A few years ago, I sat in a cafe in Bergen on the west coast of Norway, sipping a coffee and enjoying a small pastry. It was sweet and satisfying by itself; but I enjoyed it enough to order another; and then, another.

The stories within Neil Gaiman's "Norse Mythology" are like this. Each story is short and easily consumable (about 10-25 pages) and stands on its own; but together, they weave an epic of the gods of Scandinavia.

We hear the adventures of Odin, Thor, Loki, Balder, and the gods of Asgard, along with the giants, dwarves, creatures, and sentient rocks and plants that inhabit their universe. We hear of shape-shifting and battles, and treachery, and love. We learn about the families of the gods and their births and their deaths.

Gaiman has inserted pagan gods into his books in the past ("American Gods" and "Anansi Boys") and even written entire books around Thor, Loki, and Odin ("Odd and the Frost Giants"), but those books extended the legends of the deities, while this book pulls from the original source material - the oral stories recounting the adventures of these immortals, from the beginning of the world to Ragnarok - the final battle of the gods.

He does so with a voice that suggests these tales are told around a campfire at night.

Some of these stories were long familiar to me from the reading of my youth and some of them I had not heard. But all seemed fresh as told by Gaiman.

We have always known that Neil Gaiman knows how to tell a story. But with "Norse Mythology", he proves that he can tell someone else's story.

Neil Gaiman proves that some stories can be timeless.

I generally loved reading this book. I loved learning about all the tales of the Norse gods. It felt like a was teleported back in time, huddled around the fire in a Viking camp hearing Neil tell the adventures of the gods. Neil tells these tales in an exciting way that doesn't feel boring; he tells them in his own way and encourages the reader to retell these tales in their own way, which I will. I just started to play the 2018 God of War for the Playstation, and that game is the perfect pairing with this book. I was so excited to read and discover more about one of my favourite marvel avengers and Norse methodology's in-depth lore. This book is a wild ride that I fully recommended to anyone. I love comparing the similarity of Norse methodology and modern-day Christianity.

Wonderful stories told by a master writer.

I thought that Neil Gaiman did a very good job telling the stories of Norse Mythology. These stories are hard to share because they weren’t really ever written down. Neil did a great job at bringing these historic legends to life.

Gaiman has had a long fascination with Norse mythology and does an amazing job of making the Norse mythology accessible. i recommend reading in small bites which works well with the his format.

I really enjoyed reading this book after watching the History Channel's "Vikings" series. It was also interesting to note how they used a lot of the Norse God stories in the TV series. Additionally, this book is based on the original poems and records called "The Poetic Edda" for which there's an English translation done by the author Jackson Crawford. Again. Awe inspiring stories, some of which I intend to read to my future children.

Very quick, easy read. Took me one day to get through because I couldn't stop. I only wish it had been longer and the stories might have been more in depth.

Truly fascinating, and really interesting reading about the Norse gods’ stories.

I listened to the audiobook as I was healing from a minor surgery. Neil Gaiman's quick wit and lovely reading voice kept me company while I spent a few days in bed. Loki's antics cheered me up and I learned so much about Norse mythology!