The Gospel of Loki

Harris is apparently one (along with certain Norwegian musicians) of not a lot of people who actually understand things. Stories are stories whether they were written by Harris, Snorri Sturluson, or long-dead annonymous poets. What is important is using one's literary interpretation skills that one should have learned in school to understand the meaning. Harris uses Loki as a means to add both lost real meaning and modern rationality to the Norse Myths. For example, Loki is the offspring of two Jotuns. What does that mean, the son of two literal "giants," as in really big people? No. Jotuns are forces of nature. Thus, (p. 18-19 of the hardback) "My father was a lightning-strike and my mother was a pile of dry twigs." (Farbauti=cruel striker, therefore, lightning strike meets Laufey=leafy sprig, a.k.a. nal=needle, therefore, evergreen needles, resulting in Wildfire). Of course, even if you hit some people over the head with a book, they are still going to insist on things like literal versions of the English word giant or the whole monotheistic/poltical religion view of good vs. evil, seeing everything as a straight line rather than a circle... Anyway, Harris's combination of understanding, excellent writing, and her own creativity keep me drawn to this book. I did not want to put it down and did not want it to end. The only things I didn't really care for are Fenris (Fenrir) as a werewolf instead of a wolf and the intent in "Ransom." This Sigyn is so awful, I actually feel sorry for Loki; one understands why Loki is "not naturally monogamous." Trying not to give too much away, I like the whole theory behind this book and Runemarks and Runelight regarding a certain disembodied head; it works logically and adds a new perspective to the old stories. The humor of this book gets mentioned a lot in reviews, but what's even better to me are lines like "And just for a moment, I almost believed that neither of us was lying."

The Gospel According to Loki, by Joanne Harris, is told from the point of view in the voice of bad boy Trickster Loki. The Trickster’s captivating ability to tell a tale is almost bewitching enough to elicit an inkling of sympathy from the reader, yet anyone who has ever read Norse mythology knows how the story ends. Loki is never the hero. Maybe he could have been if the tale had unfolded differently, if the tables had been turned a bit in his favor. Destined to be more of a villain and an anti-hero, he is still able to persuade us to wish for a glimmer of hope at the end. Loki’s personality, cunning, and self-admiration shine through his words in this fun romp celebrating the glorious days and the final moments of Odin, Thor, Loki, and the rest of the Aesir in Asgard.

I’ve read a lot of book based on different myths ( mostly Greek myths). I think Norse mythology has to be my favorite. Like most people I like Loki’s sarcasm and pranks he pulls. I also enjoy Tom Hiddleston’s portrays of Loki in the movies. But as far as where he came from and the rest of the background to his stories and pranks I knew little about. ( I’m a bigger fan of Odin and Freya out of all the Norse Gods)That all being said. I LOVED this book. I thought it was funny and a great read. It brought some wonderfully funny and intriguing incite to why Loki acted the way he did and told stories from his side of things. I’m not sure how all this compares to the actual Norse myths but it did make me want to read more of the actual myths just to compare them to Loki’s versions.You got your wonderful mythology, humor, crazy antics and of course Loki’s poor me attitude ( He really does try to make it seem like everything his did wasn’t all his fault) I found this to be a fun entertaining read. It was rather long and wasn’t one of the books I could sit and read all night but I would enjoy two to four chapters a day. When I get a chance to read all the Norse Myths I plan on revisiting this story again.

I really enjoyed this one. The style is different from most books, and reminds me a lot of oral storytelling. I liked seeing things from Loki's perspective--and watching as he went from hopeful, if devious, Wildfire into a weapon fit to bring all of Asgard down. (Loki does seem to have a rather high opinion of himself that is not completely unmerited. ;)) It was also interesting to see how Odin was portrayed. Harris gave him a rather humanizing effect that I liked.

