Rating: 
Summary: for new-age flower children nonsense only
Review: This book is not Nordic, but New-Age. Blum has taken an old tool of the Norse and turned it into a "Milton Bradley" release without the bang. If you want accurate history and lore, this is not the book you want. But if you are not serious about the use of runes, but want amusement, Blum is fun (but in a fiction sort of way)
Rating:
Summary: Unfortunate
Review: It is unfortunate that the majority of people interested in the Runes start with this compendium of misinformation. I have studied the subject on both an academic and esoteric level for many years and have had no trouble finding an abundance of sources. Try your local University library, or the booklists in works by such authors as Edred Thorsson, who has a PhD in the subject.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time with this one
Review: Blum knows very little about the runes. His "runic" works are a mish-mash of New Age notions that bear no resemblence to the actual practices and doctrines of those people who actually used the runes.
Steer clear of anything Blum writes on this subject. Edred Thorsson and Kveldulf Gundarsson are much more reliable authors on the runes and anything else relating to the Northern Tradition.
Rating:
Summary: I'd rate lower, but they won't allow it!!!
Review: Ralph Blum used the Oriental "I Ching" for the meanings of the runes and the casting techniques, not the viking versions of runecasting. He states that the runes are an "oracle" for divinatory purposes-- that is not so. Runelore is a whole genre of magick. Most rune magick organizations say to avoid this book at all costs. Ralph Blum should research his work more with the Northern traditions and consult experts in the field of runology. Examples are Edred Thorrson, Ymrin-Drighten of the Rune-Gild; and KveldulfR Gundarrson, who has a PhD in Teutonic Studies
Rating:
Summary: Blum wouldn't know a rune if it bit him
Review: This is by far the most popular book on runes, but it goes to show that you can fool most of the people most of the time. Blum knows very little about the history of the runes and his system bears little resemblance to anything the vikings would have known. There are excellent historical sources available and a thriving history of runology in the modern esoteric community, neither of which Blum seems aware of. It gets a 2 because at least the rune cookies are usable
Rating:
Summary: A Terrible, Terrible Book
Review: This is a horrible, misleading book. I will admit that it was the first rune book I ever had, but it didn't take me long to figure out that it was worse than useless, and to toss the blank rune out. I recently took it away from a friend of mine so she wouldn't be starting the runes at a deficit and took a quick look through it again. As stated already, Blum's interpretations of the runes have nothing to do with what they actually are, historically. There was plenty of historical and academic information out there when he wrote this that he could have consulted. Instead he decided that he was of a higher authority than anyone who came before and reinterpreted and rearranged(!) the runes with the help of the I Ching. I find it appalling that so many people who have written reviews are not only willing to go along with this, but also adamantly refuse to consult other, more respectable sources. The runes are not random and arbitrary symbols that can be altered at whim. Would that be tolerated if it happened to the Tarot or the I Ching? Think and explore, people - open your minds. PS. For everyone who is enamored with the blank rune: there is already a rune that symbolizes the unknown, 'Pethro'. But, if you never look elsewhere, I guess you'd never figure that out.
