Scan barcode
baco's review against another edition
5.0
Oh, my gosh, I SO was not expecting to love this as much as I did, but wow. It was so fun, exciting, well-written, and populated with interesting heroes and villains. Maddy who was smart and brave and resourceful, Loki who was hilarious and cowardly and brilliant and self-serving, One-Eye with his gambling and deceit, Skadi being vicious and SCARY and petty. This rocked, and I seriously read the whole thing in almost one sitting, even though it's more than five hundred pages long and I have a paper to write! Ha ha! ...Ha. Totally worth it, though.
lein80's review against another edition
4.0
I had a bit of trouble getting through the last book (even though I enjoyed it), but that was gone this book. We're back in some kind of fantasy world, and apparently that works better than a lot of gaming for me ;). I loved the whole idea of getting the Norse Gods back into existence after Ragnarok, I really have a weak spot for Loki, which was a big plus in this book, and I really liked how it turned out.
julieml2525's review against another edition
3.0
denise h.'s son read for me and said that it was a good story. similar to neil gaiman's "american gods". maybe someday i'll read it myself.
notvibing's review against another edition
5.0
REREAD #? MAY 2019
This book has a very special place in my heart as it made me fall in love with mythology, especially Norse mythology, many years ago. It also was one of the first epic fantasy books I was properly into and it is still one of my favourite genres, so, you know, this is kind of important to me.
I bought this copy years ago but I never found the time to reread it and now I'm just so happy that I finally did. Runemarks is fun, engaging, beautiful and incredibly original. The protagonist, Maddy, is just 14 years old and falls headfirst in a very unexpected adventure full of twists and challenges but she's so wonderful, smart, witty and cool that I still want to be like her when I grow up.
She meets Odin, who is worse than you imagine, and Loki, who is better than you imagine and she becomes part of a prophecy that prophecises another end of the world. Which, well, wouldn't be that great. Loki is probably one of my favourite characters of all time, he's just hilarious but he suffered through quite a lot as well and is more complex than a first glance might reveal.
There is a lot of humour in this book but that doesn't undercut the sadness, hopelessness that comes from impending doom, bullying, being treated like shit, and so on. This book does such a good job of giving everyone their part and their time to shine which is really wonderful.
I'm also a huge fan of the writing style itself as it's incredibly immersive and in a way unique that it made me forget I had read this book several times before.
ORIGINAL REVIEW 2015:
I read Runemarks at least three times, I always got it from my local library (in German) and I absolutely loved it. It must be three or four years or so since I first read it. I really didn’t think about it for a while but when I saw The Gospel of Loki I knew I had to re-read this book or at least buy it. The plot is set after Ragnarok when the worlds have been quiet for a long while. The gods are gone but magic is still there and then this girl with ancient powers meets the Trickster and things get rolling again.
This is one of the first things that made me geek over Norse Mythology and I haven’t stopped since.
“Gods? Don't let that impress you. Anyone can be a god if they have enough worshippers. You don't even have to have powers anymore. In my time I've seen theatre gods, gladiator gods, even storyteller gods - you people see gods everywhere. Gives you an excuse for not thinking for yourselves.
God is just a word. Like Fury. Like demon. Just words people use for things they don't understand. Reverse it and you get dog. It's just as appropriate.”
This book has a very special place in my heart as it made me fall in love with mythology, especially Norse mythology, many years ago. It also was one of the first epic fantasy books I was properly into and it is still one of my favourite genres, so, you know, this is kind of important to me.
I bought this copy years ago but I never found the time to reread it and now I'm just so happy that I finally did. Runemarks is fun, engaging, beautiful and incredibly original. The protagonist, Maddy, is just 14 years old and falls headfirst in a very unexpected adventure full of twists and challenges but she's so wonderful, smart, witty and cool that I still want to be like her when I grow up.
She meets Odin, who is worse than you imagine, and Loki, who is better than you imagine and she becomes part of a prophecy that prophecises another end of the world. Which, well, wouldn't be that great. Loki is probably one of my favourite characters of all time, he's just hilarious but he suffered through quite a lot as well and is more complex than a first glance might reveal.
There is a lot of humour in this book but that doesn't undercut the sadness, hopelessness that comes from impending doom, bullying, being treated like shit, and so on. This book does such a good job of giving everyone their part and their time to shine which is really wonderful.
I'm also a huge fan of the writing style itself as it's incredibly immersive and in a way unique that it made me forget I had read this book several times before.
"Afraid?" Loki said. "Of course I'm afraid. Being afraid is what I'm good at. Being afraid is why I'm still here."
ORIGINAL REVIEW 2015:
I read Runemarks at least three times, I always got it from my local library (in German) and I absolutely loved it. It must be three or four years or so since I first read it. I really didn’t think about it for a while but when I saw The Gospel of Loki I knew I had to re-read this book or at least buy it. The plot is set after Ragnarok when the worlds have been quiet for a long while. The gods are gone but magic is still there and then this girl with ancient powers meets the Trickster and things get rolling again.
