Wolves (I Bring the Fire, #1) By C. Gockel

Montzalee Wittmann

Wolves (I Bring the Fire #1) by C. Gockel is a great Norse God story only Loki is more the good guy! I really got into this book so much I had to buy more of the series. Thor isn't a big jerk, but pretty big. Odin, a super jerk but he is also too powerful to mess with. Loki ends up on earth, again, and helps a gal in trouble. She kinda takes him in, thinks he needs help.... It is so funny, exciting, suspense filled at times, great fantasy, and I have had this book a while and why did I wait? Great book!

Steve Vernon

Okay - so for starters I grew up on Thor comics. I always thought he was one of the coolest of the Marvel superheroes and I absolutely loved it when he would duke it out with The Hulk and other assorted big bad brawlers. I also chewed through and understood the original Norse myths and they were some of my favorites as a kid. So I was intensely excited when I came across this series - particularly after my past experience.

I'm not going to mention any names but I have read THREE different e-books by THREE different authors offering THREE completely different takes on Norse mythological figures turning up in modern times and all THREE of those e-books sucked harder than a billion backed-up toilet bowls flushed into the heart of a billion-miles-deep black hole in the deepest and darkest corner of our cosmos.

One of them was all expositional with nothing but sentence after sentence of something that read along the lines of a blueprint for a story that somebody half thought about telling. I'm talking lines like "Okay, so Thor flew down and did battle with the Valkyries of Narnia before arm-wrestling with Superman while Darth Vader kibbutzed with Saruman the Almighty and Captain Jean Luc Picard kept watch with his photon torpedoes charged at the ready."

I'm not kidding.

That was it for storytelling.

The next line - "Meanwhile a platoon of American marines armed with samurai swords and twelve gauge shotguns rode flying horses from Mount Fuji, yodelling Wagnerian arias mixed with splendid renditions of the Halls of Montezuma's Revenge."

I-am-NOT-freaking-kidding.

All tell, and no show.

Another e-book I read insisted on the Norse Gods all talking like they gargled with Shakespeare and the Holy Bible.

"Oh yea and verily, tis Thor, he of the mighty thews and flowing blonde locks"

I am STILL not kidding.

I won't say WHO wrote any of those bad versions of the Norse mythology - but I will say that I had begun to lose faith. I had begun to believe that NOBODY was ever going to write something that was well and truly readable concerning the old Norse mythos.

And then along comes C. Glockel - and I'm all "Here comes the sun...doo-den-doo-doo"

I BRING THE FIRE starts out at the gallop with a serial killer and then along comes a little divine intervention and we've got Loki - who seems to be a good guy - pretending he is Thor - who isn't quite a bad guy but he works for Odin who is the big-king-butt of bad guys and all the mythology that I ever learned has been cheerfully pretzelled into something that keeps popping my eyes wide open and leaving me grinning.

The rest of the book gallops forward at a happy stampede and it kept me turning the pages so fast that I had coat my fingers with sun screen and asbestos.

The title says it all.

C. Glockel REALLY brings the fire.

This book is just the first of a series and it doesn't necessarily end with any real sense of closure and according to some of the reviews that I read here before writing this - it peeved some folks considerably. But as far as I am concerned the first episode of HBO's Rome just made me want to jump into the second episode and there is nothing wrong with needing to grab the very next book.

This is a fun, fast read and I'd recommend it to ANYONE who enjoyed the old Marvel comics or the new Marvel movies.

yours in storytelling,

Steve Vernon

Ezi Chinny

I can’t say that I understood the point of this story. It was both contemporary and time travelling mythology. I love Loki and Thor in the movies, but I don’t think I care for them in books. I was kinda bored.

In this book, Amy Lewis is lover of animals and working her way through school to be a veterinarian. When she gets attacked on the road, she is rescued by a man calling himself Thor. This person was trying to find a way to save his family back in Asgard, but now their fates became intertwined.

There were some chuckles but it ended abruptly adding to my frustration. I thought the narrator added some energy to the story. The writing was okay. I just didn’t connect with Amy, who preferred playing ostrich, or grandma Beatrice. I do not plan on reading book despite the ending.

