Tag: Neil Gaiman

Book Review | Norse Mythology

Norse Mythology
Norse Mythology

The first book that I read of Neil Gaiman’s was Ocean at the End of the Lane.  It is an original fascinating book filled with adventure and original storytelling.  Norse Mythology is also full of excellent storytelling, however, these stories have already been told for centuries.

What Gaiman does here is wonderfully modernize the stories.  I’ve always been interested in the Vikings.  But this takes things so much further.  Thor is very popular now because of all the Marvel movies, but this is a different Thor from the ones in the movies.  He is more of a Hulk.  Smash, smash and not a lot going on in the top floor.

Loki also takes center stage in a lot of these stories.  As does Ragnarok.  If you want to take your Norse knowledge to the next step this is a great book.  You won’t get lost in dry stories and were written for a different era.  This is totally up to date in language and a wonderfully written story that will keep you reading.  This book earned 4/5 stars on goodreads from me.  I’m sure you will enjoy it as well.

Review: The Sleeper and the Spindle

The Sleeper and the Spindle
The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman was recommended to me from Lucythereader.  You can see her recommendation in the video below:

Start at 1:10 if you only want to hear about The Sleeper and the Spindle.  This book has fantastic illustrations and I would be remiss if I did not mention the amazing work that Chris Riddell did in this book.  Simply astounding.  Take a look:

The Sleeper and the Spindle - Inside
The Sleeper and the Spindle – Inside

Just gorgeous.  If you are a Neil Gaiman this one is a keeper.  I however, didn’t purchase this one.  I borrowed it from the library.  I was thinking I have about an hour what can I read in that time.  So I glanced at my to-read list on goodreads and this was a short book that I remembered from Lucy’s video.  I’m so glad I read it.

My local library had a digital copy ready for download.  So, for the first time I tried downloading an ebook on my iPad.  It worked really well.

The Sleeper and the Spindle - iPad
The Sleeper and the Spindle – iPad

Back to the story though.  It was a wonderful fantasy about dwarfs and a princess and an evil witch/enchantress.  They have a dangerous and wondrous adventure.  In typical Gaiman style, things are never as you expect.  This book is easily a 4 out of 5 star book!  The only thing I didn’t like was that it ended so soon!

If you want something like this but a little longer I highly recommend The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel, another Neil Gaiman novel.  This one is just perfect.  I read it in 2015 and it is definitely a 5 star book!