Loki is a fictional character from the Marvel Comics universe. He first appeared in comic books published by Marvel in 1962. In Norse mythology, Loki is based on the Norse deity of the same name, known as the God of mischief, trickery, and chaos. In Marvel Comics, Loki is depicted as the adopted brother and archenemy of Thor, the God of Thunder. He is known for his cunning and deceitful nature, constantly scheming to gain power and cause trouble for Thor and the other heroes of the Marvel universe.
Loki might be the villain you love or love to hate. He’s making his fourth appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Thor Ragnarok. Loki made his Marvel debut in Journey into Mystery Number 85, a modern reimagining of the character by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s powers and abilities. Loki may lack the giant in his frosty genes, but he does possess superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes, stamina, and durability. He can also grant people and objects super abilities, as he did with Absorbing Man.
Being a sorcerer, Loki is also a master of shapeshifting, turning into such things as a dragon, stingray, or bee. Being a master of deception and manipulation, he is brilliant. For instance, he’s the guy who made the potion for absorbing man’s powers, and then once upon a time, he trapped Iceman and then used them to power a machine that he created to amplify the frost giants’ ice powers.
Loki straight-up convinced the super scroll to attack Thor. But even more impressive than that, he convinced Silver Surfer to attack Thor. He convinced Norman Osborn to attack Asgard, which was even more amazing than that. If you want to read books on Loki, stay with me.
7 Books About Loki (Norse Legend)
Loki is so durable. He once took Thor’s most powerful hit and didn’t even fall to his feet. Loki is such a powerful character, and Spider-Man is considered weak in comparison. If you don’t know, he is the king of the fire giants and extremely powerful. He’s nearly impossible to kill, and he even tricked Odin into thinking he was his father. We also see a weakened Loki use a fraction of his power to shatter one of Dr. Strange’s shields. To know more, I will talk about 7 Norse myth books on Loki. Let’s go!
1. Loki: Where Mischief Lies
The biggest thing about this book is the relationship between Thor and Loki. Thor genuinely cares about his brother and Loki as he doesn’t want to admit it cares about Thor. It was nice to see that relationship between them. Father Odin is very wary of Loki and trusts Loki as much as you trust Thor. Loki wasn’t allowed to do magic. His father had banished him from doing that so that you would teach him secretly. They had that special connection with each other.
We have a girl named Amora. She is pretty much Loki’s best friend. She is his only friend besides Thor, and he doesn’t consider Thor his friend either. Loki is afraid to speak out because of his father. But Amora is not scared of anything, so she’s fearless. Loki doesn’t know what he will do without his best friend, and that’s where part one ends. Part two takes up the rest of the book, and we jump into the future.
So, in part two, Loki is now a teenager. They’re doing diplomatic missions for his father, and both are trying to figure out who will get the throne in Asgard. So Thor hasn’t taken the throne yet. None of that’s happened. Both of them think that they still have a chance at the throne. Loki says he might not be as equal to his brothers, but he will still try.
A big theme in this book is Loki’s destiny being written for him. He’s struggling with his identity and trying to figure out who he will be in the future. Is he a villain or a hero? Is he the opposite of his brother? The entire theme of the story is his trying to find himself and who he is as a person. It is one of the best books on Loki I have ever read.
Author: Mackenzi Lee
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: Superhero Fiction, Wizards & Witches Fantasy
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
2. The Gospel of Loki
The Gospel of Loki is inspired by Norse mythology, and as the title may suggest, it’s narrated by Loki and tells of his exploits among the Norse gods. So most of the stories in this are taken from the poetic header. It’s pretty sarcastic. To understand it, you need to be familiar with many concepts of Norse mythology, world-building, and different creatures. The book is split into sections, starting with a quotation from the oracle’s prophecy. Each section is a different step along Loki’s journey and how he’s interacting with the gods.
Loki is quite upfront at the beginning because when he’s narrating this, Ragnarok has happened. There’s a second book in this series, a post-Ragnarok book. So there’s an inevitability to everything happening, which you also get when you read the poetic letter in many ways. It is because you also have read the oracle’s prophecy.
Loki categorizes all these gods as two-dimensional, which doesn’t mean they are. But that is your point of view narrative that you’re getting. Sometimes it was pretty simplistic because Loki approached them all cynically, and their prayer was in vain. Thor was a bit of an idiot, whereas Odin had some complexity.
