Riddle of the Runes

Viking Mystery #1

by Janina Ramírez, David Wyatt (Illustrator)

Alva rushes through the trees in the dead of night with her sniffer wolf, Fen. Being out alone when there's a kidnapper on the loose is reckless, but if she ever wants to be an investigator like her Uncle Magnus, she'll need to be first to the crime scene. But what Alva discovers raises more questions than it answers, drawing her into a dangerous search for truth, and for treasure.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult, Medieval

256 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

About the author

Janina Sara María Ramírez (née Maleczek; 7 July 1980), sometimes credited as Nina Ramírez, is a British art and cultural historian and TV presenter, based in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. She specialises in interpreting symbols and examining works of art, within their own historical context.

Ramírez went to school in Slough. She gained a degree in English literature, specialising in Old and Middle English, from St Anne's College, Oxford, before completing her postgraduate studies at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York. She completed an art/literature PhD on the symbolism of birds, which led to a lectureship in York's Art History Department, followed by lecturing posts at the University of Winchester, University of Warwick, and University of Oxford.

Ramírez is currently the course director on the Certificate in History of Art at Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education.

Reviews

[Samantha Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Dr Janina Ramirez' work for a long time so when I found out that she was writing a novel, I knew that I just had to read it. Riddle of the Runes is Ramirez' debut novel and although it is marketed as a children and young adults' book, let me tell you - it's a bloody good read for a big person, too!

I cracked this delightful little book open on the day it arrived and utterly devoured it within a couple of days. It tells the story of a young lady named Alva who lives in the Viking town of Kilsgard with her mother Brianna, her little brother Ivan, her uncle Magnus and her wolf Fenrir. This young lady has the spirit of a shieldmaiden and a quick mind that makes her a brilliant investigator. And when two outsiders go missing, when she finds a piece of a casket covered in runes, she knows that she has to get to the bottom of the whole mystery before anyone else gets hurt.

This book is wonderfully written in fast paced prose that is both easily understandable to young adults and language that will delight the older reader too. The descriptions of the landscape surrounding Kilsgard is utterly beautiful and you find yourself transported into Alva's world, living alongside her as she takes on this mystery. I was particularly delighted with the absolutely beautiful illustrations that are dotted throughout the book, too.

Riddle of the Runes is truly a masterpiece of a book and one that will delight both young and old alike. I, for one, can't wait to read the next one!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Viking adventure/mystery with a lot of heart. Beautifully illustrated as well. Sign me up for the Fenrir fan club 😊

[Femke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Op zich een origineel idee maar veel van wat Magnus tegen Alva zei was belerend en bijna een geschiedenisles waardoor sommige stukken echt saai waren. Jammer!

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mystery and adventure for Viking girl Alva and her uncle Magnus as they try to solve the riddle of the runes left by her father to lead them to a hidden treasure. The task isn't easy as there are two missing visitors in their town of Kilsgard and the local men are getting restless for answers.
A fast-paced adventure I couldn't put down with a strong shield-maiden of a female character to follow. Just loved it and can't wait to read the next book!

[Carrie Brownell · Rating 5 out of 5]

For lovers of historical fiction, this is a very well-written piece of Middle Grade fiction focusing on the Vikings and their raid at Lindisfarne. Highly recommended for unit studies, read alouds and pure enjoyment. Note that there is a lot of discussion about the gods Loki and Odin and a ceremony involving animal sacrifice. This didn't bother me and I doubt it would bother my kids who have read enough Viking history to understand what was happening.

It's fun! I loved it and bought the sequel.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I have read a LOT of Viking historical fiction. Some of it aimed at children but the majority for teenagers and adults.
Most such books involve lone warriors or longship crews, exploring new lands, battles and wars, slaves and treasure hoards. A few and only a few feature women or girls.

This story features 2... A daughter and mother.

This story involves a pair of strangers from a foreign land, a talking raven, a pet wolf and a set of runes that only certain people can read the meaning behind. Also kidnapping, a small fight, religious sacrifices, fear, family history and memories.

It is a brilliant unique down to earth insight into the Viking world the way the Vikings saw themselves without the tint of Christianity or Anglo-Saxon heritage.

It shows the pride they had for themselves in apparance, possessions, wealth, status, success in exploration and raiding and trading and craftsmanship...

It has a real sense of danger, drama, fear but also of bravery, love, trust and gutsyness.

