Children of the Rune is the signature novel series of the author Jeon Min-hee, the leading figure of fantasy fiction in South Korea whose work is marked with beautiful worldbuilding, distinctive characters, and eloquent writing styles with emotional depth. The series is divided into three parts: part 1 is “Winterer” with a total of 7 volumes; part 2 is “Demonic” with a total of 9 volumes; and part 3 is “Blooded” with currently 6 volumes and more to be released. 

“Children of the Rune: Winterer” is the first part of the trilogy that marks the beginning of its series. Boris, a boy who unexpectedly loses all his family, must confront the world on his own, and all he has left is himself and a sword. The novel unfolds the secret of a treasured sword called the “Winterer,” and the connections that Boris make with Lanziee, Nauplion, Isolet, Endimion, and other characters whom he meets in the course of his journey. 

In Travachess, the land under political chaos, it is not uncommon to see a collapse of a tribe due to a factional division. The situation is not very different for the Jinnemans—that is because Yulkan, the head of the Jinneman tribe, and Blado, Yulkan’s younger brother, are at odds as they serve different masters. 

However, the tension between the two brothers isn’t only due to political reasons. It is Yenichka Jinneman, their younger sister and their mediator, who becomes the ultimate trigger of their conflict. Yenichka has a fiancée whom she loves so deeply that she decides to turn against her own family to move to his faction. Finding this unacceptable, Blado throws Yenichka’s fiancée into a basement and locks him up, while lying to his sister that her fiancée has left for Emira Lake. Yulkan leaves his tactical brother to himself because he trusts him, but Yenichka, whose commitment is much more profound, enters the lake where she is attacked by Golmodap, a monstrous creature that puts people into madness. Yulkan ends up killing his mad sister and throwing her body into Emira Lake, and through this incident, the two brothers become lifelong enemies.   

Caught up in the family turmoil, Boris, the next heir to the Jinneman tribe, becomes a fugitive who is passed down the Winterbottom Kit (namely, the winter sword “Winterer” and the chain mail armor “Snowguard”). Although Yevgnen Jinneman—Boris’s brother who is eight years older than him—doesn’t explicitly tell him so, young Boris with his keen sensitivity learns intuitively that their butler Tulk who is a magician, and their father Yulkan are most likely dead. At first, Boris doesn’t remember anything that has happened at Emira Lake at the time of the conflict, but when his brother strangles him, Boris suddenly regains his memory. Then he realizes that his brother, like their aunt Yenichka, has been attacked by the monster and is suffering from psychotic convulsions. Yevgnen makes a desperate effort to protect his younger brother, and throughout their journey, he advises him on what kind of life outtake they should have. He emphasizes to Boris that they shouldn’t pay much attention to other people’s business and that no matter what it takes, they must survive. However, Yevgnen worries that he will harm Boris if his psychosis persists, and he ends up taking his own life so that he will not trouble his younger brother. Yevgnen’s death becomes pivotal to Boris, who has preferred to die at his brother’s hand, and it turns his life upside down thereafter.