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The Gospel of Loki
“A surprise from the author of Chocolat,” New York Times bestselling 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 #1 bestseller 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 itself.
Using her lifelong passion for the Norse myths, New York Times bestseller 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.”
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 #1 bestseller 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 itself.
Using her lifelong passion for the Norse myths, New York Times bestseller 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.”
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Published May 5, 2015
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About the author
Joanne Harris
124 books6,272 followersJoanne Harris is also known as Joanne M. Harris
Joanne Harris is an Anglo-French author, whose books include fourteen novels, two cookbooks and many short stories. Her work is extremely diverse, covering aspects of magic realism, suspense, historical fiction, mythology and fantasy. She has also written a DR WHO novella for the BBC, has scripted guest episodes for the game ZOMBIES, RUN!, and is currently engaged in a number of musical theatre projects as well as developing an original drama for television.
In 2000, her 1999 novel CHOCOLAT was adapted to the screen, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. She is an honorary Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and in 2022 was awarded an OBE by the Queen.
Her hobbies are listed in Who's Who as 'mooching, lounging, strutting, strumming, priest-baiting and quiet subversion'. She also spends too much time on Twitter; plays flute and bass guitar in a band first formed when she was 16; and works from a shed in her garden at her home in Yorkshire.
Joanne Harris is an Anglo-French author, whose books include fourteen novels, two cookbooks and many short stories. Her work is extremely diverse, covering aspects of magic realism, suspense, historical fiction, mythology and fantasy. She has also written a DR WHO novella for the BBC, has scripted guest episodes for the game ZOMBIES, RUN!, and is currently engaged in a number of musical theatre projects as well as developing an original drama for television.
In 2000, her 1999 novel CHOCOLAT was adapted to the screen, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. She is an honorary Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and in 2022 was awarded an OBE by the Queen.
Her hobbies are listed in Who's Who as 'mooching, lounging, strutting, strumming, priest-baiting and quiet subversion'. She also spends too much time on Twitter; plays flute and bass guitar in a band first formed when she was 16; and works from a shed in her garden at her home in Yorkshire.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 27, 2024
The author does a great job writing this with strong character development and plotting around Loki, the trickster, and Norse myths. We know from the get-go that this is a tragedy and the narrator dies. Loki’s unreliable first person voice is funny, snarky, and irreverent. The beginning shows Loki as a fire elemental born into chaos and tricked out of his alternate world into Odin’s whose goal is to have all the world’s powers and knowledge. (This backfires in an interesting way making Odin mostly unhappy knowing the future.) Odin and Loki’s relationship is based on mistrust from the beginning and they never move toward genuinely caring for each other. Plus, the gods and goddesses never accept Loki, calling him a “demon” not bothering to hide their xenophobia. A few try to reach out to him but he’s incapable of love, although it just about ensnares him a few times. Over and over he rejects opportunities of taking responsibility for his actions and recognizing he has a choice. This is most evident at the climax involving what happens to his wife. Humor abounds and the story of the wedding is very funny.
When following well-known myths the author has to put a unique twist on the stories to make them his or her own and Harris does this to fit the character development well. She shows Balder reaching out in friendship and Loki rejecting it saying he hates Balder because he never had to struggle for acceptance. He doesn’t recognize his jealousy and how it leads to dark deeds. And the author’s twist on the death of Balder is brilliant as it shows a bit of paternal instinct on the part of a unpaternal father. In another story she shows Loki being responsible for the gods and goddesses getting a new fortress but he doesn’t even get his own hall like everyone else. Loki is abused by Thor and he gets revenge on Thor through his wife, Sif. These twists on the stories kept me turning the pages and laughing.
Loki faces many injustices but he doesn’t react well to them dishing out his own injustices. It’s a vicious cycle watching his impulsiveness, teasing, ego, and mischief that causes harm to others. As he says it’s his reaction to “unnatural peace”. Every story had a fun surprise. I am very familiar with the Norse myths so I found the twists and climax satisfying. The author delivered on her promise of a tragic story but that ends with hope. Even the end has a wonderful surprise that made it feel like it went full circle to the beginning.
