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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: Confinement, Death, Violence, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
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: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
yrlaevelyn's review
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: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexual violence, Slavery, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury
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: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Torture, Blood, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent
emilyplun's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Gore, Torture, Blood, Murder, and War
erin_curry's review against another edition
adventurous
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
nebraskanwriter's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
inkdrinkers's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I really loved listening to this audiobook! Norse Mythology has always been fascinating to me and Gaiman does a wonderful job weaving the pieces of forgotten stories together to breathe new life into them.
All of the stories were fascinating as they built towards Ragnarok, the death of the gods, and the ultimate end to the world. It was both bittersweet and wonderful to listen to as the gods all slowly succumbed to their fates. I can easily see myself listening to this again!
All of the stories were fascinating as they built towards Ragnarok, the death of the gods, and the ultimate end to the world. It was both bittersweet and wonderful to listen to as the gods all slowly succumbed to their fates. I can easily see myself listening to this again!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Torture, Blood, Murder, and War
mmefish's review
adventurous
funny
informative
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
marareading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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? N/A
3.5
Another gem from Gaiman. His retellings of these Norse mythology stories was a great read. I enjoyed his take on it. It was mostly Thor and Loki, and stories I have never heard to begin with so I had nothing to compare. That said, I'm not sure if I'm thebtarget audience.
I do HIGHLY recommend this to anyone who loves Norse mythology. Also recommend to anyone who loves Gaiman's writing style.
I do HIGHLY recommend this to anyone who loves Norse mythology. Also recommend to anyone who loves Gaiman's writing style.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death