Viking Books

[formergothardite]

My 13 year old daughter just read the Magnus Chase series and is now interested in learning more about vikings and Norse mythology. This is not a subject I know a lot about. Our librarian kept directing me towards books like You Wouldn't Want to be a Viking Explorer, which are a bit too babyish for her. 

Does anyone have any book recommendations? Fiction or non-fiction. 

She is a pretty advanced reader, so I think adult books would be okay as long as they aren't written like War and Peace or contain content like 50 Shades of Grey. 

[CTRLZero]

I just ordered a very basic guide "The Illustrated A-Z of Classic Mythology" which includes thumbnail sketches of Greek, Roman, Norse and Celtic mythological characters and events.  My intent is to re-read some Neil Gaiman books that contain references to mythology.  I also need to track down a reference guide to mythology of the Americas.

Anyway, roundabout way to say I'm planning to eventually read Neil Gaiman's "Norse Mythology," but haven't even ordered it yet.  Once I read it, I'll report back, but you may want to take a look at it to see if it's something your daughter might want to tackle.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

For fiction, there's The Blackwell Pages series by K.L. Armstrong and Melissa Marr. (Loki's Wolves, Odin's Ravens, Thor's Serpents) It's also aimed at young adult readers, but with a different take on Norse mythology than Rick Riordan's.

We got the first one at the school book fair last fall. I still haven't read the third book and I read Magnus Chase in the meanwhile. I think I'm going to have to read books 1 and 2 again so that I can get it all straight in my mind. Since it's YA, it should go pretty quickly. 

Has your daughter read any of Rick Riordan's other series? 

[formergothardite]

On 2/20/2018 at 4:10 AM, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

Has your daughter read any of Rick Riordan's other series? 

Yes, she is a huge Rick Riordan fan. 

Thank you for the book suggestions. It looks like our library has the Blackwell Pages series and the Norse Mythology book. 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

4 hours ago, formergothardite said:

Yes, she is a huge Rick Riordan fan. 

When she gets a bit older, she might like the adult mystery series he wrote before any of the YA series. The protagonist is Tres Navarre and the first book is called Big Red Tequilla. I enjoy his YA series, but I sometimes wish he would write some more Tres Navarre books.

[CTRLZero]

I am reading through Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology and thoroughly enjoying it.  I've decided to read one short chapter per evening to get more out of the characters, props, and interactions.  If anyone reads this book, be sure to read the introductory material.  It explains how confusing and contradictory the Norse tales can be (like most tales from long past, or the Trump administration, ha!).