Reviewed by Jeanne
I have always had a fondness for Norse mythology dating back
to my elementary school days which was nevermind how long ago. A couple or four years ago I came across
Harris’ book The Gospel of Loki which is a brilliant retelling of the
myths from Loki’s point of view (talk about unreliable narrators!) I
recommended it to many people and reviewed it here.
I was sorry when the book was over because Loki was such a
memorable, entertaining character. I
wanted more. Lucky for me, Harris apparently
didn’t want to quite give up on Loki either and wrote The Testament of Loki
in which the God of Mischief finds a way out of Ragnorak and into. . . a
computer game.
It’s his chance at becoming flesh again and he does accomplish
that, except that he is sharing the body with its original occupant, a teenage
girl who already had problems of her own.
Loki soon finds that he isn’t the only one to have escaped; Odin has
preceded him and is playing a complicated game of his own which isn’t likely to
bode well for Loki. But Odin has some surprises awaiting him as well. . . .
I admit I wasn’t sure about this. It sounded a little too—cute, maybe, but I
should have trusted Harris. It’s a
glorious ride through mythology, social commentary, and world-building, all
conducted by one of fiction’s best and slipperiest narrators. Even as I cheered for Loki, a part of me
wondered if I was being suckered but hey—if you have to be played, be played by
the best. I had several favorite scenes, mostly involving Loki’s exploration of
this brave new world (especially the food, like that delicious exotic chocolate.)
All I can say is that I was vastly entertained and am sad that
there isn’t a third book. I am going to
read Harris’ two juvenile novels set after the Fall of the Gods just because I
enjoyed her writing.
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