Joanne M. Harris’s The Gospel of Loki is a brilliant reinvigoration of Norse mythology told from the (misunderstood) first person viewpoint of the God of Mischief himself. Harris starts off with Loki’s wickedly funny descriptions of the various Aesir, Vanir, monsters, and demons with whom he will interact in the pages that follow.Without any real apology for what he gets up to, Harris’s Loki retells all the stories we know and love from Norse mythology, infusing them with the wit, playfulness, and cleverness one expects of the God of Mischief. The humor never lets up, even when the story takes the darker turn you know is inevitable if you know anything at all about Norse mythology. Loki’s punishment and Ragnarok aren’t inherently funny, but Harris imbues her prankster protagonist with an indomitable spirit that doesn’t fail even in his darkest moments.And while the Loki of Norse mythology is not the Loki of the Marvel Universe, it didn’t hurt that I heard Tom Hiddleston’s Loki voice in every line of this truly delightful adult fantasy.

The Gospel of Loki is a delightful book, chronicling the life and times of Loki, the Trickster of Norse mythology, and the rise and fall of Asgard.Loki is a relentlessly wonderful character; an amoral and capricious, but also completely psychologically plausible anti-hero, whose antics range from mischief to genocide, across 300 endlessly entertaining pages.There's a huge cast of characters, with many names familiar to anyone who's heard a bit of Norse mythology or, let's not be coy about it, seen a few Marvel films. Generally a Dramatis Personnae at the start of a book is a red flag for pretentious prose ahead, but do read this one fully. There may be a quiz later.Harris's style is eminently readable, and only strays into being anachronistic when it's funny to do so. The large cast means we don't get too close to many of the characters other than Your Humble Narrator, but this also works to help the Gods preserve a bit of their mystery. Despite being his sworn brother, Loki never allows the reader to get too close to Odin, in particular, and the General remains an enigma right up to Ragnarok. Thor and his hammer Mjolnir probably get the most exposure, and his simple approach to life is an effective contrast to Loki's wrangling.One of the best books I've read this year, and I've read some really good books this year.

I love a retelling, but it can get a little stagnant reading fairy tale retellings all the time so it was very refreshing to read a retelling of Norse mythology. I thought that Loki as a narrator was exceptionally voiced, you got such a strong sense of his outsider nature and it made him feel like more than just a god revelling in mischief, you get a better sense of his nature, of his motivations and his complexities.I should say, I’m going to use ‘he’ as a pronoun for Loki because I think this fits this book best, however, I am aware that a lot of people choose to see Loki as more of a gender-neutral character. In this book, Loki spends most of the story in a ‘male aspect’ so I hope I’m not incorrect in using this pronoun for this particular retelling.I’m quite familiar with a lot of Norse mythology, largely because I absorbed mythology like a sponge when I was younger, but also because I recently read Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology which was a good top up. I was familiar with all of the different stories in this volume, there weren’t any surprises. What I thought was really exceptional was the way in which Harris weaves these usually disparate stories into a full narrative, connecting events that would normally be divided into set stories in other compilations. This is a novel, one with a clear beginning, middle and end, and yet it somehow also manages to be a collection of Norse myths. Impressive to say the least.I should say, if you have any particular affection for any Norse gods other than Loki, don’t expect to see them get a glowing recommendation in this book. The side effect of this ‘outsider’ perspective is that pretty much all of the gods seem fairly terrible. This does lead to some amusing observations, and it is nice to see all-powerful deities being ridiculed every once in a while, we all like to see people being taken down a peg or two.As I say, Loki’s voice is incredibly well placed, he could easily have come off as a petulant child or as a totally unrelatable pain in the butt, but Harris manages to strike a happy balance where you know he’s being horrible but you also can’t help but think that he’s right.If you know Norse mythology well or if you’re brand new I think you will enjoy this retelling. Harris manages to create a cohesive story of the Norse myths and gives a new spin on pretty much every character. I would highly recommend grabbing a copy!My rating: 4/5 stars

