Ragnarok was the End of Worlds.

Asgard fell, centuries ago, and the old gods have been defeated. Some are dead, while others have been consigned to eternal torment in the netherworld – among them, the legendary trickster, Loki. A god who betrayed every side and still lost everything, who has lain forgotten as time passed and the world of humans moved on to new beliefs, new idol and new deities . . .

But now mankind dreams of the Norse Gods once again, the river Dream is but a stone’s throw from their dark prison, and Loki is the first to escape into a new reality.

The first, but not the only one to. Other, darker, things have escaped with him, who seek to destroy everything that he covets. If he is to reclaim what has been lost, Loki will need allies, a plan, and plenty of tricks . . .

Trigger Warning: Mentions of self harm and references to eating disorders. In one particular scene the main character cuts herself and threatens suicide.

First of all dear readers, for those who do not already know – the Loki in this book (as well as in book 1 The Gospel of Loki) is NOT Marvel’s version. This Loki is the OG Loki, the original version from Norse mythology. He is not Thor’s brother and he is not Odin’s son. He is Chaos incarnate.

And just like he did in the first book, Loki is once again doing what he does best – getting in to mischief. He does find himself on unfamiliar ground though as he finds himself in the modern day. Things like cell phones and pizza both confuse and delight him.

Harris has once again shown her love of the characters because she imbues them with life like few others can. They all have their flaws, especially Loki (though he considers himself practically perfect).

What I really enjoyed about The Testament of Loki was the growth that both Loki and Jumps go through. Jumps comes to accept who she is and what she can and cannot change about herself. To see her blossom from a shy reserved individual to a brave one was lovely. The same can be said for Loki; over the course of the book he learns not to be so self-centered and to actually care for someone other than himself.

My only complaint is how short the book itself is. I would have loved to have seen more of Loki learning about the modern world. As it is, he was only given a very brief time to experience all it’s wonders.

I am told that the end of this book leads in to one of Harris’ older series – Runemarks and Runelight. I have already added them to my list and will be reading them sometime in the future.

Fans of Joanne Harris should of course seek this book out. Same for those who are familiar with the Norse pantheon and the original Loki. For everyone else, go read The Gospel of Loki and then come back to this one.