Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Ruling the World; Louie Stowell

Greetings mortals! A third Loki book. Another read from the Gods. In the hands of Louie Stowell, this series just gets better and better and better.

Loki is still very much in need of moral improvement before being allowed back into Asgard and with Heimdall and Hyrrokkin needing a break from their childcare duties, Odin’s favourite son, Balder, is coming to God-sit. Sharing qualities of divine godliness, a bromance blossoms between Badler and Thor. With Loki out in the cold and according to Balder, beyond redemption and should be sent to enteral snake torture as soon as possible, Loki is in dire need of some divine intervention of his own.

​When cast as the villain, a role everyone thinks he is perfectly suited for, in the school play, even Loki doubts if he has it within himself to be good. Then he discovers a curious ring amongst the costumes and props. A cursed ring could could give Loki everything he wants but deepest, darkest desires come at a price…

Still out of his comfort zone. Still trying to make sense of mortals. And still having to deal with endless problems - Thor, Balder, a cursed ring, school, girls, Odin. Everyone’s favourite trickster is back at his brilliant best, pranking his way through mortal life, not being very virtuous, upholding questionable moral standards, engaging in unworthy deeds and prioritising personal enjoyment and laughs over self-improvement. In short, everything we love from the first two books is back; expect more giggles, more wit and more mischief than ever before. There’s maybe even signs of a conscience although don’t worry, Loki is about as far from a welcome return passage to Asgard as Thor is from becoming unpopular.

Penned by the goddess that is Louie Stowell, this is another fast-paced, energetic, don’t-stop-until-you-get-to-the-last-page, belter of a book. Fun, snorts of laughter and sheer reading joy are guaranteed in a quest to be good that wraps Norse mythology and lessons in moral standards, self-improvement, good and evil, popularity and friendship, empathy and jealousy in another zany  and rollickingly good read. Life’s truths have never been so amusing and in the series that keeps on giving this is possibly the best yet! Accessibly written in thirty diary-style entries and crammed with doodles and brilliant artwork, even the most reluctant of readers would be hard pushed to not give this a try.

Stranded on Earth, life isn’t easy for an immortal God, especially one who everyone thinks is bad to the bone. The voice of our favourite irresponsible storyteller is gloriously entertaining #BeMoreLoki; narrating his struggles with the petulance of a tweenager, frequently arguing with the ever-amusing disembodied voice of Odin - who is doing his absolute best to keep Loki on a smidgen of the right path, and making a mockery of human life and pitying mortal mediocrity as he casts his astute views on holidays, cinemas, paintball, cruises, postcards, food banks, school trips, zoos, jogging and shopping malls.

For mere mortals of eight-plus, this is reading gold. Absolutely delighted that Loki has not found the path to moral and virtuous enlightenment just yet as it means another dose of humorous and heartfelt mischief is in store. Loki will be back for further life learnings in A Bad God’s Guide to Making Enemies, something that I think he probably knows quite a lot about.

Recommended for 8+.

With huge thanks to Walker for the copy I received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.