Thor is a bit dim.
Neil Gaiman is a great writer and a great reader. I love listening to his audio-books. Norse Mythology is a collection of tales from the legends of Odin, Thor, Loki, and countless lessor gods, giants, monsters, and whatnots. These are odd stories.
Our Heroes are, for the most part, not nice people, not good people, and shocking very much like normal people. They are often hungry, they worry about growing old and dying, they are petty and jealous, and they are not to be trusted. But Neil doesn’t give them the bloody and gory treatment. These gods are people Neil clearly loves and he has a lot of fun with the stories. Even when Thor murders countless people for no real reason, he is still viewed with a Boys With Be Boys attitude.
All the stories here are new to me. I’ve never been a huge fan of Mythology, but Neil does a great job of making these nasty and awful gods fun to read about. Neil fills his tales of ancient gods with modern turns of phrase and his brilliant sense of humor. The tales are told in straightforward ways and Neil does a great job of pronouncing the many unpronounceable names of people, places, and things.
Neil Gaiman is a hugely successful and popular writer. He can write anything he wants and it will be published and it will sell. This is a good thing. These stories were all fun and occasionally thought provoking and once or twice a bit moving. If Neil hadn’t written this book, I would have never heard any of them.
Norse Mythology is a fun book and well worth reading.
