I've read these stories before, but not like this. Not only does Gaiman do a wonderful job of translating the legends into contemporary prose, but he does it with pace and passion. The most important decision he made, I think, was to NOT be comprehensive. He leaves stories out; this is not every Norse myth available. Rather, what you have are some of the big ones told well and in a fashion which gives the reader a strong sense of the pantheon. ( )

This was not what I was expecting.

I had made the assumption since Neil Gaiman is a well known fiction writer that this would be a new fiction story based off the Norse Pantheon. I was sadly mistaken. This is a collection of the famous Norse stories basically just re-written in Gaiman's writing style.

Now I will say that this did make reading these stories very easy and enjoyable. He took all the research he did into that culture and made it more assessable for the main stream public. But I already know the tales, and to me this was missing the spark that I get from his writing.

If you are looking for a good introduction to Norse Mythos, this is a great beginning; just not what I was looking for.

I'd say either borrow it from the Library. It does not need to come home with me. ( )

This book tells a few select stories from Norse mythology. Neil Gaimon brings a well-told and enjoyable story to what I’ve found to be a usually stale telling.

This tells some of the more common stories and involves all the more familiar gods and giants as well as a few other key ones. The book provides a good overview of Norse mythology. ( )

Actually gave up on this after awhile & just skimmed to the end. Made the myths sound pretty silly, which maybe they are, but surely not this silly.

A master storyteller interprets the ancient legends of the North. I listened to this book in audio format, and it went down remarkably smoothly, especially considering that I had relatively low interest in the subject. (I've always been more of a Greek mythology kind of girl.) Gaiman's retellings have a great deal of humor and wit, and I appreciated his narration of the audiobook as the perfect interpretation of his writing style (and a helpful guide to pronunciation, as well). The stories flow perfectly together, from the beginning of the world to Ragnarok. I found as I listened that I have absorbed bits and pieces of the mythology from popular culture, but this helped me set the individual pieces within a framework. Recommended. ( )