*Thanks to Tantor Media for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review

Louie the Mustache Matos

This is not the Loki of the Marvel comic books. Nor is it the Norse mythology that I have read, am familiar with, or enjoyed. However, this is a new mythology constructed by a new writer which I clearly liked. Hence, the rating. The initial "saving of the cat" is well-done and important to show a distinction between this new character and other previous incarnations of the personality. Flashbacks are used well to demonstrate that this mythos is being constructed out of whole cloth, which in the world-building is not contingent on previous knowledge of the various characters and their arcs. Amy is a good-hearted main character with a wonderful grandmother, and when they open their home to Loki, they are unaware of the mischief that they have allowed into their lives. It is not all for ill, and not a complete story. This bothers me because I am not at all certain where we are going. I must confess that despite my petty annoyance about what I deem an incomplete story, I find myself intrigued enough to have purchased the trilogy. Last little nit to pick is Loki's constant reference to Amy's "spectacular breasts." As a dude, I was uncomfortable with the reminder. I heard you the first time, and a male writer would be panned for being at the very least, crass.

Morv

I Bring the Fire: Part 1 is about Amy, a young woman who is trying to get herself through college and become a vet, who we meet trying to get home to her grandmother's when she has an accident.
It's also about Loki, the well known god of tricks, lies and mischief, who find that his family, his sons and his ex-wife were all in trouble and he is the one who needs to save them. Of course he finds himself having to go to Midgaird and meets/saves Amy in the process and their little adventure begins.

I am loving this story, I think it's the only book that has ever made me want to read more of it rather than thinking 'oh I'll read the other books on my list and see what I feel like', this one makes me want to read the next instalment. Which says something for the author I think and her writing ability.

Character wise? Amy is rather charming and realistic, although we see she is rather naivie about things - particularly if you are dealing with Loki certain things go over her head, yet that is a rather nice quality, instead of her flirting back with him she just doesn't understand his flirty comments.

Loki is rather interesting, the way the author makes you look at him and what he does or didn't do, changing the Edda's around a bit is really nice and works well in his favour. It's hard to imagine Loki as a strawberry blonde, much like it is to imagine Thor as a red head, but I think that's more due to Marvel than anything else. She's managed to make him a complex character with layers rather than just flat out and basic and being what we all think Loki should be like.

Beatrice, Amy's grandmother, she's rather funny and again a rather realistic character, certain comments that she makes are cringe-worthy and yet you know that your own grandmother would most likely say the same thing (probably not in the same way exactly, or that might just be my own grandmother's), yet she is also a charming and knowledgeable old lady as well, you can't hate her and there is no point during the book you are annoyed at her either.

In fact none of that character's in the book are at all hate worthy, you can't just simply hate them because you don't know the full-ness of them, which hopefully will be brought forth in the next book.

Jesse Sprague

First, as has been stated before, this is not a complete book. It has no kind of conclusion but simply runs on into the next book. Is this a selling point? No. Did I expect it? Yes. For goodness sake it was offered for free and as a rule that doesn't happen unless the author and publisher have reason to think you will be driven to buy more down the line.

That being said I Bring the Fire delivered what it promised. It was a fun easy read that delved into Norse mythology. Having been a follower of all sorts of myths and fairy tales I am easily sold on any book that handles the characters I know and love well. Loki was fun and just enough different to be fresh. Thor, while playing a small role, made me smile every time he showed up.

So read the book but beware that if you want any sort of ending you will have to read the next book and then probably the one after that and so forth. I am leery to go on as I don't like stories with no ending. I like to go on of my own free will not because of a marketing ploy. If it had an ending I would have rated it higher because it was a delightful read and fully worth what I spent to read it (my time, no that was not a dig at the book being free.)

Drew Doll

I read this as part of the
Gods and Mortals: Fourteen Free Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Novels Featuring Thor, Loki, Greek Gods, Native American Spirits, Vampires, Werewolves, & More. Its good, really, really good. A 4.5 read.

It is an interesting take on Loki. I really like how fleshed-out and real Loki is in this story. The pacing is great, the dialogue is real and not forced. People behave generally they way you would expect them to. It's just a marvelous little gem of a story.

Would I read it again? Sure I would.

Jenny

I have to say I did like the stories that featured Loki and Thor in their world and I could see where the author tried to bring those adventures into the real world setting but failed. The protagonist was annoying and it was never real clear why Loki was pulled towards her which would've been a big hook if that was explained.

