Loki: WICKED, VISCERAL, TRANSGRESSIVE: Norse gods as you've never seen them before

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Well, I didn’t win – that honour goes to Paola Zannoner her book, L’Ultimo Faro – The Last Lighthouse. But I did have a lovely time. I love Italy; my publishers there are fabulous and of course it was a delight to be up for a big prize. http://lizflanagan.co.uk/blog/2015/1/8/melvin-burgess-on-writing-for-teenagers-crossover-fiction-and-his-newest-project Maybe you know one. Maybe you are one and you just don’t know it yet. But watch out if you are. The Hunt is drawing near – and they want your powers for themselves. Alongside the politics of Asgard, the novel charts the course of Loki’s many loves and families, from his mothering of Odin’s famous horse to his intense, turbulent, and, eventually fatal relationship with Baldr the Beautiful—a tender and moving story of a love that goes wrong.

Not, alas, from his imprisonment deep in the world’s bowels, where he has been trapped by the other gods, but his voice, his book – in which I had a small part to play in writing it down – is available to buy.For anyone planning on going to the Waterstones event in York on the 24th – sorry, it’s been cancelled. The Andersen Award is the most prestigious prize internationally in writing for young people, judged on the whole body of an auther’s work. I’ll be up against some of the very finest writers from around the world, but just to be nominated is a tremendous honour and I’m enormously flattered, delighted and proud. I shall be going round with a big smile on my face for a good while,

A new drug is out. Everyone is talking about it. The Hit. Take it, and you have one amazing week to live. It's the ultimate high - at the ultimate price.

While the language is crude at times, Burgess’ writing is also very funny, lyrical, thought provoking, and atmospheric. Melvin's first adult novel, LOKI, a re-telling of the Norse myths through the mischievous Loki, was published by Coronet (Hodder) in 2022 and Pegasus Books in the US in 2023. Praise for LOKI: this book demands some open mindset, the retellings are unfiltered, and the vocabulary vulgar (readers get insulted). Loki feels that his time has come. The old gods – Odin, Thor, Tyr – have got away with it for long enough. It’s time to tell his version of the events, long ago, which led to his unjust imprisonment. Waterstones Now listen and attend closely, I shall tell you the story of my downfall– the truth, not the propaganda, not the Asgard spin. You will see that I am your friend after all.”

Of course, in Loki’s tale he is always the hero, a Northern Prometheus and champion of humankind, while many of the Norse pantheon are portrayed as baddies or buffoons. However, Odin is treated more kindly as are the Norse goddesses.This is a retelling that is contemporary in tone, at once amusing and relatable. It is a heartfelt plea to overthrow the old gods of power and authority and instigate a new era ruled by love and intelligence. Gedurende het boek praat Loki rechtstreeks tegen de lezer en vertelt hij over zijn streken tijdens de mythen. De manier waarop hij met de lezer communiceert, geeft het boek een aangename en humoristische toets. There are anachronisms, which work. Canapes are served at Asgard’s many drinks parties. Odin starts to go insane because he has peered into the multiverse, while the traditionally male god Baldr turns out to be a hermaphrodite, with Loki taking Baldr’s “second virginity” in soft-porn fashion on a bearskin rug. One of Loki’s wives, Angrboda, gives birth to enormous monsters, and Burgess gruesomely details their arrivals as if on a contemporary maternity ward.

Every living thing has a spirit and some people – some very special people – can see those spirits. Some can have relationships with them; some can even have powers over them. Waterstones Manchester Deansgate event with Mark Illis. It’s a double launch!– Mark’s launching his book, The Impossible; on the Run. I’ll be talking about The Lost Witch. JULY 21st As a Norse (Dane) I've been wanting to read more books inspired by/retellings of Norse mythology, but they're not as easy to come by as certain other mythologies *cough* Greek *cough*, so I was excited when I came across this one - and it's also told by one of the best Norse gods, Loki (I'm not biased.. you are)!

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It is also a book that does not gloss over the queerness of Norse mythology. Loki is a shapeshifter and spends time as a man and as a woman, and loves both - and that takes centre stage in this retelling. It also looks at how the body of Norse mythology includes both queerness and homophobia, and I really liked that it didn't try to erase one to make the other fit.