Who else but Neil Gaiman could become an accomplice of the gods, using the sorcery of words to make their stories new?  The author turns Norse myths into addictive reading for young and old, with high-wattage retellings that preserve the monumental grandeur of the Nordic universe but also turn it into world that is up close and personal, full of antic wit and dark intrigue. 

That’s what I wrote after previewing the book last fall, and the pantheon of Nordic gods finally feels familiar to me, after many attempts to try to understand their dark universe.  For more on the volume and on Neil Gaiman and his appreciative fans, read Sarah Lyall’s piece in the New York Times on February 13.