Definitely short, but imminently readable. This is one of the best straight mythology books I've read when it comes to pure enjoyment. I say this, fully aware that I'm a Gaiman fanboy, and yet, I still mean it. :)Don't look for fiction here. Rather, look for the source material and a clear understanding of the Norse mythos as far as we have it. So much has been lost and then, there's a ton of fragments. Alas. But what we do have is quite cool.My personal favorite was the story of Baldur's murder and the attempt to raise him up from Hel's domain. Hel even agrees, graciously, to let him come back from the dead as long as not a single person on any level of the World Tree refuses to weep for the man. Baldur is a sweet man that makes the flowers grow, for goodness sake... and it was a very close race... but you know how these things go.We all know that LOKI is the reason we can't have nice things. Forget children. I blame Loki. :)I love the fact that wits and brawn are held in equal esteem, but I sure wish there was a lot more stories about the women. There's plenty of hints. Just lost fragments, however. It's a shame.Still, what we've got is enough to whet anyone's appetite and I even think this is a perfectly appropriate text for young ones, too. I definitely plan on reading it to my kid once she holds still long enough for it. :) It'll be a nice companion to the The Kalevala and some Greek stuff, too. :)Go Fenrir! (I'd really love to see Cthulhu go up against him.)

[Originally appeared here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/li...]Of all the fiction in this world, I find the ones rooted in mythology the most enticing; not because there is an element of otherworldly magic in them but because somewhere deep down, a bewitching veil of truth hovers above them. The characters we read of, the prowess we fall to, the betrayals we appall at and the spells we dive in, have all a debatable root which almost like our very own samudra manthan of the Hindu mythology, can be twisted this way or that. As most myths are made lesser of primary evidence and more of a secondary interpretation, there is a hidden little room of sorts from where you can see as far as you can, like Heimdall in this book. He is a kind of parallel to Mahabharatas Sanjaya.Neil Gaiman takes the essence of Norse mythology and spins a riveting web around it. Although he makes it clear in the beginning that this book will focus on the three towering characters of Odin, the all-father of gods, Thor, Odins powerful son and Loki, Odins shrewd, evil blood-brother (and eventual enemy), the chapters easily transcend the trio and throw open an enchanted window to the Germanic myths. Chronicling the journey right from the beginning when nothing existed and going all the way to Ragnarok, the apocalyptic war that wiped the gods and the giants, Gaiman deploys an easy and engaging language to retell the myths that remain fraught with magic, power, bonds, guilt, murder, betrayal, repentance, revenge and redemption. I chuckled at the story where Thor and his two companions are put to a series of illusory tests by a giant who didnt want his kingdom to be usurped by the mighty Thor. I felt sombre at the unfortunate fate that was handed over to the Hel, Fenrir and Jörmungandr, the children of Loki from a giantess, just because they didnt resemble the gods. I read with palpable excitement the battle of skills when the two most accomplished dwarfs, the craftsmen of the Norse world, were pitted against each other to create the most unique gifts for the gods. Mjölnir, the heroic hammer of Thor, was an outcome of this competition.For most parts, the chapters were taut and action-oriented. Crisp and to the point, the narrative had a very clear agenda of telling the myths the way they were documented to be told. However, for the keen eyes who look out for detailed landscape and an aura of environment that inevitably leave a mark on the characters and their becoming with the passage of time, there may be something amiss. Questions of morality and immorality, mortality and immortality, lay suspended without direction. Now, perhaps, the objective of this book was to stuff in as many incidents as possible into the terse 300 pages, effectively closing the alternative of detailed painting and reflecting. However, Gaimans version remains faithful to the original and one may ditch the expansive road in the favour of a vertiginous fall.----Also on my blog.

