Book Review: Odd and The Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Chris Riddell.

Book Review: Odd and The Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Chris Riddell.

Quote: The fox tossed its head and walked away. Odd put his knife down and took out his hatchet once more. 'I've seen rainbows on the snow sometimes,' said Odd, loud enough for the fix to hear, 'and on the side of the buildings when the sun shone through icicles. And I thought, ice is only water, so it must have rainbows in it too. When the water freezes, I think the rainbows are trapped into it, like fish in a shallow pool. And the sunlight sets them free.'
Odd knelt on the frozen pool.

Set in the Viking land, Odd is an unusual boy on an unusual adventure. A cripple, son of a beautiful woman and a sailor warrior (cough-cough raider of Scottish water villages). After the death of his father, Odd hurts himself, becomes unfit for sailing. But that doesn't stop our boy from finding his joy.

One particular day after his mom has remarried, when winter refuses to leave the little village, he steals a slice of salmon, carries his father second best axe and climbs a hill, as Gaiman puts: for Odd every hill was a mountain. Soon he finds a fox who takes him higher and higher towards a bear struck down by a tree, and an eagle flying higher.

Odd helps them, brings them back to his old cottage and feeds them, realizes who they are! Tricked by a frost giant, Loki lost Mjolnir, and along with Odin and Thor been turned into animals and kicked out of Asgard. Rest is the story for you to read!

It was a lovely story, Neil always has vulnerable children of a kind for a protagonist, but never short on wit and courage. Names of the protagonist always make me go: SMART. From Nobody Owens to Coraline to Odd, his leading lads and lass are unique to this world.

Chris Riddell knows his reading of Gaiman too well. So beautiful, the lines, the strokes, the character design, everything is the perfect reflection of the words and Viking world. The frost giant in his unusual appearance was adorable, again I have a weakness for giants. The lettering for the giant in silver was wow. Double page spreads are so detailed! I loved Freya's stone cold beauty and the funny art of that one time Loki turned into a Mare.

Now I want that illustrated Norse Mythology Riddell drew for himself.