Pitched, openly and unashamedly, at the commercial end of the market, this book is more likely to delight those whose Loki is the one from the Marvel movies than to satisfy admirers of Harris's astringent, highly original and often subtly fantastic mainstream novels. Readers who come to The Gospel of Loki expecting 'an original fantasy novel' by Joanne Harris may well be disappointed. Apart from plenty of authentically informal, scurrilous dialogue, a few novel elements shared with Runemarks and Runelight, and a relaxation of children's library rules on sex, coarse humour and torture scenes, the only 'liberty' Harris takes is to arrange her chosen episodes from the Edda in a more or less straight line, to lead us through the fateful career of her narrator, Loki the Trickster. And, of course, there is Ragnarok, the doom-laden 'Last Battle' of the Gods that has fascinated so many later myth-makers, from Richard Wagner to JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis and Alan Garner. There is a collection of bizarre adventures, featuring an extensive cast: including, among many others, one-eyed Odin, the All-Father Thor the sky-god with his famous hammer Balder the Beautiful Freyja, the Goddess of Desire Idunn, keeper of the golden apples of eternal youth Hel, the Guardian of the Dead and Fenris, the demon wolf. There are the Aesir and the Vanir, divine clans who settle down together, after squabbling over possession of the 16 Runes, conveyors of magical power.

There is the mighty Ash Tree, Yggdrasil, the linchpin that holds Nine Worlds together. There is a quirky creation myth involving a Giant Being (Ymir) and a cow (Audhumla) who licks the first human out of salty ice. Events unfold very much as they were recounted by the first collectors of Norse folklore, in medieval Icelandic texts known as the 'Elder' and 'Younger' Edda. Harris has chosen an almost scholarly approach in this retelling. These unruly, boisterous, intriguingly pessimistic divinities have fascinated her since childhood, and here they are at last, presented in all their strange glory, for a new generation of dreamers and writers. But it is her first Norse gods novel for adults: and the fulfilment of a long engagement. B estselling author Joanne Harris is not making her first foray into Norse mythology with The Gospel of Loki: there have been two recent novels for teenagers ( Runemarks and Runelight).