The Gospel of Loki (Loki #1) by Joanne M. Harris

Joanne M. Harris treats readers to episodes from Norse mythology from Loki’s point of view.

“No doubt about it, I told myself. These bastards really don’t like me.” pg 27

Born from literal Chaos and tricked into joining Odin’s forces of Order, Loki is perpetually a child of both worlds. From his first moments out of the world of Chaos, Loki is disliked by the other gods. That leads to some initial unpleasantness and he vows, no matter how long it takes, to get his revenge.

“Till then, I bided my time, and smiled as sweetly as my scarred lips would allow, until the day I would take my revenge and bring the gods down, one by one.” pg 67

And it is a long game. Through schemes, tricks and straight up cons, Loki weaves disorder throughout the worlds.

There’s the memorable time he convinces Thor to dress up as a bride in order to sneak into the home of their enemies: “I’ll be your handmaid, Thor,” I said. “Don’t worry, I won’t steal your thunder. You’ll make a gorgeous bride.” Thor growled. pg 118

As he becomes famous for his trickery, it becomes more difficult for Loki to pull off his tricks. He’s pushed into marriage by Odin, but it doesn’t fit who he is. It isn’t in his nature to settle.

“I began to see that celebrity wasn’t all hot girls and free beer. It’s also the curse of expectation — and the bitterness of falling short.”pg 141

We all know where the story is headed, but it’s a train wreck you can’t quite look away from.

My quibbles with this book included a disjointed feel to the overall story. Loki and company run from one disaster to the next. I realize that the source material is probably the reason for this, but it just doesn’t coalesce into something more than its parts.

Odin’s gods, the gods of Order, come off as rather one note. It’s interesting how Odin was able to see potential in Loki, enough so that he calls him from Chaos to begin with, but the other immortals share none of his vision.

Other than a few notable exceptions, they never extend an olive branch or give Loki the smallest chance to prove himself. In my mind, it’s easy to see why he wants them to fall. Who wouldn’t wish that on the people who are mistreating you?

I’ve read a few of Joanne Harris’ other books, and I remember they contained delightful twists in them, so that the plot wasn’t so straight forward. She’s somehow stuck in telling conventional mythology in this book.

If only she could have used this book to tell aspects of the story we haven’t heard before, or even imagined, using the voice of one of the most interesting of the gods to do so. That would have been something I may have enjoyed even more.

Recommended for readers who adore Loki. There’s plenty of him in here, and that’s it.

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