Enchanting tale - Rated 
Odd's father dies whilst on a Viking expedition, then, when chopping wood Odd crushes his foot and ends up with a limp and needs a crutch to get around. Now the winter seems to be going on forever. Will his bad luck ever end? Then Odd runs away from home because his stepfather is cruel to him, and beds down in his father's old log cabin. There he meets a bear, an eagle and a fox that are all under an enchantment. Together they have to try to beat the Frost Giants in order to bring the endless winter to a close. A wonderfully told fairytale that will delight young and old readers.
One of Gaiman's most enjoyable - Rated
Neil Gaiman really, really likes writing about gods, and that's okay. If American Gods is the solid, upstanding one that works hard and takes its job seriously and Anansi Boys is its younger brother that pops by in the middle of the night with some beer and a couple of friends, Odd and the Frost Giants is the youngest brother of all, the third child who goes around climbing into magical wardrobes when the others aren't looking (it wouldn't shut the doors properly, mind, because Odd is the type to know that it's very foolish to shut oneself inside a wardrobe).
In a Viking settlement in Norway, long ago, winter seems to be stretching on forever. Odd, a boy with a crushed foot who doesn't fit in with his stepfamily, runs away from home when he can no longer stand to be in close quarters with them. He ends up following after an unusually insistent fox, starting on an adventure that will throw him in with the gods in a fight to defeat the frost giants (well, giant, anyway) and save his village from endless winter.
Odd and the Frost Giants is a novella written for World Book Day as part of a promotion to get kids reading (schoolchildren in the UK and Ireland are each given a token that can be redeemed for one of the novellas specially written for the occasion). If this book doesn't work, I don't know what will; it's everything a children's book should be - high adventure, mythology, magic, talking animals, a good sense of humor, and a sensible, sympathetic protagonist. I really enjoy Gaiman's work, but sometimes it feels like his way with words is a sort of glamour, and with some of his books I wonder whether I'd like the plot quite as much if I weren't constantly distracted by his lovely language - which is a bit of an odd complaint, certainly, but it does bother me once in a while. At any rate, Odd is blessedly free of this issue; the story is extremely engaging, and at roughly a hundred pages, it moves along at a smart clip without ever feeling rushed. It's utterly charming and satisfying in the way only the best fairy tales are. Highly recommended.
From Midgard to Asgard, and back - Rated
A review by Hank Wagner, co-author (with Christopher Golden and Stephen R. Bissette) of the upcoming Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman, due out from St. Martins in October 2008:
Gaiman wrote Odd and the Frost Giants as his personal contribution to World Book Day in the United Kingdom, which exists purely to inspire children to read. It's an annual event where a group of authors write books for nothing and publishers publish them for nothing. These books are then sold for £1 each to children who have been given £1 Book Tokens. On its website, the World Book Day organization (www.worldbookday.com) describes it as "the biggest annual event promoting the enjoyment of books and reading."
Regrettably, at least for US residents (I count myself among that group), there are no current plans to publish this charming, 14,500 word novelette in America. Happily, the book is available through Amazon.uk and it's only 1 pound, a bargain even with current exchange rates. Be warned, however, the shipping charge will make the final cost seem relatively steep.
The good news is that it's worth the cost: the story, enhanced by several illustrations from frequent Gaiman collaborator Mark Buckingham, is delightful.
As you may have guessed from the title, the novelette deals with characters from Norse myth, a subject Gaiman became entranced with at a very young age. It tells the story of the crippled Viking boy Odd, who, running away from home, is befriended by a group of forest animals--a fox, a bear, and an eagle--who are far more than they seem. In truth, they are the Norse gods Loki, Thor, and Odin, respectively. Hoodwinked by a crafty and vengeful Frost Giant, they have been transformed into animals and exiled from Asgard. Odd offers his help, and travels with the gods from Midgard to their homeland of Asgard, where the plucky lad plans to bargain with the Frost Giant in attempt to save the day.
No more about the story, you'll have to discover its significant pleasures on your own. Be assured though that this is vintage Gaiman, a lively, memorable tale that, although modern in its sensibilities, treats its source material in a respectful, affectionate, and humorous manner, making that material more accessible for modern readers, many of whom are likely encountering these characters and settings for the first time.
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