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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Gospel of Loki has been on my radar for a few years, and I was so pleased to pick up a brand new looking copy for a euro donation in a weird little cafe in the middle of nowhere. It felt like fate had dropped this book into my lap... and maybe it did, but honestly screw fate.
I should have given up after the first few chapters, but I was determined to enjoy this.
Honestly, this is a Norse myth retelling with a gimmick, and it's a gimmick that SHOULD work, but Loki just isn't interesting. He doesn't contribute to half the stories he tells, but he also doesn't editorialise like I would have expected from the trickster god. When he DOES contribute to the stories, it often feels like things are just happening to him. No attempts are made to make it feel like Loki has any control over the events he describes - which if this was a straightforward recounting of the myths would be fair enough, but Loki is the storyteller here. Every so often, the author seems to realise that Our Humble Narrator hasn't said anything boastful in a while, and will insert a line about how fabulous he is, and that's the extent of Loki's personality for most of the book.
It does get better in the last third, when the story gets a bit more personal for Loki, but that doesn't make up for the complete banality of everything that came before. Harris also does a good job at stringing together a bunch of different stories to form a cohesive narrative, which might make this more accessible for anybody unfamiliar with the mythology. There are some weird changes (Pandaemonium, what?) that I presume happened because this is a prequel to Runemarks, so maybe fans of that book would get more out of this as well.
Overall, this book just felt like a waste of that gorgeous cover art.
I should have given up after the first few chapters, but I was determined to enjoy this.
Honestly, this is a Norse myth retelling with a gimmick, and it's a gimmick that SHOULD work, but Loki just isn't interesting. He doesn't contribute to half the stories he tells, but he also doesn't editorialise like I would have expected from the trickster god. When he DOES contribute to the stories, it often feels like things are just happening to him. No attempts are made to make it feel like Loki has any control over the events he describes - which if this was a straightforward recounting of the myths would be fair enough, but Loki is the storyteller here. Every so often, the author seems to realise that Our Humble Narrator hasn't said anything boastful in a while, and will insert a line about how fabulous he is, and that's the extent of Loki's personality for most of the book.
It does get better in the last third, when the story gets a bit more personal for Loki, but that doesn't make up for the complete banality of everything that came before. Harris also does a good job at stringing together a bunch of different stories to form a cohesive narrative, which might make this more accessible for anybody unfamiliar with the mythology. There are some weird changes (Pandaemonium, what?) that I presume happened because this is a prequel to Runemarks, so maybe fans of that book would get more out of this as well.
Overall, this book just felt like a waste of that gorgeous cover art.
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I saw this book in the store and knew instantly that I have to buy it - I mean, it is about Loki, so I really wanted to read it.
And I enjoyed it.
As I am interested in Mythology I already knew much of what was happening and I was surprised, how well it matched with the legends I read.
I really sympathized with Loki, as he started to make his first steps in the nine Worlds and from the beginning, was not very welcome amongst the gods. I felt quite sorry for him as his first experiences were filled with mistrust, suspicion and later even hatred. He tried to be a good guy, but he failed, so he just chose another path.
I mean, ok, he is not the nicest guy around and he isn`t called the Trickster for being a loyal friend, but come on, they could have tried to welcome him even if he is an offspring of Chaos. Maybe that would have changed the story. And he did help them sometimes, which was never really acknowledged. Not that this is a real excuse for destroying the whole world, but come on, they really hurt his feelings. Especially because he is a really proud person.
Sometimes he overdid it in my opinion with his obsession to trick everyone and see them crawling on the floor, but this seemed to be his only aim after he was betrayed and made fun of and all this. Everyone needs a hobby, his was just a little exotic.
The way the book is written is just great, with pinches of humour and wonderful sarcasm. And his narcissistic, ruthless and disloyal behaviour was kind of amusing. And lots of self-pity, of course.
I also liked the stringing together of the little tales, so while you proceed reading, the greater picture becomes visible and in the end you see that everybody was manipulating him. At least, he found this out before everything ended.
I liked to read through this book, it was amusing and it was nice to see the legend from another point of view, with another hero, or anti-hero, how you should maybe call him. And I really favoured the ending with this little glimpse of hope.
So I recommend this book to everyone who likes mythology and sarcasm.
Have fun!
And I enjoyed it.
As I am interested in Mythology I already knew much of what was happening and I was surprised, how well it matched with the legends I read.
I really sympathized with Loki, as he started to make his first steps in the nine Worlds and from the beginning, was not very welcome amongst the gods. I felt quite sorry for him as his first experiences were filled with mistrust, suspicion and later even hatred. He tried to be a good guy, but he failed, so he just chose another path.
