*This is a more detailed repeat of a talk on Norse Fantasy that I gave at the Nine Worlds Geek Conference, 2018.*
Now many readers will have their favourite or preferred genre of choice when it comes to books and the worlds we like to dive into when we wish to escape the present existing one. It may be a well established genre such as Crime, Romance, Horror. It could be a more niche genre such as Manga, Comics, Biography or even Non-Fiction on a particular Subject.
For me personally it is what I guess you could call an emerging genre - a new genre on the scene that has been setting a trend, bending or breaking some previous rules on past genres or even smashing them together to create a new hybrid. For example the wave of Vampire Romances that invaded bookstores after Twilight took off, or *gulp* I shudder to suggest another example being that of the Fifty Shades of Grey which introduced highly sexual novels to the world. Thankfully dear reader I am into neither Vampires or guys with deep sexual needs.
For me, the emerging genre which has captured my heart, money and dominated my bookshelves for many years is what I call Norse Fantasy (but is closely related to Supernatural Fantasy genre).
Now what do I mean by Norse, I hear you ask? Do I mean Vikings?
Well, kind of. We all know Vikings as a culture and historical civilisation DID exist and therefore they are quite rightly often found in the Historical Fiction genre.
But you can find Vikings within a Norse Fantasy novel and the reason is their faith system, the legends, the gods, the heroes, the villains and most importantly, the magic or seidr is the more accurate term. For it is the magic in the ‘What if the Gods were real? What if Thor really did come down and save New York? What if Freya was a SuperStar Model? What if Loki really did run for President and WIN!?’. The magic and these questions, these scenarios are what often form the backdrop and influence the type of setting and time of Norse Fantasy novels.
I have been passionate, near obsessed, with anything to do with the Vikings as a historical cultural people since discovering a love of historical fiction with Bernard Cornwell’s series The Last Kingdom. It was whilst exploring the historical world of the Vikings that I first encountered tales of Odin, Thor, (before Marvel Cinematic Universe), Freya, Loki, Giants and more. It left me wanting to know more. So I started raiding my college library for books on Norse Mythology. And thus I discovered so many stories fell in love with them all.
So you can perhaps imagine my utter delight when I learned of ‘Runemarks’ by Joanne Harris - a fantasy featuring the norse gods in a parallel world where Ragnarok had actually happened and only a few gods survived afterwards. I immediately bought it upon release and I have been a Norse Fantasy addict ever since.
The thing you must understand is that for me, at least, Runemarks was the first book to really crack open the Norse Fantasy genre for the masses. There may well have been others out there but I wasn’t aware of them growing up and with Joanne Harris’s profile and her own clear passion for the mythology, Runemarks was a hit with readers, both those familiar with the legends and those who weren’t.
And I am very pleased to say that more and more titles and authors have grown the Norse Fantasy genre ever since, and I have done my best to find and read as many of them as I can.
To date I have read 90+ on my Goodreads shelf: befriend me at Soulchaserbecky.
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3639817-rebecca
Obviously if I was to provide you with a review of every single one this blog post would take an entire morning, afternoon or even a whole day to read.
But what if you want a story about Loki causing mischief? Or fancy a tale of Valkyries? Or fancy a book that introduces you to the whole pantheon? Read on dear reader, read on.
For I am going to give you a whistle-stop tour of the 7 key categories that I have found Norse Fantasy novels fall into. Categories involving:
Their place Before or After Ragnarok
Time and Place - Blended, Fantastical or Alternative World setting
Range of Norse Mythological Characters
Gods, Mortals and Demi-Gods
Animals, Monsters and More
Magic, Curses and Seidr
PG, YA and 18+ Rating
In each category I will give an explanation of what this category means in terms of novel content and then list the titles that I loved (heck I loved all 101) for each category. Consider this a very theoretical almost academic to-read list.
Are you sitting comfortably? Let us begin:
1. The Beginning or the End - Before or After Ragnarok:
Now this is where I’m going to step on a box, with a megaphone and say something really important.
The Legend of Ragnarok, NOT THE MARVEL VERSION, does involve the fall of Asgard BUT it is more a total destruction of all the nine worlds. Ragnarok means The End of All Things. Every God, minus a few exceptions, does die, albeit very heroically in one mega battle at the end. And a whole new world of existence, only one mind you, not all nine, is born through the blood and fire of it all. So there is life after Ragnarok but not as before.
Due to this BEFORE Ragnarok makes a comment occurrence as the End Game, the Finale, the Great Danger the team of heroes and heroines, whether gods or mortals, must save the world from. There are also a good number of books that are set AFTER Ragnarok and often involve the survival of Gods cast down from Asgard or their Descendants. There are also books that ignore Ragnarok completely and are set where Ragnarok is no immediate threat and in these cases the story is more likely an alternative world.
