The Gospel of Loki

''They tell you revenge isn't worth it. I say there's nothing finer.''

When a writer makes an effort to compose a story out of all the different well-loved myths about the deities of Norse Mythology, putting the Trickster at the heart of the narration, and having him confessing all the crimes he has committed in all their evil glory, then it deserves no less than a fairly positive review. The result is a fascinating work, able to transport the reader into Asgard and the whole Nine Worlds, but not without some hindrances along the way.

The incorporation of the myths is well-done, atmospheric and skillfully bound. The Nine Worlds are as realistic as can be. The wonderful rendition of Thor's trials in the Hall of the Giant King, one of the most well-known myths about the Thunderer, is one of the best moments in the book., The end is darkly beautiful.

As much as I liked the way the stories are told, there were a few things I had major problems with. The ‘‘Yours Truly'' code name became too tiring rather quickly. In addition, the pseudo-funny, aloof, semi-modernized interactions and descriptions alienated me from the narration in a significant degree. There were a few parts that lost their beauty and their impact because, to my ears, they sounded like a silly Nickelodeon teen-movie. I'm not suggesting that I would have preferred a translated Old Norse text, but between that and the ‘‘I Was A Teenage Loki'' style, there could have been a balanced mixture of both. Still, this is my personal pet-peeve, I am sure many readers will find this kind of language satisfying and entertaining. Easier to understand, most probably. Here, I will agree with a reviewer on GR who stated that, perhaps, this is the kind of book that would engage the younger generation, but not the adults of my age.

My biggest problem has to do with the characters, and this one I can't easily forgive. The gods and goddesses are strangely represented, portrayed as rather simplified versions of themselves. I don't care whether they represent archetypes, the Norse myths never treated them as such. Poor Heimdallr (as is his proper name) and Baldr are ridiculed to no end,as is Sigyn whose legendary loyalty is portrayed as the infatuation of a plain old-maid ( I hated that with a vengeance!). Iðunn is a stupid teenager, Freyja is someone who would go all the way to acquire a piece of jewellery (and yes, it did happen according to the myths but here, it is described without any elegance), and the tormented Skaði, my personal favourite goddess, doesn't have a kinder luck in the hands of the writer. I admit that all these didn't sit well with me, the complexity of the deities is vanished and we steer too much away from the myths. I tried to have in mind that we witness everything from Loki's perspective, and it made sense, but still, it bothered me deeply.

I don't know how these legendary, larger than life, mythical figures are portrayed in some recent popular action movies. I couldn't care less, I haven't watched them, I never will. My guess is their luck can't be much better than here. But the Thor I have in mind, the Thunderer of the myths, isn't a dim-witted brute, gentle Baldr isn't vain and silly, Freyja isn't a shrew with no presence at all. In the hands of any other writer, this issue would have made me abandon the book shortly after I started it.

Joanne Harris is a writer I love and trust. Her books have a certain something, her writing a distinct kind of beauty. When you choose to present such beautiful stories out of the Pantheon of Norse Mythology, the responsibility must be quite heavy. The Gospel of Loki is well-written, and adequately respectful to the original material which has brought up generations and generations. I am certain that if Loki ever had the chance to read it, he would love it. And I, for once, was satisfied with this book, even though there were some issues that prevented me from granting it four stars. Would I read it again? Probably not. However,I was told there is a sequel to it, I checked in the synopsis, and my answer was a big, fat NO. Let us respect some things, let us not turn everything into cartoon super-heroes...