I would've enjoyed this book more if the two stories were pulled together more and there wasn't so many other subplots trying to work nicely within the book. Instead there was a whole lot of stuff and nothing really happening.

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. I enjoy books featuring Gods such as Loki and Thor and it appealed to me having them in a modern day setting. It started out well enough but then it went no where. There wasn't a great deal of plot or action or any resolution and then the book ended and I'm supposed to pay for the next book after reading a great deal of nothing? I just didn't care for the book enough.

Matt Kelland

Disappointing. It has an intriguing premise, but Gockel is no Gaiman when it comes to storytelling. The present tense narration feels amateurish, the characters feel flat, and I don't get any sense of magical wonder. I persevered, hoping I'd find something to hook my interest, but it just didn't grab me.

Stella Wilkinson

If ever I thought a book or a series was going to take off into the stratosphere it's this one! I think that once the traction gets going, this series is going to be 'Hunger Games' big!

This book is also ready made to go as a movie. It took me a little while to get used to the fact that it was written totally in the present tense, but then I realised that it gave huge visual impact to each scene and I started to see it like I was watching it rather than reading it. I look forward to seeing if the movie will live up to my imagination ;-) I have no doubt some bright film maker will pick this up sooner or later...

The characters were well developed, the scenes were stimulating and well described. It shifted between worlds, both Earth and Asgard and the realm of the elves, but it was the character of Loki that drove this book forward.

I can't even begin to describe him, you'll have to read it yourself, but he's brilliant!

I would like to make one small complaint - there were so many things hinted at but not explained. Like who actually is bringing the fire? Was it Loki doing it subconciously? Was it Hel channeling through him? Was it Fenrir? or perhaps even Amy has hidden powers? I do realise that this is only the first part in a series and that there must be some elements to make you read on, but there were so many flashbacks for Loki that just hinted at other stories and never explained them, that I got quite annoyed when the book ended without rounding even some of them up. Sigh... I suppose I had better get on and read the next one then!

Mya

I enjoyed this book an felt the mythical aspects were a plus in the right direction.

P. Kirby

I Bring the Fire by C. Gockel is in part the beneficiary of my recent reading slump. Which isn't to say it's not an enjoyable read. Just that I've had such a hard time finding books that engaged my brain, books that didn't slay my muse (with boredom), that I'm feeling really generous toward any that "work." Hence, it's really more of a 4.5 starred review, but gets rounded up for making the muse happy.

Amy Lewis, veterinarian-in-training, is driving home for school break. Her little canine companion, Fenris (a kind of Toto with a perpetual bad hair day), has taken a bath in roadkill, but thus far it's been an uneventful journey. That is, until her car runs off the road, and she's attacked by a serial killer with long history of preying on women and children. In a moment of desperation, she makes a silent prayer, hoping that anyone will save her....

Meanwhile, in Asgard, Loki, god of mischief and all things tricksy, wakes up in Odin's prison. He can't remember exactly what landed him in the big house. With good reason; he isn't there for his transgressions. Odin is about to throw Loki's two sons into the Void, their punishment for having the audacity to try to bring democracy to Asgard. Change, it seems, doesn't go over well with the immortal set and Odin has a serious case of "Hey, you kids, get off my lawn!" Loki's escape is successful, but the rescue of his sons, not so much. He and the boys are chucked into the abyss with Loki ending up, alone, on Earth. Where he hears a voice calling for help....

And so our two protagonists meet.

Loki's abiding motivation is to find out what happened to his sons and rescue them properly this time. Amy would just like to get home to her grandmother Beatrice's house and forget about her near-death at the hands of a serial killer. Feeling grateful to her rescuer (who, amusingly, for a time, calls himself Thor), she takes him home with her. Of course, Loki only bothers to maintain his false identity for a short while, especially after Beatrice, who is savvy about things paranormal, figures out who he is.

Cue a plot line that relies on a good deal of fish-out-of-water hijinks. Both as Loki adapts to modern life on Earth, and when Amy and Beatrice find themselves on a trip to a magical world. One of the story's strengths is that it relies on tropes, but does it well. For instance, Amy initially denies that what she is seeing--Loki's magic, etc.--is real, convinced it's a side-effect of her recent trauma. Fortunately, Amy's denial only goes on long enough to be believable, but not so long as to get irritating.

