Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

4 reviews

riverofhorton's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I went into this book with the assumption that it is at least somewhat accurate to the myths, and while there are elements that are, this is very much a Christianised Loki-Bad-Odin-Good portrayal of those myths.

Taken in isolation, it is as well written and mildly comical as Gaiman's other works, but within the context of it being a retelling of the Norse myths, it just missed the mark on so many points for me.

As example:

the legions of Hel are described as being "the evil dead", which to my knowledge is not only a Christian concept, but also unjust. Those dead are simply people that didn't die in battle, so while there will be "evil" among them, they're not intrinsically so. Such phrasing also implies that Odin's warriors are equivalent to the angels of Christianity, something made ironic when you realise it's possible for "evil" people to die in battle.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Torture, Alcohol, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Bullying, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Murder, Genocide, Grief, Abandonment, War, Toxic friendship, Slavery, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, Gore, Death, Death of parent, Animal death, and Blood

nafisa_tabassum's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful informative fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

It's really good! There's really not much more to say.

Neil Gaiman skilfully walks us through norse mythology in a way both unflinching and approachable. I enjoyed myself and learned about myths along the way. Very good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Death, and War

Moderate: Violence and Death

Minor: Sexual content and Slavery

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

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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

lukerik's review against another edition

informative mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I haven’t actually read Gaiman’s source material. For all I know what he’s produced is an absolute travesty. That being said this is a very enjoyable book. Written in such a way it can be enjoyed by adults or older children. There might not be enough violence to keep very young children entertained. 

Interesting to see how often I was reminded of Lewis and Tolkien. There are also repeated and eye-opening similarities to Middle Eastern mythology. The source material was written down late enough for there to be influence via Christianity. I don’t know if there’s a real influence there or if we have something archetypally mythic going on. I choose to believe the latter. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and War