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A review by miraeli
Angela: Asgard's Assassin: Priceless by Le Beau L. Underwood, Marguerite Bennett, Scott Hanna, Stephanie Hans, Kieron Gillen, Phil Jimenez, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Clayton Cowles, Tom Palmer
3.0
*deep sigh*
I'll admit, I came into this biased. As a real life Heathen, I am... shall we say a little irritated about this whole Heven and angels thing.
Let me explain. The myths of my religion have been mangled by Christians for centuries. The most well known writer of the myths, Snorri Sturluson, wrote them with heavily Christian tinted glasses. He very likely rewrote a large chunk of the death of Baldr and the Ragnarok myths to have more of a Christian flavor; he portrayed Loki as the Norse Satan instead of a trickster god who gets fed up with his family constantly being shat on/murdered and then reacting rather understandably to such treatment. So. Let's just say I have a bit of a grudge, for everything that was lost, and for the suspect myths we were left with, care of a man who thought he was writing about dead Gods.
Let's also say the inclusion of a Tenth Realm called Heven where angels live, into a canon that has existed just fine without it... leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
It's not a bad book. Gillen is a strong writer, the art is gorgeous, and I even grudgingly came to like Angela (though I felt she was a little ridiculously overpowered at times.) There's even a trans character which I loved seeing.
But man. I just cannot get over the inclusion of ideas from a religion that loathed mine and tried very hard to wipe my Gods from existence. It feels a little like a slap in the face.
(Also, I despise Angela's outfit. Though thankfully it does change halfway through.)
Well, anyway. I read it mainly because I wanted to be fair and give it a chance. Not a bad book. Just not one I'm sure I can comfortably read in the future.
I'll admit, I came into this biased. As a real life Heathen, I am... shall we say a little irritated about this whole Heven and angels thing.
Let me explain. The myths of my religion have been mangled by Christians for centuries. The most well known writer of the myths, Snorri Sturluson, wrote them with heavily Christian tinted glasses. He very likely rewrote a large chunk of the death of Baldr and the Ragnarok myths to have more of a Christian flavor; he portrayed Loki as the Norse Satan instead of a trickster god who gets fed up with his family constantly being shat on/murdered and then reacting rather understandably to such treatment. So. Let's just say I have a bit of a grudge, for everything that was lost, and for the suspect myths we were left with, care of a man who thought he was writing about dead Gods.
Let's also say the inclusion of a Tenth Realm called Heven where angels live, into a canon that has existed just fine without it... leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
It's not a bad book. Gillen is a strong writer, the art is gorgeous, and I even grudgingly came to like Angela (though I felt she was a little ridiculously overpowered at times.) There's even a trans character which I loved seeing.
But man. I just cannot get over the inclusion of ideas from a religion that loathed mine and tried very hard to wipe my Gods from existence. It feels a little like a slap in the face.
(Also, I despise Angela's outfit. Though thankfully it does change halfway through.)
Well, anyway. I read it mainly because I wanted to be fair and give it a chance. Not a bad book. Just not one I'm sure I can comfortably read in the future.