Amy is likable, smart, sweet and surprisingly naive. As in, often impervious to many of Loki's naughty double entendres. You could say, she's almost too innocent, but fortunately the narrative manages to keep her character from becoming cloying.

The Loki in this story isn't the psychopath of the recent Marvel-verse movies, but is instead grounded more firmly in traditional folklore. He is, however, probably one of the more approachable versions, because he is, essentially, a father trying to save his sons. Key events from his past are woven nicely into the current storyline, presumably building on the overall plot, both developing the character and grounding him in myth.

The book's weakness is largely that it's the first half of a two part (?) story, ending with a metaphorical cliff hanger. As such there are plot elements--the small town sheriff who has run into magical beings before, the secret government agency in charge of dealing with paranormal critters, the suggestion of political unrest among the elves, etc.--that don't seem to go anywhere.

As a self-published work, the editing is solid, holding up to any book from a royalty-paying press. (Other than the author's use of "alright," rather than "all right," which makes this former* copy editor's eye twitch. But the usage seems to be creeping into the accepted lexicon. Oh, well.)

A fun read that's a hybrid of contemporary (urban) fantasy and more traditional sword and sorcery fare. Recommended.

*Not that you'd know it now. I am become queen of typos, mis-usages and other crimes against language.

Donna

This book was an interesting start to the series. Loki is definitely an interesting character. I liked that Amy devoted time to helping at the vet clinic while she worked to put herself through school. The thing I am not sure of is whether or not I will continue the series. There was nothing wrong with the book but I have so many series that I just want to read more at this time.

T.L.

This book has the honor of being the first for-pleasure-intentionally-read-book-on-my-Kindle ever.
I've had a Kindle for three years and only used it to read books submitted to me for review. I downloaded some titles that I might find interesting to read for pleasure, but had left them stubbornly unread. Long live the printed page and heft of a real book in my hand...until now.

I came across I Bring the Fire Part 1: Wolves in an email from Bookbub. Bookbub is an email newsletter delivered to your email daily, with e books for sale or for free (the most expensive are $3.99) and you are able to select the categories of the books offered to you. This book showed up a few weeks ago and caught my eye because it's a fan fic about the character Loki.

I'll be quite honest, the character of Loki as portrayed by Tom Hiddleston in the films THOR and THE AVENGERS rings my chimes, so this being free, I thought, "Why not?", and downloaded it.

I can honestly say for the first time ever, I found a reason to want to pick up my Kindle and read it. I loved the story - Loki, in Asgard, is trying to save his two sons, and is inadvertently thrown here, to "Midgard" just in the nick of time to rescue one Amy Lewis who is being accosted on the side of a dark, deserted, road. Loki rescues her and comes home with Amy and meets Amy's Ukrainian grandmother, Beatrice. Amy's and Beatrice's descent into figuring out who it is they're dealing with is handled believably. Flashbacks to Asgard show us Loki is a misunderstood sort, who has suffered his share of grief and heart break. His heart wants to be in the right place...most of the time.
As the story unfolds, Amy and Beatrice accompany Loki to Alfheim and get to meet some elves, and all sorts of action unfolds. Add hadrosaurs as mounts to the mix...no, not as far-fetched as you might think.
There's also some commentary by Loki on this world's technology likening it to magic; a type of magic we Midgardians just don't quite understand IS magic.
The book is well-written, the characters pop off the page, and the story ends with one hell of a cliff hanger.

So guess what? A second precedent is about to be set - the second book in the series, Monsters, I Bring the Fire Part 2 will be the first book I'm willingly buying to read on my Kindle.

Nic

This was one of those books that I read while sipping my morning coffee, brought with me into the bathroom, neglected my parental duties, stayed up too late to read, and generally just could not put down. I am completely enthralled with the mythical world created by Ms. Gockel and don't want to leave it! I'm going to have to force myself to wait a week before I buy part II of the series (Monsters) so that I can get caught up on essential tasks.

(I've been reading Norse mythology and fiction inspired by Norse mythology with my son, but this is not a book for children. He can thoroughly enjoy it when he's old enough, but the themes of brutality and rape and brutal rape crop up much too often for the book to be appropriate for a 10-year-old child.)

