To evoke such austere beauty, Neil Gaiman’s “Norse Mythology” employs a style that can be, at least initially, somewhat off-putting to an adult reader. Gaiman’s sentences appear so simple ...

NORSE MYTHOLOGY By Neil Gaiman. W. W. Norton & Company. 304 pages. $25.95. Neil Gaiman's "Norse Mythology" is the book to reach for when it feels like the world is coming to an end.

It is a ripping good read. In “Norse Mythology,” Gaiman revisits one of my favorite characters from “American Gods,” Odin, the All-Father, known as Mr. Wednesday. Mr.