Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman REVIEW

There’s nothing that can go wrong when you pick up one of Neil Gaiman’s books, and his new release Norse Mythology is no exception. Norse Mythology is basically an anthology of you guessed it; Norse myths! These stories give you a nice insight to the world of Norse myths and is essential to those who are interested in the world of Norse gods!

After Marvel’s Thor movie franchise, it wouldn’t be surprising if you wanted to learn more about the Norse myths. This book will give you a nice foundation to do so! Told in a linear structure, it starts off with the beginning of time, all the way to where the world is destroyed; Ragnarok.

The rest of the novel include stories on events such as Odin losing an eye, the creation of Thor’s hammer and why there are poets with differing abilities due to poet’s mead either from Odin or from a bird’s ass. Yep, you read me right. I could be making it up though, read it to find out! There is a total of 16 stories, so you are bound to find something you will gravitate towards, and allow it to hold your interest probably for life because once you go Norse, you will never go back north. Is that a saying? I’d hope so. If you read the stories out of order, they may not make sense if you’ve never been exposed to the world of Norse.

Neil Gaiman has written a beautiful book on a fascinating topic, but I expected it to be one epic story following a character fictitious to the Norse world (i.e. a John Smith in a world with Asgardian gods) and weave all these myths together,  and tell it through the eyes of this fictitious character. If you’re expecting a full flush fantasy novel, like most of Neil’s works, this book isn’t it. Rather, it is Neil’s take and rewrites on the Norse myths. I mean I’d rather pick up Neil’s book than a 100 year old one and take a lifetime to read it (no offense to old books, promise me, I love you). Even the Norse world has a use by date 😉

Having been introduced to the world of Norse through Marvel, I had only known the surface of these myths like Odin is the all father, Loki is the bad guy, and Thor has this really powerful hammer which can basically hit and break everything. I didn’t even know the name if I’m going to be honest. Norse Mythology has taught me a lot more about the world, how everything came to be, and the way the gods interact with each other.

Before reading this book, I thought that Loki was just a foul git with only malicious intent, but in some of the stories, he does try hard to make himself likeable. Other times, you’re right; he is every bad thing under the sun, who deserves venom dripping into his eyes as he pleas for mercy. A little extra? Apparently not according to the gods! 😉

Nevertheless, I still highly enjoyed reading this book, as it took me on an amazing adventure start to end! I ended up giving this book 5/5 stars as it is a combination of all things great (Neil Gaiman + Norse = perfection)!

Before I leave you, I would like to say many thanks to Bloomsbury AUS for sending over a copy to review! I love you guys!! xx

Also, if you liked Norse Mythology, or it appeals to you, do check out Rick Riordan’s epic series called Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard! I’ve reviewed all the books currently out in the series, which you can view here and here! Be aware, Book Two contains spoilers (obviously).

If you would like to purchase a copy of Norse Mythology, you can click here for the hardback, and here for the paperback! I get a small commission if you use my link 🙂

Until next time,
– Anna

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