Fantasy Book Critic: SPFBO Finalist Review

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: JA Andrews lives deep in the Rocky Mountains of Montana with her husband and three children. She is eternally grateful to CS Lewis for showing her the luminous world of Narnia. She wishes Jane Austen had lived 200 years later so they could be pen pals. She is furious at JK Rowling for introducing her to house elves, then not providing her a way to actually employ one. And she is constantly jealous of her future-self who, she is sure, has everything figured out.

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Runelight links: Amazon, Goodreads

ESMAY

You know, as much as I enjoy a wickedly inventive genre blender, sometimes all you need is some good ol’ traditional epic fantasy, and that is exactly what J.A. Andrews delivers in Runelight. Part rescue quest, part treasure hunt, this is a comfortingly familiar character-driven fantasy adventure full of mystifying mysteries and mystical magic.

Runelight is one of those books that just starts with a bang and has one hell of a strong hook. See, we follow a trio of young siblings as they stumble upon a mysterious aenigma box in a cave system, only to be devastatingly torn apart when their discovery attracts unwanted attention. Fast forward 20 years to now 32-year-old Keeper Kate, who has spent the past two decades hopelessly trying to solve the inexplicable mystery of the missing magic box and her lost brother… only for a surly elf to show up with that very same aenigma box and the shocking news that her other brother, Bo, has now vanished as well; cue the drama, mayhem, and adventure!

Now, even though the hectic and action-packed start was a bit overwhelming for me, I did really like how it set up the stakes and established the core motivations and relationships that drive this entire narrative forward. Plus, Kate immediately proved to be a very rootable protagonist, though I do have to say that she felt a bit immature (girlie did not read as early 30s to me) and kept grinding my gears with her tendency to speak her thoughts out loud to herself in the early parts of the book. Still, I was just beyond intrigued by all the mysteries going on in her life, be that the mystery surrounding the mystifying magic box, the fate of her disappeared brothers, the enigmatic shadow man following them all around, or any of the confounding trials and tribulations that she has to face on this dangerous mission.

Moreover, the side characters were also very likeable to me, even if they felt a bit stereotypical in their characterisation. See, for me Runelight just shines in its wholesome interpersonal relationships, and I was quite entertained by all the fun character dynamics amongst the little unlikely motley crew that Kate assembles to go on her rescue mission. There’s a good bit of snarky banter and light-hearted teasing between the idiosyncratic Kate, Venn the surly elf and Silas & Tribal the mischievous dwarves, and I really enjoyed seeing how they overcame their differences and prejudices to work towards their common goal.

All that said, I can’t sit here and pretend that Runelight was a smooth ride the entire way through for me. See, this book is quite a chunker, and I personally felt like the pacing was really hindered by some overly descriptive passages, a couple of very repetitive (internal) conversations and a frustrating lack of any satisfying answers/revelations for way too long. I mean, yes, I burned through this 700+ page book in just 3 days, but I think that was more because of the fact that Andrews’s prose is just so effortlessly readable than out of any real investment in the story or characters.

Ultimately though, it was just very nice and comforting to be back in the world of the Keepers that I had fallen in love with when I read The Keeper Chronicles a few years ago (oh how the little easter eggs made my heart smile!), even if Runelight never reached the heights of that series for me. If you like your fantasy to be character-driven, familiar, mysterious, adventurous, and full of heart, then I would recommend embarking on this epic journey.

ŁUKASZ

Runelight follows Kate, a Keeper (a storyteller-mage) on a quest to find her missing brother and the mysterious box linked to his disappearance. It starts strong - with mystery, high personal stakes, and a promise of adventure. It also delivers a female-led buddy adventure, which is cool, since epic fantasy rarely features platonic relationships between women. Kate forms alliance with Venn, a grumpy, emotionally scarred elf. It soon turns into a meaningful friendship. There’s no romantic tension, no enemies-to-lovers, just two women figuring out how to trust and fight alongside one another. For me, Kate and Venn’s friendship is the best part of the story. Set in the same universe as the author’s Keeper Chronicles, Runelight brings in familiar lore but has a different vibe. The tone is adventurous with an Indiana Jones-style flair. Puzzles, peril, ancient secrets, you name it. The antagonist remains mysterious, and it fits the story’s atmosphere of solving a long-buried mystery. But… I gotta be honest, this book felt way too long. Like, not just “epic fantasy long,” but bloated long. A lot of the middle felt repetitive - characters rehashing the same questions, Kate talking out loud to herself (a lot), and not much actual movement on the mystery front. I kept waiting for some big reveals or momentum to kick in, and instead the book kind of… wandered. And then, just when you think it’s building to something big, it pivots into a long flashback. That was a weird choice and kind of killed the tension. I also didn’t totally buy Kate as a thirty-something protagonist-she read way younger to me-and some of the worldbuilding leaned too heavily on characters sitting around explaining things to each other. There’s definitely cool stuff in the lore and magic system, but I wanted to experience it through the story, not just be told about it. Overall, Runelight had some really cool moments, but it dragged and left too much unresolved. Still, if you prefer heart and wit over blood and grit, chances are you’ll dig this one :) Also, the audiobook narrator does a great job!

OFFICIAL SPFBO SCORE