Update: I lasted just over 12 hours before buying Part II: Monsters. It took me 3 days to devour that and Part II: Chaos. I know there's a part 3.5 (In the Balance) and a part IV: Fates waiting for me, but I feel sufficiently sated by the conclusion of Part III to pause and go grocery shopping. Utterly delightful. Still not appropriate for children, which is a shame as my 10-year-old would love the not-for-adults-only parts of the story. Ah well, he'll be an adult before I know it, and he'll love it then just as much as I do now.

Megan Earley

I've always been VERY VERY stingy when it comes to Norse mythology, as it is one of my favourite pantheons to study. This book does NOT disappoint. I honestly did not want to put this book down, and audibly swore (shouted "Paskat"...you can look it up) when I reached the end of the first part. I didn't want the book to end! (Of course I immediately went out and bought the second part...and once I get a bit more money, I'll grab the third part....curse you student loans!)

It did take me a while to adjust to C. Gockel's writing style, as she writes in the present tense as opposed to the usual past tense one finds in most books. Once I got past that, it was smooth sailing and a very enjoyable read. The author for the most part keeps to the actual Lokean mythos, with a few artistic interpretations that I greatly enjoyed. This is not the Loki of the comics or the movies, this is the real deal.

If you want to try out the book to see if you'd like it, then snag part I. Personally, if I'd known I could have snagged all three parts of the novel at once, I would have done that right off the bat! I can't wait to start on the next part.

Rachel

I don't think it's possible to love Loki more than I did. Make no mistake, he is the only star of this show! The guy is charming, cheeky, and behaves inappropriately on occasion (living up to his title of God of Mischief) but at his core, he's a brave and noble man with a good heart. It's clear that he's suffered his fair share of heartache in life and it was incredibly easy for me to see him as a real person. That's true of the supporting characters as well... we don't get to see all that much of them but they're fleshed out well enough to be true to life. Amy is an ok heroine but she seems to be more of a sidekick for Loki on his mission to find his missing sons than a leading lady.

Lovers of fantasy or Norse mythology will find plenty to like here but be warned... this series may just prove to be addictive. 'Wolves' had everything I could want... humour, drama, intrigue, action, and a hero in Loki. I actually felt angry when it came to an end, which was a first for me.

Barbara ★

Apparently there is a new thing for Indie authors~serial books where they write and quickly publish a short story which they add to again and again to create a full-fledged book. To me this is simply a marketing tool to get you to pay more. Had I realized this was that kind of book, I would have passed it up, freebie or not.

Now I'm familiar with Loki, Thor and Odin but I don't know all the myths associated with them. The story just barrels on as if the reader knows every detail and fails to explain in detail. Personally this doesn't work for me so I had a difficult time enjoying this book.

I found the heroine annoying as hell (and the grandmother too) and didn't see any kind of sparks to explain why Loki was interested in Amy. The plot rambled but may it was simply too many plots with unexplained bits that was troublesome. Anyway there simply wasn't any kind of resolution to anything and the cliff hanger ending sucked. So not a "series" I'd continue.

V. Simpson

I loved this book. really, it was exactly what I needed. This is the kind of thing I love, funny, imaginative,and I'd wandered so far away from this recently. The only thing i didnt love was the ending...im usually put off by books that just kind of stop. But, it does make me want to start reading the next book immediately, so i suppose the author did her job :)

N.N. Heaven

In an interesting twist on Loki and Norse mythology, Wolves (I Bring the Fire) mashes modern-day with Norse mythology. Loki has always been one of my favorites and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Can't wait for the next one in the series. Highly recommend, especially if you love Loki!

My Rating: 5 stars

Sharon Mariampillai

This was an interesting read. It was an interesting storyline that involved Norse mythology and Loki. I really enjoyed it. The characters were great. I really liked Loki. He is a complexed character. In my opinion, he is a bit rough around the edges. Amy is the complete opposite. She is the forgiving one, and I really liked how Loki and Amy progress throughout the story. I really liked learning more about Norse mythology. The ending was a bit abrupt as well. I hope that the other books in the series get better and better. Overall, a great read.

Michelle

This didn't do a thing for me, and I was really hoping that I'd like it. I'm very partial to the name Loki, since that's my black labrador retriever's name. (He's very mischievous!) But I was wrong.

