Genre: Fantasy/World
Mythology
Description:
Loki. The Trickster. What would the overarching story of the Aesir and
the countdown to Ragnarok be, told from his viewpoint?
Author:
Mike Vasich teaches English to gifted and talented students. He is the
author of a separate anthology of stories about Loki, as well as other books.
He has a wicked sense of humor and welcomes feedback from readers.
To see Mr. Vasich’s other books you can visit his Amazon Author page.
Appraisal:
I am somewhat familiar with the traditional stories from Norse
mythology, so this book had immediate appeal for me. It starts out with a very
brief recap of the traditional story of Loki and his relationship with the
other Norse gods (the Aesir). It then moves quickly into a retelling of the
stories familiar to many of the Twilight of the Gods, moving towards Ragnarok
and the destruction of the world – only told from Loki’s viewpoint. As a
literary device, it’s an excellent way to make an old story new again. Loki
never quite becomes a sympathetic character, but the reader does realize that
there are two sides to every story. The author obviously knows his Norse
mythology frontwards and backwards. I have a friend who is Norwegian, living in
Norway, who read this along with me, and she agreed that it was true to the
stories she heard growing up, with allowances made for the different point of
view.
The author has an amazing power of characterization. In one battle
scene (possibly one of the best battle scenes I have ever read), he was able to
convey to perfection the personification of thunder and lightning in Thor and
his hammer. I knew that, but reading
that scene, it was brought home to me like never before. Thor was thunder and Mjollnar was lightning,
and the concepts were inseparable. It was one of those “Ahhh” moments when you
fully realize and understand something you’ve known all along.
I loved this book, but I could not help stopping to think how very different the mindset and motivations of
the characters are from what we (meaning Americans, most likely the intended
audience) are used to in our literature. I found Odin to be one of the most
frightening figures I have ever met in a book – and that includes characters
such as Lucifer/Satan, Sauron, Voldemort, and others of that ilk.
Interestingly, my Norwegian friend did not feel the same way at all – she says
that Odin is the All-father; he’s above and beyond mere human emotion and
rationalization. Yet, that was exactly what I felt was so chilling about him –
the total apathy, the absolute unwillingness to lift a finger to change the
course of events that were fated.
All in all, an excellent book, and highly recommended. It’s safe to
say that this is probably the best book I’ve read so far this year. I would say
that it would appeal primarily to readers who have some familiarity with
traditional Norse mythology, since they would be able to appreciate some of the
nuances more, but that certainly isn’t a perquisite.
FYI:
Added for
Reprise Review: Loki
by Mike Vasich was a nominee in the Speculative Fiction category for B&P 2013
Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran August 16, 2012
Format/Typo
Issues:
None. Formatting was perfect.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: SingleEyePhotos
Approximate
word count: 105-110,000 words
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