A review by leelah
Liesmith by Alis Franklin

2.0

Ok, first thing you need to know about [b:Liesmith: Book 1 of The Wyrd|22092267|Liesmith Book 1 of The Wyrd|Alis Franklin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400139655s/22092267.jpg|41414447] is that it's "queer modern version of the saga".
So, what does that exactly mean in this book?
It's a modern take on Loki and Sigyn.
Story is set in present time,in Pandemonium, Australia. Loki, the Trickster god is residing here under the cover of Travis Hale, being a businessman and good at it. At one office party he falls in love with Sigmund, a nerdy and awkward guy. Loki left some angry gods behind him, and when they get information on his whereabouts, Sig is danger, too. But Sig is not what he seems, and he's going to get a crash course on Wyrd.
Just like with every myth, gods are a bit petulant, reasons for ending the world are way too exaggerated and don't get me started on speeches.
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What worked for me:

There is some beautiful writing in this book:

"Everything is true, especially the lies.
That’s the trick.
Every tale ever told, every whisper, every song, every single string of words ever uttered by mortal mouths or carved in rocks or scrawled on paper. It’s the ultimate human trait, this endless urge to speak and name and label. To attach sounds to things and meaning to sounds.
To make language."

Loki is very interesting narrator and his pov has that old, "Let me tell you a story.." vibe, that sucks you in. I also have a feeling author wanted us to have Tom Hiddleston in our heads because Loki in his Travis persona has black hair and green eyes and in his Lain persona he is this charming red-haired guy. I approve this. His Loki is so memorable, I feel like if description of Loki would differ from his image in my head, my brain would protest and skip like a mechanical failure messing up pc. ;)

What didn't work for me:

In her own words, author is a huge fan of Norse mythology, light queer romances and happy endings. And reading this book, anyone can tell. This book is everything Alis Franklin loves.
So, romance between Loki and Sig is cute and fluffy. They have their hea. But the problem is about first one: Norse mythology.
Here is the thing: If your entire knowledge on Loki can be attributed to Tom Hiddleston performance in Marvel movies, you may be a bit lost here. For example, some pieces about Sigyn and their 3 children: Hel, Fenrir and giant snake I knew about because I read urban fantasy. And if there is one genre authors are trying to incorporate mythology it's UF- I often get interested and look into something I read. Like goddess Hel I read in Jacqueline Carey's series. Hence I knew who some of relevant players are (not all, I admit). But, I was 100% lost on those meta, surreal parts of mythology that are more advanced, for someone who knows more about it than me. For example, Bleeds or the fires of Múspell or tons of other references I am not sure I even caught (but I know there is 90% chance I would spell it wrong here even if I did without looking). I don't say this is a bad thing, I just say that for someone like me who wants to understand entire backstory it required additional looking up on some words/references.
Now, the thing I noticed and it bugged me to no end is that Sig is written like every cliche ever on geeks, but even more accentuated. I was annoyed with how many times there was "like" in his pov. If he can tell me everything on DnD, there is no need for verbal filler to show me he's awkward, nervous guy all the time and in that amount.