Synopses & Reviews
Booker Prize winner Dame Antonia Byatt breathes life into the Ragnorak myth, the story of the end of the gods in Norse mythology.
Ragnarok retells the finale of Norse mythology. A story of the destruction of life on this planet and the end of the gods themselves: what more relevant myth could any modern writer choose? Just as Wagner used this dramatic and catastrophic struggle for the climax of his Ring Cycle, so A.S. Byatt now reinvents it in all its intensity and glory. As the bombs of the Blitz rain down on Britain, one young girl is evacuated to the countryside. She is struggling to make sense of her new wartime life. Then she is given a copy of Asgard and the Gods — a book of ancient Norse myths — and her inner and outer worlds are transformed.
War, natural disaster, reckless gods and the recognition of impermanence in the world are just some of the threads that A.S. Byatt weaves into this most timely of books. Linguistically stunning and imaginatively abundant, this is a landmark.
Review
"Majestic....Dazzling....Wonderful....What you see here...is the strength and fire of Byatt's imagination."The San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"Bristling with life and invention....A seductive work by an extraordinarily gifted writer." The Washington Post
Review
"Spellbinding....Alive....Potent....Byatt is a master storyteller." O, The Oprah Magazine
Review
"Proves that a serious, intricate book can also be a page turner....Manifest intelligence, subtle humor and extraordinary texturing of the past within the present make Possession original and unforgettable." Time Magazine
About the Author
A.S. Byatt is the author of fifteen works of fiction including the Booker Prize-winning
Possession,
The Biographers Tale and, most recently, the Man Booker-shortlisted
The Children's Book. A distinguished critic as well as a writer of fiction, A.S. Byatt was appointed CBE in 1990 and DBE in 1999.
Visit asbyatt.com for more information.