"Loki: Journey Into Mystery" delves into the rebirth of the trickster Loki, who is tasked with aiding Thor, to combat a formidable threat. In this adaptation of Kieron Gillen's series traverses realms, Loki has the role of a main character navigating the path to redemption while confronting ancient prophecies and new gods.

While Katherine Locke adeptly captures Loki's trademark wit and mischief, maintaining the essence of the beloved character, Elliot Fitzpatrick's stellar performance in the audiobook adds depth and humor, though action sequences lacked the visual impact inherent in graphic novels. While Locke's prose successfully encapsulates much of the original's essence, this adaptation might pose a challenge for those not versed in Marvel lore. Then again, with all of the MCU’s variations on the big screen, Loki’s fans might welcome what the God of Mischief has to offer.

Special thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, Marvel, and the editorial team for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC in audiobook format and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.

If you are interested in other of my book reviews, make sure to follow me on GoodReads! #Loki #NetGalley #LifeLongLearning

Loki by Katherine Locke is a novelization of Kieron Gillen's graphic novel of the same name. I thought it was adventurous, funny, and exciting. There's a prophecy that says great danger is coming and the only one who can save everyone is Thor, the catch is that Thor's success depends on his brother Loki. This book is full of fantasy, adventure, humor, and it's all tied together by mythology.

I enjoyed the audio narration, I think the narrator did a really good job of conveying emotion, determination, and humor throughout the audiobook.

This book was definitely a journey and it was funny so I enjoyed it that much more. I'm giving this 3.5 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 3.5/5 Stars

Thank you [NetGalley.com] for the audio advanced listeners copy.

Post Date Recap: This book date was a setup. Translation: This is an ARC of Loki that I received from NetGalley to provide an unbiased review. Thank you to the team for allowing me this opportunity.

I am, admittedly, a total geek. I am the girl that celebrates May the Fourth Be With You. I have a TARDIS pen holder. And I ugly cried at End Game.

What I’m saying is I was well acquainted with the Marvel version of Loki (which, yes, does differ from the mythological god Loki) so I went into this book with some excitement, but it was, sadly, short lived.

I’ll admit that a large part of my displeasure with this story was my own fault. I did not realize (until after completing the book and reading some other reviews) that this had been the author’s retelling of a comic series. With that knowledge, I had a very different view of the story and wish I could relisten in that light.

I think the author did an excellent job of wrangling a comic story into only written word. That is a huge undertaking that I can’t imagine doing myself and should be applauded.

That said, throughout my initial listen, I wasn’t thrilled with the content of the story. Loki was very young in this story, but he came across as whiny and annoying a lot of the time. Most of the time I found myself frustrated with him and missing the little bite that grown up Loki has in the Marvel world.

The narrator was appropriate for adult Loki and sounded a decent bit like Tom Hiddleston, however because Loki is very young through the bulk of the book, perhaps a younger sounding narrator would have been a better choice. Not a ding to the narrator at all, just possibly not the perfect choice for this story.

As a fan of Loki the Norse trickster god, I jumped on the chance to listen to the eALC. Unfortunately, I didn't end up loving it as much as I'd hoped, and I think it's mostly because I chose the wrong format. As the story has quite a few characters and twists in the story, I got lost at times while listening to it. I also didn't like the narrator (a very personal preference, but one which affected my reading experience nonetheless).

I think this is perfect for fans of the MCU and Loki as a MCU-character. It felt a bit YA to me, but that might also just be because Loki is so young in the story, so his scheming and tricking is not as demonish as his older self might have done it.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the digital ARC!

This book was a really fun read. It's an adaptation of a Loki comic series by Kieron Gillen, so keep that in mind if you only follow the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I myself haven't read the series, but I still enjoyed this book despite that.

The story is told mostly from the point of view of Loki, who has been reborn as a child following the adult Loki's death in events that happened prior to the start of this book. I really enjoyed this version of Loki, who is trying very hard to be good and do the right thing while still having the mischievous chaotic nature that Loki is known for. The author was also very good at showing Loki's inner turmoil when he has to make difficult decisions that could potentially hurt people that he cares about, which he ends up having to do a lot.

The story was very fast-paced and entertaining. It did feel like there were multiple points where the book could have ended, which made the whole book feel like a series of stories strung together as one. But again, this was adapted from a comic series so I think that's why the book was structured this way. I didn't have much trouble following along, as most past events, such as the adult Loki's death, and unfamiliar characters were explained enough for me to understand their context within this story.

Overall, I found this to be a fun read with Loki being as charming and chaotic as ever, even in child form. I think a lot of Marvel fans will enjoy this, especially if they are also Loki fans.

“All stories have beginnings. The good ones don’t have endings. In every world, stories are told. By gods or mortals, it doesn’t matter. Stories are currency. Stories are power. ... Many millennia ago, I read a fairytale that began like this: Once there was where there was not. This isn’t a fairytale. Not strictly speaking.”

