Book review: The Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris

Published 13 February 2014 by Gollancz

In a world of gods, ice folk and dwarves, Joanne Harris chooses as her hero the trickster god Loki, bent upon making mischief throughout the Nine Worlds of Norse mythology.

Unfortunately for the reader, his tongue-in-cheek tone and irritating colloquialisms make him less an endearing anti-hero and more an annoying younger brother with a penchant for tall stories.

Shape-shifting and deceiving his way through the tale, Loki rises from the depths of Chaos to dwell among the gods of Asgard, ruled by the Allfather Odin who repeatedly (and inexplicably) gives him the benefit of the doubt. A series of misadventures, tricks and tussles each bear a chapter title relating to Loki’s attempted enlightenment of his reader, his gospel ‘Lokabrenna’. These consist of such platitudes as ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ and ‘Most problems can be solved through cake’. Tension builds as Loki pushes the boundaries of the gods’ – and the readers’ – patience, until finally he colludes in bringing about Ragnarok, the cataclysmic end of the gods.

Harris does succeed in constructing a vivid, convincing world in which cinematic set pieces shimmer with the ‘glam’ of runes and bristle with the looming dramatic compulsion of prophecy. But this world is so sullied by the incongruous cleaving to it of contemporary idioms that it feels inescapably artificial. The story should be a thrilling one, but somehow Loki’s infuriating slang (‘Chillax’, ‘Boom!’) and heavy-handed presaging of things to come (‘But that was a lesson I had yet to learn’; ‘Just proves how wrong you can be I guess’) turns his adventures into a succession of contrived vignettes that do not fuse together into a satisfying whole.

AS Byatt’s recent foray into Norse Mythology, Ragnarok, proves how compelling and poetic this world of gods can be. She sums Loki up in one succinct, beautiful phrase: ‘Ungraspable Loki flamed amazement and pleased himself.’ Joanne Harris has taken an entire novel to do the same, with less success. The dust jacket sells The Gospel of Loki as a retelling of history, as its hero’s ‘turn to take the stage’. Perhaps this incarnation of Loki failed to make his voice heard for a reason; perhaps he should have stayed in the wings.

This review was originally published on We Love This Book.

South London Bookshop Review: Herne Hill Bookshop

289 Railton Road, South London, SE24 0LY

Where?

On the corner just as you come out of Herne Hill Station, a cheery green façade welcomes you into this small but savvily stocked bookshop. On Sundays it is a fitting piece of the jigsaw of shops that frame Herne Hill Farmers Market, which offers organic food and trinkets to complement a discerning reader’s taste in literature.

What?

Its somewhat bare shelves first imply a poor collection or a struggling business, and create an atmosphere of slight dilapidation. But on closer inspection there is quite a range of works for such a small place – a medley of contemporary and classic fiction, plus a line in local interest and children’s books. They’ve clearly stocked for the local demographic, including the yummy mummies of nearby Dulwich.

Reason to visit?

If you’re indecisive. Here lies a pared-down selection of good books, so a certain amount of the fearsome choice that faces you in larger bookshops has already been made. All you have to do is pick up pretty much anything, from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History or Benjamin Zephaniah’s Refugee Boy – and you’ll find a book worth reading.

What’s missing?

Lots. But as I say, that’s not always a bad thing. If you want something specific, it’s likely you’ll need to order it in (as the smaller sister of Clapham Books, you can request anything they don’t have from down the road). It's a shame that instead of stuffing their shelves there are some gaping holes, which feels almost embarrassedly naked. But this bookshop works wonders as a place for a quick pop-in and browse when you’ve got five minutes to spare while the butcher wraps up your joint of beef for Sunday lunch.