The illustrations that accompany the story are superb and really bring the whole adventure to life and a lot of the objects, including the key piece of the rune puzzle are in fact real life artefacts found during excavations and can be seen in various local or national museums.

It is an excellent book for children (age 10+) especially if parents read it to them for some scenes amongst the family are great at helping children understand the protectiveness of parents but equally help parents understand the children's need to do things, within reason, for themselves.

I think the theme of family is what really won the book a place on my favourites shelf. Many Vikingy stories involve family usually revolving around revenge or the desire to improve a families reputation and often through the means of earning fame and glory away from home. This book really shines a light on the family of those who go a-Viking and most significantly that there is adventure to be had without crossing the seas.

I adored every chapter and illustration and Alva is now my favourite Viking girl and I am delighted that we will get to follow at least two more of her adventures in new books.

A stellar debut from my favourite TV historian. Bravo Janina Bravo!

[Katy Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Viking-set detective story, an exciting setting with refreshing investigative pairing.

4.5 stars.
There aren't a lot of detectives in children's fiction, and still less in historical contexts. Making this a rather different book. Set in a Scandinavian coastal town, Alva finds herself at the centre of a mystery. With her father away 'a-Viking' at sea, she is left with her mother, baby brother and uncle, who uses deduction and clues to examine crimes and violent incidents.

With strangers in their town, kidnappings, and talk of hidden treasure, Alva determines she will not stand by but get involved and play a role.

The setting really sells this story. I loved the detail about Viking life, the cold and hard terrain, the houses and rituals, the runes and how to read them. Alva herself is an independent and able young heroine with enviable logical skills.

Very readable, will hopefully stimulate curiosity in the period and people.

One for ages 9-13.

[Suidpunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eerste boek van die jaar, jippie!

Ek het die boek gelees vanweë slegs twee woorde: "pet wolf". Te dierbaar, en die ster van die verhaal. 🐺

[I Read, Therefore I Blog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Janina Ramirez’s first novel for children aged 9+ is a sturdy historical adventure set in Viking times with a determined and rebellious female main character and featuring moody and evocative illustrations by David Wyatt. However, the writing is stiff in places, the mystery elements rely on backstory that wasn’t previously mentioned and there are a couple of anachronisms that threw me out (although children probably won’t notice).

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, I really wanted to like this book a lot more. And, at least to start with, I honestly thought I was going to. The setting and characters are great, and I was besotted by the illustrations. There are far too few novels set during this period of history, especially targeted towards children. The idea of a sassy Viking girl out solving mysteries with her pet wolf is obviously amazing – the sort of thing that I wish I had come up with! But the actual novel never quite lived up to expectations. Actually, in almost every aspect it fell short for me.

First and foremost, I found the style of writing increasingly heavy, if not outright boring. (It wasn't a surprise when I found out that Ramirez's previous works are history books.) There is far too little literary zing to be found here. When compared to recent novels by the likes of Katherine Rundell, etc., the prose comes across as all but wooden. Ramirez's tendency to repeat herself, and particularly to overstate the intricacies of the novel's "mystery" also started to irritate me. The intrigue itself is ultimately mundane. There is no riddle. Merely an A–Z trail for the characters to follow.

What I found most disappointing about this book, however, was the fact that Alva and her wolf don't actually do very much. At virtually every point, they're going along with Alva's uncle. Which entirely defeats the genius of those two characters. I didn't want to be reading about uncle Magnus. I wanted Alva! Alva and her wolf! The Viking investigators promised by the blurb. I wanted them to be pulling the narrative, to be front and centre of the action, rather than hangers on, which, essentially, is what they're reduced to. I got the feeling that Ramirez was too concerned about realism, whether it would be historically inaccurate to portray a 12-year-old girl solving crimes in Viking-era Denmark. But come on! This is a book for children. And it had the potential to be incredible. Ahh well.

Anyways; I was exceedingly disappointed by 'Riddle of the Runes'. At least the illustrations are terrific, and the characters will make for good fan fic. Some of which I'll probs be writing!

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out this review and more on my blog!

I received a copy of Riddle of the Runes from Oxford University Press in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a big fan of Janina Ramirez, she's such an enthusiastic historian and her documentaries are always excellent, so when I heard she'd turned her hand to fiction to take the fun and fascination of history to a younger audience I knew I had to see for myself what it was like. I got in touch with Oxford University Press and they very kindly sent a copy out to me to review.

