full title:Thor's Wedding Day: by Thialfi, the Goat Boy, as told to and translated by Bruce Coville
Harcourt, Inc -- hc
Orlando, FL -- ©2005 -- 137pp
ISBN-10: 0-15-201455-1
Illustrations by Matthew Cogswell
Thor's magical hammer, Mjolnir, has been stolen by the giants of Jotunheim, and Thor, his brother Loki, and Thialfi (the human) must use trickery to get it back.
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Bruce Coville is an incredibly talented writer, and one of my favorite authors. He writes for kids, which is good for kids, but not so great for adults who are missing out on his works.
This book can easily be read in an afternoon, but that doesn't mean it isn't good -- just brief. Because of it's shorter nature, there are some questions I have -- mainly, what was Loki's purpose in the story. He is set up as being quite the trickster, we are set to wondering why he insists on attending Thor on his journey, we learn that the dwarfs who actually stole the hammer have a grudge against Loki ... and that's the end of it. Ir definitely had the feel as if something more important was intended to happen, but never did.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed this read. Perhaps it's just "kismet" that I happen to be reading other Scandinavian tales (Saga of the Volsung) at this time as well, but the setting, characters, and mood sit very well with me.
A highly recommended read.
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