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redheadorganist's review
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, Torture, War, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury
elderwoodreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I loved this retelling of Norse Mythology. The beginning was a bit slow and dense for me but it picked up very quickly, and I can't believe how fast I devoured it! Neil Gaiman's narration definitely made it ten times more enjoyable than if I had read it as a text. Pleaae read the content warnings before reading/listening if you are sensitive to descriptions of torture and gore, they are behind the spoiler tag.
CW: eye trauma, intestines/entrail, genital mutilation/torture, graphic descriptions of death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, and Torture
Moderate: Alcohol, Excrement, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual content
takarakei's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I'm not super familiar with Norse mythology in general so I picked this up to learn a bit more about it. The storytelling definitely was interesting and kept my attention for the most part. Neil's narration of the audiobook was very well done!! Selfishly I wanted at least 1 story about the Valkyries, and this focused more on the 'major players' in Norse mythology (Odin, Thor, Loki). From what I understand this is a more updated and accessible version of these myths, so worth a read if you're interested in this subject.
Totally did reinforce that Loki is my favorite tho ...
Totally did reinforce that Loki is my favorite tho ...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, and Gore
Minor: Murder, Animal cruelty, and Sexual content
yliana's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
this isn't my favorite set of stories (honestly mainly because i'm used to reimaginings of myths as opposed to just the original or most popular versions of the myths) but that doesn't mean that i didn't love it! I've been waiting to read this for a while now and I love reading about any myths so this was great!
I think i would've liked there to be even more myths because sometimes certain gods or creatures were mentioned to have been involved in the events that the chapter was about but they didn't pay much attention to them. I definitely wish that these myths had been more detailed or been expanded on more but I can understand making the myths more digestible for middle school age kids. Even though it seems like it's meant for people under 16, i do think anyone can enjoy this.
the description of ragnarok was so sad though T-T
I think i would've liked there to be even more myths because sometimes certain gods or creatures were mentioned to have been involved in the events that the chapter was about but they didn't pay much attention to them. I definitely wish that these myths had been more detailed or been expanded on more but I can understand making the myths more digestible for middle school age kids. Even though it seems like it's meant for people under 16, i do think anyone can enjoy this.
the description of ragnarok was so sad though T-T
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, and Violence
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
4 ⭐ CW: violence, torture, descriptions of blood and gore, murder
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman is is his way of compiling all the Norse stories he had access to, and rewriting them in a way modern readers can understand. He has also arranged the stories in some coherent order to create an overall narrative of the Norse Gods.
Gaiman explains at the beginning that a lot of stories about the Norse Gods are simply lost to time and oral tradition, so the stories only follow a handful of the gods, mostly Thor, Loki, Odin, Freya, and a few others.
I found this book to be extremely informative about the Norse God lore and the way the Norse understood our world and universe. These stories set the foundation for so many fantasy stories. Gaiman's comedic timing in this is perfect. I found myself chuckling regularly about Thor and Loki's antics.
Basically, Loki is ridiculous no matter who tells the story, Thor is the biggest himbo, Freya is tired of all the bullshit with people trying to constantly marry her off, and Fenris Wolf deserved better (especially from Tyr).
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman is is his way of compiling all the Norse stories he had access to, and rewriting them in a way modern readers can understand. He has also arranged the stories in some coherent order to create an overall narrative of the Norse Gods.
Gaiman explains at the beginning that a lot of stories about the Norse Gods are simply lost to time and oral tradition, so the stories only follow a handful of the gods, mostly Thor, Loki, Odin, Freya, and a few others.
I found this book to be extremely informative about the Norse God lore and the way the Norse understood our world and universe. These stories set the foundation for so many fantasy stories. Gaiman's comedic timing in this is perfect. I found myself chuckling regularly about Thor and Loki's antics.
Basically, Loki is ridiculous no matter who tells the story, Thor is the biggest himbo, Freya is tired of all the bullshit with people trying to constantly marry her off, and Fenris Wolf deserved better (especially from Tyr).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gore, and Torture
triforcefusion's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I found that Neil Gaiman is a fantastic narrator. He gave such a good characterization to Thor in the way he spoke. The stories varied wildly from snappy, and fun to long and dull. There is also a barrier to entry if you are unfamiliar with Norse words. Sometimes there were so many Norse names that I couldn't remember who was who.
I feel like Neil did a good job presenting these myths, but the quality of stories definitely fluctuated.
I feel like Neil did a good job presenting these myths, but the quality of stories definitely fluctuated.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Confinement, Violence, and Alcohol
Minor: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Animal death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Gore, and Murder
mooshake's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
me and the boys trigger the end of the world
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Torture, and Gore
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Misogyny
ravensandlace's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Title: Norse Mythology
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Historical Fiction Fantasy
Format: paperback book from the library
Star Rating: 4 stars
tw: death, murder, bodily harm, suicide, bestiality, violence, drowning, torture
One of my goals in life is to learn more about different mythologies, besides all the basic ones. I’ve been interested in Norse mythology since I watched Apsolov: End of Gods and Unforgiving: A Northern Hymn. Both are very cool horror games relating to Norse mythology and I suggest checking out John Wolfe’s playthrough of them both.
