THE NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF NETFLIX HIT THE SANDMAN
‘With the deftest of touches, the characters are once again brought to life’ JOANNE HARRIS ‘The halls of Valhalla have been crying out for Gaiman to tell their stories’ OBSERVER
The great Norse myths, which have inspired so much of modern fiction, are dazzlingly retold by Neil Gaiman. Tales of dwarfs and frost giants, of treasure and magic, and of Asgard, home to the gods: Odin the all-father, highest and oldest of the Aesir; his mighty son Thor, whose hammer Mjollnir makes the mountain giants tremble; Loki, wily and handsome, reliably unreliable in his lusts; and Freya, more beautiful than the sun or the moon, who spurns those who seek to control her.
From the dawn of the world to the twilight of the gods, this is a thrilling, vivid retelling of the Norse myths from the award-winning, bestselling Neil Gaiman.
*This book has been printed with two different cover designs. We are unable to accept requests for a specific cover. The different covers will be assigned to orders at random*
While I enjoyed this, I found it a bit disappointing—it wasn’t as compelling as I’ve come to expect Neil Gaiman to be after enjoying [b:Coraline|17061|Coraline|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1493497435s/17061.jpg|2834844] and [b:Stardust|16793|Stardust|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1459127484s/16793.jpg|3166179]. It was well written but felt a bit bland at times, I think because Gaiman retold these myths as faithfully as possible. That made Norse Mythology feel like a textbook when I expected Gaiman to take a few more liberties in order to craft a more riveting narrative, and the few occasions when he did so—allowing his humour to shine through—were when the stories really hit their stride. The prologue and the last myth were my favourites simply because it felt like Gaiman injected a bit more of his personality and voice in these sections. I’d recommend to those interested in learning more about Norse mythology (though it’s not for experts), and otherwise I’d give it a pass. Definitely not Gaiman’s best work.
