I would have to say that books about "vikings" are hardly my first choice of literature, but this title was about "vikings" as much as SpongeBob is about aquatic life. It's an easy book, clearly targeting the pre-teen male audience, and tells the tale of Dane the Defiant who must make up for a fairly serious error in judgment by taking on a quest with his friends. While a completely unbelievable plot, there are a lot of concepts from Norse Mythology and viking "living" which made it an entertaining read. ( )

It was boring and not exciting at all. ( )

Rune Warriors is an exciting adventure into the past that encompasses both ancient cultures and mythology. It does a great job of mixing both humor & drama. You can actually smell, see, & hear the boisterous ancient Vikings....from their hearty meals to their colorful language to their warrior pride. I wouldn't recommend it to really young kids because of some of the violence, but, it would be fine for teens. The mix of reality and Norse Mythology are well blended and believable. Surely, frost giants DO exisit? Who could doubt it! The story of one young Viking boy growing into manhood pulls at your heartstrings as well as sets your pulse to racing to the very exciting end. ( )

Boys that like fart jokes will probably like “RuneWarriors.” Come, on, I mean one of the characters is named “Fulnir the Stinking.” However, although the story really picks up and becomes fairly engaging towards the end, this book has a lot of issues. One incredibly frustrating thing was the frequent use of anachronism. I would expect a book for ages 8-12 to attempt to connect with the readers in some way, but not the blatantly modern terminology used here. The characters would have been more believable as 15 than they were at 13, which might have allowed the writers to bump up their targeted ages to 10-15, which would have allowed for the style to flow much more smoothly.

For the full review:
http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2008/09/rune-warriors-book-review/ ( )

When Dane stole the invincible Shield of Odin to impress his love interest, Astrid, he never meant to bring death and destruction to his village. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. To add onto that, Astrid was also kidnapped, while his father died at the hands of Thidrek the Terrifying, an evil tyrant. In order to redeem himself, Dane must embark on a quest with a chosen group of Viking boys to regain the Shield of Odin, rescue Astrid, and foil Thidrek's diabolical plans to expand his kingdom.

This book reads very much like a movie, and I can imagine everything playing out in my head. Not a page is wasted with unnecessary plot fillers; everything was relevant to the plot. This is to be expected, since both writers are screenwriters. The engaging descriptions really do make you feel as if you're alongside the characters, fighting their battles with them.

I love the twists and turns throughout the story; even though you know what the outcome is going to be, you don't know how the characters will accomplish their tasks. I had to keep reading in order to see what the characters were going to come up with next. I also love all the dynamics in the plot from escaping a frost giant to fighting with Thidrek's henchmen. There is some violence, but it's kept to a minimal; nothing is overly gruesome. It's interesting enough to capture the interest of teens, but appropriate enough for younger kids to enjoy as well.

However, because this book was mostly plot-driven, the characters aren't as developed as they should be. Thidrek acts as an extremely one-sided evil character that I wish there were more background story to explain his brutality. Out of all the characters, I liked Astrid the best for her strength and independence, and her personality makes up for the other characters.

Overall, this was a great story, especially for those interested in Norse mythology. ( )