WHY ODIN DRINKS by Bjørn Larssen #RBRT #TuesdayBookBlog

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: A Norse God with Imposter Syndrome...

I read the first episode of Bjørn Larssen's (very) alternative Norse mythology, Creation, which is now incorporated into this book - this is good, because I was able to re-read it before embarking on the confused All-Father's further adventures.

I think I would need to know a lot more about Norse mythology than I do in order to fully appreciate this, though I did look up bits and bobs here and there, which helped.  The idea of portraying Odin as rather hesitant and not quite sure of his role as ultimate creator, is inspired.  Problem is that he and all the other gods (and versions of Odin in the past, present and future) know about everything that will be (which seems logical, what with them being deities), but are not always sure whether items or concepts actually exist yet.  Like Odin's wife Frigg not being sure what a miniskirt is, but knowing she wants one. 

'What sort of tea will you have?'

'They haven't discovered it yet,' said Urðr.  'He looks like the lapsang souchong type to me, though.'

One of my favourite aspects was the occasional presence of 'literature'.  She is an entity that whispers to Odin's mind a piece of information pertaining to something that has just been said, such as 'Loki is foreshadowing', but Odin cannot see her; he just hears the sound of her sneakers as she sprints away.  I love that.

In parts 2-4 we meet many more gods - Loki, Freya and Freyr, and Frigg.  Freya, goddess of love, beauty, fertility, sex, war and gold (pretty much all the most important things to a Norseman, one imagines) is portrayed as a sort of Paris Hilton type, which I thought was genius.

'As he travelled, Odin thoroughly investigated people of all shapes and sizes, casually letting it slip that he was the All-Father'.

Some of the time the references went over my head because of my lack of knowledge of the subject, though other times I felt the prose needed a bit of tightening up; it seemed to career away with itself now and again.  However, the good is very very good, and I also liked the pertinent observations about life and death, time and war, woven amongst the ridiculousness.  And the ending.  Clever.

A light-hearted romp through Norse mythology, and a fitting development for Bjørn Larssen's comedic talent!

I laugh every time I look at this - the grinning Odin doing a thumbs up!

CREATION by Bjorn Larssen @bjornlarssen #RBRT

(Subtitle: Why Odin Drinks Book #1)

5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.  But I also bought the paperback, because I was fairly sure I'd like it!

In a Nutshell: In the beginning there was confusion...

I read Bjørn Larssen's debut novel, Storytellers, which made some references to Norse gods and featured a certain subtle humour in places.  I also read his second novel, Children, which is about the children of Norse gods and contains far more funny bits.  I've read many of his blog posts and follow him on Twitter; the conclusion I've come to is that Mr Larssen is a terrific comedic writer, first and foremost, so I'm delighted that he's actually written A FUNNY BOOK!

Creation is a novella, a slim paperback (beautifully presented), is hilarious, and made me laugh out loud on several occasions, which books rarely do.  It's about Odin and his brothers, Vili and Vé, creating the world.  Except they're not very good at it and don't really understand what they're doing.  They wonder how to get the food out of Audhumla the cow, why words like 'anvil' 'laptop' and 'algebra' keep popping into their heads, how the flying water happened and why the wolf bit off the peacock's head.  Odin discovers that, along with man and woman, he has created irony. 

I think it's the sort of book you find screamingly funny or you don't, depending on your sense of humour.  I echo the words of Bjørn's husband, when he finished reading it: 'When can I get more?'

CHILDREN by Bjørn Larssen @bjørnlarssen

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads and BookBub

 
How I discovered this book: I read the author's Storytellers and loved it, so looked forward to this.

In A Nutshell: A re-telling of Norse myths

I'm not the ideal reader for this book, as all I know about Norse mythology is (very) basic information about Odin, Thor, Freya and Loki, what Valhalla and Ragnarok are, and that's about it.  Also, I am not a fan of fantasy, on the whole; magic and hallucinatory goings on - nah, you can keep it.  However, I was hugely impressed by Storytellers and had read some excerpts of this before it was published, which I liked a lot, so wanted to take a look at this.

The main characters, their stories told alternately and in the first person, are Magni, son of Thor, and sorceress Maya, who has had a somewhat difficult upbringing, not least of all under the watchful eye of the goddess Freya, one heck of a piece of work, to say the least.  I liked Maya; she was amusing and spunky.  I loved Magni; yes, even when he was taking part in raids on farms, and killing people.  

