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Vikings
8.5
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The adventures of a Ragnar Lothbrok: the greatest hero of his age. The series tells the saga of...
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9 From the Nine Worlds
8.0
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The Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard trilogy may have concluded, but we haven't heard the last of...
Rachael Moyes (404 KP) rated The Gospel of Loki in Books
Jul 8, 2017
Fantastic take on the character of Loki
‘The Gospel of Loki’ by Joanne M. Harris is the story of the Norse Gods from the point of view of Loki, the Trickster. I’ve always found Norse Mythology very interesting and Loki is by far my favourite of the Gods. I first heard about this book about a year ago and I finally managed to grab a copy from my local library earlier this week, then proceeded to read the whole book in two days. It was just that good!
Odin rules the nine worlds from his fortress of Asgard. When this book starts his people, the Aesir, have finally made peace with the Vanir and members of both groups make up the Gods of Asgard. The world is split into Order and Chaos, with Odin and the Gods trying to maintain Order over the nine realms. Loki was born from Chaos and is essentially a demon with no physical form (or Aspect) living in the realm of Pandaemoniem under the evil Lord Surt. But Loki was curious about the worlds where Order and Chaos co-existed so he left Chaos and traveled to the worlds above where he gained a physical Aspect, met Odin and was invited back to Asgard where he became the 25th God.
He did not receive a warm welcome from the other Gods, however, and soon lived up to his names of Wildfire and the Trickster. This book, which I would imagine takes place over a number of years, tells the story of many of Loki’s exploits in the nine realms including when he tricked a builder into fortifying Asgard’s walls without paying him, cut off Sif’s golden hair (to Thor’s outrage), got Thor to dress up as a bride to infiltrate the Ice Folk and kill their enemies, met the giants of Utgard and their own Trickster Utgard-Loki, all the way up to Ragnarok and the final battle between Order and Chaos.
Okay, I’ve just tried to describe the plot fairly simply above and I don’t know how much sense it will have made if you’re not familiar with the Norse Gods, but hopefully it wasn’t too bad!
I’ve always found Norse Mythology very interesting, mainly, I think, because of the diverse characters and fanciful stories. We get to meet all those characters in this book; Odin, Thor, Frey, Freyja, Balder, Frigg, Sigyn, Skadi, Gullvieg-Heid & many more. And as this book is written in first person from Loki, we see them all from his point of view. I also loved Loki’s illegitimate children, particularly Hel, the ruler of the Underworld and Fenris the werewolf.
I know a fair bit about Loki from things I’ve read online and books about mythology so I was a bit wary going in about how historically accurate Joanne had written her character, but I have to say that I found her version of Loki spot on! She voiced him perfectly and I also found the other characters to be very close to what I’ve read about them.
I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and the story flowed so well that I found it really difficult to put down. Loki’s storytelling was both informative and engaging and each of his stories flowed into each other very well.
This book is very heavy on the Norse Mythology (obviously) and I think it’s probably best to go into it with a little bit of knowledge beforehand. I think that if I knew nothing of the subject before, I might have found it a bit overwhelming mainly due to the amount of characters and worlds. But saying that, it is so well written and well explained that I think anyone could read it, I just think you’d get more enjoyment out of it if you knew a bit about some of the characters first. There is a very useful character list at the beginning that you can go back to.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves Norse Mythology, especially Loki and Odin but I think anyone who likes a good fantasy novel would enjoy it :)
Odin rules the nine worlds from his fortress of Asgard. When this book starts his people, the Aesir, have finally made peace with the Vanir and members of both groups make up the Gods of Asgard. The world is split into Order and Chaos, with Odin and the Gods trying to maintain Order over the nine realms. Loki was born from Chaos and is essentially a demon with no physical form (or Aspect) living in the realm of Pandaemoniem under the evil Lord Surt. But Loki was curious about the worlds where Order and Chaos co-existed so he left Chaos and traveled to the worlds above where he gained a physical Aspect, met Odin and was invited back to Asgard where he became the 25th God.
He did not receive a warm welcome from the other Gods, however, and soon lived up to his names of Wildfire and the Trickster. This book, which I would imagine takes place over a number of years, tells the story of many of Loki’s exploits in the nine realms including when he tricked a builder into fortifying Asgard’s walls without paying him, cut off Sif’s golden hair (to Thor’s outrage), got Thor to dress up as a bride to infiltrate the Ice Folk and kill their enemies, met the giants of Utgard and their own Trickster Utgard-Loki, all the way up to Ragnarok and the final battle between Order and Chaos.
Okay, I’ve just tried to describe the plot fairly simply above and I don’t know how much sense it will have made if you’re not familiar with the Norse Gods, but hopefully it wasn’t too bad!
