So… sometimes, I will read a book, and then later, I will tell someone, “I love this book.” And they’ll be all like, “Oh, okay, cool, uh-huh.” And I’m like, “No. You Don’t Understand. I. Love. This. Book.”
Runemarks, by Joanne Harris, is one such book. It’s basically everything I want in original fiction based off of Norse mythology. Not only is the heroine a 14 year old girl who is just plain awesome, but the characterizations for the Aesir and the Vanir are just amazing. Absolutely amazing.
Particularly for Loki, who, I’m sure it comes as no surprise, I have a definite soft spot for. Never, in fiction, have I ever come across a Loki who fits so well with what I see in the original Norse myths. Instead of a Loki who is malicious and villainous, he is a Loki who often is in over his head, but too stubborn (or too deep) to admit it. He plays both sides, and is always on his own, but he holds a certain loyalty for the Aesir, who took him in so long ago. Loki spends most of the book being kicked around, losing his glam, falling to pieces, getting beaten up by a 14 year old girl (main character Maddy Smith, being awesome as always), being out-played by the bad guys, and just generally being his usual self (as Norse mythology portrays). He is a perfect fit, and I love him dearly.
Okay, enough about Loki (as if, but for a little while, at least). Let’s talk Odin. Odin, One-eye, the Allfather. The “General,” in Runemarks. Odin is a mess, though somewhat less of one than Loki. His glam is in shreds, he looks like an old man, his allies are suspicious of him, at least one of them has totally turned against him, and to top it all off, he’s got family members crawling out of the woodworks. All in all, pretty stressful. But he’s still himself, still tricksy and false, still the man with the plan, even if the plan is something less like, “We will conquer them all!” and something more like, “We will die trying.” AND, Odin actually acknowledges his brother (ahem, that would be Loki, for those who aren’t in the know), and tries to save him, even when the rest of the gods would leave Loki to his doom. (See, it’s really all about Loki in the end.)
Except for Maddy Smith, who really should have gone first, because she is, in fact, the main character. No spoilers, for those who will naturally want to read the book after reading this little… thing, but she is in fact a character from the myths, though she is an original character in her own right. It’s complicated, as so many things in Norse mythology are. But let’s talk Maddy: powerful, intelligent, cunning, in her way. She trusts Loki, which is such a bad idea, I cannot even, but it endears me to her immensely, for reasons which I’m sure are obvious. Also, she adores Odin, who was her teacher since she was young, though she doesn’t know who he is exactly until later. She’s got glam, which has nothing whatsoever to do with shiny things. (Well, okay, a little bit to do with shiny things.) It’s powerful. She beats up Loki a lot. Sometimes it’s even on purpose. (No, but seriously though, the amount of times Maddy injures Loki on accident is bordering on running gag material by the end of the book.) She is literally the most important character in the book. Everyone is after her, in some way, shape, or form (puns, totally intended: read the book and you’ll get them too!). And… and yeah, no spoilers, but Maddy is awesome.
I could get into all the other Aesir and Vanir and the excellent, excellent characterization. I could also get into the bad guys of the book, who are definitely NOT who you’d expect them to be. But I won’t, because there are like a gazillion of them. Suffice to say: characterization is spot-on, and the bad guys are delightfully twisty.
And may I just gush, one last time, about Loki? Because he is perfect, really. Spot-on. From the way he looks out for himself first of all, and his “family” secondly, and reluctantly, to the way he is constantly getting into trouble (in one book!) because of poor planning, curiosity, or atrocious luck, to the way he tries so hard not to care, to this gem: “‘Your son?’ said Maddy. 'Gods, Loki, is there anyone here you're not related to?’” His fear of snakes, his devil-may-care attitude hiding deeper hurts and cares, his delight in battle, his Fiery Aspect. All of it, is absolutely brilliant. I cannot gush enough.
Plus, there’s a sequel. :)
Okay, ranting done. Now, since you definitely want to read this book now, but don’t want to scroll to the top of this long long text post, here’s the title and author again:
Runemarks, by Joanne Harris
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