Runelight (Runes Novels) Hardcover – 27 July 2017

Harris is one of my favourite writers. I devour her work. I loved Runemarks and the Loki books. I didn’t realise until recently that I hadn’t read this so had to drop everything and become quickly lost in the book. This dazzling novel features Maddy’s sister, Maggie who is dark opposite of her sister. Harris makes her a fully-fledged character in her own right rather than an evil clone of her sister. She makes some terrible decisions but she’s only 17 so her actions are understandable. I also loved the return of Maddy and Odin. Loki is as usual, a devious but charming delight. The events in this book follow on from Runemarks and it was easy to follow what was going on. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to read this because I feel I missed a lot of connections and links with Runemarks.

I read this because I'd read "Chocolat" etc and enjoyed them.I thought a new genre by the same author would be worth reading. I bought the three books in this series, but only managed to read one. I found the plots to complicated and disjointed and Ms Harris' use of a mishmash of mythology, particulay Norse, just too confusing and unsettling --- In the end I just lost interest and reading the books became a chore, not a pleasure.Probably I have grown too old and cynical for science fantasy!

This is the follow-up to Runemarks and picks up the story three years on from the conclusion of that story.It’s a big book, and a big story with a large cat of characters made all the larger by them having several different names each depending on which of the nine worlds they are currently in and which Aspect they are inhabiting. This can at times make the story a little hard to keep track of but it’s worth sticking with.For myself, some of the best parts are those that are set in World Above, in Malbry or Worlds End, but the rollercoaster rides of Dream are also fun. If there is one thing that makes me come back to this story time after time, then that is the way that Joanne Harris paints and plays with the Norse mythology. I simply love the bickering Gods each with their own motives and secrets. It’s wonderful.Like the first book, this story is complete but there are stands of story left at the end of this, each of which are another story waiting to be told.Edited to add: In a fine example of auto-correct fail on my tablet, I originally, inadvertently type “worth drinking with”. I only noticed this when Joanne Harris tweeted me herself to tell me so and that “may be the best compliment I’ve EVER had… :-)”. I’ve corrected it now, but it should be worth noting that Maddie, Loki, One-Eye and the rest would definitely be worth drinking with! :-)

I bought Runemarks because I was bored and I wanted to read something and I didn't have great hopes but I was surprised by it. The book is great and the story is just fantastic. So I bought Runelight before I finished Runemarks, because I knew I wanted to read more about these characters.Three years have passed since the last chapter of the previous book. The gods and the folk are suffering from the consequences of what went on at Hel's kingdom. Maddy is not the main character here, she shares the spotlight with Maggie, another girl that will have to learn abour her true origin.This book shows us more about the characters, although some gods don't say much apart from: Can I hammer him? Can I hammer him, now?It is full of adventure and love (although not in the traditional sense, there is no traditional love story here). And it is funny, it is. Some of the dialogues are witty and I couldn't keep a straight face when Loki was annoying Sif or when Mjolnir comes back from the stomach of the Snake to torment Thor (and the rest) with his opinions and personality.Loki gets beaten, bullied, threatened, used as bait, chained, lost, insulted and almost everyone wants him dead and yet he remains the best character in the book. He is just too much fun to read, the chapters without him are just not as good.I really need the third book to be published (the sooner the better), as I will miss these characters too much once I finished the last page (I still have 5 more pages to read).

I picked up Gospel of Loki on a whim...and devoured it and had to buy the next three books immediately. Have to say this series has been my favourite reads of the year so far. The writing is exquisite and I love the banter between the gods. I hope there will be more books in this series.

I'd read Runemarks and really struggled to remember who was who, there are so many names, Aspects, shapes and clans, it put me off. However, I did read the entire book and despite the problems with who was who, I enjoyed the basic story. With Runelight I felt the same thing happened. I still hadn't sorted in my head all the different characters and now we had new ones to add to the first lot!

Runelight - what an amazing tale! Joanne Harris' imagination is given full power here and the story is gripping from start to spectacular finish. The characters, though I initially thought were just a little far fetched, very quickly won me round and totally drew me in and so now I am hoping that another Rune book will closely follow.I suggest the excellent Runemarks should be read first, then let your imagination take wings and enjoy this fabulous book to the hilt. Roll on Book Three.

I have long been a fan of Joanne Harris books and this novel is no exception. Intriguing characters and I love the mythology of the Norse gods, a really good read thoroughly enjoyed it.

