i suppose one must commend the attempt to shape the myths into something more inclusive and accepting but it simply felt unnatural, forced, and like the author was trying too hard and unconsciously ended up circling back to homophobia and transphobia once again. Born within the heart of a fire in the hollow of a tree-trunk, Loki arrives in Asgard as an outsider. Here Loki presents his unique perspective on life, the universe and especially his fellow Norse gods and goddesses. All the characters in the story are well developed and I loved that all the gods are a bit unreliable and untruthworthy.

What started as an interesting experiment turns out to be one of the most boring retellings of myths I have ever read. then again maybe modern retellings are simply not my cup of tea as it has been proven time and time again no matter how hard i try to enjoy them. In his other books, such as Bloodtide and The Ghost Behind the Wall, Burgess has dealt with less realist and sometimes fantastic themes. Finally, this book is so incredibly nastily misogynistic in its portrayal of women almost exclusively as hysterical sex-crazed harpies.Of course, in Loki’s tale he is always the hero, a Northern Prometheus and champion of humankind, while many of the Norse pantheon are portrayed as baddies or buffoons. My Opinion: It’s not the smoothest read no, but the farther it went, the more interesting it got, with story moving forwards to the bottleneck of the end, the last point, and the last seed of doubt. It is a breath of fresh air around the character of Loki, who has become famous for all the wrong reasons thanks to marvel's depiction of Loki (no hate, I love marvel's Loki, but he is very far from the original character).

And indeed, as it eventually turns out, he does, though we're assured that is something that will benefit us, in the end. De manier waarop hij met de lezer communiceert, geeft het boek een aangename en humoristische toets.

The novel functions almost as an autobiography, as readers are taken through Loki's struggles finding belonging and relationships--both familial and romantic--that don't always end well for him. I was extremely interested in the premise of this book but unfortunately was just not a fan of the execution. AS Byatt’s Ragnarok was exhilarating, richly wrought, written through the lens of her child self’s encounters, and with a focus on the end of the world. Starting with the Norse creation myths, the trickster god Loki takes the reader on a wild ride through Norse mythology, from the time the gods – the founders of Asgard – defeated races of monsters, and hurtling through famous stories, including Odin hanging himself on the World Tree, the theft of the corrupting gold ring and the murder of Baldr, the god of love and the Sun. Despite this, I must commend the author for their fantastic writing, making the book an enjoyable read overall.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Like (I suspect) many people in the UK, my first encounters with the classic Greek and Norse myths were as a child, via retellings by Roger Lancelyn Green, versions designed to be OK for children and therefore missing out some of the more earthy aspects. It’s no surprise that Melvin Burgess, author of Junk and many other powerful novels for teenagers, has chosen the Norse god Loki as the subject of his first adult novel: questioning, tricksy, gender-bending and anti-authority, Loki is perhaps the quintessential teen.

And I’ve always loved Loki and Thor’s relationship and the way it fluctuates between best buds, weird uncle Loki, and bitter enemies. The setup here is that we - as modern humans - are being told this story by Loki from his deep prison.