Review: Wotan's Dilemma - Hank Quense
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 9, 2013
*I'd like to thank Hank Quense for giving me a review copy of this book. You're awesome. <3*This book answers the age-old question: what would the Nibelungenlied be like if it were set in a sci-fi, post-apocalyptic universe? Fafner is an eight-brained tentacle monster, Alberich is a noseless, earless alien, and the Rheingold that everybody wants is made into a computer chip and helmet.I could not stop laughing throughout this entire book. The Old Gods Retirement Village, the eight-brained tentacle monster who sets himself up as the god of evil...all of the beheadings...the beheadings were wonderful, and numerous. And the ending - the ending made me smile.Wotan's Dilemma is much more story driven than it is character driven. Given the source material, and how prolific the myth is, it makes sense, though. The characters are already established in so many other versions. This wasn't about rewriting the characters - it was about retelling the story. With aliens.My only real complaint with this book is that there isn't enough Loki. But then, there's never enough Loki. So it's not really so much a complaint as it my crippling addiction to Loki stories acting up again.I've never actually read the entire Brunhilde myth before, so it was interesting to find out exactly how many other stories borrow from it. Before the story kicks off, there's a very informative preface that explains what the story is, which version of the story the book is following (Wagner's opera), and what other stories drew inspiration from the myth. Lord of the Rings, for instance. The whole "temptation of the ring" aspect makes a LOT more sense now that I know it was based on the Rheingold.I really enjoyed this book. It was a fast, funny, interesting read.(Follow my book reviews at: [...]