I read somewhere that in order to be a good writer, one must read...a lot. I think I have that part of the process down, if you've looked through my past posts. Reading is a favored pastime of mine, and I usually am in the process of reading three or four books at a time. To date this year, I've read my way through 29 books and will hopefully add more to that list before the year's ended. I haven't provided quickie reviews for a few of the titles, mainly because of my procrastination issue. With that said, this quickie review is for a Book from an award-winning British author, A.S. Byatt.

As a retelling or even an introduction to the Norse myths, Ragnarok: The End of the Gods works as a fine piece of writing. The stories mainly focus on Loki and his role with Ragnarok (or, the Twilight of the Gods), and each is richly detailed, providing an intimate look at the Norse Gods, their worlds, and their ultimate demise. The story of the young girl, meant to tie the storytelling together is nice, but I found it difficult to connect her story with the tales of the Gods. Many references were made regarding her absent father, but his connection to the tales, which God did he represent (if he did at all), remained unclear to me.

Not a bad introduction to Byatt's writing, and I plan on reading more of her works.

Ragnarok: The End of the Gods
by A.S. Byatt
Canongate U.S.
hardcover, 192 pags