free E Arc from Netgalley.

I was, I must be honest, supposed to be reading another book but I opened this one up on my Kindle and was immediately drawn into the story, and so I chose this one as my 'fun' read and the other book as my I 'need' to read. Not surprisingly, I've finished my 'fun' read first.

Initially I thought Runemarks was going to be very similar to the Terry Pratchett books about Tiffany, the young witch. Certainly the story begins in a somewhat similar was - especially with the humour and the presence of the goblins. But quickly the story moved away from just being a quick, fun read, and became much more complex and deeper. Almost every chapter introduces another new character, so that by the end of the novel, this is very much an ensemble cast, although some of them will have changed their identities and become someone else. Sadly, I thought the humour bled away a little toward the end of the novel, but I suppose, it was 'end of the world' stuff and perhaps not really the time for any humour.

I very much enjoyed the characters of Loki, One-Eye, Maddy and the little goblin, not to mention The Whisperer (for most of the story, anyway), and the other inhabitants of Maddy's little village, as well as the Seven Sleepers. I've never really read a great deal about old Norse world-origin stories (well I know the basics etc) and to see the Gods and Godesses actually ineracting made them feel that little bit more 'human' and their foibles and ungodly squables, made more sense. I often find this is the way with historical characters etc; you can read about them all you want but it's the interactions that make them appear so much more relatable.

I'm pleased to see this novel has a sequel and I'll be adding it to my 'to be read' list. Highly recommended.

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What an amazing book! I don't normally read YA but a combination of the author, cover art and Norse mythology drew me in.

Obviously, Harris wouldn't let me down - so here's a tough as nails female protagonist with NO ROMANTIC INTERESTS! Nope, Maddy's too busy saving the worlds from being destroyed for any of that nonsense.

There's nothing condescending about this book, it complements Norse mythology perfectly and encourages you to go pick up a copy of the Poetic Edda to fill in the gaps. True to the original Norse myths, this isn't just a story of valour and other typical Gryffindorian traits but also plenty of trickery (well it does have Loki in it!), doublecrossing and manipulation - Maddy is only 14 and new to these kinds of games so she's on a steep learning curve once she throws her lot in with the gods.

My favourite character in this book, unsurprisingly, was Loki. He really does get the short end of the stick in all things. Harris doesn't cast any judgements on her characters and label the gods as good or evil.


Mythology fans of all ages will love this exceptionally well written book, I can imagine it making a wonderful book to read together as a family if you have teens (or are a teen with parents who should read better books).

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I would give this a 3.5 star rating. This was my first book by this author and I ended up enjoying it. I think it was dragged out a little bit and could definitely have been shorter but the story is generally engaging.. I loved the elements of Norse mythology and thought the characterisations were great. I especially enjoyed the character of Loki. The writing is easy to get into and I liked the inclusion of the runes. Overall I thought this was a good book, if a little long. I think I could have a got a better understanding of things if I had more knowledge of Norse mythology but it is not necessary.

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This was simply splendid. I've always liked Norse mythology and Harris treated the subject of Vanir and Aesir with all their failings and flaws with intelligence and a certain wry humour. People seem to forget - perhaps thanks to Marvel - that the Norse gods were brutal and generally unpleasant, their admirable qualities being strength, cunning, endurance and fearlessness. Gods afterall reflect the time and place they were dreamt up and life would have been hard. I'm glad Harris captured all that and managed to twist in some upbeat modern humour as well. Excellent world building. Maddy is a likeable character although I would have liked to see a bit more development. Thouroughly enjoyable.

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