I am listening to Joanne Harris's Runemarks and I find myself vexed at how my copious knowledge of Norse Mythology--the D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths is one of my bibles--spoils the story for me. I am still wending my way through the first 100 pages and it's OBVIOUS to me that Lucky, the charming young redhead our heroine meets in the tunnels of World Below, is Loki. He even uses a fishing net, an overly clear shout-out if you ask me.
That said, Ms. Harris' imaginative world which envisions a world after Ragnarok where the old gods still exist, often in hiding, and the real villain is The Order which seems marvelously like the old Catholic Church is pretty great.
I'll post again when I've finished the book. At the end of the day, anything that calls to memory the Norse myths gets the passionatereader stamp of approval.
