Product Description

Seven o'clock, on a Monday morning, five hundred years after the end of the world, and goblins had been at the cellar again...Maddy Smith was born with a rusty-coloured runemark on her hand - a symbol of the old gods and definitely cause for suspicion. For magic is dangerous. Or so everyone thinks. But Maddy enjoys working magic. Even if it is just to control some pesky goblins. And every time her friend, One-Eye - a good-for-nowt Outlander - comes by, he teaches her more and more about the gods and the runes. Now he wants Maddy to open Red Horse Hill and descend into World Below to retrieve a relic of the old gods. Otherwise it is likely to be the End of Everything. Again...An epic romp into the heart of the old Norse tales: wild, dangerous, richly inventive and superbly imaginative.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9847 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Review
This book has a great opening sentence: "Seven o'clock on a Monday morning, 500 years after the End of the World, and goblins had been at the cellar again." Joanne Harris, best known as the author of Chocolat, is good at beginnings and pay-offs: each of the chapters in this nine-part fantasy epic has a punchy finish that makes you want to read on. This is despite the complexity of the story, which is based on Norse myth and uses elaborate geography and hierarchies. Maddy Smith, the novel's young heroine, who was born with a rusty-coloured rune mark on her hand, has powers that make her an outsider in her village, where dream, imagination and magic are frowned upon. A nasty incident in the cellar, however, throws Maddy into the company of Norse gods, goblins and monsters, revisiting the 500-year-old conflict of Ragnarok in which the Old Order of deities was overthrown and a rigid, puritanical regime came into force. Identities and loyalties shift as the plot thickens. Especially enjoyable are Harris's aphorisms, her satire of joyless piety, and the comically irreverent vernacular spoken by a dissolute goblin and the trickster god Loki --The Sunday Times, August 27th 2007

Review
Maddy Smith is a girl who has got it bad. Born with the runemark of the title on her hand, she is an oddball in her village, befriended only by a mysterious old man called One-Eye, who teaches her all she knows of magic. Unlike ordinary humans, Maddy can see goblins, and knows that where her friend's glam (magic) is weak, hers is strong, though quite how strong she only discovers when she goes underground and meets a young man who calls himself Lucky. Before long Maddy is coping with the reawakened Sleepers, formerly Norse gods. Together with a pleasingly cynical oracular head called The Whisperer, who has plans of his own, she has to prevent the Nine Worlds from descending into Chaos.

Ever since Chocolat, Harris has played with the idea that magic might actually work, and it was only a matter of time before she, like many other adult authors, wrote a book for children. Her enjoyment at being able to go the whole hog is palpable, and her dramatic story rollocks along for 536 pages, with magical transformations, nets of blue fire and a spunky heroine.

From the Inside Flap
They call it a ruinmark . . .

Maddy Smith – born with a rusty-coloured rune shape on her hand – has always been an outsider in her village. For the good folk of Malbry believe a ruinmark to be a symbol of the old gods, a mark of magic.And that, as everyone knows, is the road to Chaos. Dangerous.

But Maddy enjoys working magic, even if it is just to control some pesky goblins. And every time he visits, her best friend – a good-for-nowt Outlander known as One-Eye – has been teaching her more and more about the old ways: about gods and glamours, runes and cantrips.

Now One-Eye is back again, and he wants her to open Red Horse Hill and descend into World Below to retrieve a relic of the old gods.

Otherwise – apparently - it could be the End of Everything. Again . .

An epic runic romp into the heart of the old Norse tales: wild, dangerous, richlyinventive and superbly imaginative.

Customer Reviews

Norse god go forth!
This is Joanne Harris's first novel for young adults. Its the story of maddy Smith a fourteen year old girl who lives in the distant future in a world entirely different to ours. Maddie is born with a mysterious rune mark on her hand which in her world is considered a very bad omen.
The novel which is quite long for a childrens novel relates Maddie's adventures as she crosses over into the different worlds. On her journey she encounters many colourful characters including norse gods. No-one is quite who they appear to be and who actually can Maddie really trust! There are lots of twists along the way. Joanne Harris in this book demonstates her ability as a storyteller. Although i did feel that she did not explore the character of Maddy strongly enough that said a very readable story.

Haunting tale
A novel that will continue to stay with the reader long after it's been finished and demonstrates that Joanne's writing is going from strength to strength. I know Joanne more for her adult writing rather than YA and her talent clearly shows throughout the readers time with the novel. Gripping with interesting characters who will keep the reader guessing as to their motives with an additional touch to keep the reader glued to the pages through the use of dry humour many of us associate with Terry Pratchett. Highly enjoyable, addictive and something that may inspire the younger readers to want to know more about Norse myth.

I loved it!
I'm a big fan of Joanne Harris, especially the more magical of her novels (Chocolat and The Lollipop shoes are my favourites) and I'm also a fan of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman so it's no surprise that I loved Runemarks. The tale of Maddy shunned by the ordinary Folk because of her imagination and magical tendancies is reminicent of Tiffany Aching in Pratchett's Wee Free Men books, and the Gods in all their flawed glory made me think of the characters in Gaiman's American Gods. I think it's the funniest of Joanne Harris's books - it had me laughing out loud, but it's also a gripping and well constructed adventure with a huge and satisfying conclusion. What versatile talent Joanne Harris has - hats off to her.