The Gospel of Loki

By: Joanne Harris

Narrated by: Allan Corduner

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

"A surprise from the author of Chocolat," New York Times best-selling author Joanne M. Harris, "this pacy adult fantasy is narrated by Loki, the Norse god of fire and mischief" (Vogue).

This novel is a brilliant first-person narrative of the rise and fall of the Norse gods - retold from the point of view of the world's ultimate trickster, Loki. A number-one best seller in the UK, The Gospel of Loki tells the story of Loki's recruitment from the underworld of Chaos; his many exploits on behalf of his one-eyed master, Odin; through to his eventual betrayal of the gods and the fall of Asgard.

Using her lifelong passion for the Norse myths, New York Times best seller Joanne M. Harris has created a vibrant and powerful fantasy novel that the Sunday Sun recommends "to her long-standing audience with wit, style and obvious enjoyment"; The Sunday Times claims it "lively and fun"; and The Metro adds that "Harris has enormous fun with her antihero...this mythical bad boy should beguile fans of Neil Gaiman".

©2015 Joanne M. Harris (P)2015 Simon & Schuster

Sympathy for the Devil

The stories have endured throughout the ages because they are so entertaining. Honestly though, i was getting a bit tired of hearing about Thor and Odin, and how wonderful they were. It's just that Thor, generally speaking, solves most of his problems by just hitting it with a hammer.
Enter the gospel of Loki. A fresh take on the legends that I grew up with. Well written and with a narrator that You will grow to love, maybe even understand.

Entertaining, not great

Perhaps reading Gaiman first set too high of a mark for this to match. It was entertaining enough, very well delivered, just wasn't all that it could have been... still worth a read.

Fantastic tale

The performance of this book was superb! The tale itself is well written, funny and engaging and the narrator really brought it to life.

My intro to Norse Mythology

I was generally unfamiliar with Norse mythology before this. I knew the highlights, but none of the stories or details. Hearing the stories from Loki's perspective was interesting. There's a bit of narrative license given, to make this more a single story, rather than a set of disjointed stories. Overall, if you like Norse mythology this is a fun listen, the Loki in this one is a bit closer to the Loki from the MCU, as far as character, which I prefered over the Loki from the stories told as we actually have them.

A review by yours truly.

Huge fan of this version of Nordic tales. But "yours truly" is repeated 5000 times.

Ok. Not great

This book is a retelling of classic Norse myths except from the point of view of Loki. This sounds more interesting than it is. Mostly, it's just retelling the tales with slightly more snark and far more words.

The narration would have been very good except his volume range was too wide. If I wanted the loud parts to not hurt my ears, then the quiet parts were almost too quiet to hear.

If you've already heard these tales from Neil Gaiman or Scott Lewis, skip The Gospel of Loki. Otherwise, it's a good read.

Walking In Loki's Shoes

Same myths but different perspective. Gives me insight into possible motivations for why Loki behaved as he did and did what he did. Doesn't excuse him, but does give context. It was a refreshing way of telling the stories I've enjoyed my whole life. Highly entertaining. Narration was excellent.

Norse, parahistory, very entertaining!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yep. The reader did VERY well using inflection and attitude to reflect different characters. The story was good and oddly coming first-person from the "villain" and made me want to learn ancient norse runes.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Gospel of Loki?

Loki and Hades getting down before bringing the curtain down on the Aesir.

What about Allan Corduner’s performance did you like?

Pretty much all of it.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Generally, no, though there were a few times where I was like "Hell yeah, X is going down" just for it to happen. Not saying it was predictable, but inevitable in a good way.

Any additional comments?

Book 2? From Odin's perspective, if done well will rock the genre.

Narrator kept me in this book.

Not sure if this would be a lot better if you have a stronger knowledge of Norse mythology, sometimes clever and witty the overall story except for the ending just fell a little flat to me. The exceptional performance of the narrator is what kept me listening however. Will definitely look for more books read by Allan corduner

Fun book, frustrating performance

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Possibly. If I had a friend that was a Norse mythology buff, I may recommend this as a humorous take on events.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Gospel of Loki?

I loved hearing Loki explore the physical world. The way the author described emotions and physical sensations was intriguing.

What three words best describe Allan Corduner’s performance?

Loud and soft. I understand there need to be highs and lows in a performance, but there were times that I missed things because his voice suddenly dropped off into a whisper! It was impossible to listen while driving.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not really. There were times that the repetitive language, slow story, or abundance of characters left me bored and confused.