I’ve always found Norse Mythology very interesting, mainly, I think, because of the diverse characters and fanciful stories. We get to meet all those characters in this book; Odin, Thor, Frey, Freyja, Balder, Frigg, Sigyn, Skadi, Gullvieg-Heid & many more. And as this book is written in first person from Loki, we see them all from his point of view. I also loved Loki’s illegitimate children, particularly Hel, the ruler of the Underworld and Fenris the werewolf.
I know a fair bit about Loki from things I’ve read online and books about mythology so I was a bit wary going in about how historically accurate Joanne had written her character, but I have to say that I found her version of Loki spot on! She voiced him perfectly and I also found the other characters to be very close to what I’ve read about them.
I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and the story flowed so well that I found it really difficult to put down. Loki’s storytelling was both informative and engaging and each of his stories flowed into each other very well.
This book is very heavy on the Norse Mythology (obviously) and I think it’s probably best to go into it with a little bit of knowledge beforehand. I think that if I knew nothing of the subject before, I might have found it a bit overwhelming mainly due to the amount of characters and worlds. But saying that, it is so well written and well explained that I think anyone could read it, I just think you’d get more enjoyment out of it if you knew a bit about some of the characters first. There is a very useful character list at the beginning that you can go back to.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves Norse Mythology, especially Loki and Odin but I think anyone who likes a good fantasy novel would enjoy it :)
Sword of Secrets (Heroes of Asgard #1)
10.0
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Gavyn’s no hero. In fact, after a group of psychos claiming to be Sumerian gods resurface in a...
Cyn Armistead (14 KP) rated Tricked (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #4) in Books
Mar 1, 2018
That was so good. Just so very good. Like the last three - well plotted, with good character development from a fascinating cast of characters. This time most of the mythology is Native American (specifically Navajo) instead of Norse or Celtic, but there's a little spice from other traditions thrown in as well. And as before, there are always consequences getting involved, even in good causes. I think that's one of the biggest ways this series reminds me of the Dresden Files by [a:Jim Butcher|10746|Jim Butcher|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1205261964p2/10746.jpg].
I am absolutely going to be on tenterhooks until <i>Trapped</i> is released!
I am absolutely going to be on tenterhooks until <i>Trapped</i> is released!
David McK (3425 KP) rated Hammered (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #3) in Books
Jan 28, 2019
Third entry in Kevin Hearne's 'Iron Druid' series which, I felt, is a strong contender in being the best of them so far.
As the third novel, however, this is one that you would need to read the earlier entries first, as it ties up loose plot points from the first two stories and, in particular, follows on from the previous ('Hexed'), in which Atticus agreed to help the vampire Leif as well as the werewolf Gunnar to kill Thor, the Norse God of Thunder (yes, that Thor).
Fast moving, laugh out loud funny in parts and with some solid action scenes, I was mightily impressed by this entry.
As the third novel, however, this is one that you would need to read the earlier entries first, as it ties up loose plot points from the first two stories and, in particular, follows on from the previous ('Hexed'), in which Atticus agreed to help the vampire Leif as well as the werewolf Gunnar to kill Thor, the Norse God of Thunder (yes, that Thor).
Fast moving, laugh out loud funny in parts and with some solid action scenes, I was mightily impressed by this entry.
David McK (3425 KP) rated Wolfsangel (Craw Trilogy, #1) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Described (by 2 different authors, in the blurb on the back of the book in this edition) as "A unique take on the werewolf mythos, on the Norse pantheon an on magic itself. An enthralling, mesmeric book" and "A fresh take on the werewolf myth ... Brutal and relentlessly original", I have to say: this novel was nothing at all like I expected. Where I was expecting an excting tale of Vikings, shapeshifters and magic, instead I got a slow, torpid and (sometimes) impenetrable read instead. The first in a planned series of such books, I doubt I'll be looking for any of the sequels.
Sarah Betts (103 KP) rated Ragnarok Unwound in Books
Dec 31, 2019
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I adored this book. It started off a little slow but once I got into it, I couldn't put it down
It does have some issues, Ives is just a little too OP and seems to be rescued in just the nick of time and the dialogue was a bit clunky in some parts.
Ives has had a bad breakup and just wants to be left alone when a Valkyrie accosts her in a bar and demands that she help stop Ragnarok.
I really enjoyed the meshing of Hawaiian and Norse culture.
I adored this book. It started off a little slow but once I got into it, I couldn't put it down
It does have some issues, Ives is just a little too OP and seems to be rescued in just the nick of time and the dialogue was a bit clunky in some parts.
Ives has had a bad breakup and just wants to be left alone when a Valkyrie accosts her in a bar and demands that she help stop Ragnarok.
I really enjoyed the meshing of Hawaiian and Norse culture.
Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable by Thomas Bulfinch
Podcast
Bulfinch’s Mythology, first published in 1855, is one of the most popular collections of mythology...