Becky Recommendations:
If you want to run head first into Ragnarok try Ice Land by Betsy Tobin.
If you want to skip to post-Ragnarok try American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
If you would prefer a good Norse Fantasy with no influence of Ragnarok try The Lost Sun: United States of Asgard by Tessa Gratton.
Other titles set Before Ragnarok:
Norse Code by Greg Van Eekhout
Age of Odin by James Lovegrove
Loki by Mike Vasich
Dead Radiance series by T G Ayer
The Swan Road by Angeline Hawkes
Valda and the Valkyries by Mark Neumayer
Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris
Runes series by the late Ednah Walters
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Other titles set After Ragnarok:
Runemarks & Runelight by Joanne Harris
Wolfsangel series by M D Lachlan
Broods of Fenrir by Coral Moore
Fade, Fall and Flame by A K Morgen
The Fetch by Chris Humphreys
Fate of the Gods series by Amalia Dillin
Testament of Loki by Joanne Harris
The Valhalla Saga trilogy by Snorri Kristjansson
Sisters of Fate trilogy by Rinda Elliott
Freya & Slay by Matthew Laurence
Other titles set Outside of Ragnarok Timeline:
The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
Blood Tide and Blood Song by Melvyn Burgess
West of the Moon by Katherine Langrish
The Ship in the hill by William Sullivan
The Sleeping Army by Francesca Simon
Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson
United States of Asgard series by Tessa Gratton
The Littlest Viking by Sandi Toksvig
2. The Where and When? - Time and Place:
At this category I must first explain what I mean by my self-coined terms of Blended World, Fantastical World and Alternative World for it might not be immediately clear.
A Blended World is a world akin to Harry Potter Universe - where the magical and impossible take place everyday albeit in secret pockets of time/space in the middle of our present real world.
A Fantastical World means where the entire novel takes place in any of the other 8 Realms on Yggdrasil’s branches EXCEPT our own, whether in history or present. So it is more or less straight fantasy. For example, Thor smashing giants in Jotunheim is a Fantastical World.
An Alternative World, often carries forward elements, systems, etc from our reality, current time or from the past, but in this alternative reality, time and development of society takes a completely different route to actual history. For example, what if the Vikings did found and settle America successfully?
I was surprised to learn upon inspection that there are more Norse Fantasy books that feature a Blended World, Fantastical World or Alternative World setting. Fantastical setting books are only marginally more than those that feature Blended Worlds or Time Shifts.
It actually makes sense to involve a fantastical setting for the nine worlds provide a brilliant backdrop and are of course beyond the realms of earth.
I also noticed there are more Norse Fantasy books set within the Modern World than Historical periods. The former connects to how the Norse Gods survive or impact on humans/demi-gods and the latter connects more with the Vikings.
Becky Recommendations:
For a Historical Norse Fantasy try Wolfsangel by MD Lachlan.
For a Modern/Present day Norse Fantasy try Freya by Matthew Laurence.
For a Blended World Norse Fantasy,try Valkyrie by Kate O’Hearn.
Other titles in a Historical Setting:
Ice Land by Betsy Tobin
Wolfsangle series by M D Lachlan
West of the Moon by Katherine Langrish
The Swan Road by Angeline Hawkes
The Valhalla Saga trilogy by Snorri Kristjansson
Other titles in a Modern/Present Day Setting:
The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Norse Code by Greg Van Eekhout
Age of Odin by James Lovegrove
Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson
Broods of Fenrir by Coral Moore
Fade, Fall and Flame by A K Morgen
The Littlest Viking by Sandi Toksvig
Sisters of Fate by Rinda Elliott
Freya and Slay by Matthew Laurence
Other Titles in a Fantastical or Blended World Setting:
Runemarks, Runelight, Gospel & Testament of Loki (*Alternative World) by Joanne Harris
Loki (*Blended Fantastical World) by Mike Vasich
Blood Tide and Blood Song (*Alternative World) by Melvyn Burgess
Ship in the Hill (*Actually a Time Split) by William Sullivan
The Sleeping Army (*Blended Alternative World) by Francesca Simon
Valda and the Valkyries (*Fantastical World) by Mark Neumayer
The Fetch (*Time Split) by Chris Humphreys
Valkyrie series (*Blended World) by Kate O’Hearn
United States of Asgard series *Alternative World) by Tessa Gratton
Sisters of Fate (*Blended World) by Rinda Elliott
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard (*Blended World) series by Rick Riordan
Norse Mythology (*Fantastical) by Neil Gaiman
Monstrous Child (*Fantastical) by Francesca Simon
3. How many Aesir does it take to build a wall? - Cast of the Pantheon
Based on a Norse Fantasy book having more than 3 Norse mythological characters (god/animal, major and minor cast), it seems there are a third more books that have a major pantheon presence in the cast than the books that have a minor or select pantheon cast.