I loved "The Gospel of Loki" and I liked "Runemarks" but this book is a little odd. I don't really like the idea of Mjölnir being a living creature (and Jolly is a stupid name) and why would you change famous and typical old northern names like Hugin and Munin to freaking 21st century lame-ass names like Mandy? I mean seriously, why would you change so many things that so many people grew up with? The story is a bit lame too and very chaotic. It kinda feels like Harris just wanted to continue the story a little too much, without really thinking about real character development or steady storylines or even anything at all. It's all just a huge mess of Cantrips, new runes, weird names, unnecessary often shape shifting creatures and no surprise what so ever. In "Runemarks" I always was like "Oh come-on you silly girl! How could you not see that coming?" But now it's just like..."Was that really necessary? Oh well..." I am a bit disappointed and annoyed.. and the cover of the book just looks stupid... why would you put a random picture of a random girl on it? Again, Runemark and Gospel of Loki both hat nice, matching covers... this one just looks like it's something you would find in the "young adults"-section next to Twilight and Vampire-Romances.

Runes, Magic, Loki, Chaos, Order, Dreams, Loki, Nursery Rhymes, Love, Betrayal, Loki, Prophecy, End of the World, Apocalypse, Cat's Cradle, Loki, Fish-Eating Horse, Flying Baskets, Loki... and so much more! This is storytelling at its finest. So many characters, each trying to steer the course as they see fit. And everything clicks into place as the climax builds up - Approach of Lord Surt, an aspect of Chaos.Admittedly, Loki has fewer screen time (Or word count) compared to Runemarks. But I enjoyed his character the most. (Who wouldn't?)The way the story ends, I think I can guess at what a sequel may hold, if there's one.I have definitely gotta learn from Joanne Harris how to write each page so that it makes the reader wonder if the very next one is the beginning of the climax.

Nachdem die regierende Ordensgemeinschaft am Ende von Runemarks / Feuervolk vollständig vernichtet wurde, sind einige Götter in die mittleren Welten zurückgekehrt. Jedoch sind sie stark geschwächt. Odin hat den Kampf nicht überlebt. Ihre Runenzeichen sind noch immer umgekehrt, so dass ihnen nur wenig Magie zur Verfügung steht und die Körper, die ihnen nach der Schlacht zur Verfügung standen, waren auch nicht erste Wahl. So muss Sif, die Frau von Thor, beispielsweise im transformierten Körper eines Hängebauchschweins ausharren. Mit ihren wenigen Mitteln versuchen sie in der Nähe des Red Horse Hill die Welt vor Kreaturen aus dem Traum zu verteidigen, die während ihrer Schlacht in Hel entkommen konnten. Ihnen zur Seite steht Maddy, Protagonistin aus Runemarks / Feuervolk, die eigentlich Thors Sohn Mody hätte werden sollen. Sie verfügt über die neue Rune "Esche" und damit über mehr magische Kräfte als die alten Götter.Maggie Rede ist eine junge Waise, die in World's End lebt, der einstigen Hochburg der Ordensgemeinschaft. Ihre Brüder waren Teil des Ordens und starben drei Jahre zuvor in der Schlacht. Ihre Eltern erlagen den Krankheiten, die kursierten, nachdem die Seelen der Ordensbrüder zur Schlacht gerufen wurden und ihre Körper verrottend zurück blieben. Maggie hat in den Katakomben unter der einstigen Universität ihre eigene Welt geschaffen. Hier versteckt sie Bücher, die sie aus der Bibliothek retten kann und eignet sich immer mehr Wissen über die Ordensgemeinschaft, die Götter, Dämonen, Chaos und Ordnung an. Dann taucht plötzlich Adam auf. Er war bei der Schlacht in Hel dabei und in seinem Geist ist Minir der Flüsterer entkommen. Vor drei Jahren hat er versucht die Götter zu vernichten und ist gescheitert. Jetzt will er es mit Maggies Hilfe erneut versuchen. Sie ist Thors zweiter Sohn und trägt die neue Rune "Eiche", kennt jedoch ihr magisches Potential nicht. Minir und Adam erzählen ihr Lügen über die Götter und die Schlacht, die so viele Leben gekostet hat, um sie für ihre Zwecke zu missbrauchen. Er will eine erneute Apokalypse einleiten und Maggie soll einer ihrer Reiter werden.Unterdessen wird Loki von einer seiner Ex-Frauen und seinem Sohn entführt, die wie er ursprünglich Kreaturen des Chaos sind. Sie bietet ihm und den anderen Göttern ihre Hilfe beim Wiederaufbau von Asgard an und legt noch dazu Thors Hammer oben drauf. Loki ist äußerst misstrauisch. Nicht nur passt das Angebot überhaupt nicht zu ihr, die beiden verfügen zudem noch über neue Runen, die eigentlich in Göttern der neuen Zeit hätten wiedergeboren werden sollen. Die Götter nehmen das Angebot an und benötigen auch prompt die Hilfe der Chaoswesen, als Maggie, geleitet vom Flüsterer, Odins achtbeiniges Pferd aus dem Red Horse Hill erweckt. Dies hinterlässt einen Riss zwischen den Welten aus dem der Traum sprudelt und mit ihm unzählige Monster. Maddy versucht ihre Schwester vor dem Zorn der Götter zu beschützen und lässt Loki die Schuld am Entkommen des Pferdes übernehmen. Anschließend bittet sie die Weltenschlange um Hilfe, damit sie schnell durch den Traum nach World's End gelangen kann. Dort will sie ihre Schwester finden und aus dem Einfluss des Flüsteres befreien. Aus der Weltenschlange wird so plötzlich ein weiteres Pferd und Maddy die zweite Reiterin der Apokalypse.Runelight kann mit einer Vielzahl neuer und interessanter Charaktere aufwarten. Dazu kommen die aus dem ersten Band der Reihe liebgewonnenen, altbekannten Figuren. Am Ende des Buches steht der Leser über 20 Göttern und Dämonen gegenüber. Joanne Harris gelingt es eine Balance zwischen den Perspektiven der Hauptcharaktere zu finden. Auch wenn dafür hier und da die Charaktere etwas zweidimensional rüberkommen. Loki übernimmt im ersten Teil des Buches die Rolle als Sündenbock und ständiges Opfer, dies wirkt bald eintönig. Drei weibliche und häufig vorkommende Figuren mit den Namen Maddy, Maggie und Mandy in einem Buch können den Leser schon einmal im Lesefluss stolpern lassen.Die Geschichte von Runelight ist durchweg spannend, schließlich droht ab Beginn des Buches das Ende der Welt und bis zum Schluss weiß der Leser nicht, wer welche Fäden zieht und wie die Apokalypse einleiten oder verhindern wird. Maggies Sinneswandel am Ende wirkt jedoch zu forciert und plötzlich. So lange sträubt sie sich und dann werfen ein paar Menschen Steine und schon läuft sie über. So wie das Buch ausgeht, steht vermutlich noch eine Fortsetzung an und es bleibt abzuwarten, wie sie sich noch entwickeln wird.