The Norse myths are the myths of a chilly place, with long, long winter nights and endless summer days...If there is one thing you cannot do when you pick up a Gaiman book, it is not reading the introduction. Sometimes I think I read Gaiman only because of his introductions. (Totally untrue. I read him for many reasons, far more than I can count and let alone explain, the most important of which being: me being hopelessly in love.)I believe I've already mentioned this in my review of The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan, but in any case: last semester I took a Germanic philology course, and I might have become slightly more obsessed with Norse mythology than I already was before. And you have no idea how good it is when you read a fine, pleasant, brilliantly written work of fiction like this Norse Mythology, or also like The Hammer of Thor, and you catch your mind automatically picking up on all a number of references, cultural and ethnological data, details of this kind, and you are able to place them in the larger scheme of things. It's personally satisfying, and it also reminds me of the reason why I've been utterly fascinated with mythology, any mythology, and any act of storytelling in general, since I was a scrawny thing with too many bruises on my still unstable legs: they won't allow you to feel alone, ever. They won't and can't, because of their inherent nature: stories, and myths in particular, always refer to something bigger, something more, something else, something that you don't know yet but will know one day, and already, even though you're clueless now, you can feel the pleasure of that future discovery blooming in your chest. This was the peculiar kind of magic I believed in when I was little.I still do.It's all Neil Gaiman's doing.Do you ever ask yourself how it is that some people can dream great, wise, beautiful dreams and pass those dreams on as poetry to the world, to be sung and retold as long as the sun rises and sets, as long as the moon will wax and wane?More specifically, as for Norse Mythology, it gave me exactly what my heart desired -except maybe the episode of the otter's ransom, because I would have loved to see Loki in that one. I think -I've always thought and rediscovered all anew- that Neil's writing works miracles like few other writers' can: here his style is measured, plain at times, that it to say, the most fitting style for the telling of a myth, and yet it manages to achieve, and always at the rights moments, such levels of emotional charge, that more than once I found myself on the verge of tears or bent double with laughter for the silliest reasons. And in some magical, beautiful way whose mysteries I am not able to disclose, these thousand-year old legends became, if just a bit, Neil's invention.The characters are humanized in a way that to me is hardly conceivable, considering that 9 out of 10 of their actions are only "caricatures" of what a real man could do, exaggerated feats (Hymir fishing full-size whales) or downright ridiculous resolutions (Loki tying his «private parts» to the beard of a goat in order to make Skadi laugh). These gods, in brief, felt way more real than I thought possible. (For all that we already knew the adjective "divine" would be ill-fitting, to put it mildly.)Loki's green eyes flashed with anger and with admiration, for he loved a good trick as much as he hated being fooled. But these stories are also fun -and speaking of the devil, guess who's most certainly involved when it gets fun?Of course it was Loki. It's always Loki.I'm already thinking of when I'll reread these stories in the future, trying to guess where I'll be, and what I'll be, imagining (maybe hoping and maybe not) if, and if yes, then how, they will have changed along with me. That's the Neil Gaiman effect for you, folks: his stories, even they are not really his, but anyway, kind of, have been with me for such a long time that now they are part of my mental setup. Where I go, they always come with me. So, whenever I need encouragement or consolation, a refill of dreams or a magic rush, or even just when I feel like it, I can fish them out, open them up, and lost myself in them for at least a little while.And the game begins anew.

What a fantastic retelling of Norse Myths. Featuring such characters as Odin, Thor and Loki along with a host of other lesser known gods and characters. Gaiman does his best to stick to the source material and not stray too far from the myths themselves, writing it in his own language which really brings the stories to life. By doing this, Gaiman has written the perfect place to start if you want to learn more about Norse Mythology in my view. What really added to my enjoyment was that I had read the Poetic Edda before this, so I had an inclination as to which myths would get the Gaiman treatment. Its basically a collection of short stories, with a large Ragnarok story at the end. Amongst my favourites were:How Thor receives Mjollnir (Treasures of the Gods)When Thor has to dress up as a bride to get Mjollnir back (Freyas unusual wedding)The story of the cauldron the Gods want so they can get drunk a lot (Hymir and Thors fishing expedition)The mead of Poetry (Mead of poets)My favourite though, was Thors journey to the land of the giants. Its one of the longer tales in the book where Thor and his companions are put through their paces in a number of physical contests. Gaiman stays true to how the characters are described within the ancient myths. The characters are different to what people have come to expect from Marvel films. Thor is a bit of a dumb meat head. Odin is treacherous and ultimately clever. Loki is even more conniving than the film/comic book version. Gaiman starts the book by saying that Norse myths are his favourites, and this shows with the level of care he gives the source material whilst adding his own spin to the tales. Norsemen also play a large part in American Gods. I listened to this on audiobook and Gaimans narration is great. Something really special happens when writers narrate their own works. The passion comes across when they read their own works. Id recommend any of Gaimans audiobooks. Final thoughtGaiman has definitely drank from Odins Gift (from the nice end!) and this is a must-read for anyone interested in Norse / Viking history. I already want to reread this, it was that good and its short enough to be read in a couple of days.

More like two and a half to three stars. As much as I enjoy reading a collection of myths (even reading them as bedtime stories), this one disappointed me. I am certain that Neil Gaiman has solidified his name as an author of fiction novels but I have only read one book from his collected works so this makes me a Gaiman novice.Like any mythic fiction, Norse Mythology is rooted from various folklore about natural phenomena symbolized as gods and supernatural creatures. As a kid, I have also had my fair share of readings on Nordic myths like Mr. Gaiman; from reading old novels, online wikis and even other retellings. There is no other way for me to review this novel but to compare it to the original and other retellings.Although I am not well-versed in all Norse myths, I am well-aware of the crucial tales; from the creation of the world until the end, Ragnarok. I took pleasure in reading from the beginning but the narrative continued to bore me as I delved deeper into the book. Having read countless of the same stories, I needed more creativity. Unfortunately, I did not get that here. For me, this was more of a rewording of the original and not a retelling. If there is anything I got from the stories is that the gods are tragic, even petty.I hate to compare this to Hotel Valhalla but even Rick Riordan's own middle-grade retelling is way more inventive. This was just lackluster. Regardless, it was still nice to revisit these old tales. I think this would have been a better read if I possessed little or no knowledge at all about Norse mythology.