Reviews

El evangelio según Loki by Miguel Antón, Joanne M. Harris

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thekimberlyann's review against another edition

4.0

A very entertaining book written from the perspective of Loki, the Trickster God. Harris clearly has a passion for the legends of Norse mythology and is able to entertainingly mix that love with a special blend of of sly and dark humor one might expect from Loki. This story is written with a hint of modern slang but done so in a fashion as to make the emotions and perspectives that much clearer to the reader removing the barrier of cryptic and/or outdated language.

A great read for those who have both a sense humor and a love for epic tales.

elenabarkatullah's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

mastersal's review against another edition

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2.0

I’ve had this book since about Jan 2019 and I am regretting that I just didn’t leave it there!

This book - ostensibly a retelling of Norse myths through Loki’s perspective - wasn’t too bad in terms of writing. That is probably not too unexpected from the author of [b:Chocolat|47401|Chocolat (Chocolat, #1)|Joanne Harris|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388674628l/47401._SY75_.jpg|2930558] but I was surprised at how dull I found the book. If I hadn’t been listening to this on audio, I would have bailed on this a lot faster - dang it audio!

The whole shtick of the book is that Loki tells the “true story” which are meant to be twists on the classic myths. Unfortunately, there is not much twisting happening in the book - most follow the storyline of the myth themselves pretty closely. As a result, this felt more like a collection of stories than a cohesive narrative - think [a:Roger Lancelyn Green|13867|Roger Lancelyn Green|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1274916436p2/13867.jpg]’s [b:Tales of the Greek Heroes: Retold From the Ancient Authors|215463|Tales of the Greek Heroes Retold From the Ancient Authors|Roger Lancelyn Green|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389049665l/215463._SY75_.jpg|208596] rather than a novel.

The only real twist is the tone of the book - Loki basically retells the Norse tales but with a lot snark and modern language. This Loki would fit right in with the Avengers - though for my tastes the author needed to give him more depth and more of a nastier edge. Everything seemed a little safe and young. By the end, Loki came across as a sullen, slightly silly teen rather than the embodiment of mischief.

I suppose that this the other twist - all the gods come across as bit silly and a lot stupid (with the possible exception of Odin). It got a bit dull a bit fast.

Generally speaking, the narration is keeping me at arms length - it’s funny enough but I was not really engaged by any of this. The writing is good enough - so 2 stars

And to add insult to (slight) injury - I bought the sequel.

amandaleigh518's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

vernip's review against another edition

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adventurous informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

You can do a straight up textbook if you like. (Edith Hamilton's Mythology)
You can do a humorous fanfic aimed at middle-grade readers if you like. (Rick Riordan's Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer)
But straightforward tales of the shenanigans of the Norse pantheon told in story format are pretty rare, with the only other one I've read being penned with Neil Gaiman's wit and quirky charm (Norse Mythology, both in blocks of text form AND graphic novel form!).
So this one that has Loki as the main character and narrator is pretty darn exceptional. If you put aside linguistic anachronisms & poetic licensing to put Loki in more events he wasn't typically a part of, it really puts into focus how these stories continue to be entertaining as heck and how these characters stand the test of time.

What I really appreciate is a believable timeline for all these tales since sometimes you hear lil inconsistencies in other sources that make you scratch your head and think "wait wut?" since some stories have Thor beat up the giant who made Asgard's walls with Mjolnir...when he shouldn't have the hammer yet because of the situation with Sif's hair & Loki getting the uber gifts.

And to be honest, we've seen authors over the years CON~STANT~LY try to paint the trickster in a sympathetic light; heck the scribes at Marvel have been doing that for decades, making him as anti-hero as Magneto or Venom. This one is no different with a lot of the earlier stories establishing he feels SO MUCH like an outsider, but later in the book the struggle is depicted as whether he's the fated villain because of prophesied destiny or if it's because of his own chaotic nature.

Great read and now contemplating if I want to see what the sequel is about since, spoilers, Ragnarok happens in this book and what else is there to tell after that?