Thunder, Blood, and Goats

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Thunder, Blood, and Goats

Thank you to Lyra Wolf for providing me with a copy of this book! I voluntarily leave this review!

While Loki isn't thrilled to be trouncing through deep snow, freezing his toes off hunting a dragon with Thor, it really is for a good cause. If he can slay the beast he'll be one step closer to proving to the Gods he is more than just a trickster. Yet of course the hunt turns disastrous once Thor's blundering self mucks it up. Then he's offered a second chance when the elf Elénaril crosses their paths. Forced to work off a debt to the Gods in Asgard, Elénaril catches Odin's eye and he'll do anything to claim her soul.

Lyra Wolf's interpretation of the Norse Gods is fantastic. Thor is such a bumbling hard head, I can't help but feel for Loki. Being stuck with someone like Thor in the cold facing down a dragon would drive me crazy. I could picture Loki's facial expression with each clipped bit of dialogue as he tried to do the best he could. I also appreciated Thor grumbling about the need for a hammer that returns to him. I do hope we experience that adventure in a future short story.

Loki is a fantastic character to follow. He's manipulative and constantly plotting to put himself in a better light. And while readers may not always agree with his choices, Lyra builds his character in such a way that you can't help but root him on. And to watch him receive such poor treatment from the Gods just hurts. My heart wants so much more for him.

While it isn't necessary to read Truth & Other Lies before this novella, I feel like I gained a bit more from the story because I did read it first. The tension between Odin and Loki in the first book of The Nine Worlds Rising has a bit more of an explanation. It also helps put a few more things into perspective from the first book.

If you enjoy Norse mythology, you need to read Lyra Wolf's books. The Nine Worlds Rising is one of those series I want to read as quickly as possible, yet I also don't want to run out of books. I have to know what's going to happen.