Children is atmospheric, clever, brutal, emotional, extremely well-written, intelligent, imaginative, and funny—and the dialogue is spectacularly good, some of the best I've read.  Now and again, the dialogue and Magni's inner thoughts made me laugh out loud, which rarely happens when I read.  The sexual activity in the book does not hold back, but get this: it didn't make me cringe.  And that comes from someone who almost always cringes at sex scenes.  Magni's feelings for Herjólf were so real, so well-portrayed; anyone who has ever been in love (or infatuated with) someone who remains elusive will feel Magni's pain throughout.

My favourite part was when Magni was first involved with the outlaws (I loved Ludo, too!), and I also liked Maya's encounter with Harbard, the idea of Idunn's fruit, Magni's conversations with his father, and the information about what each of the 'worlds' is all about, which interested me enough to look up more about Norse mythology.

Subject-wise, it wasn't absolutely my cup of tea, and I did get a bit confused with all the Norse names sometimes ('hang on, was that a person or a place?'), but it's definitely a novel of which Bjørn Larssen should be very proud indeed, and if the magical and mythological floats your boat, I would recommend that you buy it without delay.

 

 

STORYTELLERS by Bjørn Larssen @bjornlarssen #RBRT

5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member, but I'd been interested in it since seeing the author talking about it on Twitter, so I bought a copy when it came out, anyway.

In a Nutshell: Icelandic history set in the 1920s, with moments of subtle humour.

I loved this book - it was a delight to read, an unusual debut novel by a writer with much talent.

The story tells of village blacksmith Gunnar, who is (at first glance) quite happy living in his shack with his dog, Ragnar, and his 'medicine' (alcohol).  One night, he takes in a climber with a broken ankle, Sigurd; with reluctance, Gunnar agrees to take care of him until he can walk again.  From the outset, it is clear that there is much mystery surrounding the stranger.

Meanwhile, Gunnar's life is picked apart by his doctor, the overbearing Brynhildur who wants to marry him, and the Conservative Women of Iceland who demand that he mend his heathen ways.  I loved these women - the Conservative Women number just two; they and Brynhildur were a joy to read.  The gossip and atmosphere of small village life reminded me of a Jane Austen novel, amusingly executed as it is.

This is actually a story within a story - the Icelandic winters are long and dark, and storytelling is a much loved pastime.  Threaded through Gunnar's own tale is another, told to him in instalments by Sigurd, about love, death and a feud between brothers.  Both stories are so compelling.

 
As we learn more about Gunnar, we discover the demons that lurk within, that he tries to banish with the moonshine that he makes in his shack.  

The atmosphere of the place and time is perfectly drawn, the characterisation is excellent, the dialogue authentic and amusing.  The ending is surprising, as the link between the stories is uncovered.  In these days when so many novels are jam-packed with events from start to finish, I enjoyed the slower pace of Storytellers; it has such charm that I still found it to be a 'page-turner', was reluctant to leave it when I had to, and sad to finish it.

The quality of the writing and storytelling is most definitely worthy of 5*.  When I read the book it contained a few editorial errors; Americanisms and phrases/words too modern for the time, but I believe these have now been remedied.  English is not the author's first language, and his command of its subtleties is, on the whole, outstanding, so I don't want to penalise him for that which should have been picked up by editors and proofreaders.

This a work of literary art that I recommend most highly; Bjørn Larssen is, indeed, an Icelandic storyteller.

Bjørn Larssen writes about Iceland 99 years ago 

Author Bio:

Bjørn Larssen - writer, blacksmith, mathematician, graphic designer, model (not all at the same time) was made in Poland. He is mostly located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, except for his heart which he lost in Iceland. Born in 1977, he self-published his first graphic novel at the age of seven in a limited edition of one. Since then his short stories and essays were published in Rita Baum Art Magazine, Writer Unboxed, Inaczej Magazine, Edurada.pl, Homiki.pl, and Holandia Expat Magazine. He is a member of Alliance of Independent Authors and Writer Unboxed.

Bjørn used to speak eight languages (currently down to two and a half). His hobbies include sitting by open fires, dressing like an extra from Vikings, installing operating systems, and dreaming about living in a log cabin in the north of Iceland, even though he hates being cold. He has only met an elf once. So far.