The Fetch

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.

A young boy named Sky is just a normal fifteen-year-old except for the fact that he moves around England a lot and can't stay with his old friends. Where he's at now it's hard for him to make friends, because, well, he's the new kid in school. Since moving to his new home Sky has been having weird problems with sleeping at night. He finds himself on the floor when he wakes up in the morning and his parents think that he's sleepwalking. But when they take him to the doctor there seems to be nothing wrong with Sky. One day his mother tells him to come and check out this sea chest with her. She said it was his grandfather's before he died. She never really talked about him that much but she had her moments. Although he didn't get a chance to open the sea chest with his mother, he found his chance that night. Sky was looking through it but didn't find anything interesting until he was just about to leave. Sky felt something in the top of the chest, as if there was something hidden there. He let his curiosity go too far, cutting open the top of the chest. There he found a bag of stones (which turn out to be rune stones) and a journal with writing he couldn't understand. He didn't want to tell his mother that he had opened the chest and then just cut the whole top part of it off. It is two weeks before spring break, and his cousin, Kristin, is coming home from her boarding school in Norway to visit. Since she's been away she is a totally different person. When they were younger the two used to go out in the woods and play lots of fun games, but now she is always on her cell phone talking to her friends about girly stuff. When they used to hang out before they had just one rule: When one of them falls the other always comes back to help. But will it stay that way now? Now they're facing the challenge of figuring out the mystery of their grandfather together. You'll just have to read the book to figure out the rest, but it's a great ride! I would recommend this book to people who want to read a paranormal fantasy adventure. I certainly enjoyed reading THE FETCH, and I bet you will, too! Reviewed by: Spreeha

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.

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