Title Loki: Where Mischief Lies Series --- Author Mackenzi Lee Cover Art Stephanie Hans Publisher Marvel - 2019 First Printing Marvel - 2019 Category Young Adult Warnings None Main Characters Loki, Thor, Amora, Odin Main Elements Superheroes Website ---

This is the first of three young adult novels from New York Times best-selling author Mackenzi Lee that explores the untapped potential and duality of heroism of popular characters in the Marvel Universe.

Before the days of going toe-to-toe with the Avengers, a younger Loki is desperate to prove himself heroic and capable, while it seems everyone around him suspects him of inevitable villainy and depravity . . . except for Amora. Asgard's resident sorceress-in-training feels like a kindred spirit-someone who values magic and knowledge, who might even see the best in him.

But when Loki and Amora cause the destruction of one of Asgard's most prized possessions, Amora is banished to Earth, where her powers will slowly and excruciatingly fade to nothing. Without the only person who ever looked at his magic as a gift instead of a threat, Loki slips further into anguish and the shadow of his universally adored brother, Thor.

When Asgardian magic is detected in relation to a string of mysterious murders on Earth, Odin sends Loki to investigate. As he descends upon nineteenth-century London, Loki embarks on a journey that leads him to more than just a murder suspect, putting him on a path to discover the source of his power-and who he's meant to be.

I've been reading a lot of Greek/Roman/Norse/etc myths this year, and sure, the characters of the Marvel universe are not technically the Norse gods, or I guess in a way they are, even though they are aliens that visited Earth and inspired the tales. Anyway, when I saw the book sitting on the shelf in the library, how could I resist, I mean it's Marvel Loki, he's a far more interesting character than most. The villain who doesn't really want to be a villain, who would do good if people would just give him a chance and not always assume the worst of him...but still with the heart of a trickster, he just can't help himself. In fact like the mythological Loki who does do a lot of good for the gods, until he does one trick to many, gets punished, and brings about Ragnarok in revenge (they did turn one of his sons into a wolf, set him lose on his brother son, and used that second son's intestines to bind Loki to a rock and have a snake drip scalding venom on his head...I'd be pretty vengeful too).

Anyway, I loved the book right from the start. The Loki character was so fun and yet hurt, always managing to get into trouble when he's just trying to do something good, and getting punished when Thor somehow seems to get away without consequences. It can get a little rough, after all he's a teenager here, imagine trying to live up to a brother that everyone just adores, in fact he's literally golden with that hair and bronzed skin. Loki is pale, with dark hair and people tend to find him a little on the creepy side. There are probably a lot of teenagers that could sympathize with that. In a world where brawn is prized over brains and magic is feared, it's hard for Loki to fit in.

After the brothers mess up a diplomatic mission Loki is punished by being sent to Earth to help the SHARP Society (Loki thinks the name is dumb and suggests something better, like, I dunno, what about SHIELD?). But much as the SHARP agents are all eager and excited to be working for Odin, Loki knows better, after all the pool of water the agents are supposed to use to contact Asgard is, on the other end, a wasbasin in the gym changing room (at least Thor spends enough time there that Loki was able to get a hold of someone!). But as he spends time in Victorian London, the humans start growing on him, in fact he becomes downright fond of one of them. However he's there to solve a mystery, one where an old friend of his, Amora, the sorceress who helped Loki tap into his magical potential, is probably at the center of things, an army of the dead.

The question is, will Loki fulfill his father's vision of the future and return to Asgard at the head of that army to take a kingship he has no hope of earning except by force? After all, everyone expects him too and its getting so hard to be the hero when everyone already expects him to be the villain...