Charming, Enlightening, Hilarious // REVIEW: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Title: Norse Mythology
Author: Neil Gaiman
Publication Date: March 6th 2018
Publisher: Bloomsbury India
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Bloomsbury India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Barnes and Noble || Wordery || Infibeam || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: The great Norse myths, which have inspired so much of modern fiction, are dazzlingly retold by Neil Gaiman. Tales of dwarfs and frost giants, of treasure and magic, and of Asgard, home to the gods: Odin the all-father, highest and oldest of the Aesir; his mighty son Thor, whose hammer Mjollnir makes the mountain giants tremble; Loki, wily and handsome, reliably unreliable in his lusts; and Freya, more beautiful than the sun or the moon, who spurns those who seek to control her. 
From the dawn of the world to the twilight of the gods, this is a thrilling, vivid retelling of the Norse myths from the award-winning, bestselling Neil Gaiman.

 

There are some books that just take you by surprise, and for me, Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology was one of them!

I’ve always been interested in the different kinds of mythology, especially Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Norse. My interest and love for Norse grew with the Thor movies (which I now know aren’t fully accurate?) and after watching Thor: Ragnarok (three times in theatres) it’s become something of a new obsession.

Still, I don’t read much of either non-fiction or short story collections, but it was Neil Gaiman AND Norse Mythology and so, when Bloomsbury India offered me the chance to read their newly published (gorgeous and shiny) paperback edition, I jumped.

MY THOUGHTS:

1.       If there was one thing I didn’t expect this book to be, it was funny. There was so much humour involved in the retellings of these myths and it really made me fall in love!

“There were things Thor did when something was wrong. The first thing he did was ask himself if what happened was Loki’s fault.”

~

“Your head,” said Brokk. “If we win this contest, we get your head, Loki. There’s a lot of things going on in that head of yours, and I have no doubt that Eitri could make a wonderful device out of it. A thinking machine, perhaps”

2.       The book was enlightening. I LOVED learning more about Thor, Loki, Odin, Ragnarok, how the world came to be, their children, their cunning and bloodlust and EVERYTHING else. It was an in-depth collection of some of the most fascinating tales in Norse Mythology that Neil Gaiman brought to life.

3.       There were SO MANY interesting tales in the books, and facts I didn’t learn in the movies including:

-          Where Thor got Mjollnir from, Fenris (the huge wolf we see in Thor: Ragnarok) and where he came from, Loki’s shapeshifting, the real foretold Ragnarok, how the Nine Realms came to be and I LOVED IT SO MUCH.

4.       There was also a short story where Thor had to dress up as a bride and IT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING I’VE EVER READ. It totally made my day.

5.       Let me just end by saying that (because who doesn’t judge books by their covers. Or endpapers, if you’re hardcore) this new paperback edition is STUNNING. I love the shine, the art AND the endpapers and I can’t wait for more from Neil Gaiman.

A true Norse Masterpiece that is enlightening, just the right amounts of funny and an overall heartfelt collection of stories that will make you smile. 4.5 stars.

Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandmanand novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. He has won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker awards, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie medals. He is the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work, The Graveyard Book (2008). In 2013, The Ocean at the End of the Lane was voted Book of the Year in the British National Book Awards.

Are you a fan or Norse Mythology, or any kind of Mythology?
Do you have any books/ TV Shows/ Movies you'd recommend to a Mythology Junkie like me?
Are you a fan of the Thor series by Marvel? Which oart was your favourite?
I look forward to hearing from you!

