Mini-Review: Lies, Knives, and Apples (Nine World Chronicles #0.5) by Lyra Wolf

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Rating: 7/10

Synopsis

Never cross a trickster when death is on the line…

For Loki and Odin, it was supposed to be a typical night out for a couple of Norse gods with the regular drinking, carousing, and contests to see who could eat the most whole roast cows in a row—in other words, the usual.

But when a group of Jotnar attack—totally throwing a spear in their plans, Odin is mortally wounded, and only one of Idunn’s golden apples can save his life.

There’s just one problem…Idunn is missing, and everyone is pointing the finger at Loki (who really resents that he’s always the first god they suspect, even though they usually are right).

Between getting his back thrown out (literally, Thor rips out his spine in a tantrum) and Odin sliding closer to death with every second, Loki has his hands full…of knives.

It’s a game of triple-crossing a double-cross, which should be child’s play for the trickster god. But with the fate of Asgard and the man he loves hanging in the balance, even Loki’s luck may run out…

Review

Lies, Knives, and Apples is a novella set in Lyra Wolf’s Norse-inspired Nine World Chronicles universe. This is going to be a mini review, as the book is only 75 pages long. I enjoyed this side story, for the most part, though there is one big issue I want to discuss.

For starters, Lies, Knives, and Apples is a really interesting story. Odin is dying, and the Norse gods have to save him. That is the basis of the plot. Of course, there is a lot more to it than that, but that is the long and short of it. Looking at this from the perspective of having read it after Truth and Other Lies (my review can be found at this link), the characters, setting, etc, were already recorded in my mind, and I thought it was fun to see them on a little bit of a different mission than the main storyline. In retrospect, though, I wish I would have read this first because it would have been a great introduction to the characters and their personalities and relationships. I did mention in my review of Truth and Other Lies that one of my favorite aspects of the story is seeing these deities up close and intimate that I have long admired from afar. Their loves, losses, joys, and pains, even if they experience these feelings and events on a much grander scale (ie – the possible end of the world). This series is extremely character-driven, and every single one of them is unique and interesting. This story was tons of fun.

I did have one big-ish issue with this book, and that is one of Loki’s actions. I want to talk about Loki more at length, but I am going to save that for my upcoming review of book 2 in the series, Chaos Rising, which will post in the next few days. I also do not want to get into specifics because I want to avoid spoilers, so let me just say this: I find the main event that triggered the conflict in this story to be unbelievable. Loki does something unforgivable, and the thing about him is that he is not exactly a nice guy. But, his initial actions in this book that set everything off go a bit too far. Now, since I am reading these books out of order, maybe the author was still developing the character and tweaked it after this book. Also, no one knows their characters more than the author, so who am I to question Wolf’s intentions? All I know is, I did not find it plausible, and it was on my mind the whole time.

I am still going to recommend Lies, Knives, and Apples because the story, characters, and setting are all very interesting. And if you have not yet read Truth and Other Lies, read this first as it is a really good introduction. I definitely recommend moving on to the next 2 books in the series, afterward, because it just gets better and better.