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Ye gods. Another adult writer penning for the children's market. I've been disappointed in a few of these recently and so picked up ''Runemarks'' with some trepidation. But, thank heavens, I put it down feeling rather satisfied. ''Runemarks'' is a Tolkeinesque quest adventure using the pantheon and rune magic of the Nordic gods. It's energetic, exciting and funny and it has enough world-building going on to satisfy even the most trainspotterish of junior fantasy fans. But most importantly of all, it's pitched perfectly. The prose is straightforward, vigorous and totally lacking in pretension - as it should be in books aimed at even sophisticated young teen or tween readers - but neither is it self-consciously "dumbed down", which so many writers of adult fiction seem to think is appropriate in their I Can Write A Book For Children enterprises. It isn't appropriate; it's patronising, and it generally leads to a poor book. Three cheers to Joanne Harris for not doing this.
The action is non-stop, the magic is brilliant and the characters are all fully-rounded. Maddy and Loki in particular came alive from the pages for me. I spotted the villain about halfway through, but the denouement - an absolute triumph - came as a complete surprise. ''Runemarks'' has just right the proportions of fun, excitement and darkness. If you compare it to what someone like Melvin Burgess is doing with the Norse legends in ''Bloodtide'' and ''Bloodsong'' or to the wit and world building in Terry Pratchett's Discworld for children in [[''The Wee Free Men]] '' then perhaps it falls short. But then, so do almost all the other fantasy books on the shelves. ''Runemarks'' though, stands up happily to just about all the rest of the competition. It's a jolly romp but a jolly romp of some quality. We thoroughly enjoyed it.
My thanks to the good people at Random House for sending the book.