The Fetch (The Runestone Saga, Book 1) [Hardcover]

Chris Humphreys (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Runestone Saga, Book 1 | Publication Date: July 11, 2006

FETCH: The apparition, double, or wraith of a living person.

In the attic, in an old sea chest, secreted away, are a mysterious journal and a set of runes: 24 stones that will change Sky’s life forever.

When Sky and his cousin Kristin find their Norwegian grandfather’s runes, Sky feels like the wait is over, like he can now release the breath he wasn’t even aware he’d been holding. But when he lays out the stones in a runecast they find in Sigurd’s journal, he is catapulted into a world filled with more possibilities and more danger than he ever imagined.

This first entry in the Runestone Saga is an utterly unique blend of horror, supernatural possibility, and historical truth that will leave readers wrung out from tension and clamoring for more.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up–Born with a caul over his face, possessing a distinctive unibrow, and having a tendency to sleepwalk, Sky bears all of the marks that the Norse associate with a person able to travel with his fetch, or spirit double. But it isn't until the British 15-year-old discovers an old set of runestones belonging to his Norwegian grandfather that he discovers his bizarre destiny. Aided by Sigurd's spirit and his cousin Kristin, Sky embarks on a wonderful and frightening spiritual journey–inhabiting the body of a Viking ancestor, taking the form of a hunting hawk–all the while hunted by a dark, hungry presence. Humphreys's writing is tense and atmospheric, and both Sky and Kristin are well-developed, interesting characters. However, several plot elements (such as the two teens being able to make a trip from England to Norway without their parents knowing) test the bounds of credibility. The use of runestone divination and old Norse history and culture is effective, and may draw teens to seek further information on those subjects.–Christi Voth, Parker Library, CO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 9-12. Here's another doorstop of a British fantasy, this one based on its author's ancestral roots and myths. Born with a caul over his face, 15-year-old Sky, a dreamer and sleepwalker, discovers a sea chest left behind by his Norwegian grandfather. Inside, he and his cousin Kristin find runestones--and Sky discovers his fetch, his other self, who can move through time and space without him. Guided by the voice of his grandfather and assisted by Kristin, Sky travels with his fetch deep into the past, where he meets his Viking ancestors and a shape-changing beserker, and learns more about the powerful poetry of the runes and of their casting. Humphreys is more interested in telling the rune lore than in developing characters or advancing the story, but bloody history and a dark, violent present keep the pages turning. Here, Sky and Kristin end up in Norway; the Runestone Saga's next installment will bring them to Corsica, where more family history awaits exploration. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (July 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375832920
• ISBN-13: 978-0375832925
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,105,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Norse Fantasy, January 10, 2007

By 

Camille "at the BookMoot!" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Fetch (The Runestone Saga, Book 1) (Hardcover)

The Fetch is going to be a popular read for Eragon, Lord of the Rings, Sea of Trolls readers. I think they will love this book.

Sky is seeing thing or dreaming thing. He sleepwalks and animals are talking to him. His parents have already had him checked out by psychiatrists and doctors so he doesn't tell them about his latest visions.

He is drawn to an old sea chest that belonged to his deceased grandfather Sigurd where he discovers a hidden bag of runestones and a journal. When his cousin Kristin arrives for a visit, he shares the find with her and the two of them set about unlocking the secrets of the runes.

Their research uncovers the existence of the Fetch, the spirit of a person that can be visible as a body double or can inhabit other beings or animals. Their experiments with runecasts send Sky's fetch traveling back in time to inhabit their ancestor, Bjorn, a young Viking. Through Bjorn's eyes, Sky lives through Bjorn's first Viking raid and to his horror, discovers his inner-Berserker.

As they delve deeper into rune magic they are drawn into the mystery of their grandfather Sigurd's disappearance and a danger, neither could have foreseen.

The book has lots of sword clashing, ax-thowcking action. Humphrey's experience as a fight choreographer is apparent. In the author's note at the end of the book he writes:

"When I first considered writing this novel, I remembered what I'd read in my teens--historical fiction, preferably with plenty of battles, self-sacrifice, blood-shed; and horror, the scarier the better."

My daughter cannot wait for the next book in the series, Vendetta, which will be out in August 2007.

5.0 out of 5 stars Author knows his stuff, May 26, 2008

By 

Angelina H. - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fetch (The Runestone Saga) (Paperback)

It is extremely rare that a fiction writer incorporating any facet of the Runic system into his work does so with a deep understanding of both the obvious and the deeply mystical meanings and implications of each Rune. Humphreys is one of those extremely rare authors who not only knows the Runes well, but writes with a brisk, fast-moving pace that keeps the readers' interest all the way. You'll never find yourself skimming through pages to get past slow parts, and yet, there is rich detail and description in every sentence, more than enough to make you feel you are right there along with the characters in the book. And be warned: You'll want the next book in the series, Vendetta, right away!


And although the characters are young people, this is not only a young person's book. It's a good adult read, as well.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent fantasy, July 12, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fetch: The Runestone Saga #1 (Library Binding)

The old sea chest that belonged to Sigurd, his Norwegian maternal grandfather that he never met, arrives at the family's new home in Shropshire. Teenager Sky knows that Sigurd went to sea when his daughter (Sky's mom) was six only to die a year later.

After school, Sky and his cousin Kristin open the chest to find an enigmatic journal and twenty-four rune stones. Upon seeing the find Sky feels the persistent nightmare he has suffered from for years in which a strange ghost like essence has chased after him is finally going to make sense. Once he arranges the rune stones in accordance to a diagram in the journal, his dangerous adventures begin as he now finds parts of his grandfather's remains in some other realm and can travel through time and space. However, unaware that by doing this, he has released his FETCH, the wraith of himself, just like Sigurd once did. As he struggles to stay alive, Sky can enter the bodies of his ancestors, but the mission has become to save the soul of Kristin in peril from either their grandfather's Fetch or Sigurd himself.

Though targeting the teen crowd, fantasy readers of all ages will appreciate THE FETCH because of Chris Humphreys skill in taking an everyday young adult struggling with missing his school-bus and placing him in extraordinary circumstances of life and death. The story line is action-packed and fast-paced as Sky adapts to his new powers and abilities yet struggles to understand why this happened to him while also eluding a lethal ghost. Readers will cheer for Sky as he plunges deeper into the Viking mythos past and present while learning about his heritage and his destiny leading to a great opening to the Runestone Saga.

Harriet Klausner