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jennykeery 's review for:
The Gospel of Loki
by Joanne M. Harris
The Gospel of Loki had been on display in my local bookshop and it had always caught my eye, so upon seeing it in the airport when I was bored and bookless I picked it up without hesitation. I'm glad I did because I found myself completely charmed by Harris' version of Loki the trickster god. Even though his voice is snarky and fun, there is a real sense of the hurt and frustration behind it that drives (and justifies, as far as I'm concerned) his ultimate revenge on Asgard. Harris' Loki is a brilliant anti-hero narrator, and some of the set-pieces of his antics at Thor's expense really made me laugh.
Unfortunately I found the rest of the characters uninteresting, as if Harris gave Loki all the personality and just used cardboard cut out versions from a kids book on Norse mythology to fill in the rest. This might be because the other gods are ruled by Order, and Loki comes from Chaos but it made for some very dull reading. Another problem I had was that the stakes never felt very high because Loki is recounting the story, we aren't actually with him as the action is taking place. I think this coupled with the attempted 'epic fantasy' scope of what is actually a very small fantasy world didn't quite work for me as I knew what the ending would be no matter what. I appreciate that the implication is that time is cyclic and unending (I see ouroboroses [ourobori?] everywhere thanks to Robert Jordan and his Wheel of Time) but it just made me feel very detached from the events of the book.
Overall I think Harris' narrator elevates a book I would otherwise be indifferent to. I'd recommend checking it out if you're a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Loki, but not if you're looking for a fresh take or twist on the myths.
Unfortunately I found the rest of the characters uninteresting, as if Harris gave Loki all the personality and just used cardboard cut out versions from a kids book on Norse mythology to fill in the rest. This might be because the other gods are ruled by Order, and Loki comes from Chaos but it made for some very dull reading. Another problem I had was that the stakes never felt very high because Loki is recounting the story, we aren't actually with him as the action is taking place. I think this coupled with the attempted 'epic fantasy' scope of what is actually a very small fantasy world didn't quite work for me as I knew what the ending would be no matter what. I appreciate that the implication is that time is cyclic and unending (I see ouroboroses [ourobori?] everywhere thanks to Robert Jordan and his Wheel of Time) but it just made me feel very detached from the events of the book.
Overall I think Harris' narrator elevates a book I would otherwise be indifferent to. I'd recommend checking it out if you're a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Loki, but not if you're looking for a fresh take or twist on the myths.