Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.

I am a man that loves a good and complex anti-hero story, so for this week’s Waiting on Wednesday I check out an absolutely spectacular-sounding book that is set to be released in September 2019: Loki: Where Mischief Lies.

Loki: Where Mischief Lies is the first of three young adult novels that acclaimed author Mackenzi Lee has been contracted to write by Marvel Comics. Each of these books will focus on a different Marvel anti-hero and will feature a historical setting. The first of these anti-heroes is the master of mischief himself, Loki, Prince of Asgard, who, thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has to be one of the most popular comic book villains at the moment.

Even before Tom Hiddleston brought him to life with some significant swagger in the MCU, the character of Loki has been a major figure in the Marvel Comics universe. A re-imagining of the Norse god of mischief, Loki is portrayed as a powerful magician who battles against his brother, the superhero Thor, out of jealousy or for control of Asgard or the world. He has been a recurring Marvel villain for over 60 years and is the villain responsible for the formation of the Avengers. Over the years, a large amount of complexity has been added to his character, with some significant developments to his motivations and history, and a number of notable shifts in his allegiance and relationship with Thor and the rest of Asgard. As a result, I am quite eager to see any sort of novel written about Loki, especially one that sounds as awesome as this one.

Goodreads Synopsis:
Before the days of going toe-to-toe with the Avengers, a younger Loki is desperate to prove himself heroic and capable, while it seems everyone around him suspects him of inevitable villainy and depravity . . . except for Amora. Asgard’s resident sorceress-in-training feels like a kindred spirit-someone who values magic and knowledge, who might even see the best in him.

When Asgardian magic is detected in relation to a string of mysterious murders on Earth, Odin sends Loki to investigate. As he descends upon nineteenth-century London, Loki embarks on a journey that leads him to more than just a murder suspect, putting him on a path to discover the source of his power-and who he’s meant to be.

There are so many amazing elements to unwrap in the plot synopsis, but the bottom line is I think I am going to like this. Not only do we have a comic book novelisation focusing on an amazing character, but we have Loki investigating murders in 19^th century London. Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres, and a murder mystery in 19^th century London is always a great basis for a good story. Combine that with comic book shenanigans and a young Loki investigating the crimes, and you have a book with insane amounts of potential.

I am also quite excited by the choice of author for this trilogy. Mackenzi Lee is a fantastic author known for her unique and powerful novels, most of which are set in 19^th century England. I am very much looking forward to seeing her take on the character of Loki, and I cannot wait to see what sort of backstory and conflicted thought processes she attributes to this amazing character.

One of the things about Where Mischief Lies that is getting a lot of attention is the author’s apparent intention to make Loki a genderfluid and pansexual character. This is based on a tweet from December 2017, in which Lee responds to someone’s question about Loki being queer in her upcoming book. Lee correctly points out that Loki “is a canonically pansexual and gender fluid character” and then ends it with “So.”. Based on that, quite a lot of people are assuming she will explore this aspect of the character in her book. Loki’s gender identity and sexuality have been featured in many comics, with the character reincarnating as a female several times, and there are also some examples of Loki romancing members of various genders. I am quite interested in seeing how much of this is explored in Where Mischief Lies, and I am sure it will result in quite an intriguing part of the story.

I am uncertain whether I will grab a physical copy of this book or try to get it on audiobook. While I love the awesome cover for Where Mischief Lies and imagine it would look great on a hardcover book, I do love a good audiobook and I have had excellent experiences with comic book based audiobooks in the past. They have also gotten Marc Thompson, one of the best Star Wars audiobook narrators, to narrate this book. I have recently finished listening to one of his Star Wars audiobooks and would be really intrigued to see what voice he would attribute to Loki and the other iconic Marvel characters.

This has the potential to be an outstanding novel, and I am really looking forward to seeing how Lee tackles the character of Loki. The plot of this book sounds like a huge amount of fun, and I am sure there will be some amazing story and character developments throughout the book. I think this is going to be one of the best tie-in novels of the year and I plan to get it as soon as it comes out.