Mist
Midgard, Book #1
By Susan Krinard
ISBN# 9780765332080
Author’s Website: http://susankrinard.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Vanessa
*Beware of Spoilers*
Synopsis:
Mist lives a normal life. She has a normal job, a normal boyfriend, and a normal apartment in San Francisco. She never thinks about her past if she can help it.
She survived. That’s the end of it.
But then a snowy winter descends upon San Francisco … where it never snows. And in quick succession, Mist is attacked by a frost giant in a public park and runs into an elf disguised as a homeless person on the streets…and then the man Mist believed was her mortal boyfriend reveals himself to be the trickster god, Loki, alive and well after all these years.
Mist’s normal world is falling apart. But thankfully, Mist isn’t quite so normal herself. She’s a Valkyrie, and she’s going to need all her skill to thwart Loki’s schemes and save modern Earth from the ravages of a battle of the gods.
Review:
Overall this was a good story, very interesting and complex. However, that may have also been this books downfall. There is so much mythology to understand and remember it can become a bit daunting at times. There were far too many lengthy explanations and narratives to make me feel as though I was involved in the story as actively as I would have liked. Norse mythology is the name of the game in this book and if you aren’t versed in it, you may want to jump on the internet and get a brief recap.
I realize that as the first book in the series, this book was going to do a lot more of the setting up then the actual angst, but I just wasn’t really captivated. Again, I think most of this relates to the background world building of the story. There is so much to know, too much at times. Obviously Susan Krinard put a lot of research and effort into the world building, which I can’t fault her for. I just simply wasn’t a fan because it caused me to lose focus on my emotional connection to the characters and the story. There was also a lot of repetition that got to me. I kept thinking to myself,“Yes, we know…” I’m not sure exactly where to categorize this book so I’ll say its Urban Fantasy, since we are for the most part in modern/future society.
Mist was a strong enough female lead and being a Valkyrie, I’d expect no less, but as the story further unfolded, it was clear that she was a lot less clued in on what was actually going on then she could have ever imagined. The sad part was for all her history and abilities I still couldn’t help but find her rather one dimensional. I wasn’t super impressed with Dainn, the male lead, either. He was interesting enough, but it all felt like it had been done before and I just never “fell” for him. Loki, the main antagonist, was a little better but not by much. By the time the book was almost to its end, I felt tired and unfocused as though I was pushing myself to finish the book.
Now, don’t let my take on the story completely deter you from reading this book. There are many Urban Fantasy fans who will find this book completely captivating and the world building to be an essential part of that. But for me, the characters are truly where I connect the most and unfortunately, that is where Mist did not succeed for me. Although, Mist does have something that many other books in this genre don’t have and that’s originality. The story (although overflowing with information at times) is well written and filled with new ideas and twists to keep the reader entertained. I would definitely like to see the direction the author takes with the next book in the series. Hopefully we can experience more on the “ground level” with the characters in the next installment.
