ARC Review - Mist by Susan Krinard

Title: Mist
Series: The Midgard Series #1
Author: Susan Krinard
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Date of publication: July 16, 2013 by Tor Books
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Centuries ago, all was lost in the Last Battle when the Norse gods and goddesses went to war. The elves, the giants, and the gods and goddesses themselves were all destroyed, leaving the Valkyrie Mist one of the only survivors.

Or so she thought.

When a snowy winter descends upon modern-day San Francisco in June, Mist’s quiet existence starts to feel all too familiar. 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.

Loki has big plans for the modern world, and he’s been hanging around Mist for access to a staff that once belonged to the great god Odin. Mist is certain of one thing: Loki must be stopped if there is to be any hope for Earth. But the fight is even bigger than she knows….

Because Loki wasn’t the only god to survive.

Note: I received this as a free eARC through Netgalley

When I first saw this book I couldn’t believe my eyes. An adult Urban Fantasy with Norse mythology? A Valkyrie for the protagonist? Loki as the main villain? "I must be dreaming" was my first thought. I’m in Love with all kinds of mythology, but I can’t seem to find a good adult urban fantasy with a great amount of mythology in it. As for Norse mythology, I always loved it, but forgotten about it. However my current favorite TV show, Lost Girl (you should watch it, if you don’t already!) reminded me of how much I'm intrigued by it so after the clouds in my mind dissolved, I knew that MIST was a MUST READ for me.

I’ve never read any of Susan’s book yet, so I didn’t know what to expect from her writing style, but what I hoped for was an enthralling, fast paced, compelling story with a strong, smart and dignified heroine, a crafty, so-much-more-than-simply-evil REAL villain and plenty of Mythological references.

What I actually got, fortunately, doesn’t alter much from those above. Like I said, I’m fascinated by the Norse Mythology, but I don’t know much about it yet, only scratching the surface. And MIST made me feel like I’ve been thrown into the deep water, even though I still had yet to learn to swim. However this is NOT negative. I had to google on some things, because the author didn’t explain every single thing to satisfy my ever growing curiosity, but I loved and enjoyed it. This book had everything on the mythology level. Runes, creatures, gods, weapons, spells, myths, really everything I could hope for. From the start ‘till the very end it's fast, interesting, there is always some fighting/chasing or mystery waiting to be solved to keep up my interest. Mist, the heroine is a real Valkyrie and so much more! She is strong -stronger than anyone expected, feisty and full of determination. I really liked her. She has a guardian, an elf. Dainn is an extraordinary elf with secrets and a quest on his own. By the end of the book, I've fallen in love with him. He is a complex, mysterious and intriguing character. Loki seemed like a great villain, a Master Manipulator in the first half of the book. I enjoyed his scenes. But then something changed and he was a simple minded megalomaniac. I still loved his driven-by-real-emotions-yet-evil personality, but he has fallen from a 1st class to a 2nd class villain. Also, I should mention that he has a “love interest” and there’s a little male/male “romance” thingy, which caught me by surprise and throw me off a little, but I managed to deal with it, and it is really not that big thing or that graphic. Speaking of relationships… Everyone has some relationship with Freya, using Loki's words; "The bitch goddess". I hate her! But I have a feeling I would hate every god and goddess in this series. I LOVED the development of the relationship between Mist and Dainn. It’s not a romance story, so don’t expect many romantic scenes, but without giving away anything, I can say that their relationship is extremely complicated, but well built.

The writing style is absolutely fascinating, even though I had some issues, like the fact that wherever the characters went the author basically drew a complete map for us telling almost every street they stepped on. It was a bit like reading a guide book and at some point most of the "bad guys" kept saying things that could easily fit into an erotic novel, rather than an Urban Fantasy. And a little more humour wouldn't hurt either. But other than these, the description of both places and events are full of life, creating a magical atmosphere. I felt as if I were a part of it. Absolutely stunning storytelling! Aaaaaand Cliffhanger alert! Yes, there is NO END yet, so I should start crating a survivor plan, because the waiting for the next book is already killing me, and this one isn't even out yet!! Oh Odin's hairy balls!

Overall: I got what I expected and I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to read this wonderful book, despite the issues I had. One of my eyes is smiling, while the other is crying over the fact that it's going to be a trilogy, because waiting for the next one is one of the worst kind of tortures, but I'm also happy because there's so much more to explore of this amazing world. I highly recommend the book to anyone who like the genre.