Steve Clark reviewed Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Review of 'Norse Mythology' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Interesting to read the original stories. Well told by Gaiman
283 pages
English language
Published Nov. 30, 2018
The great Norse myths, which have inspired so much of 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 Aesir; his mighty son Thor, whose hammer Mjollnir makes the mountain giants tremble; Loki, wily and handsome, reliably unreliable in his lusts; and Freya, who spurns those who seek to control her.
From the dawn of the world to the twilight of the gods, this is a vivid retelling of the Norse myths from the award-winning, bestselling Neil Gaiman.
Interesting to read the original stories. Well told by Gaiman
I really enjoy every book of Neil Caiman, but this one seems to me a little dull. It's easy to read, but I haven't enjoy it much.
I never cared about our mythology or really read anything about it. I remember a quick chat in school about Tor and Odin but that's it. Yet I felt like I knew a lot about these stories. Things came to me when I read them. Where did I learn this?
A never ending winter and an army of the dead? Someone else has read these stories... also, winter is coming.
I have no comparison to make with any other re-telling or the source material, so, taking this at face-value:
This is an entertaining set of tales about the creation of the world and its eventual destruction and some things that happen in between. The best of the tales are the comedic ones where Loki is both the author of and the solution for some troublesome eventuality. It was good to finally read some of these Norse myths and it makes me keener to read the source material, the prose and poetic Eddas.