Author: Klas Östergren
Publisher: Canongate
Publication Date: 2009 (2007)
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
Genre: Fiction / Mythology
Source: Xmas Gift
Hanck Orn’s son is dead. When they come to the door they tell him it was a heart attack, but he knows they are lying. So he travels to the archipelago at the outermost reaches of the land to find out what really happened. He lands on an island and is met by a young woman, hair streaked with blood, raving like a lunatic. She is one of the sisters, who tell him the story of how his son died in the great hall of the Clan, the Norse gods, who were holding a party. But the festivities soon got out of hand, the guests began to argue with one another, and the mischievous shapeshifter Loki dealt a deadly blow. Set in a dystopian future that recalls Orwell and Zamyatin, Klas Östergren has weaved a dizzying story of magnificent scope and foul play. Moving from the golden halls to the depths of the underworld, it is about one man’s search for justice for his son in a world on the brink. (Goodreads Synopsis)
It took me a couple of chapters to get into The Hurricane Party, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. I was interested in this book as a retelling of the Lokasenna and I found Östergren's version great fun and a delightful twist on the familiar tale. His portrayal of Loki is intriguing and different and I found the dystopian future setting worked really well. An excellent example from the Canongate Myths series.
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