Author: Joanne Harris
Average Rating: 4.4/5
Category: Epic Fantasy, Superhero Fiction
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
3. Loki: A Tale
The book is titled Loki, and it is about Loki. But most of the plot is based on his actions and how the other gods react to his actions. This is the Loki of Norse mythology which does some pretty weird. Loki gets his freak-on with a horse. He kidnaps a little girl who is the guardian of eternal life. Then, he turns her into a seed, resulting in him having some deformed children. One child is a wolf, another is a serpent, and the third is some corpse-like girl.
Loki isn’t one hundred percent about Loki. He does feature heavily in the novel’s first half, but the second half veers off and focuses on some other gods and how they deal with Loki and deformed children. Besides Loki, there are three different characters, and that would have to be Tier, Bulgar, and Fenrir. These three had some of the best character developments and the most intriguing stories. They don’t like Loki, and Fenrir has serious daddy issues with Loki.
Loki is a multifaceted villain with cause and reason for everything he does in this book. He’s the type of villain you love to hate. Despite all of his evilness, the man still loves his children. Odin’s big thing in this novel is to see into the future. But yet he still allows things to happen and gladly lets them happen. He even risks the lives of several other characters, and he doesn’t even come across as remorseful about it. He enforces things, and you can’t help but wonder what his motives are. Loki is simply a pawn and Odin’s game of destiny.
Author: Mike Vasich
Average Rating: 4.4/5
Category: Norse & Viking Myth & Legend
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
4. Loki: Agent of Asgard
Agent of Asgard is a series that had a lot of buzzes when it came out in single issues. So this series’s first couple of issues follows Loki as the old mother is giving him a quest. Those higher authority figures will then ask God because Loki still got quite a bad rap on the planet. It makes an exciting deal with the God of mystery. So for every good deed he does, she will remove one of the negative stories from his past. Also, it effectively tried and built Loki to become the hero he feels he wants to be.
One of the first missions we see Loki undertake is finding the five keys Odin left to become worthy. These keys are scattered across the universe, and we see him as he follows each one. This then leads him to steal the sword of Sigurd. While speed dating on Earth, you meet very two wells. A woman who can see through any lie told her is these more obscure characters come together in Thor scattered throughout the issues.
We see Loki taking on this plan to undertake a heist. But then, the story changes entirely as soon as the original sin happens. Loki’s now unlocked variant is being trapped by Dr. Doom, who’s also had a vision from the future of this king Loki character that we’ve seen scattered throughout the issues before. It’s a weird civil war happening throughout that variable, not the civil war we’re typically used to in Marvel. Loki spends most of his time talking to Reed Richards’s daughter.
These events build towards the axis, a Marvel event where all the characters, villains, and heroes are flipped on their axis effectively. So the story takes yet another shift from where it was in the original issues. Now we see that Loki cannot lie, and Thor is unworthy. Loki feels compelled to tell the truth that he’s held for so long, making him dishonorable throughout Asgard, and Thor turns his back on him.
Author: Al Ewing
Average Rating: 4.9/5
Category: Marvel Comics & Graphic Novels, Superhero Comics
Available: Paperback | Kindle
5. Original Sin: Thor & Loki: The Tenth Realm
Original Sin is a comic book that starts with the Watcher having been destroyed, and Thor gets a vision of one of the things The Watcher has seen, which is that Thor has a lost sister. He goes to his mother, Freya. Freya tells him what happened, how his sister came to die, how there was a war with this tenth realm, these angels, and how Odin had betrayed them. They started this war. Because of Odin’s arrogance, they killed the heir to Asgard.
Odin gets so pissed off that he seals off the tenth realm. The two of them are so upset that they never speak of it again, and everybody else forgets about it or decides not to talk about it. Thor feels betrayed, and he’s also seen a vision of a sister alive. So if he can’t get the help of his mother and his father is locked in prison, he goes to his brother, Loki, for help.
Thor and Loki team up, opening this rift and finding the tenth realm. When they get there, Thor charges in, demanding to see his sister, and starts another war because he is Odin’s son. They are all still super pissed at Odin for separating them from the other nine realms. He uses his cunning and trickster skills as an opportunity to sneak away and find out what’s happening.
So in these comics, we get our first look at the tenth realm of heaven, which is this race of angels who are warriors and their system of justice. This is an entire society ruled by women. So this does not work well for busting in there as a man and trying to be strong. We don’t get to meet the new sister, Angela. She was previously in the Guardians of the Galaxy Comics and returns from helping the Guardians to aid the 10th realm as they’re under attack.
