Audiobook Review – Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 6 hours and 29 minutes
Publisher: HarperAudio
Release Date: February 7, 2017
ASIN: B01M1DYSHD
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales.
In Norse Mythology, Gaiman fashions primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds; delves into the exploits of the deities, dwarves, and giants; and culminates in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and the rebirth of a new time and people. Gaiman stays true to the myths while vividly reincarnating Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki, the son of a giant, a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.
From Gaiman’s deft and witty prose emerge the gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.”
Series Info/Source: I purchased this stand alone book for audiobook through Audible.com
Audiobook Quality (5/5): Gaiman reads the audiobook and does a very good job reading it (he always does). I would definitely recommend listening to on audiobook if you enjoy audiobook.
Story (4/5): This is a collection of stories from Norse mythology with Gaiman’s own twist to them. I am very familiar with Norse mythology so a lot of this wasn’t that new or interesting to me. However, Gaiman does a good job of stringing the stories together in a way that forms a cohesive larger story and I enjoyed it.
Characters (4/5): Your main characters repeat throughout and focus a lot on Loki and Thor. They are very over-characterized versions of Loki and Thor, just like you might expect. The Norse Gods continually act a bit dumb and like large children, but that follows the theme of mythology in general so seems pretty true to the folklore/history here.
Setting (4/5): Typical Norse mythology settings, nothing exciting here.
Writing Style (4/5): This is decently written in a very classic storytale type of style. The language and vocabulary came off as a bit too simple sounding at times but it was decent basic storytelling. This definitely seemed to lack some of the sophistication of Gaiman’s other books.
Summary (4/5): Overall this was good collection of Norse Mythology. I guess I was expecting something a bit…more. However, this is good for what it is. It’s written in a pretty simple writing style and if you are already familiar with Norse mythology in general, there isn’t a lot more story here for you to learn.