Wednesday, June 3, 2015

The Gospel of Loki / Joanne M. Harris

The Gospel of Loki
by Joanne M. Harris

fantasy

copyright 2014
read in May 2015

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Myths and legends tend to be a bit disjointed. Especially the ones about one particular character. The stories are told, invented, exaggerated. Over hundreds of years. A story from one culture will be adapted to suit a character from another culture.

The result is a hodge-podge of stories, linked loosely if at all.

The myths and legends around Loki are, no doubt, a typical hodge-podge of stories. Harris has taken a selection of those stories and tried to build a single novel.

It just doesn't work.

It's still a hodge-podge. It's not a novel. It's a series of loosely connected stories.

Loki himself is given a reason for his trick loving nature. He's given a reason for his decision to seek revenge. Ho hum. The reasons are lightweight, throwaway, inconsistent. Like the stories, the character of Loki is disjointed. A different character trait for each story. Not building a complete picture. Just different. Unrelated.

Other characters come and go. Most of them are two dimensional... or less.

This book is a retelling of legends. It needs a lot more depth, better characterisation... and more effort in continuity.

It's easy to read.

But it's still just a series of only loosely related stories.

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