Hello everyone!
It's time to defy Ragnarok again!
Okay well, maybe not quite, but MAYBE this gives you an idea about what I'll be talking about tonight.
I've sort of been behind on my reading for a little bit and I need to catch up during the weekend, so I pulled out an old favourite to check through since I've already done some other guide books by the same author.
Rick Riordan has this thing where he writes about deities from any and all cultures, more or less.
Most famously, of course, he breathed life to the one and only Percy Jackson, but another fan favourite was Magnus Chase, or he quickly became one, especially because Magnus is cousin to our Annabeth!
And well ... he's kind of dead.
More on that later.
For now, let's just say that the Hotel Valhalla guide is probably a must-read!
Any other of my guide book reviews can be found at the bottom of this page, as per usual. I think I've now covered everything from the Greeks to the Norse gods, and the Egyptians in between, but if I'm missing any do let me know! It's always a blast reading Riordan's work.
So what am I talking about tonight again?
Well, the full title of the book is, and I quote.
For Magnus Chase, Hotel Valhalla: Guide to the Norse Worlds; your introduction to deities, mythical beings & fantastic creatures
Woo, that's a mouthful!
In short, HV tells you EVERYTHING you need to know about your afterlife.
Wait, back up, I can hear you saying, the AFTERLIFE?
Yeah see, for the Norse gods, it works like this: you die, and you perform some heroic deed, and the Valkyries pluck your soul and deposit it to Hotel Valhalla, where, in this version of the afterlife, if you somehow have a deity as an ancestor (potentially parent) or you know you've just been heroic, you were hand-picked by none other than Odin, Motivational Speaker Extraordinaire, to wait out the time until Doomsday, when you will march with the others and die a glorious second death as the world falls.
Meanwhile, you train and train and train, and die a million times because even picking out knitting needles is to the death in this place.
No pressure.
This guide is put together by the hotel staff and some honorary guest appearances (read: divine) to give you EVERYTHING you need to know about the afterlife, and who you may or may not meet along the way (coughLokicough), and how to deal with your daily death and resurrection.
I mean, things like that can make people sensitive, you know?
So first up, you have to learn about the Nine Worlds, and we've covered which they are in a different blog post, which will also be linked down below (sadly however Thor is unavailable for another jogging run to count his steps, his shorty-shorts kind of need a break).
After reading all there is to know about the worlds you can pass to and from (but don't do it on a regular basis, please, because you might get acosted by Ratatosk and THEN you'll be in trouble), it's time to learn more about the deities that guide your afterlife!
Or your life. It depends. They're all over the place, either way.
This is the place to meed Odin, Thor, Sif, Frigg, Balder, Loki, and all the rest of the merry bunch with some extra anecdotes tossed in for good measure. Did you know you can make a powerpoint presentation and write a book about - wait for it - Hashtag? Also, that Mjolnir is a REALLY good HD performance monitor? No? Well, now you do!
Remember, the gods and goddesses all have their own agenda, always. Nobody gives things out for free. Just ask Loki.
Or maybe don't.
Maybe ask Balder instead!
Wait, he's dead. That's out of the question, too ...
After the gods are the creatures and beings and if you aren't ready for dragons and eight-legged horses, let me tell you, you're in the wrong mythology. Jormungand might just take a break from using his own tail as a chewtoy to take a nip at you as punishment.
But after you survive through the serpent and the great wolf who has performance issues, Otis and Marvin (goats, natch) will be a piece of cake.
And then maybe you can actually go get cake!
You know, fight-to-the-death cake. That kind.
Ah, who am I kidding. If you've made it this far you're ready for just about anything.
Hann til ragnarøks!
xx
*image not mine
No comments:
Post a Comment