尼爾•蓋曼（Neil Gaiman）

當代大師級幻想小說傢，1960年生於英國。尼爾•蓋曼是當代歐美文壇耀眼的新星，也是幻想文學的代名詞，被《文學傳記辭典》譽為十大後現代作傢之一。

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1989年，蓋曼以漫畫《睡魔》開始瞭創作之路。其後，他的創作逐漸涵蓋瞭小說、漫畫、詩歌、劇本等多個領域，代錶作有《美國眾神》《星塵》《好兆頭》《烏有鄉》等。因其作品的獨特風格和想象力，《邁阿密新時報》認為他已經成為“文學界的搖滾明星”；驚悚小說大師斯蒂芬•金則認為他“創作力之豐沃與作品水準之高，既神奇又嚇人”。

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蓋曼的創作以奇幻文學為主，這與他自幼閱讀的大量神話密不可分。如今，在《北歐眾神》中，他追本溯源，迴歸至愛的北歐神話體係，用自己的敘事技巧，與更多人分享閱讀神話的快樂。

Introducing an instant classic―master storyteller Neil Gaiman presents a dazzling version of the great Norse myths.

Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales.

In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki―son of a giant―blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.

Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Once, when Thor’s hammer is stolen, Thor must disguise himself as a woman―difficult with his beard and huge appetite―to steal it back. More poignant is the tale in which the blood of Kvasir―the most sagacious of gods―is turned into a mead that infuses drinkers with poetry. The work culminates in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and rebirth of a new time and people.

Through Gaiman’s deft and witty prose emerge these gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.