Illustrator: Simone Bianchi
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Category: Marvel Comics & Graphic Novels
Available: Paperback | Kindle
6. Loki’s Wolves
The two lovely ladies wrote Loki’s Wolves because of their love for Norse gods and killing serpents. We’re following three main characters Matt, Finn, and Lori. So they are from a town called Blackwell, where most of the inhabitants are descendants of Norse thoughts, mostly Loki and Thor. Olivia was playing with the tripod, so they’re descendants of Loki and Thor and get gifts from their descendants.
The world is coming to an end. Ragnarok, which is the end of the world, is coming, and what has been foretold is gods are going to save the world. No gods are left, so the descendants must face the challenge. Someone who gets entrusted with this is Matt’s descendant of four. His self-confidence is not the highest. There will be massive, giant serpents and crazy large roles that will eat the Sun and the Moon. Throughout the book, there are excellent illustrations.
Author: K. L. Armstrong, Melissa Marr
Average Rating: 4.6/5
Category: Children’s Norse Literature, Fantasy & Magic
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
7. Loki: The God Who Fell to Earth
The God Who Fell to Earth is Loki from Marvel, collecting the five-issue series and some War of the Realms omega series material. The first four issues have art by the Oscar Basil duo Andy McDonald did issue five. There’s a new status quo for pretty much all the realms. Loki is now the ruler of the ice giants or ice trolls. So he doesn’t want to lead. He doesn’t want to be a king that sits on a throne.
The first four issues are Loki finding his place and wanting to change his ways like he’s done the villain. He’s a king now and may want to be a hero. So it’s him slowly figuring out his life, his story. The comics have the rules of Loki to get through life, and there are some interesting concepts in there that you want to see more of throughout the Marvel Universe.
Illustrator: Oscar Bazaldua
Average Rating: (4.8 /5)
Category: Superhero Comics & Graphic Novels
Available: Paperback | Kindle
Romance Books About Loki
The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris: This novel provides a first-person story of Loki’s story from his perspective. While the book doesn’t focus solely on romance, it focuses on Loki’s complex relationships with other Norse gods and provides insights into his character.
The Lost Sun by Tessa Gratton: This book is the first installment in the “United States of Asgard” series, which reimagines Norse mythology in a contemporary setting. The story features a teenage protagonist with Loki’s spirit inside him, and it explores love, destiny, and betrayal.
Loki’s Wolves by K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr: This is the first book in the “Blackwell Pages” series, which mixes Norse mythology with adventure and modern-day settings. The focus is on the characters’ quest to prevent Ragnarok. There are some romantic elements woven into the story.
Loki’s Daughter by Delle Jacobs: This historical romance novel features a fictional daughter of Loki named Keita. It’s set in Viking-era Norway. The book explores Keita’s journey of self-discovery and her complicated relationship with Loki.
Fiction Books About Loki
American Gods by Neil Gaiman: This novel shows mythological and folkloric figures, including Loki. The story follows Shadow Moon, who becomes involved in a conflict between ancient gods and new deities in America. Loki plays a significant role in the narrative, showcasing his mischievous nature and complex personality.
Runemarks by Joanne M. Harris: This fantasy novel takes place in a world where Norse gods and mythical creatures exist. The story follows a young girl who possesses runic marks and is drawn into a battle against the rise of chaos. Loki is a key character, embodying his trickster archetype as he interacts with her.
The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris: This book provides an entertaining and insightful retelling of Norse mythology from Loki’s perspective. It features his motivations, relationships with other gods, and role in shaping the events of the mythology.
Non-Fiction Books About Loki
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman: Neil Gaiman retells the stories of Norse mythology, including the tales involving Loki. Gaiman presents a modern and accessible take on the ancient myths, making it an engaging read for those interested in learning about Loki and the Norse pantheon.
The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson: This is one of the most essential sources for Norse mythology. It provides valuable insights into the character and his role in Norse mythology.
The Norse Myths – A Guide to the Gods and Heroes by Carolyne Larrington: This book offers a comprehensive guide to Norse mythology, exploring the significant gods, heroes, and creatures of the Norse pantheon. It analyzes and interprets the myths, including the stories involving Loki.
Loki – The Trickster Unleashed by Anne Marie L. Gallagher: This book focuses explicitly on Loki as a character and examines his role as the Norse trickster deity. It shows the different aspects of Loki’s personality, his relationships with other gods, and his influence on Norse mythology.
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