Anyway. What an exciting book! The Norse gods are pretty interesting, including Loki. He’s one of my favorite gods. Even though this book was pretty short, I felt like all the gods were pretty fleshed out. They got almost equal amounts of page time. I just learned so much. I could tell a lot of research went into this book. It felt like I was reading the bible but better. I am not sorry for that comment at all.
I wish Marvel had followed this book and actual Norse mythology. The movies would have been way better, in my opinion. Plus they would have gotten their information right especially with Loki and Hel (another one of my favorite gods). Plus, I think that this is way more interesting than what they did. Sure, I liked the Thor movies but I felt like they could have been way better.
Overall, the buzz about this book and this author were spot on. I’ve heard the author is just a sweetheart online and is so nice to fans. I had such a blast reading this book. I will be sure to check out more of Neil Gaiman’s work since this one was such a hit for me. As for my recommendations, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about Norse mythology.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Grief, Gore, and Violence
yrlaevelyn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death of parent, Animal death, Murder, and Torture
Moderate: Kidnapping, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Grief, Slavery, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Suicide
danny_fox's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was a delight from start to finish.
I don't know how accurate and true to the cannon these stories are (since this is pretty much my first introduction to Norse Mythology), but I still found it to be super enjoyable and interesting. Besides, I feel like retellings of stories from old mythologies don't need to stick that much to the "cannon", because their whole point is to be retold and see how each person will tell differently the same story.
Normally, I do my reviews by pointing out 3 things I liked and disliked about a book, but since these stories weren't made up and created by Neil, I can only judge it based on its writing style, which I had no issue with.
Instead, I'll separate it like this:
- The stories were super fun.
I found them all to be super interesting and the end even made feel quite upset. This book certainly got me into Norse Mythology.
-The writing style is simple, but in a good way.
I saw that a lot of people find Neil's writing style to be boring. Although, I understand why that is so, I find his more simplistic and not as crazy descriptive writing style to be very relaxing and easy to read. I could see everything in my head really clearly and I didn't feel bored at any point.
But I think it all just comes down to personal preference.
- The way Neil retells these stories is really fun.
The book made me laugh out loud a couple of times and it also made me feel really sad and bad for the characters. As I mentioned this before, the writing was nice enough that I could see everything clearly enough in my head, so I was really invested into this book.
- I don't think there is anything I didn't like about the book.
Again, I don't know how accurate it is to the original sources (and I honestly don't care), and writing style might not be to your liking if you are more into really detailed and descriptive styles. I think it just depends on the person. For me, I didn't have any issues with neither of these things.
Final thoughts:
If you like Norse Mythology or want to learn more about it, I'd suggest reading this book. Before getting into Norse Mythology, I only really knew stuff about Greek Mythology, which books that I read about I found to be a lot more darker and upsetting. I was expecting this book to also make me quite uncomfortable at certain parts (old times were quite brutal and disturbing), but I didn't really have any of those issues. So, the book was just really fun for me. It's definitely a solid 5 ⭐ from me.
I don't know how accurate and true to the cannon these stories are (since this is pretty much my first introduction to Norse Mythology), but I still found it to be super enjoyable and interesting. Besides, I feel like retellings of stories from old mythologies don't need to stick that much to the "cannon", because their whole point is to be retold and see how each person will tell differently the same story.
Normally, I do my reviews by pointing out 3 things I liked and disliked about a book, but since these stories weren't made up and created by Neil, I can only judge it based on its writing style, which I had no issue with.
Instead, I'll separate it like this:
- The stories were super fun.
I found them all to be super interesting and the end even made feel quite upset. This book certainly got me into Norse Mythology.
-The writing style is simple, but in a good way.
I saw that a lot of people find Neil's writing style to be boring. Although, I understand why that is so, I find his more simplistic and not as crazy descriptive writing style to be very relaxing and easy to read. I could see everything in my head really clearly and I didn't feel bored at any point.
But I think it all just comes down to personal preference.
- The way Neil retells these stories is really fun.
The book made me laugh out loud a couple of times and it also made me feel really sad and bad for the characters. As I mentioned this before, the writing was nice enough that I could see everything clearly enough in my head, so I was really invested into this book.
- I don't think there is anything I didn't like about the book.
Again, I don't know how accurate it is to the original sources (and I honestly don't care), and writing style might not be to your liking if you are more into really detailed and descriptive styles. I think it just depends on the person. For me, I didn't have any issues with neither of these things.
Final thoughts:
If you like Norse Mythology or want to learn more about it, I'd suggest reading this book. Before getting into Norse Mythology, I only really knew stuff about Greek Mythology, which books that I read about I found to be a lot more darker and upsetting. I was expecting this book to also make me quite uncomfortable at certain parts (old times were quite brutal and disturbing), but I didn't really have any of those issues. So, the book was just really fun for me. It's definitely a solid 5 ⭐ from me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Animal death, Alcohol, War, Torture, Animal cruelty, and Gore
Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Grief