Changes

|title=Olaf the Viking

|author=Martin Conway

|buy=Maybe

|borrow=Yes

|pages=256

|publisher=Oxford University Press

|date=July 2008

|isbn=0192720872

}}

The pictorial sense of the writing then could be improved, but the plot as I say is spritely enough, and joined with the sense of humour I wasn't entirely enamoured with but would go down well with the younger reader, there is still a book worth considering here. Insincere as it may be, droll in its comedy and approach to the myths, and replete with unlikely circumstances, contrivances, and a whopping great covering over what exactly Loki was doing kicking around there after all, there is still a little charm. I could have preferred a better authorial voice, and some greater sense of the sagas of old coming through (this in fact goes great guns to scoff the sagas), but the young reader will find much more novelty, in the setting, humour, strong characterisation (in parts), and plotting.

To those wishing to inspire a look at the Norse world, with a dollop of silly levity and zany diversions from what we know and like about it, this book is recommended by the Bookbag. We thank OUP's children's section for sending us a copy to review. Those enjoying this, and seeking a book with a similar spirit, jollity and fantasy, could do worse than exploring the world of [[The Seventh Tide by Joan Lennon]], which also has young protagonists entering a world of mythology gone oddball.

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