Loki: Journey Into Mystery
Katherine Locke
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. CAN 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 Realms end in Surtur’s fire? 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.
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**I was provided an ALC from the publisher through NetGalley.**
Katherine Locke presents the newest of Marvel's young adult novels, Loki Journey into Mystery. The novel follows Loki as our perspective character and is effectively a novelization of Kieron Gillen's comic ARC of the same name. Loki is reborn as a teen with a unique opportunity to become Asgard's savior rather than its villain. This is a redemption story that features the expected schemes and obstacles to Loki's success.
Loki is, admittedly, one of my favorite characters from Marvel and in Norse mythology, so I tend to have a lot of expectations from any depiction of him. Unfortunately for this novel, Locke was tasked with converting to prose a comic ARC that is heavily action-oriented. There is very little time for character development or nuance which is a majority of what tends to make Loki so compelling. An attempt at this was made via a romantic subplot that seemed utterly unnecessary and impractical given everything else going on combined with Loki's overall characterization. Honestly, the romance could have been skipped entirely and the novel would have been better for it. Given the rapid fire pacing that was utterly plot driven, a reader is left with only a surface level connection to the story and a general feeling of the story being "cool" rather than any long-lasting impact.
Narrator Elliot Fitzpatrick has a very smooth tone that lends itself well for jovialty and the youth of this Loki. Likewise, Fitzpatrick's performance is reminiscent of some of the intonation and cadence of phrasing used by Tom Hiddleston in his portrayal of Loki, making this choice a seamless transition between movies and book. Fitzpatrick did well with what he had been given and provided a pleasant listening experience.
I would say this novel is certainly just fine. I would recommend it to young adult readers looking for more Loki content without hesitation, but would caution readers who have an already established strong attachment to Loki as a character to take this as the fun adventure type book that it is rather than hoping for more.
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