Riddle of the Runes is set in the 8th century, I believe in Denmark, and follows twelve year old Alva who longs to solve mysteries like her Uncle Magnus. In her Viking community justice can be brutal, but Alva's uncle preaches a justice system that involves seeking clues and proof, even if it goes against what appears to be a sign from one of the Norse gods, and Alva is eager to learn from her uncle in her beloved father's absence. When some mysterious Englishmen appear, claiming to have lost precious treasure that seems to have ties to Alva's missing father, only to then go missing themselves, it's up to Alva and her uncle to solve the mystery.

More than anything this book is a fantastic introduction to the Viking era, particularly for children (though I imagine a lot of adults could learn a thing or two, too) and I appreciated that while Ramirez didn't shy away from how brutal these communities could be, she didn't look at them through the eyes of someone from the 21st century who would consider them brutal. We see this community and culture through Alva's eyes, it's her community and her culture, so while it's very different to how we live now it's never treated as wrong or degraded in any way. I could see this book sparking a real interest in this era of history for a lot of children, and I hope schools up and down the country put it in their libraries.

Having said that I do think Ramirez is still finding her feet as a novelist, which is to be expected when this is her debut. Teaching children a lesson or encouraging their interest in history is brilliant, but I think there were times when the writing and the story suffered so Ramirez could fit in a fact; she's still learning how to balance the fact with the fiction.

My only real complaint would be that I would have liked more of Alva's mother, Brianna. I thought it was strange that she was referred to as Brianna throughout the novel when, though it is in third person, the story is from Alva's point of view. She referred to her as 'mother' when she spoke, so why not refer to her as 'mother' in the description, too? Children aren't idiots, they'd be able to figure out who she was - especially as there's a character list with accompanying illustrations at the beginning of the book, so they wouldn't be confused if Alva referred to her as 'mother' while Magnus called her by her name.

I was also surprised to discover that Alva's mother was Irish, thus Alva's red hair, and that she was once an Irish princess who left Ireland to be with Alva's father. I understand this is a children's book and I'm probably just being a history snob, but I guess we're just going to gloss over the fact that many Irish princesses were taken as slaves against their will during this era? Alva's mother and father clearly love each other so there doesn't seem to be anything sinister going on, but I'm surprised this was a choice Ramirez chose to make to perhaps bring up the Vikings' ties to Ireland.

All that aside, this is a very sweet debut with a lot of heart. Ramirez is clearly passionate about her subject and I look forward to seeing what Alva does next.

[Tim Roast · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Riddle of the Runes” starts off with lots of affirming quotes from famous people such as Philip Pullman, Dan Snow, Anita Rani, Tony Robinson, Lucy Worsley and so on, so the book must be good mustn’t it?

The story principally follows Alva who has seen twelve winters. She has an “insatiable need for adventure” as she has the spirit of a “little shield maiden”. When her Uncle Magnus is called away on an important matter in the middle of the night she is compelled to go out too and investigate what is up.

She goes to the great hall in the middle of her town, Kilsgard. “Alva immediately realised all the karls were inside together. That was not good. It meant that something that affected the whole town was unfolding in the dark of the night.”

She listens in to the menfolk’s conversation. A stranger, an English monk “Edmund, of the monastery of Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Northumbria” has “come to the home of his enemy” terrified after he “watched a figure in a cloak strike his friend over the head, drag him to a horse, and then ride away.” This was whilst they were in the nearby mountains searching for “a treasure beyond compare” after following “clues etched on a mysterious casket”, a sort of treasure map.

These clues are the “riddle of the runes”. Alva goes off on her own, with only her pet wolf, to investigate, but is soon reprimanded for doing so by her uncle, although they soon team up, Alva’s mother too, as it becomes clear the runes are encrypted so that only they, working as a team, would be able to solve them, making the casket not only directions to a great treasure but also a device to “bring you three closer together” as “poverty and conflict were driving a wedge between your perfect little family” ever since the day Alva’s dad had gone a-Viking and had never returned.

There are a few good pictures along the way, in black and white. There is maybe a little repetition along the way (presumably to help build the mystery), plus it seemed a bit out of character for Alva’s mother to change so easily from housebound mum who wants to protect her family to treacherous mountain adventurer, but overall an enjoyable adventure.

[I' · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely adore vikings so when I saw this book, written by one of the eminences of the field Dr Janina Ramirez. So, what could go wrong? Absolutely nothing. I loved this novel.

