Title: Norse Code
Author: Greg van Eekhout
Publisher: Spectra/Ballantine
Publish Date: May 19, 2009
Greg van Eekhout’s Norse Code is a mash up of Norse mythology with a dash of apocalypse and just a touch of humor. Mist is a new Valkyrie, recruited by NorseCODE to help fight in the Norse gods’ army at Ragnarok. NorseCODE is a DNA sequencing company, using genetic codes to find direct descendants of Odin to be in their army.
The prologue was a bit confusing – the pov is that of Memory and Thought, Odin’s ravens. The purpose behind this portion of the book was unclear to the reader just picking up the book. However, I was really sucked in on that first chapter– where Mist and her assistant Grimnir are on her first recruiting job. The future recruit has been identified by his genetic code as having a direct link to Odin and thus is assumed to be predisposed to be a great fighter. There are problems though; to be a part of the gods’ army, he must first die in honorable combat. This first job goes awry unfortunately and Mist begins to question her purpose and her right to do this kind of work.
That first chapter drew me in because Mist was an interesting character, no longer human, but only newly Valkyrie. She is operating without all the knowledge that might make it easier to understand. Additionally, since she was human once, she is still susceptible to our ingrained foibles. Unfortunately that was also the best part of the book. It is quite clear that the author is knowledgeable about and did a lot of research on Norse mythology. All the regulars that us laypeople know like Odin, Thor, Loki and the like are present. Additionally we meet many more, some are more interesting than others. The ravens Memory and Thought have their own pov chapters sprinkled throughout and it seemed that they were there for no other reason than to provide a neutral view of events that showcased the authors knowledge on mythology, but never truly moved the story forward.
Norse gods, while fascinating, are full of a gruesome vitality that makes for a grisly read when bundled together. Bloodthirsty and unstoppable, their stories pepper the tale with plucked out eyeballs, walls of corpses, brother killing brother, chopped off arms, acid torture and gleeful murder. Among all of this we have a world that is dying, a human who doesn’t seem to care about any of it unless she can bring her sister back from the dead, more gods who want what they were never supposed to have, and a bunch of sideline characters that are only mildly interesting.
As a showcase of the violent nature of Norse gods, it works. As a character driven story it fails. Unfortunately the two never meshed well and the flow of the tale seemed like a night spent on the sea in a dinghy with lots of nasty weather. It was choppy, cold and uncomfortable. The best moments came from the actual myths themselves as the reader tries to relate them to our world and see the human factor behind it.
Though it was a short book at 292 pages, the choppy flow and the only mildly interesting characters took too much away from what could have been a good mythological fable. It did end with a moral as any tale based on mythology should, but it was a tough slog to get there. I felt that the author tried too hard to squeeze too much into what was basically a short morality story.
Hmmm…even somebody like me who doesn’t pay attention to reviews, I was uncharacteristically excited about what (that I thought I heard about this book.
I was too, that’s why I asked for it to review. You might like it better than I did though.
Good review, Amber!
To each his own, but I enjoyed this book. It wasnt a “traditional” norse tale, and I found the characters logically twisted enough to make them interesting. What I mean by logically twisted is that they were not the “usual” depictions of norse gods, but they were not tweaked and changed in a way that was unbelievable.
I have always been a fan of norse myth, and I am sure that colored my enjoyment of the book, but it was the first book I have bought in a while that I couldnt put down (so to speak).