‘The Gospel of Loki’, by Joanne M. Harris, is a fantasy fiction book focusing on a retelling of Norse mythology from the point of view of Loki. Going through practically all of the events in it through a humorous and thorough way, when I first heard about this book I felt the immediate need to purchase and read it.I’ll further preface this review by saying that mythology has always been something I really enjoy, and Loki is one of the gods I am most interested in. Though I’m not entirely familiar with the classical and original works, ‘the trickster,’ is definitely one of the most enjoyable mythological characters out there. Because of this I had some really high expectations of the book, in part because of what I had previously read on Loki in both mythology and fiction, even though I hadn’t heard of this author before.The book is told by Loki himself, and starts from the time Odin comes across him in his original form of Wildfire from Chaos, tricking him to joining the gods in Asgard. It then advances from there until the very Ragnarok, the story going through all of the events concerning Loki and offering a more ‘personal’ view of these via his point of view. It is clear that the author really knows her mythology from reading ‘The Gospel of Loki’, as practically every myth is included from Loki’s perspective, and her take on the Vanir and Aesir war, as well as Gullvied-Heide is original and brought up some interesting possibilities in understanding the underlying politics and wars involved.However, the thing I liked the most about this book was that it offered the myths from Loki’s point of view without the ‘wicked’ or ‘evil’ points of view that seem to fill most retellings of Norse myths. Overall it was a strong portrayal of Loki as a vivid character and rebel of Asgard, following his psychological development over this in a way I didn’t expect to see. It was interesting to follow and read, and I found myself rooting and hoping for the best for Loki (even though it was more than clear for me that there was no such thing as a good ending possible in this).The narrative in this, contrary to what one my expect of a work of this type; is modern, breeze, and witty, and includes modern slang. This was something I ended up feeling quite mixed on, mostly out of my admiration for Tolkien’s use of prose in his translations of classic works and fantasy books, but it otherwise was enjoyable and fitted the atmosphere put forwards by the author.Despite this, something which remarked me more negatively when reading ‘The Gospel of Loki’ was the attitude that Loki himself had seemingly taken to events. Despite being the star of the show he came across on more than one occasion as boring and whiny. A shame, as the mythological figure itself seems to hardly be either of those things. In addition, I didn’t quite manage to understand why the author felt it like a necessity to attach runes to every god, as it wasn’t fully explained and seemed to work against her as the plot progressed. Further, it seemed that in the end the myths presented suffered from a lack of development for other characters, which weren’t too develop in comparison to Loki himself. This was something I really missed by the end of it, which combined with the narrative style chosen made me miss the fact that this book wasn’t longer.Overall, ‘The Gospel of Loki’ has some definite good and bad points, but succeeds in being entertaining to read. It presents Norse mythology in an engaging way that makes this book perfect to read for anyone who doesn’t have much knowledge of Norse mythology, and is impossible to get lost in, and I fully recommend it in this sense. For more experienced readers, it is certainly worth reading if only because of the particular point of view it puts across, but it might seem lacking in the end due to its length and choice of approach to the myths. It certainly achieves 4 stars, and won’t disappoint if what you’re expecting when purchasing this book is an introduction of sorts to Norse mythology or just something to pass time with. For a more experienced reader I’d recommend to purchase with care, as the entertainment value of the book itself will definitely vary from person to person.

Harris tells a variety of Norse myths, linking them together in a narrative from the perspective of Loki. The original aspects of the story read like a sensational tell-all magazine interview which grew tiresome quite quickly.The narrative also didn't really work for me. Some of the myths have Loki being a valued member of the gods, so Harris had to explain his motivations with respect to how he was set up as an antagonist to the Aesir. The effect was unconvincing; it felt confused and lacking coherence. As a result, the book was ultimately a bit of a let down.

Wow, I read this book in 3 days, every moment free, read it. This is the tale of Loki from his viewpoint. No spoilers here, don't want to take away your joy. This book is riveting, funny, sad, strong, and more. It takes mythology to a whole new level. Having only read Greek mythology, this is my first step into the Norse world. Looking forward to book two.