Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

If you're a fan of the Myths and Legends podcast or just a fan of mythology in general, you need to read this. Norse Mythology is Neil Gaiman’s retelling of the Norse myths, such as how Thor got his hammer, the strange wedding of Freya, Loki’s children and much more. Most the stories end with a line about Ragnarok so that even though the stories are disparate, they have a sense of purpose. Everything leads to the end. Everything leads to Ragnarok.

The language here is Gaiman at his best. It rings with the timelessness of myth, with the added inclusion of wry humour. [Slight spoilers] I also liked how most of the book was in past tense, until the time of Ragnarok, where it changed to present tense which gave it a ring of prophecy.

The characters too were well-written. Thor is a great hero but he’s not the wisest. Loki is truly ambiguous, the trickster who’s allegiance is only for himself (leading to some pretty comic situations). Then there are tragic characters, like Hod, who was tricked into killing his brother and then died for it. Or Tyr, wise and self-sacrificial. There is a wide variety of gods and they are all brought to life in these stories.

If you’re a fan of mythology, you’ll want to read this take on the Norse myths. It’s wonderfully written and I actually want to listen to theaudiobookk. These tales sound like they should be told by a bard.