The Testament of Loki, Joanne Harris
Received to review
I’ve been enjoying Joanne Harris’ Norse myth based works for a while, but this one just seemed a bit too goofy for me, for all that I like the characters and the idea. In this book, after Ragnarok, Loki finds a way out of Chaos through… a mythology-based video game, and then the brain of a teenage girl. He quickly finds that Odin has also found the same way into the world, and of course, Odin also wants to bring his son Thor through, and he’s already found the perfect host for Freyja…
Honestly, the possession bit just freaked me out: Loki’s tendency to take over Jumps (his teenage host) when he feels like it is just squicky to me, while the Aesir in the bodies of teenagers is also a bit cringy. It’s a shame, because Harris’ take has been generally clever, funny and transformative in a good way; her Loki voice is great. But this specific story just really does not work for me.
Oh what a shame! I was hoping for a great read, since I just started this one today. I’m glad you warned me about the goofiness though, maybe I’ll like it more now that I’m prepared. I do need something lighter, after my last read.
It’s very much the concept that I found kind of goofy; the tone is pretty much the same as the other books in the series. So maybe you’ll get along with it better right from the start!
The cover makes it look like The Hobbit copy I had as a kid!
Hmm, I can see what you mean!