Runelight

Runelight

First edition cover
Author	Joanne Harris
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	fantasy novel
Publisher	Doubleday
Preceded by	Runemarks

Runelight is a 2011 fantasy novel by Joanne Harris and is the second in her RUNE series, following her previous novel, Runemarks. The book centers on Maddy Smith, and her twin sister, Maggie Rede, both on opposing sides of a war between the new gods and the old, who must both face powerful forces in order to save everything they hold dear. Harris began working on the sequel due to feeling "that it wasn't finished as a story, that there was one chapter in the story that might continue".

Three years after the events in Runemarks, the Middle World has changed again. After the destruction of the Order, the surviving gods, having rescued their friends from the Black Fortress of Netherworld, have regrouped in the village of Malbry. The General is dead and chances of rebuilding Asgard seem remote. But a prophecy, coupled with the appearance of unnatural creatures in the Middle Worlds, reveal a breach in Chaos, which may lead to another Apocalypse. Once more, Maddy and her friends are forced to confront an enemy. This time, the enemy is one of their own, a renegade from World's End - Maddy's twin sister. They are both the daughters of Thor.

Critical reception for the book has been mixed, with the Express panning Runelight while a reviewer for the Guardian praised it.Monsters and Critics wrote that while the book was "not an easy read ... it is worth persevering".