It is a very interesting set up for a detective/mystery novel, and certainly, a refreshing background in the genre. Although is marketed for 9-12 I´d absolutely recommend it far beyond those ages. And the illustrations are just gorgeous and amazing. They give a little extra help to ones imagination to make the book come alive in front of us.

I adored Alva and Fenrir. But also, the idea of the family gathering together to solve the riddles and unveil the mystery. Usually, in this kind of books is the kid who goes alone against the world and overcomes everything. It has been a very nice turn to see these adventures with Alva working hand to hand with adults and not being dismissed for the fact that she is younger, “just a girl” or any other reason. I loved the idea of adults and kids working at the same level, each of them bringing their abilities to the mixture.

For me has been a very fun to read, light story. The plot is very dynamic and fluent. It was cleverly threaded between plot, riddles and characters to the perfect mix so you’ll be unable to get bored while reading it. And if you don’t know anything about vikings and their culture, you’ll surely learn a lot about them.

I honestly hope they’ll be more books in these series. Looking forward to read them.

[Louise Bath · Rating 3 out of 5]

I 🖤 Dr Janina Ramírez, so I'm gutted that I can't leave a higher rating for this, her first novel for children/young adults. Maybe I wanted to like it *too* much, and that worked against me. So, let's get the negatives out of the way first.

It's a good, sturdy story, well-told, with an engaging heroine in Alva and likeable supporting characters, and it rattles along nicely. At the same time, however, it was a bit of a plod, and I can't say that I 100% enjoyed reading it. The characters (especially Alva's mother Brianna and uncle Magnus) often talk like 21stC people, and Alva like someone older than 12, but it could just be that Dr Ramírez is still getting used to writing for a younger readership. There are also some horrible typos and evidence that the manuscript needed better proofreading before publication.

However, as I said originally, for a first children's novel, Riddle Of The Runes is a good, solid story that immerses the reader in the setting and period, and shows promise. The lead characters are very believable, and once or twice I found myself wondering if some of the things Brianna says to Alva, Dr Ramírez has said to her own children! Alva is a terrific heroine for girl readers, but I think boy readers will like her too, with her pet wolf and no-nonsense approach!

Special mention must be made of the beautifully detailed and evocative b&w illustrations by David Wyatt, which set the mood and enhance the text perfectly.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent Viking era adventure/mystery from Janina Ramirez. The young heroine of the book is Alva, who along with her pet wolf Fenrir and her Uncle Magnus decides to investigate the disappearance of a couple of travellers who turn up at their village, along with a casket covered in runes that provide clues to a missing treasure. A great first installment in what should prove to be a gripping series for young readers.

[Fuchsia Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

My god I just devoured this book in a few hours it is brilliant simply brilliant. I want to write so much but I fear I would ruin the extremely well written story. Alva is just a remarkable and such a strong amazing young lady. So well written. Simply fanatsic.

[Katie Fellows · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic debut (in children's fiction) for the wonderful historian Janina Ramirez. Drawing on her historical knowledge, this is a perfect way into everyday life in the Viking world from politics to mythology. Highly recommend!

[Kate Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute; even a third grader could read it and follow along. The writing was weak - not in a bad way, but as though it was someone’s first attempt at writing a novel, or perhaps it was a story they wrote in middle or high school.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. Although aimed at a younger audience I still enjoyed the story and learnt the Runes too. Just go and grab a copy :)

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly written. Wonderful illustrations. A strong female lead who takes us along on her adventures. Now the wait for book two.

[Hag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just fabulous! Loved this book, a fantastic debut in children’s fiction with loads of Viking intrigue to spark a curious mind.

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readable adventure story for older juniors, mixing history and mystery. Not a great work of literature but it is fun and very good information on the Viking period.

[Danni Jervis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second read through, just as wonderful as the first time reading it!

[Ismail Ink_Lovers · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://youtu.be/KxawXws0rdo

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with the characters and struggled to stop reading when I needed to. I can imagine the child me having a lot of fun with the runes alphabet provided writing 'secret' messages. 😊

[Lele Fuchur · Rating 3 out of 5]

etwas zu flach

[Esme · Rating 4 out of 5]

A girl looking for her father and clues in runes what more could you want

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun adventure that would be great for young readers who want to learn more about Viking life, but with a great story. Can't wait for the next book.

[Daramegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://daramegan.cz/detska-kniha/zaha...

[Willow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun viking adventure featuring a strong girl, her wolf, and her mother! We loved the discussion of reading runes and learned a lot about life for the Norse people.