I mean, ok, he is not the nicest guy around and he isn`t called the Trickster for being a loyal friend, but come on, they could have tried to welcome him even if he is an offspring of Chaos. Maybe that would have changed the story. And he did help them sometimes, which was never really acknowledged. Not that this is a real excuse for destroying the whole world, but come on, they really hurt his feelings. Especially because he is a really proud person.
Sometimes he overdid it in my opinion with his obsession to trick everyone and see them crawling on the floor, but this seemed to be his only aim after he was betrayed and made fun of and all this. Everyone needs a hobby, his was just a little exotic.
The way the book is written is just great, with pinches of humour and wonderful sarcasm. And his narcissistic, ruthless and disloyal behaviour was kind of amusing. And lots of self-pity, of course.
I also liked the stringing together of the little tales, so while you proceed reading, the greater picture becomes visible and in the end you see that everybody was manipulating him. At least, he found this out before everything ended.
I liked to read through this book, it was amusing and it was nice to see the legend from another point of view, with another hero, or anti-hero, how you should maybe call him. And I really favoured the ending with this little glimpse of hope.
So I recommend this book to everyone who likes mythology and sarcasm.
Have fun!
Uma recontagem recheada de humor da mitologia nórdica, que será especialmente saborosa para quem já conhecia bem os recantos dos mitos. Well, alguns, mas sejamos honestos, a autora tinha de escolher entre as dezenas de micro-versões.
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
After having read that the author harasses people who give a bad review, I'm almost afraid to leave mine.
When I picked this up, I new already from the start that I wasn't going to love it (I'm not a fan of fantasy), but being extremely interested in mythology, and having read too little Nordic such, I hoped to at least learn something. And yes, a quick Google search shows that many of the mythological stories in Harris' book are true (meaning that they are real myths existing in the old sources we have), but what she has done with them... ... It is awful!
I see writing modern adaptation of old - sometimes thousands of years old - stories as a form of translation. And just as with translating between languages, the translator has to find a balance between choosing a "language" that makes the story accessible to the new readers, but also at the same time staying true to the original writer and trying to convey the same style, or feeling. Here we are talking about old norse gods. They are not ordinary people! To have a teenage Fenriswolf (called Fenny in the book) answering his parents "whatever" as if he were a modern, american, teenage boy, well... ... I'm out of words, I can't even....
I also find this retelling to be so misogynistic. And not in a "these were different times" - way, but in a modern 21st century way. The goddesses are depicted just as vain, slutty or stupid. It was so sad and disappointing, I actually wanted to quit reading on several occasions. (And I almost regret that I didn't. I feel that you have to read a whole book to be able to assess it properly, but this time it didn't do any good.)
I know that this genre is fiction, but I am still so extremely disappointed in the way the author just took the stories and put them, not in a fictional sphere, but in the worst macho 20-century misogynistic, macho sphere you could immagine. And the worst part is that people are going to believe it, meaning they are going to believe that this book conveys the essence of the old norse society with it's gender roles et c. That's making me extra sad...
When I picked this up, I new already from the start that I wasn't going to love it (I'm not a fan of fantasy), but being extremely interested in mythology, and having read too little Nordic such, I hoped to at least learn something. And yes, a quick Google search shows that many of the mythological stories in Harris' book are true (meaning that they are real myths existing in the old sources we have), but what she has done with them... ... It is awful!
I see writing modern adaptation of old - sometimes thousands of years old - stories as a form of translation. And just as with translating between languages, the translator has to find a balance between choosing a "language" that makes the story accessible to the new readers, but also at the same time staying true to the original writer and trying to convey the same style, or feeling. Here we are talking about old norse gods. They are not ordinary people! To have a teenage Fenriswolf (called Fenny in the book) answering his parents "whatever" as if he were a modern, american, teenage boy, well... ... I'm out of words, I can't even....
I also find this retelling to be so misogynistic. And not in a "these were different times" - way, but in a modern 21st century way. The goddesses are depicted just as vain, slutty or stupid. It was so sad and disappointing, I actually wanted to quit reading on several occasions. (And I almost regret that I didn't. I feel that you have to read a whole book to be able to assess it properly, but this time it didn't do any good.)
I know that this genre is fiction, but I am still so extremely disappointed in the way the author just took the stories and put them, not in a fictional sphere, but in the worst macho 20-century misogynistic, macho sphere you could immagine. And the worst part is that people are going to believe it, meaning they are going to believe that this book conveys the essence of the old norse society with it's gender roles et c. That's making me extra sad...
funny
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I kind of think I would have enjoyed this more if I had done a refresher on Norse myth before going in so I could truly appreciate all the in jokes. There was definitely a layer of humor but it wasn't always successful and felt a little mediocre. Harris made Loki a compelling narrator so for the most part you wanted him to succeed but there could have been more of a spark that I just wasn't getting. Overall it was a quick read that was entertaining but fell a little short of my expectations.