When following well-known myths the author has to put a unique twist on the stories to make them his or her own and Harris does this to fit the character development well. She shows Balder reaching out in friendship and Loki rejecting it saying he hates Balder because he never had to struggle for acceptance. He doesn’t recognize his jealousy and how it leads to dark deeds. And the author’s twist on the death of Balder is brilliant as it shows a bit of paternal instinct on the part of a unpaternal father. In another story she shows Loki being responsible for the gods and goddesses getting a new fortress but he doesn’t even get his own hall like everyone else. Loki is abused by Thor and he gets revenge on Thor through his wife, Sif. These twists on the stories kept me turning the pages and laughing.
Loki faces many injustices but he doesn’t react well to them dishing out his own injustices. It’s a vicious cycle watching his impulsiveness, teasing, ego, and mischief that causes harm to others. As he says it’s his reaction to “unnatural peace”. Every story had a fun surprise. I am very familiar with the Norse myths so I found the twists and climax satisfying. The author delivered on her promise of a tragic story but that ends with hope. Even the end has a wonderful surprise that made it feel like it went full circle to the beginning.
January 13, 2024
Great narrator!
August 5, 2024
This is a book that is both ahead of a trend and as such possibly dated in retrospect. It is by no means a bad story. in fact, given your level of knowledge on Norse mythology, it might be a great introduction for you. It certainly has one element that hasn't aged beyond popularity. There's a jovial tonality that is always refreshing, entertaining, and increasingly popular in this type of subgenre. However in an age where myth retelling are exploding this doesn't bring a whole lot to the table other than it's Loki-favorable spin. Outside of some framing to make the tales more favorable rather that cynical to Loki and wit-isms, even with my base knowledge of the lore it didn't bring a whole lot I"d consider as new or engaging in itself. Not a terrible read, just not as engaging and immersive as I had hoped.
November 14, 2025
maybe 3.5?
this was fun, even if it ran a little long. I’ve always loved Loki as a character — long before Marvel turned him into a franchise — and this is another enjoyable spin on his mythology. Nothing wildly new here, but definitely entertaining.
Harris captures Loki’s voice well: snarky, sly, chaotic, and oddly endearing. The story has that playful, mischievous tone that fits him perfectly. Even when the plot dragged a bit, I still liked being in his head.
Overall, a solid, enjoyable read for anyone who loves Loki or Norse mythology with a witty edge.
this was fun, even if it ran a little long. I’ve always loved Loki as a character — long before Marvel turned him into a franchise — and this is another enjoyable spin on his mythology. Nothing wildly new here, but definitely entertaining.
Harris captures Loki’s voice well: snarky, sly, chaotic, and oddly endearing. The story has that playful, mischievous tone that fits him perfectly. Even when the plot dragged a bit, I still liked being in his head.
Overall, a solid, enjoyable read for anyone who loves Loki or Norse mythology with a witty edge.
September 5, 2024
Highly recommend the audiobook for anyone that struggles with reading an actual book, or just anyone in general! The narrator has an incredible, engaging voice that e captures the character perfectly, and is incredibly expressive with his voice, keeping it interesting through the entire story. I’ve listened to this two times through already, and definitely will listen more in the future, I learn something new every time!
April 19, 2025
Definitely does a good job of showing another side of Loki that gets left behind in a lot of other books like this. Like he tried so hard to live the life he wanted and the other gods were so mean to him. Very “just a lil guy” coded.
That said, the side of him that’s a jackass is just kinda written as “well I can’t help that I’m an asshole, it’s in my nature” and that’s as deep as it goes.
A bit shallow but I do love these individual perspective retellings of the stories of the gods.
That said, the side of him that’s a jackass is just kinda written as “well I can’t help that I’m an asshole, it’s in my nature” and that’s as deep as it goes.
A bit shallow but I do love these individual perspective retellings of the stories of the gods.
July 31, 2024
An entertaining way to tell the story of Loki. Super comical!
February 3, 2024
It was fun, but I am still looking for a true Norse Mythology book, which this truly didn't claim to be, but for which I am still searching. This provided some aspects from some of the mythology, but there was no distinction between Canon mythology and just related stories. The search continues...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews