What do you think?
Rate this book
Sleipnir
Pursued by an enchanted knife that eventually kills his best friend, Odin Far Seer begins a quest for vengeance against the knife's owner that pits him against the deadliest beings from Norse mythology. Reissue.
310 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1994
3 people are currently reading
249 people want to read
About the author
Linda Evans
107 books21 followersFrom Wikipedia: Linda Evans (b. 1959) is an American science fiction writer from Archer, Florida.
See Wikipedia for more details.
See Wikipedia for more details.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 22, 2022
Sleipnir is I believe Linda Evans first book, and it is an extremely interesting one to say the least. We first meet the protagonist Randy Barnes when he is in the process of negotiating a Norwegian cave on his way to confront Odin, whom he intends on challenging to a duel and hopefully killing.
So why you might ask is Barnes looking to challenge Oden? Well Barnes himself is an ex-soldier who was recently discharged shortly after the death of his best friend Gary in a traffic accident. However, very shortly after his death he witnessed Sleipnir retrieving the body and taking it to Valhalla. Now for those of you who do not know Norse mythology, Sleipnir does not collect bodies of people who die accidentally, nor are they welcome in Valhalla, as this is where warriors who are killed in battle are taken, accident victims etc. go to Niflheim to serve the goddess Hel.
So what is going on? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out as I don't want to spoil it for you. But suffice it to say the story is well written, and well researched too.
I reviewed another of Ms. Evans' books a while ago "The Far Edge of Darkness" which I thoroughly enjoyed as well. Unfortunately Ms. Evans hasn't published any books recently, but we can always hope she'll return to writing soon.
So why you might ask is Barnes looking to challenge Oden? Well Barnes himself is an ex-soldier who was recently discharged shortly after the death of his best friend Gary in a traffic accident. However, very shortly after his death he witnessed Sleipnir retrieving the body and taking it to Valhalla. Now for those of you who do not know Norse mythology, Sleipnir does not collect bodies of people who die accidentally, nor are they welcome in Valhalla, as this is where warriors who are killed in battle are taken, accident victims etc. go to Niflheim to serve the goddess Hel.
So what is going on? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out as I don't want to spoil it for you. But suffice it to say the story is well written, and well researched too.
I reviewed another of Ms. Evans' books a while ago "The Far Edge of Darkness" which I thoroughly enjoyed as well. Unfortunately Ms. Evans hasn't published any books recently, but we can always hope she'll return to writing soon.
October 26, 2017
The sad thing is their are some really cool ideas like the idea that Odin is a villain and that it looks at the monsters as more of as tragic characters instead of as villains like they usually are. But the problem comes mostly with the main character Randy is just really boring and seems more like a gary stu as he really has no personality and is really bland but everything just works out for him. And also this book smells of as series that never started as it feels like their is meant to be more books but after reading it I am kind of glad that it was never continued.
June 12, 2021
A big hero, always winning. But nevertheless fun to read.
February 16, 2014
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. Neither the cover nor the blurb I had read about the book seemed that appealing to me. However, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The story was set in recent times, I believe near the end of the 20th century, in our current world. In this book, Norse mythology was real and the main character had a bone to pick with the god Odin.
I actually didn’t know the first thing about Norse mythology. However, this wasn’t a hindrance to my ability to understand and enjoy the book. I did read it on my Kindle PaperWhite, so I periodically used it to get the Wikipedia entries for some of the gods mentioned in the book. I don’t think that information was necessary for understanding the book, but it did enhance my enjoyment.
The book was fast paced and fun. There was a lot of action, and the action was well-written. Sometimes when I read action sequences in a book, I find they can be confusing because the author doesn’t clearly express exactly what’s happening in a way that I can follow. On the other hand, sometimes action sequences can be described in such excruciating detail that the urgency is lost and I’m altogether bored by them. The author of this book struck a very nice middle ground between those extremes. I enjoyed the action sequences and had no problem visualizing them in my mind.
The entire book is written in the first person view from the perspective of the main character (Randy). The book starts off switching between two time periods: the present, and a time slightly in the past where we learn what led Randy to his present endeavor. At that point in the book, I found the story from the past to be the more engaging one. Eventually, maybe a fourth of the way through the book, the events in the past catch up to the present and the rest of the book is finished in the present. By that point, the present story started to get a lot more interesting.
Randy is mouthy and sarcastic, although you don’t fully see that until you’ve gotten a little ways into the book. His reactions and the things he said added some humor to the book which I enjoyed. But there were several things that strained the credibility of the story. When Randy was outmatched physically, apparently he could talk his way out of just about anything. Not only did his bravado sometimes seem over-the-top, but it seemed unrealistic to me how often the other characters were either won over by that bravado or “put in their place” by it. It also seemed like a great many times he managed to survive a hairy situation through the power of dumb luck. My final nitpick is related to the female characters. It seemed like every female goddess in the book admired Randy and/or wanted to seduce him. I’m not normally one to complain just because every female character in a book isn’t strong and independent, but the actions from all the female characters got a little silly and I found it particularly surprising from a female author. However, in retrospect, maybe the author just intended that to be Randy’s perceptions of the females’ actions, and the idea was that Randy thought the females were all trying to seduce him! He did seem to have a bit of an ego.
