What do you think?
Rate this book
Loki Ragnarok
"A well-told tale of the Norse Gods… Binder’s voice swoops and soars, now angry, now gleeful and now mocking, as Loki tells these stories of the gods run amok."
—Providence Journal
They broke into his home. They kidnapped his children. Left his wife bound and gagged on the floor, where she choked and died. He had once helped them, been their friend and blood brother. The story of Loki echoes the cycles of violence and revenge playing out across our world. Told with a blend of poetry and prose, humor and horror, it offers no solution — but a glimmer, perhaps of understanding and compassion.
LOKI RAGNAROK is the Viking Armageddon retold by the trickster. In the shadow of prophecy, a family is torn asunder, leading to betrayal, torture, madness and revenge.
It begins with Loki, chained to a rock, listening for the trumpet that will announce the end of the world. Loki tells his side of the story.
“For nearly a thousand years, the tale of Ragnarok – the Norse myth of Apocalypse – has painted Loki as a Satan-like evil. With a fast-paced blend of prose and poetry, award-winning author Mark Binder offers an epic revision of the Eddas with modern resonance.”
– Duval, Between Myth, Lies, and History
On the eve of battle
is the time to tell tales,
sing ballads, glorious stories,
remembering, reliving, reveling
in all that has been.
Tomorrow all ends in blood.
– Loki
What drives homicidal madness?
On the brink of Apocalypse, why would anyone kindle utter destruction?
Pop culture relies on heroes to save the day. Their choreographed fights are entertaining. We will be safe.
Loki Ragnarok gives a horrific villain a voice with measures of rage, humor and compassion.
“Mark Binder has a knack for blending ancient mythology with modern storytelling techniques to create a vibrant and contemporary tale.”
Written by Mark Binder, an award-winning author and performing storyteller, LOKI RAGNAROK is a dynamic blend of prose and poetry—a brilliant and brief comic and tragic epic.
This is NOT a story for children.
—Providence Journal
They broke into his home. They kidnapped his children. Left his wife bound and gagged on the floor, where she choked and died. He had once helped them, been their friend and blood brother. The story of Loki echoes the cycles of violence and revenge playing out across our world. Told with a blend of poetry and prose, humor and horror, it offers no solution — but a glimmer, perhaps of understanding and compassion.
LOKI RAGNAROK is the Viking Armageddon retold by the trickster. In the shadow of prophecy, a family is torn asunder, leading to betrayal, torture, madness and revenge.
It begins with Loki, chained to a rock, listening for the trumpet that will announce the end of the world. Loki tells his side of the story.
“For nearly a thousand years, the tale of Ragnarok – the Norse myth of Apocalypse – has painted Loki as a Satan-like evil. With a fast-paced blend of prose and poetry, award-winning author Mark Binder offers an epic revision of the Eddas with modern resonance.”
– Duval, Between Myth, Lies, and History
On the eve of battle
is the time to tell tales,
sing ballads, glorious stories,
remembering, reliving, reveling
in all that has been.
Tomorrow all ends in blood.
– Loki
What drives homicidal madness?
On the brink of Apocalypse, why would anyone kindle utter destruction?
Pop culture relies on heroes to save the day. Their choreographed fights are entertaining. We will be safe.
Loki Ragnarok gives a horrific villain a voice with measures of rage, humor and compassion.
“Mark Binder has a knack for blending ancient mythology with modern storytelling techniques to create a vibrant and contemporary tale.”
Written by Mark Binder, an award-winning author and performing storyteller, LOKI RAGNAROK is a dynamic blend of prose and poetry—a brilliant and brief comic and tragic epic.
This is NOT a story for children.
80 pages, Hardcover
Published October 13, 2017
About the author
Mark Binder
46 books15 followersauthor, storyteller, nice guy
Mark Binder writes books for adults, children and families.
He's recently finished THE WORST, a stand-alone middle-grade novel in his "Team Bomb Shelter" series.
