Loki’s Wolves

Bestselling urban fantasists Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr combine forces to produce a solid fantasy about contemporary descendants of the Norse gods. Thirteen-year-old Matt Thorsen lives in a South Dakota town dominated by Thor’s distant family, and he has always been somewhat smug about his superhuman heritage. However, Loki’s descendants, including cousins Fen and Laurie Brekke, resent the Thorsens’ domination. Then the three learn that Ragnarök is coming and that Matt is to reenact Thor’s battle with the Midgard Serpent. Matt, Laurie, and Fen, who is a shape-changer like Loki, seek out other descendants of the gods, aided by the Norns and the Valkyries, but opposed by various werewolves and trolls. Arm-strong and Marr have fun seeding their characters with the strengths and foibles the gods are known for (Fen and Laurie divvy up the best and worst parts of the trickster god Loki). This rousing, fast-paced adventure, first in the Blackwell Pages trilogy, will please readers who loved John Stephens’s Books of Beginning and Rick Riordan’s modern-day twists on ancient myth. Ages 8–12. Agent: (for Armstrong) Sarah Heller, Helen Heller Agency; (for Marr) Merrilee Heifetz, Writers House. (May)