Darcey

This book wasn't bad. It was entertaining and I enjoyed reading it, so that was good. There was little romance and that was refreshing, and the characters were interesting and amusing at times. The mythology references were good, and Loki's thoughts on car were especially entertaining. I thank Amazon and the author for the free copy of this!

Melissa

See my other reviews at
Never Enough Books

Somewhere in the middle of America, Amy Lewis is trying to make her way to her grandmother’s house. Little does she know that there is a big bad wolf on her proverbial tail.

Worlds away, Loki is waking up in a prison cell with no idea how he got there or what he did wrong. What he does know is Odin is up to something and Thor is covering for him.

Eventually these two meet and quickly realize they’re going to have to work together. Exactly how a nice mid-western girl and a jaded God of Mischief plan to outwit Norse gods, elves, and even nosy neighbors is any one’s guess. Amy just has to keep Loki from getting too distracted…

I picked up I Bring The Fire for two main reasons. One, I enjoy the subject of mythology in all its various forms; and two, the book was free. As I am always on the look out for new books to read and review, at this particular time I was also looking for new books to add to my e-reader.

I personally enjoyed I Bring The Fire. While I was vaguely aware of the mythological Loki, most of my knowledge for him came from the Marvel comics and subsequent movies. While Gockel makes brief mention of the comic book characters, her Loki and Thor are based on the original mythical beings.

Gockel has obviously done a great deal of research for I Bring The Fire. Norse characters well known and less well known are presented as three dimensional beings; their wants and needs, whether noble or ignoble, are laid out on the page. Loki is no hero, nor is he a total villain. He is surviving in the only way he has learned how; with humor and self deprecation.

Amy is much the same way. A veterinary medicine student, she is on her way home for summer break when she meets Loki and is drawn in to his world. Even as she begins to realize the extent of his powers, she doesn’t ask him for help but instead gives it. She sees someone who is hurting and only wants to help.

I Bring The Fire is an interesting twist on the ‘Loki comes to the modern world’ trope. Fans of Marvel’s version of the character might have a bit of trouble parsing this version of him, but I encourage readers to give it a try. Readers who are more familiar with the original mythos will likely enjoy this series greatly. Personally, I loved it and have already ordered the next two books of the series.

Jada Ryker

Quirky Mythological Adventure with a Cliffhanger

Amy's dog Fenrir is small, ferocious, and required a DNA test to be positively identified as a canine. In Norse mythology, Fenrir was the wolf child of the Norse God of Mischief, Loki. The wolf child was so vicious that the gods tethered him to a tree on a lost island. According to the myth, Fenrir will defeat Odin, the Norse gods leader.

In I Bring the Fire Part I: Wolves, by C. Gockel, Amy is a veterinary student at Oklahoma State University who spends summers and holidays with her grandparents in Chicago. When a mysterious wolf saves her life and then a handsome stranger materializes moments later, Amy's not sure whether to thank him or run from him.

Thor Odinson has a strange affinity with animals, including Fenrir. He didn't realize his chosen name was also a name in pop culture.

Between Laura Stodgill, an agent of the U.S. Department of Anomalous Devices of Unknown Origin, and Patches, the roly-poly cat who can sense magic, Thor needs to escape the "vortex of weirdness.” He accompanies a nervous Amy to Chicago.

The book is a fun and amusing adventure, with interesting characters. Thor's reactions to technology and his knowledge of physics add twists to the story, and characters like Beatrice add depth. The book is also a thoroughly-researched compilation of mythology and folklore.

Here's my flashing yellow light for the reader: This book is Part I, and it ends on a cliffhanger. The story is continued in I Bring the Fire Part II: Monsters. Thankfully, Part II is available…or I'd have to put Ms. Gockel on the Naughty List!

Title	:	Wolves (I Bring the Fire, #1)
Author	:	C. Gockel
Rating	:
ISBN	:	1492394386
ISBN-10	:	9781492394389
Language	:	English
Format Type	:	Paperback
Number of Pages	:	254
Publication	:	First published January 1, 2012

Wolves (I Bring the Fire, #1) by C. Gockel

Wolves (I Bring the Fire, #1) Reviews

Wolves (I Bring the Fire, #1) Reviews

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