His debut YA novel, The Groston Rules has been called, "…an enthralling and entertaining journey…. delightful" -Kirkus Reviews
Mark Binder's other books range widely and include the award-winning: The Council of Wise Women, The Zombie Cat, Cinderella Spinderella and Transmit Joy! (audiobook).
Mark dedicated his first collection, The Bed Time Story Book, "To Max and the players to be named later." Now, he has a blended family with five children, and somehow manages not to be completely overwhelmed (all the time). If his body of work seems somewhat diverse, it's probably a function of the chaos.
Books and stories for families
Mark writes books and perf orms stories for all ages -- kids and adults and mixed audiences alike. Sometimes his stories are traditional or for young kids. Some are original and outrageous and for older groups. Some are a blend.
Mark loves working with listeners of all ages: Adults, Children, Teens, Seniors -- and mixed age groups. He is always amazed at the power spoken and written words have to connect diverse groups with each other.
Writing vs. Storytelling (or Story Performing)
Mark began performing stories while working on his novel, The Brothers Schlemiel . A friend invited him to a storytelling group and he would read them excerpts. They suggested that he try "telling" instead, and when he finally did he fell in love. Mark's live events and spoken-word albums are immediate -- not old-fashioned or dated. If you've never seen one of his "comedy story concerts," listen to the audio, check out the videos and come and see Mark on tour. (For more info: http://markbinder.com/)
Over the years Mark has studied playwrighting at the Trinity Rep Conservatory, mythology at Columbia University, dance with the Adaptors Movement Theater, storytelling with Spalding Gray, Aikido (he has a third degree blackbelt in this martial art for peace), and Yoga. In his spare time he likes to bake bread and pizza and most recently garden.
Fiction for adults
Like many young writers Mark set out to write the great American novel. At the time, he didn't know that Phillip Roth had already written it. He's written a vast reservoir of fictions for adults, ranging from The Brothers Schlemiel to The Buddha Who Wore Keds . His first book, "The Rationalization Diet" was a humorous anti-diet book for adults. It's recently been re-released in an expanded ebook. Other works of fiction and nonfiction are in the pipeline.
The "Official" Brief Bio
Mark Binder writes books for adults, children and families.
He's recently finished THE WORST, a stand-alone middle-grade novel in his "Team Bomb Shelter" series.
His debut YA novel, The Groston Rules has been called, "…an enthralling and entertaining journey…. delightful" -Kirkus Reviews
Mark Binder's other books range widely and include the award-winning: The Council of Wise Women, The Zombie Cat, Cinderella Spinderella and Transmit Joy! (audiobook).
Mark dedicated his first collection, The Bed Time Story Book, "To Max and the players to be named later." Now, he has a blended family with five children, and somehow manages not to be completely overwhelmed (all the time). If his body of work seems somewhat diverse, it's probably a function of the chaos.
Books and stories for families
Mark writes books and perf orms stories for all ages -- kids and adults and mixed audiences alike. Sometimes his stories are traditional or for young kids. Some are original and outrageous and for older groups. Some are a blend.
Mark loves working with listeners of all ages: Adults, Children, Teens, Seniors -- and mixed age groups. He is always amazed at the power spoken and written words have to connect diverse groups with each other.
Writing vs. Storytelling (or Story Performing)
Mark began performing stories while working on his novel, The Brothers Schlemiel . A friend invited him to a storytelling group and he would read them excerpts. They suggested that he try "telling" instead, and when he finally did he fell in love. Mark's live events and spoken-word albums are immediate -- not old-fashioned or dated. If you've never seen one of his "comedy story concerts," listen to the audio, check out the videos and come and see Mark on tour. (For more info: http://markbinder.com/)
Over the years Mark has studied playwrighting at the Trinity Rep Conservatory, mythology at Columbia University, dance with the Adaptors Movement Theater, storytelling with Spalding Gray, Aikido (he has a third degree blackbelt in this martial art for peace), and Yoga. In his spare time he likes to bake bread and pizza and most recently garden.
