Odin has established absolute dominion over the Nine Worlds, knowing that a Jötun named Loki will destroy everything he has created. To avert a bloody war, he adopts the peculiar child and forges a bond of kinship with him. However, when a powerful seeress foretells the death of Baldr and the coming of Ragnarök, Odin and Frigg begin to redirect the course of their foster son’s life. As the future’s shadow grows longer, their measures grow more desperate.
Embittered by Odin's manipulations, Loki becomes ever more sly and secretive; when he discovers that his own brothers have betrayed him at Odin’s command, he spirals into madness. Soon, Loki and Odin are circling one another, and the fate of the worlds depends on two men who will sacrifice everything to get what they want.
A New Version of History
With this volume, Una has collected many of the legends of the Norse into a cohesive tale that takes us Loki's humble beginnings as an orphan to become the trickster bound in chains. She has done her best to humanize the God of Trickery, bringing heart to his earnest your and reason for his fall into attempted patricide.
Many other modern art forms have also captured this darker side of Norse mythology. None so beautifully as the new God of War game, or the lighter Riordan Magnus Chase series, which picks up almost where Una stops. Forget everything you think you know about the Aesir and give this volume a try. You won't be disappointed.
Got my Viking blood pumping!!
This made me went to pillage the nearest village, like my ancestors! A cool take on some of the most incredible lore out there!
Odin is a dick. Just want to get that out there.
This was a really intense read. As with any retelling of Norse mythology, you know how it ends and you don't want it to end like that. The book does a great job of fleshing out a lot of characters who we really don't know much about -- I particularly enjoyed Sigyn and later in the book Thrud. And of course Loki is such a complex figure. This book is a tome but it is by no means a slog.
A gripping and haunting retelling of the Loki stories I didn't know I needed.
