Loki: WICKED, VISCERAL, TRANSGRESSIVE: Norse gods as you've never seen them before
Melvin Burgess
Nov 2022 · Coronet · Narrated by Gerard Logan
1.0star
1 reviewreport
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9 hr 13 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
Step into the ancient fir-tree forests of Scandinavia and bear witness to legends as epic as those of the Greeks and the Romans.
Melvin Burgess revolutionised children's literature with the infamous cult novels Junk and Doing It. In his first adult novel, Loki, he breathes new life into Norse myths.
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. This narrative may seem familiar enough at first, but the listener should beware.
Born within the heart of a fire in the hollow of a tree-trunk, Loki arrives in Asgard as an outsider. He is a trickster, an unreliable narrator, the god of intelligence and politics. In spite of his cleverness and sparkling wit (or, perhaps, because of this...) Loki struggles to find his place among the old patriarchal gods of supernatural power and is constantly at odds with the god of thunder - Thor.
This is a retelling that is contemporary in tone, at once amusing and relatable. It is a heartfelt plea to overthrow the old gods of power and authority and instigate a new era ruled by love and intelligence. Alongside the politics of Asgard, it charts the course of Loki's many loves and families, from his mothering of Odin's famous horse to his intense, turbulent, and, eventually, fatal relationship with Baldr the Beautiful - a tender and moving story of love that goes wrong, jealousy and a transitioning that is forbidden by society.
(P) 2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Melvin Burgess revolutionised children's literature with the infamous cult novels Junk and Doing It. In his first adult novel, Loki, he breathes new life into Norse myths.
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. This narrative may seem familiar enough at first, but the listener should beware.
Born within the heart of a fire in the hollow of a tree-trunk, Loki arrives in Asgard as an outsider. He is a trickster, an unreliable narrator, the god of intelligence and politics. In spite of his cleverness and sparkling wit (or, perhaps, because of this...) Loki struggles to find his place among the old patriarchal gods of supernatural power and is constantly at odds with the god of thunder - Thor.
This is a retelling that is contemporary in tone, at once amusing and relatable. It is a heartfelt plea to overthrow the old gods of power and authority and instigate a new era ruled by love and intelligence. Alongside the politics of Asgard, it charts the course of Loki's many loves and families, from his mothering of Odin's famous horse to his intense, turbulent, and, eventually, fatal relationship with Baldr the Beautiful - a tender and moving story of love that goes wrong, jealousy and a transitioning that is forbidden by society.
(P) 2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Ratings and reviews
1.0
1 review
David McComb
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January 24, 2024
I hoped that these tales might be a retelling of the familiar stories, but from a different aspect, & to be fair, this book started off quite promising but then descended into mediocrity. The gratuous attempts (& failures) to shock reduce the usually interesting character of Loki to a tedious, one-dimensional, camp, clichéd caracature. The Larry Grayson of Asgard. I would describe the story, especially the dialogue as "hackneyed" & "pretentious". One star for the labour of putting it together & another for being able to work a word processor. In fact, scratch that. I wrote this review at 87% completion. The last 13% was utter dross. I won't mention the narration. One star only, for the audacity of the whole affair. Five stars to me for perseverance.
About the author
Melvin Burgess' first book, THE CRY OF THE WOLF (1990), was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal which he then went on to win for the cult novel JUNK, along with the Guardian's Children's Fiction Prize. He won the Lancashire County Library Children's Book of the Year Award for BLOODTIDE (1999) and the LA Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature for DOING IT (2003). His latest YA book, 3 BULLETS, was published by Andersen Press in July 2021.
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