This is logical when you consider that the legends are full of conflict between the Gods as individuals, not just with the Giants. Therefore the more Norse Gods a story has the greater the range of conflict within the story. Books that focus on a select few gods or even an individual type of mythological character take a specific viewpoint or the cast is limited due to the setting e.g. Post-Ragnarok.
For a Norse Fantasy with a large pantheon cast try Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris.
For a Norse Fantasy with a selective or minor pantheon cast try The Swan Road by Angeline Hawkes.
Other Titles with a Major Pantheon Cast are:
Runemarks & Runelight by Joanne Harris
Ice Land by Betsy Tobin
Age of Odin by James Lovegrove
Loki by Mike Vasich
The Sleeping Army by Francesca Simon
Dead Radiance series by T G Ayer
Valda and the Valkyries by Mark Neumayer
Valkyrie series by Kate O’Hearn
United States of Asgard series by Tessa Gratton
Gospel and Testament of Loki by Joanne Harris
Sisters of Fate series by Rinda Elliott
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Monstrous Child by Francesca Simon
Fade, Fall and Flame by A K Morgen
Other titles with a Selective or Minor Pantheon Cast:
The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Wolfsangel series by M D Lachlan
Norse Code by Greg Van Eekhout
Blood Tide and Blood Song by Melvyn Burgess
West of the Moon by Katherine Langrish
The Swan Road by Angeline Hawke
Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson
Broods of Fenrir by Coral Moor
The Fetch by Chris Humphreys
The Littlest Viking by Sandi Toksvig
Fate of the Gods series by Amalia Dillin
Valhalla Saga series by Snorri Kristjansson
Runes series by the late Ednah Walters
Freya & Slay by Matthew Laurence
4. What’s a God without Mortals or a Mortal without a God? - Gods, Mortals & Demi-Gods?
A large majority of Norse Fantasy books involve Gods or other mythical characters and Mortals – and when I say mortals I mean people like us in this world, a past world, a future world or an alternative world that exists outside the world of the Gods.
However, there are also a few books that involve Demi-Gods, Magnus Chase series being a prime example.
There is one book that is rare portrayal and introduction of Dwarves as the central characters – Valda and the Valkyries.
There are just 3 books that are God Only in terms of character interaction, Gospel of Loki, Monstrous Child and Norse Mythology, as each focus on the legends building up to and including Ragnarök and thus don’t leave the mythological world.
Becky Recommendations:
For a Norse Fantasy with strong Gods and Mortals interaction try Wolfsangel by MD Lachlan.
For a Norse Fantasy with Demi-Gods I try Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan.
For one with Dwarves you only have Valda and the Valkyries by Mark Neumayer.
Other titles featuring Gods & Mortals:
Runemarks, Runelight by Joanne Harris
Ice Land by Betsy Tobin
The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Wolfsangel series by M D Lachlan
Norse Code by Greg Van Eekhout
Age of Odin by James Lovegrove
Blood Tide and Blood Song by Melvyn Burgess
West of the Moon by Katherine Langrish
Ship in the Hill by William Sullivan
Dead Radiance series by T G Ayer
The Swan Road by Angeline Hawkes
Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson
The Fetch by Chris Humphreys
Valkyrie series by Kate O’Hearn
United States of Asgard series by Tessa Gratton
Valhalla Saga by Snorri Kristjansson
Testament of Loki by Joanne Harris
Sisters of Fate by Rinda Elliott
Runes series by the late Ednah Walters
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan
Freya and Slay by Matthew Laurence
Other titles featuring Demi-Gods:
Broods of Fenrir by Coral Moor
Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan
Dead Radiance by T G Ayer
Other titles featuring Gods Only:
Loki by Mike Vasich
Monstrous Child by Francesca Simon
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
5. Horses, Dragons, Ravens and a Squirrel? - Fur and Feathers:
A select number out of all the Norse Fantasy books I have read feature Norse mythical animals in any major role although they do appear in settings or as challenges for heroes and heroines or even as companions. For instance, in two different series involving Valkyries, they have pet ravens akin to Hugnin and Mugnin, Odin’s ravens.
However, there is an exception and that is the way the Wolves of Norse Mythology have become key characters and feature prominently within the Wolfsangel series and Ragnarok Prophecies series.
There are in fact 5 wolves in the pantheon, Fenrir being the one most people recognise and it is this wolf, which is a dominating force in Wolfsangel by M D Lachlan.
