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Runemarks cover art

Runemarks

By: Joanne Harris
Narrated by: Rosie Jones
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Summary

It's been 500 years since the end of the world and society has rebuilt itself anew. The old Norse gods are no longer revered. Their tales have been banned. Magic is outlawed, and a new religion - the Order - has taken its place.

In a remote valley in the north, 14-year-old Maddy Smith is shunned for the ruinmark on her hand - a sign associated with the Bad Old Days. But what the villagers don't know is that Maddy has skills. According to One-Eye, the secretive Outlander who is Maddy's only real friend, her ruinmark - or runemark, as he calls it - is a sign of Chaos blood, magical powers and gods know what else....

Now, as the Order moves further north, threatening all the worlds with conquest and cleansing, Maddy must finally learn the truth to some unanswered questions about herself, her parentage, and her powers.

From the bestselling author of Chocolat and The Gospel of Loki comes a fantastical tale of magic, adventure and Norse mythology.

Read by Rosie Jones, with a preface and prophecy read by Joanne Harris.

©2007 Frogspawn Limited (P)2016 Orion Publishing Group

What listeners say about Runemarks

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RUNES RULE!

Where does Runemarks rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Meet Maddy, a girl who does not fit into the way of life in her village, she thinks too much and dreams. Dreams are forbidden as is the use of magic for it is the power of chaos. That is what happens to her life that year as One-eye brings her a new challenge.

See the Norse Gods in ways you would never have imagined before. They are more real, more believable and very much amongst us. The characters wild and all of their own throughout. The story whilst slow to start is very much like a stone running down a hill and really does pick up speed. Whilst predictable with many a thing you can see before told you are still left in the dark about some of the deeper twists in Maddy's tale. A very very well written book that I am going to love reading more of the series.

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A book of books already written.

Overall the story had some wonderful aspects and it was interesting how the use of the runes carried it along most elegantly. However, I could hear traces of the Lord of the Rings not written but they were there and other less known books but those that have read them will know. The narrator curiously has collected a range of voices from films i already know, so like old friends finding different words she ‘glamoured’ me. The ending poetry? was awful I couldn’t listen to it. Will I listen to a second one? I will let you know.

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2 people found this helpful

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This is the better version

Very entertaining till the end. Love this story. I used to own the abridged version and did not like it since there were lots of details missing which actually help paint the world where the main protagonist lives. I fully recommend this book if you enjoy stories that makes you see your world in a different light!

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Just a bit drawn out

I liked the story, the narration and I do enjoy the way that JH writes, but this book just went on and on....... I lost interest in the minutiae and decided to flip through a few chapters, Overall I found the whole thing to be soporific and lost all sense of what was going on!

I think I would have enjoyed it so much more if it had been stripped of the overburdened 'wordiness' of it all.

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1 person found this helpful

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Wonderful book and story, one of my favourites

Wonderful story, enigmatic, full of wonder and Joanne's signature, (if you'll pardon the pun, for those who have already read it) relentlessly detailed world-building.
Characters that are easy to love and easy to despise, and a compelling story loosely based on the mythology of the Norse gods, I think this book is an excellent read.
My only qualm is with the narrators trouble pronouncing certain words, and occasionally misspeaking, shattering the immersion a little. However to her credit, her pronunciations of the occasional Norse words and rune names are well-researched, and over all her narration is full of life and personality.

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Really great story

Something different, of course if you really look for similarities you will find them but I really think the story works on its own. Wasn't too short or too long, everything was relevant, I am not good at writing reviews but I just wanted to encourage everyone who likes nordic mythology.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

A very good story over all and brilliant characters. Very truthful to the old norse tales I know of.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great take on Norse magic and legend

Narrated very well, good range of easily discernible voices. Some fun and interesting twists and turns, intriguing world.

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perfecto 👌❤

lovely story! you must listen to it! I liked the nerrators voice which is quite unusual for me as I'm normally quite critical of the voises 😁😊 you must listen to it 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👌

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a rare gem - especially for older daughters

firstly, 8nlove this book in it's own right. it's a real page turner and a brilliant telling of Norse god's in a modern setting

however an even rarer find, it has a strong independent female protagonist with no romance side story. just great story telling

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