Fiction for adults
Like many young writers Mark set out to write the great American novel. At the time, he didn't know that Phillip Roth had already written it. He's written a vast reservoir of fictions for adults, ranging from The Brothers Schlemiel to The Buddha Who Wore Keds . His first book, "The Rationalization Diet" was a humorous anti-diet book for adults. It's recently been re-released in an expanded ebook. Other works of fiction and nonfiction are in the pipeline.
The "Official" Brief Bio
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 23, 2026
Oh Mark, you were SO CLOSE to getting five stars.
The audio book is amazing.
The book-book, however, made me notice some glaring mistakes.
Here goes:
1: In the list of people at the very beginning of the book, Freya is listed as the wife of Odin. This is false.
2: Mistaking Niflheim and Helheim when telling where Hel ended up seems... like a really stupid mistake.
3: Svadilfari being misspelled as Svaldifari throughout the book really grinds my gears.
4: The Wall Builder was given a year, not nine months.
5: Ran's servant was not killed by Loki for being too slow, but for getting too much praise.
6: Vili and Ve are Odin's brothers, not his long-lost sons.
I realize that these things might be nitpicky, and a reader new to Norse myth may not notice, and it has no great bearing on the story as a whole... But for those of us who have a degree pertaining to this, and who know that most of these things could have been avoided with a simple Wikipedia search... it's like pebbles in a boot. Extremely irritating.
However, the prose is good, the audio version is magnificent, and so, this book gets 4 stars and a permanent place in my library.
The audio book is amazing.
The book-book, however, made me notice some glaring mistakes.
Here goes:
1: In the list of people at the very beginning of the book, Freya is listed as the wife of Odin. This is false.
2: Mistaking Niflheim and Helheim when telling where Hel ended up seems... like a really stupid mistake.
3: Svadilfari being misspelled as Svaldifari throughout the book really grinds my gears.
4: The Wall Builder was given a year, not nine months.
5: Ran's servant was not killed by Loki for being too slow, but for getting too much praise.
6: Vili and Ve are Odin's brothers, not his long-lost sons.
I realize that these things might be nitpicky, and a reader new to Norse myth may not notice, and it has no great bearing on the story as a whole... But for those of us who have a degree pertaining to this, and who know that most of these things could have been avoided with a simple Wikipedia search... it's like pebbles in a boot. Extremely irritating.
However, the prose is good, the audio version is magnificent, and so, this book gets 4 stars and a permanent place in my library.
December 28, 2021
My Review: I am always a sucker for Norse mythology and no matter how many times I read various re-tellings, I am always excited to try new ones. I came across this one at a local author festival and decided to give it a try. It was a very short read and bounces a bit between first and third person narration which was a bit odd but it really did end up working. I like the interpretation and the way the scattered myths are brought together into a cohesive story told from Loki's perspective. The verse writing style really makes the pages fly and draws you in. While at the event I found out there was an audiobook format for this one and I would really like to try it out and see if it changes the tone of the story at all for me.
March 6, 2020
This versified story is told by Loki, who clearly envisages himself as the hero of the story, one who has had to live too long with fools. I enjoyed the irreverence of the tale considerably when I started reading this, but found the stance taken by Loki to be tiresome as the story continued.
One thing this retelling does achieve is to open up the notion that the trickster had immense importance in the schema of the Norse gods. It is interesting to consider him as an unsung hero. Unfortunately (for my taste), the tale does not explore this - it focuses more on the crass experience and justifications of its sly hero.
One thing this retelling does achieve is to open up the notion that the trickster had immense importance in the schema of the Norse gods. It is interesting to consider him as an unsung hero. Unfortunately (for my taste), the tale does not explore this - it focuses more on the crass experience and justifications of its sly hero.
May 7, 2019
Phenomenal in audiobook format. The storyteller fully embraces the character of Loki and it is amazing.
January 14, 2020
Better than paradise lost
February 14, 2024
Awesome
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews