The Merging
John P. Logsdon & Christopher P. Young
10.0
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Fighting supernaturals is one thing. Resisting Vegas temptations at the same time may be...
The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten, #1)
9.1
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Don’t look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them. That is Ethan Chase’s unbreakable...
Merissa (12066 KP) rated The Executioner in Books
Dec 17, 2018 (Updated May 26, 2023)
This is a fast-paced story that nevertheless manages to tell the complete story and give you a hint of the mysterious too. Well written, with no editing or grammatical errors that I found, this makes a perfect coffee break book. Recommended.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Mar 8, 2016
Shadow & Crown (Royal & Piper #1)
10.0
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Over a year ago, the Piper of HameLonn disappeared into myth and legend… In the Kingdom of...
Fantasy Romance Fairytale Retelling Young Adult
The Shadow Key
9.0
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There’s something devilish going on in the quiet Welsh village of Penhelyg. Will the shadow key...
Historical fiction Wales
Rachel King (13 KP) rated A Short History of Myth in Books
Feb 11, 2019
In seven chapters, Armstrong takes a simplified stroll through history, focusing on the concept of myth and its impact on civilization. All throughout the book, she attempts to support her claim that a person can believe in myths without believing that the myths are actually true, and that the failure of modern society is by not following her specific edict. While this notion strikes me as absurd, I keep reading because, hey, it's a short book.
While I know only bits and pieces about many of the world's religions, I do know both the history and the holy book of my religion, Christianity. It becomes apparent to me early in the text that she is masking her opinions and interpretations of this religion as actual fact, so I can only imagine how she misconstrues other religions.
Her citations were lacking to me, with many claims going unsupported, others only partially supported, such as citation #84 and #30, and some citations simply not even applying to the specified text, such as citation #87. In citation #55, she claims that the Bible contains a Creation myth in which God brings the world into being by killing a sea monster, but one of the four verses she cites make no reference to anything of the sort (Job 3:12), and the other three (Isaiah 27:1, Job 26:13, Psalm 74:14) that do mention a leviathan cannot be interpreted that way when read in context. Isaiah is describing the end of days, while Job merely says that God created the serpent, and the verse in Psalm is within the context of a song about God rescuing the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery -- no relevancy to Creation. She makes the claim that Paul "was not much interested in Jesus's teachings, which he rarely quotes, or in the events of his earthly life." This claim is easily disproved by examining how Paul's words line up with Jesus's in John 5:21 vs. 1 Corinthians 15:22, Matthew 6:25 vs. Philippians 4:6, and many other passages.
While going through the citations, I got the feeling that the author depended on secondary sources for her information without actually studying the original source of her information. The book struck me as highly opinionated, vague, and too general for the topic being addressed. I have no doubt that there are better and more thorough books available on the topic of myth. I do not believe that I will be reading any more of Armstrong's works in the future.
Rob P (30 KP) rated Norse Mythology in Books
Apr 22, 2019 (Updated Apr 23, 2019)
I love mythology, and this book is a great starting point if you wish to know about the more "Hollywood" stars of Norse myth (Odin, Thor, Loki, the dwarves and frost giants, Hel (or Hela, as marvel would have it) Frey and Freya and Mimir and Heimdall and a host of others whose names you may have heard).
One of the acclaims on the front of the book sums this up quite well. "Gaiman takes on the role of the fireside Bard" - it's an easy metaphor to use, as this really is a collection of stories simplified to tales of adventure and deceit.
The vikings (or Scandinavians in general) were clearly looking to explain certain phenomena using these characters (much like Greek and Roman mythology) and I love reading about that. Trying to put myself in the position of an awed villager hearing thunder and the seeing the flash of lighting, reasoning that it must be the indomitable Thor, wielding the mighty Mjollnir, ending the life of a wicked Frost Giant with a gigantic blow. Or feeling an earthquake, and believing it must be Loki, trapped in his mountain prison, the burn of the snake's venom corroding his face as his screams of agony set the very mountains to trembling. Waiting for Ragnarok to break his bonds and have his revenge on the gods. Wonderful stuff.
If you have any interest in mythology and (like me) you don't want to dive into more reference or poetry-based offerings right away, this is a great place to start.
I guarantee that once you do, you may very well want to carry on into the more heavy hitting titles out there pertaining to Norse myth.
Definitely recommended.
Rob
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The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World
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Rich Dad, Poor Dad
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April 2017 marks 20 years since Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad first made waves in the...