The Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris
I loved what Joanne Harris has done with the character of the Norse God Loki in her earlier books, Runemarks, and Runelight, and so the prospect of the story of the Norse world from creation to Ragnarok from Loki’s perspective was just too big a draw for anyone. I had to read this book.
What you get is absolutely a standalone tale from the Runemarks books. It is a different Loki too, but older or younger? You can’t tell, and this uncertainness is one of the things that makes The Gospel of Loki so alluring.
In this book, Loki, the trickster god is out to set the record straight; to tell the story of the Norse legends from his perspective for a change instead of the usual (rubbish, he would say) that Odin tells of. I wonder whether his voice in this book is him confessing the story to Maddy (from the Runemarks books)? Those books are set years after Ragnarok as the nine worlds have been, as prophetised, rebuilt again, and this is the prequel to those.
As to the age of Loki. I want to see him as a youngster, but he clearly isn’t that, but he isn’t an old man either. This is the great thing about the Norse Gods – just as they can change Aspect and use their Glam, so they can be of all ages and none. And for this there is all the more to love them for it.