This novel was amazing. It was the perfect sequel to Runemarks. It was funny and witty. But I felt that it was a bit too fast paced and most of the supporting characters seemed way too one-dimensional. Aside from that the story felt a bit incomplete to me. Like what would happen after Maggie's child was born with the Whisperer. So well anyways great book.

"Runelight" - the part all Runemark-Fans have been waiting for!I loved the first book (even though I was very critical at first) and always thought that a second book would be nice - and I shouldn't get disappointed! Runelight continues the story of Maddy, Loki and the other Gods after they freed the Aesir out of Hel. The book stays exciting til the last page - and is as humerous as the first one!Especially Loki is a geniousley funny as before and his new tricks and puns are awesome.Only thing I didn't like at all was the cover - what is up with that? Who's that girl supposed to be and why not drawing (or photographing) a cool scene or closeup of te characters (LOKI perhaps!!) I think that would make the book more attractive to buy.

EXCELENTE

What can I say about this? Really enjoyed the story of the gods rebuilding Asgard. Maddie an Maggie are great characters and Loki (always one of my favorite characters) is his Trickster self as the General's Captain. Heck, all her characters are pretty darn great. Odin, no matter what condition he's in (or what Aspect he's wearing) is pretty much the General in charge even when it looks like he's not.Story is chock-full of action and surprises and runs so fast you can hardly keep up without needing to take a breath every now and then.Now, on to the next one.

I'm nearing the end of this book now but can't imagine being anything but satisfied but left wanting more. I just love this series. If you love fantasy mixed with some really old time history of gods and ancient tales, you can't miss this series.

I loved the first book, Runemarks, and this sequel was well worth staying up late to finish. I might enjoy the jokes more if I were more familiar with the Norse legends. Still, delights were to be had. My favorite god was Lucky/Loki, better known in the US as Coyote, the Trickster, the archetypal Bad Boy, and Odin All father, Old One-Eye, the General, the Grandfather. I liked them best because they were beloved by Maddie, the young female narrator whose life and adventures expand beyond her wildest dreams, despite their shenanigans.

Been a big fan of Joanne Harris ever since I read Chocolat. Excited to be reading this book and its prequel. Funny and full of adventure.

I totally recommend these guys. Awesome item!!! A+++++

Long awaited 2nd book, I am enjoying this so far!It will be a great series! -Yes I would recommend this book to everyone

Another home run!! Loved this and hope there are more to come!!!

Love this series, it's interesting and fun, worth reading indefinitely if you read and enjoyed Runemarks.

I ordered this book for my 14 year old son who had read the first book (actually 3 times) and was eagerly awaiting book number 2. Since he got this for Christmas he's been up late at night reading and loves it.