This is one of the first things that made me geek over Norse Mythology and I haven’t stopped since.
kattklaws's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
drdearest's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
erica_o's review against another edition
I couldn't finish this one; I just got bored. A lot of my problem was the reader; Sile Bermingham has a lovely voice but she's not Norse. Quick aside: why on earth are northern folk voiced in Irish and Scotch? For instance, this book (I am going to call Ms. Bermingham's accent Irish, though I haven't gone through the effort of researching that potential fact) and the movie "How To Train Your Dragon" which is full of Scottish-accent-wielding vikings and their American-accented kids. Why? Are there no Scandinavian readers/actors out there?
At any rate, I probably should have read this but I have a feeling I still wouldn't have enjoyed it. It seems disjointed and vague (not actually vague, but I can't think of a better term right now). I just didn't FEEL it. So I gave up and am moving on to other things.
At any rate, I probably should have read this but I have a feeling I still wouldn't have enjoyed it. It seems disjointed and vague (not actually vague, but I can't think of a better term right now). I just didn't FEEL it. So I gave up and am moving on to other things.
sarcastic_feline's review against another edition
4.0
This was an entertaining take on what might happen post-Ragnorak. The main character is intelligent and determined, and I enjoyed navigating through the story with her. The book kept me entertained through the end of the story.
devannm's review against another edition
5.0
HOW HAVE I NOT READ THIS BEFORE??? I mean, I know why, because in my opinion the summary for this book doesn't really do it justice. Or maybe it does, but it doesn't necessarily highlight the parts of the book that make it most appealing to me personally.
First of all, I feel like the summary/cover makes this seem more like a middle grade book, but it is definitely YA. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind middle grade books, but with the complexity of the story here I'm glad it was aimed at a slightly older audience. Also this is YA WITH A FEMALE PROTAGONIST WITH ABSOLUTELY NO ROMANCE OR LOVE INTERESTS [POTENTIAL OR OTHERWISE] WHATSOEVER. What a breath of fresh air!
Secondly, to me the summary reads like the book is going to feature Norse mythology but not feature the gods heavily I guess? I didn't know that Harris' [b:The Gospel of Loki|18665033|The Gospel of Loki (Runemarks, #0.5)|Joanne Harris|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1418765745s/18665033.jpg|26488264] was also technically a part of this series or I would have realized my mistake earlier, but anyway the gods are VERY present in this. Pretty much all the major players make an appearance at some point but Odin and Loki are the main ones, and if you know me then you know how much I absolutely adore anything with Loki in it! In the end I thought there was a nice balance between the gods and the human characters and I really liked how all of their plots came together at the end.
Also, I've seen some reviews from people saying they aren't very familiar with Norse mythology and that they find this book confusing. I can't really speak from that standpoint because I am apparently so over-familiar with Norse mythology that Neil Gaiman's new book last year literally bored me by it bringing nothing new to the table. However, this doesn't necessarily draw on that many of the actual Norse myths - it taking place AFTER Ragnarok and all - and mostly focuses on the characters so I would think a quick wiki list of Norse gods or something would give you most of the background you need. There is a character list at the beginning but it's basically 'all the gods and what Loki did to piss them off' so, while funny, it's not the most informative.
First of all, I feel like the summary/cover makes this seem more like a middle grade book, but it is definitely YA. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind middle grade books, but with the complexity of the story here I'm glad it was aimed at a slightly older audience. Also this is YA WITH A FEMALE PROTAGONIST WITH ABSOLUTELY NO ROMANCE OR LOVE INTERESTS [POTENTIAL OR OTHERWISE] WHATSOEVER. What a breath of fresh air!
Secondly, to me the summary reads like the book is going to feature Norse mythology but not feature the gods heavily I guess? I didn't know that Harris' [b:The Gospel of Loki|18665033|The Gospel of Loki (Runemarks, #0.5)|Joanne Harris|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1418765745s/18665033.jpg|26488264] was also technically a part of this series or I would have realized my mistake earlier, but anyway the gods are VERY present in this. Pretty much all the major players make an appearance at some point but Odin and Loki are the main ones, and if you know me then you know how much I absolutely adore anything with Loki in it! In the end I thought there was a nice balance between the gods and the human characters and I really liked how all of their plots came together at the end.
Also, I've seen some reviews from people saying they aren't very familiar with Norse mythology and that they find this book confusing. I can't really speak from that standpoint because I am apparently so over-familiar with Norse mythology that Neil Gaiman's new book last year literally bored me by it bringing nothing new to the table. However, this doesn't necessarily draw on that many of the actual Norse myths - it taking place AFTER Ragnarok and all - and mostly focuses on the characters so I would think a quick wiki list of Norse gods or something would give you most of the background you need. There is a character list at the beginning but it's basically 'all the gods and what Loki did to piss them off' so, while funny, it's not the most informative.