Magic! Pirates! Fate! // REVIEW: Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser

Title: Song of the Current (Song of the Current #1) 
Author: Sarah Tolscer
Publication Date: July 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic
Part of a Series?: Yes, Book 1/2 of the Song of the Current Duology
I Got A Copy Through: Bloomsbury India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Amazon UK || Barnes and Noble || Wordery || Flipkart || Snapdeal || Infibeam || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Caroline Oresteia has always been destined for the river. Her father is a wherryman, as was her grandmother. All Caro needs is for the river god to whisper her name, and her fate is sealed. But at seventeen, Caro may be too late.
So when pirates burn ships and her father is arrested, Caro volunteers to transport a dangerous cargo in exchange for his release. Secretly, Caro hopes that by piloting her own wherry, the river god will finally speak her name.
But when the cargo becomes more than Caro expected, she finds herself caught in a web of politics and lies. With much more than her father’s life at stake, Caro must choose between the future she knows, and the one she never could have imagined

Before I begin my review, I had the opportunity to interview the LOVELY Sarah Tolcser on my Meet The Authors Feature, which you can read here. There's also an INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY you can enter!

Before I begin, can we PLEASE have some SERIOUS COVER APPRECIATION FOR THIS BOOK? I know we aren’t supposed to judge books by their covers, but honestly, if a book has a good cover, it makes me was to OWN AND READ it THAT MUCH MORE!

Saying this book looks beautiful is an understatement because the Cover Gods in the Shiny Book Tower have TRULY outdone themselves this time. Combine a beautiful book with a FEMALE PIRATE AND MAGIC and this was a book ALL OF MY BOOKDRAGON TINGLY SENSES WERE TELLING ME I HAD TO READ IT.

I buddy read this book with the lovely Anisha who blogs (tweets and bookstagrams over at Sprinkled Pages) but she was so much faster than me at reading it.

Let’s break this book down:

IDEA:

Female Pirates, Destiny, Magic, Gods and Empires in the balance? It was a no-brainer that I needed to read Song of the Current because EVERYTHING about it sounded so good. Moreover, I heard BRILLIANT things about this book before I began and it had me even more excited.

PLOT:

I’ll be honest, it took a while to get used to the world this was set in. As Anisha and I spoke about while we read the book:

a)      The world-building could have been better. We were thrown names of countries and cities, titles and sailing terms with little to no explanation which resulted in a LOT of flipping to the front where the map what and trying to figure out WHAT WAS GOING ON.

b)      A glossary for this book would HONESTLY have been much appreciated. It would have really helped in understanding everything.

Since the world building was a little rough, it took me a while to get used to the story. I hoped that Tarquin wouldn’t be the love interest and I hoped that the Black Dogs would be some serious opponents but I was slightly let down on both counts.

At the same time, there were also a lot of things I LOVED, including how Caro was the PERFECT BADA*S HEROINE. As she says, she isn’t someone waiting to be rescued like a princess in a tower and moved towards something better. (YES! A FIRST! GO SARAH TOLSCER!) She made decisions on her own and her parents respected them instead of trying to mould her to fit their expectations. (ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU SARAH.)

Image created by Brittany's Book Rambles 

I also LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVED that ending. If I was unsure about the book for the first two thirds, the BRILLIANT ending made up for it. (No spoilers)

WRITING:

I’m mostly going to tie this to the world building that could’ve been better and hence by default, the writing could have been too. I loved how the concepts of the Gods and Destiny and Fate were written about, but I just wish the world building had been better.

CONCLUSION:

Be true to yourself, could you TRULY pass up a book with FEMALE PIRATES, MAGIC AND A SPECTACULAR COVER? Song of the Current is definitely worth your time, and your heart! 4 stars. 

 Sarah Tolcser lives in New Orleans, where she writes young adult fantasy and science fiction. A graduate of St. Lawrence University, she double majored in writing and philosophy. She enjoys video games, NBA basketball, and books about girls who blow stuff up. She is married, with three cats. The C in Tolcser is silent.

http://sarahtolcser.com

Twitter: @sarahtolcser

Instagram: @sarahtolcser

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Have you read Song of the Current yet? What did you think of it (AAND the cover)?

Who are some of your favourite pirates - female or male? Do you think we should have more books about Female pirates out there?

I can't wait to hear from y'all!