The Sword Of Surtur - Book Review!

When I received my advance copy of Marvel's new book "The Sword Of Surtur", out today Januray 5th 2021, I was expecting a graphic novel of some kind, and I was surprised and curious to find it was traditional prose. I hadn't read or even heard of The Head Of Mimir, the first book in the new Legends Of Asgard line that Marvel was publishing with Aconyte Books, but I probably will go back and read it now.

The Sword Of Surtur tells a story of Tyr the Norse God Of War. He is Thor's older brother, and sets off on a quest to prove himself after growing jealous of his brother's recent victories. Spurned into action by the Enchantresses younger sister Lorelei, and joined by his closest ally Bjorn Wolfhunter, he heads into Muspelheim to steal Twilight, the Sword Of Surtur. How you feel after that sentence might be the indicator on whether or not this book is for you.

I personally love Norse mythology. Just in the last few months I've played Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, replayed the latest God Of War, and was sponsored by Rune 2. I've read Neil Gaiman, seen every Thor movie time and again, and most importantly I've read Thor comics. I was able to really enjoy this book, while at the same time wondering how accessible it would be to someone who was less familiar with these characters and mythology.

Early chapters of the book do their utmost to give a basic understanding of the world of Asgard and the Nine Realms, but much of the emotional arc hangs on Tyr and Lorelei's relationships to the reputations of their respective siblings. While the MCU has made Thor a household name, the Enchantress has not yet had her moment in the wider culture, and so Lorelei is a character who depends greatly on the readers own personal knowledge.

On the other side of that cultural awareness is a novel with an unending barrage of action, and author CL Werner did a tremendous job keeping it clear and exciting. The balancing act of that is no small feat in the first half of the book, where it does occasionally feel like a video game. In fact if someone wanted to make a Demon Souls style game out of this book I would be a very happy Nerd. The pay off in the second half from all of that action is where the book really shines.

I was about 40% of the way through the book when I became worried that it was going to be a very simple novel that existed merely as another Norse power fantasy. The back half is far from simple though, and as the character's relationships become more complex, so too does the message about how our familial relationships affect our decision making. With each passing chapter the book dives further inward, rather than trying to grow the action outward.

It was an unexpected move, but welcome and refreshing. The action of the first half would have been equally as good in a traditional Marvel comic, but the inner story of Tyr in this novel justifies the medium used to tell this particular story, and does so without losing the fun and majesty of Marvel's Asgardian characters.

Overall I would definitely recommend the book. It has more depth than I expected and a fantastic final action sequence. It explores jealousy and brotherhood, magic and destiny, and does so while telling a story accessible to all ages. 15 year old me would have loved this, and that's always my most important metric for a new Marvel property.

The Sword Of Surtur is available now wherever books are purchased! ISBN 9781839080371