Norse Mythology

I have quite mixed feelings about this book. It was very funny and easy to read, which I think are great qualities. Neil Gaiman retells Nordic myths with contemporary humour, and it was very enjoyable. However, at some point it did occur to me that the way the book was written made me feel that the names of the characters were less important than the comedy. What I mean is, the book felt more like a collection of jokes than a selection of ancient myths.

  What was worse, there was too much expectation built upon Ragnarok only for it to be disappointingly mundane. The story of Ragnarok did not add much to what was previously mentioned about it in the other stories, and it was written in the most trivial of proses.

  Given that the only thing I knew about Odin, Thor and Loki before reading the book was what I had seen in Marvel movies, I greatly enjoyed learning more about these characters. Perhaps this was a good introduction, and if you are genuinely interested in Norse mythology then look for a more serious anthology.