My thanks to Dreamscape Media Marvel for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘Loki - Journey into Mystery’ by Katherine Locke. The audiobook is narrated by Elliot Fitzpatrick.

This prose novel is adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Kieron Gillen and tells the story of the reborn trickster god’s journey to find redemption as he tackles new adventures.

The novel and graphic novel are both linked to the Marvel Comics SF-themed depiction of the Norse gods and Asgard. While I have a passing familiarity with the comics and their cinematic adaptations, I am not that knowledgeable. However, despite this I found this quite an enjoyable story.

It is divided into four parts, each covering a corresponding collection of the graphic novel. I would have appreciated a short introduction that linked the novel to the source material.

My favourite of the parts was ‘The Manchester Gods’ in which Loki and companions are sent by the All-Mother to give assistance to King Arthur in the British Otherworld.

With respect to the accompanying audiobook, Elliot Fitzpatrick trained in theatre and in 2019 began to focus on working as a voice actor. He has served as narrator on a number of audiobook titles, including a few that I have enjoyed. He managed to voice the playful young Loki with ease along with its other characters.

Overall, I found ‘Loki - Journey into Mystery’ an entertaining tale despite my lack of knowledge about the Marvel version of the characters. It also inspired me to look at the graphic novels and I might well read these at some point.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Loki: Journey Into Mystery follows a Loki who has recently died and been reborn as a young man. Throw some well-known characters such as Thor, Hela, and Surtur in with some not as well-known ones like Leah and Nightmare and you have one story that goes, well, all over the place. Apparently this is adapted from a graphic novel of which I am not familiar, so I don't have that frame of reference. All I have is the MCU's Loki (who I love) and well, this ain't him.

While the story has some funny moments (glorious one-liners from Loki) and some ridiculous moments, I didn't really love this. In fact, I thought this story had way too much going on, and I'm not sure who its target market is. I don't think it's fans of MCU's Loki. It might be graphic novel or comic fans, but sometimes this story reads really young ( like middle grade young), so maybe it's for people who need an introduction to Loki.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Elliot Fitzpatrick was an awesome narrator. Love how much he sounded like Hiddleston.

It is excalty as it says: a prose version of Journey Into Mystery.
There's a lot going on and it can be a little hard to follow at times (having the graphic novel open as I listened helped a lot), but the writing is good and the story is entertaining.

Has Loki had a change of heart is he going to change his ways as he travels the different realms to try and stop the serpent beast from destroying life as he and his brothers know it we get to meet a more honest Loki and after everyone he meets from lord hyphal bird to the big tongue to mini mini more after they get over the initial shock at how much smaller Loki is as a post to his legend then how Loki isn’t there to trick them but is on a much more nobler quest he tries to gain support but threw it all Loki will learn his bad ax in dubious and egregious acts may have just caught up with him because someone is following Loki but why? Throughout the journey he has many different sidekicks can they help him finish the task he is on it is a journey of all journeys I listen to the audiobook and thought the narrator was top-notch it was so good not to mention this book is hilarious it made me laugh multiple times if you love Norse mythology especially Loki he will definitely love this audiobook by Catherine Locke she did a phenomenal job what a great book! this is a whole new side to Loki an OMG I loved it! I want to thank Dreamscape media and Net galley for my free Ark copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

So, silly me… I went into this audiobook thinking, “Loki is so popular right now. I’m gonna hop on the trend and listen to this book!”

Little did I know, you kind of have to be familiar with this comic universe to really be able to follow this, which is how it is designed and anyone who loves Marvel would realize this. But you’re girl here is a little clueless on how these stories work 🤣 Fortunately I have a Marvel expert at my disposal who was able to fill me in on everything I had no clue about and really helped me understand the characters and their storylines.

I very much enjoyed the narrator and his delivery. He really kept my attention with his narration and brought the characters to life. Including my favorite character, Thori. Thori is a hellhound pup with a thirst for all things murderous and is somehow still super adorable. You can’t help but love him and want to rub his belly.

If you are considering reading this, it is helpful if you are familiar with the following Marvel comic series:
Fear Itself
Young Avengers
Unworthy Thor

I am a slut for anything marvel and Loki related, I was allll over this. Absolutely loved it. That’s my god of mischief 👏🏻

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for providing me with this audiobook arc in exchange for my honest review.

Great narrator, entertaining read but not the most coherent.

I love reading about Loki and watching series/movies involving Loki. He’s so clever and funny and impulsive. So it was great reading about him again! I laughed a lot with certain things he said or did.

The story starts in a bit of a strange/confusing way, with some mysterious birds. But soon we read about young Loki and it’s immediately really funny. I loved how the humans of the internet got involved haha. I think that was my favorite part of the book.

