9 From The Nine Worlds



Hello my fair readers, I am very happy to be back to you! Today, I have really good news, my friend passed me her new book from Rick Riordan so we'll have another book review and mythology lesson, but not necessarily in that order.

It's called 9 From the Nine Worlds, it's a collection of stories from the characters of Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard in the nine realms of the Norse mythology. The vikings believed that they lived in a gigantic tree named Yggdrasil, and it supported the structure of the nine worlds.

Asgard (the first one at the top) is the home of the Aesir, the gods such as Odin, Thor, Frigg, Heimdall, Loki, Tyr, Baldur, Idun and Bragi. It is also the home of  half of the vikings that had a great death, Einherjar that live in Valhalla waiting for the Ragnarok.

Then, at the trunk, there are three realms. First there is Alfheim, home of the light elves, then Midgard, home of the tiny humans (us) and finally Muspellheim, home of the fire giants and demons. The vikings believed that every realm was flat and if you travelled too far you could fall down into nothingness and/or be eaten alive by Jörmungandr, the World serpent that surrounds Midgard.

At the bottom, there are the five other ones. Nidavellir, home of the dwarves, Helheim, home of Hel and the dishonourable dead, Nilfheim, world of the ice fog and mist, Jotunheim, home of the giants.

There is also Vanaheim, home of the Vanir, the other half of the gods like Freya, Freyr and Njord. They have Fólkvangr to receive their half of the valiant dead waiting for the Ragnarok.

You can travel from one realm to another by climbing Yggdrasil, but beware the creatures lurking in between the branches and leaves, such as Ratatosk, that insults you and could wreck your mind and  leave you crying forever and ever.
Image result for nine realms rick riordan

Now, Ragnarok. It's the end of world according to the vikings, the final battle between the gods and the giants that the gods are assured of loosing when the time will come. At that time, all of the Einherjar will be fighting side to side against their common enemy: Loki, the people of all Helheim, Jotunheim and Muspellheim. 
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9 From The Nine Worlds

Now that you can understand a little of what I'm talking about, let's talk about the book!
It's divided in 9 different stories and each contains an anecdote of a battle that happened with one of secondary characters. Can I just say that I adore the names of the stories? I mean, look at that, it's awesome!

Asgard: Just Another Decapitated Head by Odin
Midgard: This Is Why I Hate Clothes Shopping by Amir Fadlan
Nidavellir: This Little Light of mine, I'm Going to Let It Shine by Blitzen
Alfheim: Speaking Of Trolls... by Hearthstone
Jotunheim: My Eighth-Grade Physics Actually Comes In Handy by Samirah al-Abbas
Helheim: Nice Doggy by "T.J." Jefferson Jr.
Nilfheim: So's Your Face! by Mallory Keen
Vanaheim: Well That Was A Surprise by Halfborn Gunderson
Muspellheim: I Play With Fire by Alex Fierro

Each is told by a different character and it is really funny to see the difference of reasoning between them, like Amir is a simple human that discovered the whole Norse mythology lately and doesn't think at all the same way as Hearthstone, a deaf light elf rune master that had more than his share of weird stories. Also, it's funny because it's all set around the same time, like they all meet Thor jogging around the nine realms and they meet with each other and there are references to the other stories. 

I believe Rick Riordan is a genius to be able to write in all those styles, to represent most of the population whilst keeping a light hearted tone and the historic aspect of each mythology. All hail the God of the Riordanverse!

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