Runefool

The Rune Series #1

by Macaulay C. Hunter

When you pick a regular lock with the wrong key, the worst thing that can happen is that it just doesn't open. But when you pick a runelock with the wrong key, the best thing that can happen is that it just doesn't open.

Fire. Water. Lightning. Swarms. There is no limit to what a runelock can do to an unprepared smith, a burglar, or a careless homeowner who has not tended the keys. Thirteen-year-old Rafe Swale and her older brother Llewelyn struggle to survive after their mother, a rune locksmith, goes out to a job one night and never returns. With their father long gone and their mother presumed dead, they are left to eke out a hand to mouth existence using Llewelyn's small ability as a runefool.

But when a runelock they are attempting to open unleashes a vicious bakslag at the touch of a wrong key, they are set on a new path that leads to three untrained gatecrashers desperate to learn runes and a deepening mystery as to what exactly happened the night their mother disappeared.

Genres: Fantasy

206 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 2012

About the author

Macaulay C. Hunter was born in the Midwest but grew up in southern California. Earning a degree in Classical Languages and Literature, Hunter has worked in education and agriculture in addition to freelance writing. Hunter currently resides in northern California and is finishing a young adult fantasy series as well as keeping an online journal about health and nutrition.

Reviews

[[ J o ] · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an awfully weird jumble of words that actually has a decent premise but is such a slog to get through the premise fades away very quickly. There is a lot of new lore to work out but it isn't told very well and instead of an intriguing story of a pair of siblings who can open locks with runes, we get a terrible mess that takes a lot of re-reading to get your head around.

[Tanya · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not even sur this deserves a star.

But I only read 12 pages so I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt. This book was a jumble of words, thoughts and sentences all strung along together that made no sense to me whatsoever.

I restarted the book at least twice, put it down a couple of times also, thinking that 'maybe' I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to read it.

I gave up on page 12. If anyone has read it and can guarantee it gets better, I'll give it another try, but I'm not convinced there's any redeeming it.

[Amber Daniels · Rating 2 out of 5]

too slow paced for me. Not a bad story I just wanted more and for it to happen faster

[Sophie Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow......gobsmacked!

Had to read the first couple of chapters twice but once I got it the rest was a pure rollercoaster ride of fabulous insanity. Utterly amazing characters. Awe inspiring world of magic against a background of weirdly logistical insight into different aspects of humanity. Am breaking for lunch then going to immerse myself into book 2.

You will have to read it to get it..........I just can't find the words.

[Debby Zygielbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book and this series!