Odin's Ravens

A bunch of teens with godlike powers running around trying to prevent the apocalypse? Yeah it's been done before but this one is pretty good, the kids show smarts and they actually try to think their ways out of situations first before attacking. Matt Thorsen, Fen and Laurie Brekke are trying to work out how to get their friend, Baldwin, out of Hel and how to stay alive and defeat those who would start Ragnarok, they have to make some pretty adult decisions to stay alive and try to work out who is an enemy and who is a friend. I like this series and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Initial Thoughts

I read everything Kelley Amrstrong writes so my expectations of her are always high. This one didn’t disappoint.

My New BFF

I still really like Laurie. I’d take her and Matt as my bff’s easy. They grew a little bit in this book while still being the same characters I loved in the first book. I like how they both are very similar to the Gods they represent.

My Crush

I will never stop loving Fen. He’s very interesting and that’s what keeps my entertained. Odin was another character that really started to grow on me the more we saw him. He’s like the quiet, smart one that sits back and lets everyone else work things out. He seems the oldest of all the characters. He knows exactly what he needs to do and he does show more it.

Writing Style

Lots and lots of action and adventure! My favourite! There was never a boring moment and I could hardly put the book down. You feel like all the characters are your best friends but they still surprise you sometimes. That’s what happens when you stick two great authors together.

Closing Thoughts

This is one of the only middle grade series that still keeps me interested. I think it’s funny how Thor’s and Loki’s descendants have to get along and it gives them a hard time throughout their adventures. There;s just a lot of humour in general in this book. You can tell it’s for a younger audience which bothers me a little but I have to read all of Kelley’s books. There’s a pretty high possibility that the descendants will complete their mission and save the world. I can’t wait to see what happens next! Some crazy plot twists are going to happen I can feel it! show less

Baldwin is dead, avatar of the god Baldr in legend he stayed dead because Loki would not cry for him – but this time Loki’s descendants grieved for his loss. With the myth changed, Laurie, Fenn and Matt are willing to enter the underworld and bring Baldr home – even if it means facing the dead, giant dogs and the goddess of Hel.

Even then they’ve still got Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor to find and an apocalypse to stop… and Matt, a 13 year old boy, has to grow into the shoes of Thor.



Plot wise I think this book has a similar issue with the last book – it’s very linear. They have a step-by-step plan and are railroaded along it. They have to rescue Baldwin, they have to find Mjolnir and to do both they’re basically told show more how to do both. We then have all the necessary action scenes described (and they’re really good, don’t get me wrong) and they all flow very smoothly, there’s little in the way of down time or dead places in the book – but it’s still linear. They have a task, they know exactly where to go, they go there, they fight whatever gribbly thing they have to fight then either they succeed and fail and move on to the next step. There’s no real complexity there. And it isn’t written badly and it certainly doesn’t flow better and it’s generally fun to read – but it’s a classic quest story. A well written quest story, a nicely paced quest story with some great description – but still a linear quest story.

The research behind the book is excellent with a real nice inclusion of all kinds of Norse legends and not just the common ones (Thor, lord of goats doesn’t make its way into many stories). I do so love the legends

One thing that does set this book above the first book is the character development – there’s a lot more of it. It also had some nicely fun moments in between the action

I am torn over Fenn. On the one side he’s a pretty annoying character – he’s surly and moody and his cousin Laurie spends waaaaay too much time tip-toeing around his stompyness. I honestly spent most of the book a little tense waiting for him to do something unforgivably outrageous, turn to the dark side, or otherwise make me want to strangle him. In the end he was still a character I didn’t like – but he wasn’t unrealistic, excessive or aggravating – or any more aggravating that a bad tempered 13 year old with a chip on his shoulder should be. I think there’s a level of realism to him, he’s had a hard pretty neglected life, he’s always been second or overlooked and accused (which we also see from the general Thorsen way of treating him and the other Brekke’s) and the only person he has ever had he could rely on is Laurie – who now has other friends and is supporting them and not just following in his wake. His behaviour is understandable – annoying but understandable and realistic.


Laurie has stepped forward a lot in this book – both her changing role as champion and her getting a weapon and finally taking her place in combat rather than being the portal bus for the rest of the group. She is a more active participant, she still has to constantly navigate around Fenn’s ridiculously stifling “protectiveness” which I had hoped would have been dealt with in the last book, but she’s more involved than being the transport. I also like more of her Loki-ness coming through in cleverness – when she meets Helen (goddess of Hel) she is quick to call her “auntie Helen” and play into the relationship while Fen is more reluctant. She sees a potential advantage and she works it – to Helen’s amusement. Laurie is beginning to show signs of craftiness.

Owen also made more appearances in this book and he had some nice elements of character development – including the way his gift of all seeing forces him to be vague and not to intervene. He wasn’t around a lot but he had a lot of conflict in that time and managed to come across as a major power without stealing Matt’s thunder.

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I dunno... I'm looking for something more focused on the ravens themselves, like something Christopher Moore or Terry Pratchett might write from the ravens' perspective.

Any suggestions? (Any age level is fine.)