Reviews tagging 'Death'

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

54 reviews

mimlleigh's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War and Death

toastyghosty13's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

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

3.0

This was great to listen to because I love Neil Gaiman's writing and voice. The audiobook was narrated by him. I do not know much about norse mythology other than what I have seen in the Thor movies, but I think I liked this book more. It shows how Thor also kind of sucks as a major character in the myths, and it also explains how the gods came to be from Odin. The stories were many that I have not heard before, and are all somewhat cohesive in that they each provide context that helps with the last story of Ragnarok. This was cool to listen to, and I think more captivating to listen to rather than read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, War, Child death, Death, Violence, Murder, and Death of parent

nicholasbobbitt1997's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Fantastic rendering of the Norse myths. Eminently readable, broke me out of a months-long reading slump. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Medical trauma, Gore, Death, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Animal death, Violence, Sexual content, Murder, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol

Minor: Excrement

izzykai's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

A fun & easy read, great for mythology beginners, broken up into easy to digest short stories

Warning: it is pretty violent so don't read if you're not ok with that 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, Murder, Torture, Violence, and War

thebookkeepers's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

4.0

This was an entertaining collection of short stories about classic Norse Mythology. A few of these I’ve heard through other retellings and enjoyed reading the version within this book, while others were new to me entirely. This feels like a mini encyclopedic source of Norse Mythology I can see myself revisiting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

a_random_fangirl's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Blood

samchase112's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.25

I had an absolute blast listening to Neil Gaiman regale me with stories of the Norse gods, goddesses, giants, and many other creatures. Gaiman, as expected, is an absolutely fantastic narrator, and it shone through in his impressions and engaging tone. My biggest complaint: too short! There were far too little stories in here — I would’ve happily listened to twice as many hours. Highly, highly recommend! And I sincerely hope Gaiman writes more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Sexual content

lottebluebird's review against another edition

adventurous informative lighthearted fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Child death, War, Animal death, and Death

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

freschne's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

1.0

A collection of repetitive tales that celebrate cruelty, selfishness and betrayal

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Incest, and Gore