Loki is reborn after former Loki destroyed Asgard but then sacrificed himself to save it. This old Loki is the reason why people around him think young Loki is a betrayer, someone not to be trusted, the downfall of Asgard. So you can imagine how people treat young Loki. I’m glad he had his half-brother thor who doesn’t think that way about him and defends him. But Loki does make Thor look like he wanted to laugh or cry or walk into the sea at one point haha. This book is full of great quotes like that! Another favorite of mine, said by Loki: “Let’s not count our disastrous chickens before they hatch”. Or by Odin: “The god who took it will have to master the art of living without a skin”.

A bird explodes in Loki’s room and that’s the start of a a mystery with one clue leading to another. Unfortunately not many details about this mystery are shared with us and we soon just end up at a rendezvous with old Loki. And I just realized that what follows might have been too incoherent and chaotic for me but Loki is the God of Chaos so maybe it’s fitting for a story about Loki to be this way.

It was entertaining but I prefer a less chaotic story.

The narrator of this audiobook did an amazing job! Sounded exactly how I would have expected wonderfully done.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book.

I used to read Young Avengers and Agent of Asgard comics as they came out, so I grew to love Kid Loki always trying to use chaos for good. Seeing his whole character arc together in one book was amazing and I loved it.

So this is a book version of a comic run. It starts without enough information about previous events (which I assume they also made into a novel?). The narration was clearly chosen to mimic Tom Hiddleston instead of reflecting that this is kid/young Loki and that threw me off or a while. The story is a big hodge-podge of mythology (which I know MArvel already doesn't stick to) but nicely dived into sections. I loved to see young Loki's change in attitude from the past Loki. The ending was twisty and I enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun fantasy novel that is making want to watch the Loki show on Disney+. The focus on Loki and him trying to not be the villain was great. We all love a good villain story, but I would argue that Loki is not a villain, but is instead morally grey. This was fun and exciting and the narrator was amazing!

Loved the story telling love the narrator loved the plot was a quick read ! If you like Loki and marvels Loki I can see you loving this book

It’s good interesting if you’re paying attention 100% this is one you can’t doze off. It’s hard to stay focused but the story picks up. If you like Loki you will definitely enjoy it.

Earth faces an imminent threat—the Serpent, an insidious force that only Thor can thwart according to an ancient prophecy. However, Thor's success hinges on the aid of his reluctant brother, Loki. Bound by necessity, Loki embarks on a dangerous quest, accompanied by a handmaiden from Hel and a demon puppy, to redeem himself or face eternal damnation. But lurking in the shadows is Nightmare, eager to seize dominion over the world, compelling Loki to stake everything on an audacious plan.

Amidst this chaos, new gods emerge, disrupting the established order and plunging the nine realms into turmoil. Tasked with diplomatic responsibilities, Loki navigates a delicate balance, endeavouring to prevent the worlds from succumbing to the flames of Surtur's destructive fire. In this fresh prose novel, drawing inspiration from Kieron Gillen's iconic comic series, young Loki must traverse the realms to reclaim control of his narrative. Along the way, he must outsmart ancient adversaries, grapple with the complexities of morality, and face the challenge of resisting an unexpected emotional entanglement.

Loki intricately weaves a fantastical narrative inspired by the celebrated Marvel comics, offering a riveting adventure centred around the complex character of Loki. The novel presents a spellbinding blend of mythology, fantasy, and young adult themes, inviting readers into a world of intrigue and peril. The story unfolds with a captivating premise, propelling Loki into a high-stakes mission to aid his brother, Thor, against an ominous threat. Locke crafts a compelling narrative filled with vivid imagery and imaginative realms, immersing readers in a multifaceted universe populated by gods, demons, and ancient adversaries.

The portrayal of Loki as a multifaceted character grappling with redemption, moral dilemmas, and the desire to forge his destiny lends depth and nuance to the narrative. The supporting cast, including the handmaiden from Hel and the demon puppy, adds charm and complexity to Loki's journey, elevating the storytelling. The novel's strength lies in exploring Loki's inner turmoil, his quest for agency, and the challenges he faces while manoeuvring through a world rife with chaos and upheaval. Locke adeptly captures the essence of Loki's cunning nature and intricate schemes while balancing the character's vulnerabilities and internal conflicts.

It is a captivating read that seamlessly blends elements of fantasy and mythology, offering an engaging narrative that will appeal to both Marvel enthusiasts and fans of thrilling, otherworldly adventures. Katherine Locke delivers a tale brimming with intrigue, emotional depth, and the timeless struggle between fate and free will, leaving readers eagerly anticipating Loki's next escapade.

Loki, Journey into Mystery by Katherine Locke & Marvel
Narrated by Elliot Fitzpatrick
Publisher: Dreamscape Media, Marvel
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Sci Fi & Fantasy
Expected Publication Date: December 19, 2023

Loki, Journey into Mystery by Katherine Locke was fascinating! I enjoyed this book very much!

By far, Loki is one of my favorite Marvel characters, so getting to read one of his stories just made my day! I loved the quick wit, and I thought the story was fascinating! There was a lot going on and tons of misdirection!

I enjoyed the narration by Elliot Fitzpatrick. He portrayed Loki well and made this a fun listen!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.