Pretty good urban fantasy with a lot of Norse mythology included, which I've always been drawn to. ( )

Don't pay attention to the title and cover art. Retitle it Ragnarok, the End of the World. This is an adventure novel, and despite the cover, was not aimed at the Hunger Games/Buffy/Tough Teenage Girl market. It starts with much of the same premise as Gaiman's American Gods, but goes in a different direction, with less focus on characters and more focus on survival, fighting, and Giant Monsters. I'm giving it 4 stars because I love both Norse mythology and Giant Monsters. If they don't float your boat, this probably isn't the book for you. ( )

A very good urban fantasy based on the legends of the Norse. It begins with a conversation between Hugin and Munin, Odin's ravens, as they fly over Midgard falling into decay and dystopia. Then we pick up the threads of Hermod, brother of Hod, the god who slew Baldr, who is wandering Midgard as well and seeing the truth behind the decay: Ragnarok started eons ago and is finally coming to fruition. Mist is the Valkyrie who, with Grimnir's help, is slaying young men to become Odin's army; when they don't prove worthy, they descend to Helheim instead of Valhalla.

It's a great premise and most of it is interesting. The journey to Helheim, though, is not one of the best settings for an afterlife and the action and adventure building up to that point kind of falls flat. The salute to Norse mythology and the amount of detail that van Eekhout brings are quite extensive and I like the concept that he proposes: Ragnarok started eons ago. It didn't just start in the last century, or with the advent of Norse invasions, or with the Industrial Revolution. No, it's been going on since humanity has walked on Midgard. So that's a concept to ponder. And the end is a little scattered as he brings all of the sources to bear in different parts of a hopeless battle, including Odin's eye and the ship of the dead, Naglfar, into action, where one or the other could have been sufficient. ( )

I've always enjoyed mythology, especially historical fiction that is based upon it. In recent years (thanks to Marvel for reawakening a love for the Trickster) I've been reading more Norse-based fiction. I found this book on a recommended reading list and decided to try it. The basis for the story is very imaginative, but sadly underdeveloped.

Ragnarok is approaching and the NorseCode project/group is trying to identify descendants of Odin via genetics to "draft" for the final battle. This concept is what initially drew me to the book - I loved the idea of blending scifi and myth. Sadly, beyond our heroine targeting one of these descendants right at the beginning, the concept is never visited again. There is no expansion on how they are accomplishing the goal, why his descendants are particularly useful, how Radgrid came to be in charge or anything else. The book immediately switches gears to Mist trying to mount an unauthorised rescue mission into Helheim.

Now, her mission and the characters introduced were entertaining. Unlike most fiction that centers around Asgard, the story doesn't focus on Loki, Thor, et al. Instead, we get the gods who are mentioned but don't have a big role in the original myths: Hermod and Hod. Mist joins forces with them to try and stop Ragnarok. But, can it be avoided? That's not to say that the biggies don't appear in the story, but they are not main characters.

Overall, I enjoyed this book but it needed serious fleshing out. The genetics angle should have been explored in full, which would have given Mist much needed character development. She's not two dimensional, but she's not fully realized either. Hermod, with the weight of Assgardian myth behind him, felt more three dimensional. The book has a solid conclusion, but at less than 300 pages it's more like an extended novella than a full novel. I recommend it to Norse myth fans mainly because it was a quick, fun read. But, it's sad that so much potential went untapped. ( )

Boy, you'd think the tale of Vikings and Norse gods attempting to stop the end of the world where huge monsters are going to fight would be exciting. And you'd think someone like Greg van Eekhout, author of some of the greatest EscapePod stories, would be able to execute that. But somehow, everything fell flat.

Maybe it would have been better if I'd known some more Norse history. I know the legend of Baldr and the mistletoe, but my expertise runs to the major gods like Odin, Loki, and Thor. This novel focused on everyone else, like Jorgumandr and Radgrid and Grimnr and other names with D's and G's and not always the letter I.

Maybe it would have been better if the characters had more of a spotlight. I do not do well with "action books". I didn't get a firm grip on the characters -- their history, their motivations, and their personalities never show through. It was like they had no backstory.

I kinda felt lied to because the inciting incident (an organization that kidnaps people and forces them to fight or die so they can become Valkyries) has nothing to do with the real story. And all throughout (sorry, Greg) I kept thinking "Neil Gaiman did this better, Neil Gaiman did this better." Again, I found myself paging through just to say I completed it. Suffice to say, I was disappointed. ( )