Rating: 
Summary: A controversial book
Review: Blum's book was my first exposure to "nordic" runes. I bought it after being intrigued seeing one of the Irish character's on the TV show Earth Final Conflict using runes. My girlfriend had just bought her own set and commented that she had "played" with them many years ago and found them enlightening. I was intrigued. I enjoyed the book, and it was a very easy read. As all others have written it comes with a bag and the rune stones (ceramic). The stones are brittle, and I actually broke one pulling it out of the plastic shipping case, so I advise caution handling them. Web searches and Dejanews searches of runes find much criticism about Blum and his interpretations. I'd like to give my thoughts on some of the critiques: I didn't notice a heavy Christian slant into his interpretations of the meanings, but I haven't read the references most of the naysayers cite as being better. Any spiritual undertaking must be a personal journey, and I believe that if there is any truth to any of the many methods available (tarot, numerology, astrology, runes, i-ching, even prayer to a god) that our own personal psyche and psychic influences play into the journey. With Blum's interpretations as all I know for reading runes, I believe that my own guides on my journey influence the runes drawn and placed to meet the interprations that are appropriate for me. (Example, on the same reading, if I told myself that I would be using Blum's interpretations I would draw a different set of runes than if I were to state up front that I would use some more traditional meanings.) Do the naysayers really place so little faith in the power of runes that they would believe that whatever power influences them would allow a misinterpretation simply because we'd read Blums' book? I've found rune reading to be earily accurate. Just yesterday afternoon, after having not used the runes in almost a year, I did a reading to see if an event I would be going to was going to be an enjoyable. The runes indicated that I would not have a good time at the event. They were correct! (No, I didn't let the old self-fulfilling prophecy ruin my evening! I didn't even get to attend the event, since my date got ill and cancelled our attendance! Spooky, huh?) Why three stars for my rating? The quality of the stones is just a bit lacking, and the heavy controversy over Blum is just too much to ignore. A first time rune user can't beat the deal of getting the runes included, but if you're using the internet for support in your learning process, you're bound to get much more help if you use more traditional sources.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Know Why Others Have Attacked This Set
Review: Most of the reviews I read on this were good and so I chose to ignore the two really bad reviews and I'm glad I did. They complained that he "made it all up" but I don't see that - I have another rune book by Thorsson and I cross checked the meanings - OK so Blum says that the Ice rune means Standstill and the human/man rune means self. Well, come on people, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the similarities between the two "different" meanings. If one is going to be so dogmatic and hard set in their ways and interpretations then they've got no business consulting an oracle anyway IMHO since they are never going to have the ability to see past their own beliefs to what the universe is trying to communicate to them.
A few more points about the "historical accuracy" of this set. First of all, if anyone thinks that they can know for certain how the ancients consulted the runes they are deluded or arrogant or both. Secondly, this is NOW, that was THEN and if we choose to modify the system to make it more accessable to our modern minds then I see no harm in it, especially since his modifications aren't really all that far off base. And lastly, but not least, the only truely important thing about ANY divinitory system or method is that it works, that it allows the user to access universal knowledge within themselves. It doesn't matter if the system is ancient, modern or a mix of the two. So get off your high horses before you fall and hurt yourselves.
In closing, I like and enjoy the set and the book. I'm quite certain that it, like the many other forms of divination I use, will work just fine. It (and the others) are simply a means of stimulating my intuition and my intuition doesn't give a dang about the "historical accuracy" of what stimulates it.
Rating:
Summary: Cannot say enough bad things about Blum.
Review: This book is easy to review. Blum, simply, made up his information. There is no blank Rune, one. His meanings have no basis in the poetry and ancient practice, two. He changes the Rune order that is established based on every historical source we have for the Runes. In short, if you are looking for a serious book on the Runes that is grounded in archaeology, history, and received wisdom in the Heathen tradition, keep looking.
Rating: 
Summary: Rune Lite still gets you high
Review: THE BOOK OF RUNES is what it is, and isn't what it isn't. If you accept this premise you are not likely to be led astray either by Blum's use of the ancient runes or by the unimaginative criticisms of many of his reviewers.
Ralph Blum was not trying to put forth a correct, much less a traditional, understanding of the Elder Futhark. He makes no such claim; in fact he says his interpretation was inspired (meaning he invented it). Likewise with his ordering of the aetts.
Blum also was not trying to Christianize the runes. His theology has more in common with the American Transcendentalism of Emerson and Thoreau than it does with any contemporary Christian writing.
As for Blum's separating the runes from their Germanic mythological framework... yes, that is what he did. As he indicated, this was an exercise in spiritual free association.
Ultimately the question is does Blum's approach work? Apparently for many it does. Function dictates form, as he says more than once. And the form in which he presents the runes functions for many who do not resonate with Germanic mythology.
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