Loki

If you are expecting anything like Vasich's [b:Loki|11506107|Loki|Mike Vasich|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327971779s/11506107.jpg|15206785]--don't.

This book takes a much lighter tone in both writing and content, ending up in a shorter and easier read. The stories are good, but it's much more hit & miss where I liked some of the tales and was less interested in some of the others.

Overall I enjoyed it. I chuckled quite a bit during the first six or so stories, and enjoyed a few of the non-humerous moments. It was also nice to see Hel and Balder again, if only for a brief moment.

The stories are told in an odd way to where there's a loose continuity where they relate to each other, but still contain contradictions. It's an interesting effect when you read the stories straight instead of one at a time.

The last two stories are a bit more serious in tone, and took a few more liberties. Specifically, it involved crossing Norse Mythology over with Christianity by using Balder and his resurrection act.

Worth reading, but I didn't quite enjoy it as much as its predecessor. If the first book was too serious/long for you, I'd recommend picking this one up instead. :)

And I'll just end this review with: Poor Hod. Poor, poor Hod. hugs him

Loved it--and helped I'm the target audience for this book: Interested in Norse Mythology (You can thank Marvel's Thor & Loki for that), but only familiar with one or two of the original stories (In my case: Sleipner's birth & Freya!Thor).

Vaisch does a great job of linking together some of the more prominent stories of Norse Mythology into a single narrative, adjusting here or there to give it a bit of an original spin. Each section starts with--what I assume--is the original myth's account of the story, followed by the retelling/novel. It gets a little repetitive, but I enjoyed comparing the two to see the changes.

The story's are told well, and I easily found myself attached to most--if not all of the gods--in addition to the delightful Loki. In fact, I can now count myself among the Tyr & Fenrir fans (which is fun because I had no clue who Tyr was when I picked this up.) And ignoring my desire to beat Odin over the head with his own weapon, I really loved how all the events tied together into a giant climax.

Everyone got a little moment in the spotlight and Loki was his charismatic, and sympathetic self.

So, to summarize: Great introduction to Norse Mythology. Puts it all together into a comprehensive & exciting narrative.

Good stuff. <3

(And for the record, yes, I did read this entire book picturing the Marvel counterparts as the characters. I couldn't help myself no matter how many times they said Thor's beard was red. Heh.)