Wednesday 13 January 2021

How to Be a Hero by Cat Weldon


A no-good viking thief. The worst-ever trainee valkyrie. An ungodly case of mistaken identity.

When failing trainee valkyrie Lotta mistakes an unconscious viking thief, Whetstone, for a fallen hero and takes him triumphantly to Valhalla, things are definitely not turning out to be epic or glorious. Having lost a precious talking cup, Whetstone is also desperate to cover up his mistake and the two embark on a quarrelsome journey to find it and regain their heroic status. But Loki the trickster God is desperate to get his hands on the cup with a plan to unleash chaos across the nine worlds. Can Whetstone prove himself a hero after all when it matters most?

Cat Weldon is right; Norse mythology is completely crazy. So is this book, but in the best way.

This is brilliantly funny and really clever. Cat has created fantastic characters here, both the main characters and the back up characters. (Although I am a little confused about why Bragi is suddenly a random Viking instead of a god. Maybe he's a Viking named for the god?)

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this series progresses. This book doesn't end on a complete cliffhanger; there's still threads, but the main story is done, which is great. Kids will still want to know how the whole series pans out, I think.

A fantastic read, a great addition to the pantheon (heh) of funny books with a real message underneath for our young readers.



How to be a Hero publishes on the 21st January, 2021.

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