There are two pairs of wolves, Freki and Geri, Odin’s companions and Skol and Hati, two wolves that each chase the Sun and the Moon. These rival pairs feature in the Ragnarök Prophecies (Fade, Fall and Flame) by A K Morgen.
Norse wolves influence the characters of the title Broods of Fenrir by Coral Moore – descendants of the great wolves but who shape-shift into their wolfish form but have wolf like qualities in their personality.
Other titles involving Norse Myth Creatures:
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman - Sleipnnir, Fenrir, Jormangand, Hugnin, Mugnin
Blood Tide and Blood Song by Melvyn Burgess - Fafnir the Dragon
Dead Radiance series by T G Ayer - Hugnin, Mugnin and Dragonkin
Valda and the Valkyries by Mark Neumayer - Ravens
Valkyrie by Kate O’Hearn - Ravens
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan - Ravens, Ratatosk, Fafnir, Wolves, Goats, Boars
United States of Asgard series by Tessa Gratton - Fenrir, Trolls, Wights
6. Abra Cadabra pull a rabbit from a horn of mead! - Magic and Seidr
Magic exists in the majority of the Norse Fantasy books I have read, from a basic level of other realms existing alongside our own, to magic cast by carving or throwing of runes, acts of prophecy such as Ragnarök, the feminine magic of Seidr and magical artefacts used by gods or heroes.
Runemarks by Joanne Harris is a brilliant new portrayal of runes and magic in a fantasy mythological world.
Foretold is part of the Sisters of Fate series by Rinda Elliott which has a brilliant post-Ragnarök prophecy weaving through the trilogy and driving the characters.
In Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson, Seidr is used to lure young men away to Valhalla.
And in the adventures of Magnus Chase and his trilogy by Rick Riordan, nearly every mythological artefact and object from Frey’s sword, Fenrir’s chains, Fafnir’s dragon heart, the Ship that folds into a handkerchief and even Aegir’s mead making pot... and so much more gets involved in the story.
8. Where is your ID? - Age recommendation for readers & content:
The majority of the Norse Fantasy I have read is for a teenage or young adult audience and this is clear from the number of heroes and heroines and mythological characters that are cast in this age group, so the reader can relate. There are a good number of books that are also for children and pre-teens or more able readers. And there are just a few I would categorise as being for older, 17+, readers due to the elements of violence, death and sexual content in their stories.
For a good laugh we recommend the hugely entertaining Magnus Chase series by Rick Riordan.
For a touch of romance, we recommend Fate of the Gods series by Amilia Dillin.
For a drama packed Norse Fantasy we recommend Swords of Good Men (Valhalla Saga) by Snorri Kristjansson.
For a spine-chilling Norse Fantasy we recommend The Fetch by Chris Humphreys.
For a good YA Norse Fantasy we recommend Sisters of Fate series by Rinda Elliott.
For a child friendly read we recommend The Sleeping Army by Francesca Simon.
PG/Suitable for All Titles:
The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
Runemarks, Runelight, Gospel & Testament of Loki by Joanne Harris
West of the Moon by Katherine Langrish
Valda and the Valkyries by Mark Neumayer
Valkyrie series by Kate O’Hearn
The Littlest Viking by Sandi Toksvig
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
The Monstrous Child by Francesca Simon
Other YA/Teenager Titles:
Ice Land by Betsy Tobin
Norse Code by Greg Van Eekhout
Age of Odin by James Lovegrove
United States of Asgard series by Tessa Gratton
Bloodtide and Bloodsong by Melvyn Burgess
Runes series by the late Ednah Walters
Loki by Mike Vasich
Ship in the Hill by William Sullivan
Dead Radiance series by T G Ayer
Freya and Slay by Matthew Laurence
The Swan Road by Angeline Hawkes
Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson
Fade, Fall and Flame by A K Morgen
Other titles for 17+ readers:
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Wolfsangel series by M D Lachlan
Broods of Fenrir by Coral Moore
The Fetch by Chris Humphreys
Valhalla Saga by Snorri Kristjansson
And you have now reached the end of your whirlwind trip through my favourite and totally unacademic review of the different types of Norse Fantasy books & ebooks out there to be discovered and enjoyed. There may be more added in future.
You may notice that I do repeat recommendations for certain titles but some do tick all the boxes, there is a lot of overlap but each story is unique to the rest.
Hope some of these categories and recommended titles gets you tempted to make a purchase, download or borrow from your local library in the same way that Freya couldn’t resist the Brisingamen necklace.
I am of course about on social media if you ever want to fangirl/boy with me over any of these titles or even tell me I’ve missed out your favourite - I’m always happy to talk Norse Mythology.
On Twitter/X/Threads and Instagram @soulchaserbecky.
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