The Testament of Loki by Joanne HarrisMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Reading The Testament of Loki, is a bit like going down the rabbit of hole of mythology vs reality on a roller-coaster.
Whereas The Gospel of Loki was set very much in a fantastical/alternative reality, in The Testament, the lord of cunning, manipulation and transformation manages to find a secret way through his reality, where he is trapped in The Black Fortress, into our own - a world without magic, without gods but full of minds ready to influence.
Speaking of minds - that is precisely where Loki ends up - inside the mind of a teenage girl.
From there we as a reader observe with some humour how this girl re-acts, copes and eventually accepts that she isn't going insane and that she is stuck with Loki until proven otherwise. Yet Loki proves, like he usually does, to be a blessing as well as a curse, for he ultimately shows the girl how to be honest with herself, to her family and to be 'Fabulous' despite all of society's expectations and life's challenges.
However, things get even weirder when she/Loki discover that one her close friends is in fact in the same situation she is - their mind is also possessed by one of the pantheon, but will they prove to be friend or foe? Who has the ultimate agenda/scheme/plan? Will any of them find a way to exist independently? Or is it the true fate of the Gods to merely become voices in the back of our conscious?
The twists, tuns, high rises, deep lows, secrets, betrayal, double betrayal and more are as superbly planned as they always are in Joanne's Norse series and she really reaches new levels of awe, drama, excitement, shock and even a tinge of sadness for the challenges both gods and humans face.
Loki's personality and voice is so strong that as a reader and fan I can almost imagine Loki lounging in a chair in Joanne's writing shed, proudly regaling her with the tale as she writes it down. Loki always did like an audience.
It is a brilliant stand-a-lone sequel to The Gospel and also a tie-in to Runemarks.
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