The ending was fleshed out and detailed, and it didn’t stop shortly after the climax like so many stories do. I felt satisfied by the way everything was wrapped up. However, a new dilemma to be solved was raised by the end of the book, implying that maybe the book was originally intended to have a sequel. However, the slightly open ending didn’t really bother me because everything I was invested in had been wrapped up. The ending left me with the sense that Randy’s adventures had only just begun without leaving me frustrated by a major cliff hanger.
Despite the things that made the story seem less believable, it was still a very fun story and I’m glad I decided to give it a try.
I actually didn’t know the first thing about Norse mythology. However, this wasn’t a hindrance to my ability to understand and enjoy the book. I did read it on my Kindle PaperWhite, so I periodically used it to get the Wikipedia entries for some of the gods mentioned in the book. I don’t think that information was necessary for understanding the book, but it did enhance my enjoyment.
The book was fast paced and fun. There was a lot of action, and the action was well-written. Sometimes when I read action sequences in a book, I find they can be confusing because the author doesn’t clearly express exactly what’s happening in a way that I can follow. On the other hand, sometimes action sequences can be described in such excruciating detail that the urgency is lost and I’m altogether bored by them. The author of this book struck a very nice middle ground between those extremes. I enjoyed the action sequences and had no problem visualizing them in my mind.
The entire book is written in the first person view from the perspective of the main character (Randy). The book starts off switching between two time periods: the present, and a time slightly in the past where we learn what led Randy to his present endeavor. At that point in the book, I found the story from the past to be the more engaging one. Eventually, maybe a fourth of the way through the book, the events in the past catch up to the present and the rest of the book is finished in the present. By that point, the present story started to get a lot more interesting.
Randy is mouthy and sarcastic, although you don’t fully see that until you’ve gotten a little ways into the book. His reactions and the things he said added some humor to the book which I enjoyed. But there were several things that strained the credibility of the story. When Randy was outmatched physically, apparently he could talk his way out of just about anything. Not only did his bravado sometimes seem over-the-top, but it seemed unrealistic to me how often the other characters were either won over by that bravado or “put in their place” by it. It also seemed like a great many times he managed to survive a hairy situation through the power of dumb luck. My final nitpick is related to the female characters. It seemed like every female goddess in the book admired Randy and/or wanted to seduce him. I’m not normally one to complain just because every female character in a book isn’t strong and independent, but the actions from all the female characters got a little silly and I found it particularly surprising from a female author. However, in retrospect, maybe the author just intended that to be Randy’s perceptions of the females’ actions, and the idea was that Randy thought the females were all trying to seduce him! He did seem to have a bit of an ego.
The ending was fleshed out and detailed, and it didn’t stop shortly after the climax like so many stories do. I felt satisfied by the way everything was wrapped up. However, a new dilemma to be solved was raised by the end of the book, implying that maybe the book was originally intended to have a sequel. However, the slightly open ending didn’t really bother me because everything I was invested in had been wrapped up. The ending left me with the sense that Randy’s adventures had only just begun without leaving me frustrated by a major cliff hanger.
Despite the things that made the story seem less believable, it was still a very fun story and I’m glad I decided to give it a try.
July 4, 2015
Holy horses, yo. This is godawful in all the right ways. Good for a laugh or six.
I feel wrong about giving it three stars, it only deserves a couple....but I did like it. For all the wrong reasons.
"Listen, you fat-assed old bastard! Don't talk to me about putting it on the line! I've been there and
nearly didn't come back. And what's more, we don't play with knives and spears anymore; we play with bombs
that would turn your precious Valhalla into slag and you along with it....you want a war, Odin, you've got
one. With me!"
Read it for the awful dialog and an awful(ly)long sex scene with a valkyrie near the end.
One thing that genuinely touched me: Fenrir scritches. Because.
I feel wrong about giving it three stars, it only deserves a couple....but I did like it. For all the wrong reasons.
"Listen, you fat-assed old bastard! Don't talk to me about putting it on the line! I've been there and
nearly didn't come back. And what's more, we don't play with knives and spears anymore; we play with bombs
that would turn your precious Valhalla into slag and you along with it....you want a war, Odin, you've got
one. With me!"
Read it for the awful dialog and an awful(ly)long sex scene with a valkyrie near the end.
One thing that genuinely touched me: Fenrir scritches. Because.
February 24, 2012
A pretty juvenile book that was lots of fun! Kind of surprising to take a Christian/free will slant to the Norse mythology, but very interesting. Not for young readers, though. Too much 'interaction' of the adult kind.
July 12, 2007
Finally! Odin Oathbreaker (yes the god) finally gets his come uppance! And from a puny mortal that refuses to be killed by the cheating, conniving, rat in gods clothing.
Want to read
June 9, 2012Kindle ebook
January 2, 2013
Evans writes a well-paced novel; however, the action is a bit confused (for me) by the Norse mythology in which the story is centered.
January 9, 2013
It's not great literature but it's a cracking read.
March 26, 2013
I was so entertained by this book that I was sad to find out the author never continued the series.
November 16, 2013
More than implausible. I had no problem with the Nordic setting, but the survivability factor was unreasonable - unless there';s going to be some Deux Ex Machina in a future book!
October 7, 2016
i hope that at some point there is going to be another one to make it in to a series.
October 14, 2016
Great book. Maybe some day the story will be finished.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews