I would like to thank Titan Books for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher - Titan

Published - Out Now

Price - £18.99 hardback £9.99 Kindle ebook

This truly epic adaptation of Kieron Gillen’s Loki series spans the nine realms as the reborn trickster struggles to walk the hero’s path and save the universe from an epidemic of fear.

The god of lies has been reborn, but will young Loki be Asgard's savior?

When Earth is plagued by an epidemic of fear, ancient prophecy says only Thor can stop the monstrous threat of the Serpent, but without help from Loki, Thor is certain to fail. Aided by a handmaiden from Hel and a demon puppy, Loki must risk everything to find redemption―or doom himself for eternity. Either way, a Nightmare lies in wait hoping to rule the world and Loki will have to risk everything on his craziest scheme of all!

Meanwhile, new gods threaten to disrupt the status quo, throwing everything out of balance. Loki must act as a responsible ambassador, but will the nine worlds end in Surtur's fire?

In this brand-new prose novel inspired by the epic comic series by Kieron Gillen, young Loki must cross the realms to reclaim his own story, outwit ancient enemies, struggle to do the right thing, and avoid falling in love.

NB this story is not based on the MCU but Graphic novel series by Kieron Gillen

Novelisations actually got me into this genre. Doctor Who and The Daemons is a book I credit with merging SF, Fantasy and Horror into one story and I can’t help thinking that the show and that particular book I read a lot made a lasting impression on my tastes. It raises an interesting question - who is a novelisation for and what makes a good one work.? For me as a casual comics reader unaware of the source material but mildly aware of the characters Loki - Journey into mystery by Katherine Locke was interesting but ultimately has a few issues getting in the way of me enjoying it.

Asgard is destroyed and the remnants are on earth. Loki is responsible. Loki is Dead! But Loki has been reborn as a teenager. Trying to show he is a new God. But when Odin senses a threat and plans to attack Earth then Thor is locked up and its down to Loki to stop things. Problem being a villain people think you’re still a villain. Hell and all other dimensions though will not stop in the way.

My lack of knowledge of the original story and wider cast is my biggest issue reading this book. While I recognise a few of the characters’ names and locations there is little time for the story to breathe and tell me who they are and what their relationship to each other is. We might get a whistle stop explanation as a scene starts but it’s more like a short wiki page summary than narrative world building. You sense this huge story is part of a huger story but no one really explains things in a way to make me care for it even when the fate of my world is in the balance! That’s frustrating because Locke can make scenes individually work. They can deliver pace, snark and plotting which makes each chapter work but not gelling together very well. I did enjoy Teenage not quite evil Loki but the sea of situations and characters we flow through feels like its been shortchanged in the pages department. A major character has a huge battle and dies and it’s a simple couple of paragraphs. It feels like a book driven by a page limit rather than has had it achieved what the original tale which I imagine was many issues long set out to do.

I think if you’re a long-term Loki/Thor comics fan then you’ll probably get the references and enjoy this narrative take but for the more casual reader like myself you may find it a more bewildering tale. Are these noveliations more for the former than the latter? If I think back to the Daemons all those years ago I was reading a tale over ten years old at the time I read it - I never felt i was missing out and that for me is what is lacking from this tale. I wanted to be immersed in the world and instead its like a movie with no sound or text cards, Interesting but not delivering the full effect on the wider audience. A puzzling book!