Title Norse Mythology Series --- Author Neil Gaiman Cover Art --- Publisher Bloomsbury - 2018 First Printing 2017 Category Mythology Warnings --- Main Characters Odin, Thor, Loki and many others Main Elements Gods, giants, dwarves, elves, monsters

Before the beginning there was nothing - no earth, no heavens, no stars, no sky: only the mist world, formless and shapeless, and the fire world, always burning.

The great Norse Myths, which have inspired so much 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 Aseir; 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 bestsellig Neil Gaiman.

Maybe if I hadn't just read the Prose and Poetic Eddas the past two months, this wouldn't have felt like I'd already read it before. Though Gaiman's version is a much easier read, I was sort of hoping that he'd really put his own spin on it, but instead he stuck to just retelling the original tales. And that's fine, the tales themselves are funny and tragic in their own rights, but they can be a little lacking in detail. There isn't much oppoturnity to get deep into personalities, or to explain motivations, or even in world building. As Gaiman said he wanted to write so much more about some of the other gods and goddesses, but what was once known about them has been lost, it is lucky their name might survive, luckier still if it was known what they were the god of.

If you are new to the Norse myths I highly recommend this as a place to start if you don't want to struggle through the originals. Those are good too but the translations tend towards more complex language which can take away from the enjoyment of the tale. Here, you can picture yourself sitting in a Viking hall, listening to Gaiman the bard telling you the various tales, which was his intent. Now that I think about it, an audio book of this might be perfect.

The Norse tales themselves range from depressing, as we know from the prophecy of Ragnarok that pretty much everyone will die, and exactly how they will die. On the other hand there are tales that are laugh out loud funny, like where Thor has to cross-dress to get Mjollnir back. And any tale with Loki in it can hardly be boring, the only truly complex character, he both does things that will benefit the gods, but at the same time is the source of all that will destroy them. Thor is not the brightest guy around, Odin can be dark and cruel, and is seems every male giant wants to marry Freya.

Thus while it was nice to revist the tales a second time after having just read them, maybe I should have held off on this a little longer. On the other hand, maybe it helped to reinforce the names and legends in my mind, which should benefit me when I continue reading other Norse inspired fantasies, such as those by Riordan, Zelazny, Armstrong and others. I may not be able to pronounce everything, but I'll recognize them when I see them. At least I can now claim that my knowledge of Norse mythology didn't come exclusively from the Marvel movies!