Norse Mythology

Slightly mixed reviews from our group but positive on the whole. Individual reviews below.

Neil Gaiman brings to life retellings of old Norse tales in such a beautifully simplistic way that he captivates readers from the off-set. The tales of Odin and Asgard are very well paced and it feels like through these short stories, Gsiman takes you o a journey from the fire and ice that created the world to the fire and ice that will end it. Reading these myths will make you want to go and re-tell stories of Thor, Loki, frost-giants and dwarves to the next person you see.

I loved it, it makes myth a reality and provides a means to research the mythological characters. I would like to add this to my own library for future 'story writing'.

Bloody great.

I found this a disappointing offering from Gaiman and not in the same league as his previous works. Oh dear. This is not a book for our time or society. Yes, it harps back to a different time and culture but fails to draw on the rich poetry of the Prose Edda sagas. The retellings of old familiar stories lack lustre and over simplified.
Who is his target audience? It is too bare and embellished for adults and in no way could it be seen as a useful role model for teens and young adults. There are too many characters with unpronounceable names to remember and the women are mostly cardboard cut outs, vain, often gullible, with little purpose other than as sexualised, decorative objects for exchange and barter.
The dry narrative style and perfunctory delivery could not engage me and I struggled to finish the book. I was hard pressed to remember who the characters all were. If there had been a quiz at the end, I would have done really badly. There just were, I feel too many and too similar. A better idea might have been a series of little books to do each tale justice.
Illustrations might have helped to clarify this and to inject some rich visual impact and excitement to hang our engagement upon.
When all's said and done, NG wrote it and I didn't, so good luck to the man and I hope it pays the bills and that his daughters still grow up to be pilots and lumberjacks.

An unusual style that took a bit of getting used to. The stories displayed a group of gods nearly human in their behaviours and actions. Not a page turner but a worthwhile read.

I thought this book was ok but I knew most of the stories already.

A number of the Norse myths are retold by Neil in an extremely accessible way. The myths that have been selected are presented chronologically which makes the narrative flow - characters who are wounded in one story, for example, remain so next time we meet them.

There was a lot to like about this book. The tales are almost childlike in their simplicity, but none the less enjoyable for that. It was very informative, introducing us to all the main protagonists and the characters really come alive on the page which made me feel like I knew them personally. The stories themselves are interesting, often exciting and full of creativity – perfect for passing down from generation to generation, either as a bedtime story or round a campfire.

I cannot really think of a single negative thing to say about this book so “well done Neil”.

I hope that I will now remember a few rudiments of Norse Mythology to make use of in future conversations, a knowledge which has always eluded me before. I may need an occasional top-up, but would be more than happy to dip into the book again in the future in order to achieve this.