Loki

(This will have spoilers for the myths, but not for the details of the book. Read with caution, etc. etc.)

I'll admit it: I was drawn to Norse mythology in general (and this book in particular) based on my love of the Thor comics and Joanne Harris' Runemarks series. That said, this is the book that prompted me to pick up the primary sources. It's really a wonderful thing to read. The Loki sketched out here is neither a supervillain nor a comical trickster; he's a complicated, difficult god of chaos alienated by his society, and spurred on by anger and hate (and Odin's passive acceptance of fate, which is just not something you can run from), he eventually destroys the world. But it's okay; it'll grow back. Which is, incidentally, something I loved about this; I love the idea of a cyclical universe, both in myth and religion, and it's very prominent in Norse myth, and shown here as well. Loki destroys the world, yes, but by doing so he creates a new one. I just really love that entire concept, and could probably flail about it a lot more, but I'll stop now.

My main complaints with the book have nothing to do with the story, but the editing. Strange punctuation, occasional misspellings, some redundancy (like another review said, the word “venom” being used five or six times in one paragraph, and that's just an example), and maybe it was just my copy, but the print was badly blurred in places and was difficult to read. If you're interested in Norse myth, though, don't let that stop you from getting this book.