The most recommended books about tricksters

Barry Lopez is also an author that defies choosing among his many great books about nature, including the renown Of Wolves and Men. Less known is his collection of sixty-eight tales of Old Man Coyote, the Trickster, carefully gathered from forty-two Native American tribes. One might understandably take issue with reading a white man’s version of Native American stories, but give Barry a chance to explain himself in the introduction to the book. Of course, nothing can replace the great oral tradition of Native American storytelling, but short of the real thing, this collection will help you understand the wit and wisdom of the Trickster character.

If a racially diverse, gender-bending, often raunchy, always nuanced, new take on an old tale sounds like a good read to you, then pick up this “novel-in-parts.” Both the racial and sexual fullness reflect historical reality, although they’ve ordinarily been left out. Retelling the Trojan War from its early causes to its tragic but still hope-infused end, the authors gave this rendition a compelling depth that will make you savor the old tradition with some new spice on your tongue.

What could have been if this worldview, this ideology, this collective subconscious, this pantheistic Indigenous mythology, had been listened to, if it had been respected?

This is a question I have asked myself many times. Thompson Highway looks at a rarely discussed (by settlers) aspect of Indigenous cultures: the humour. He argues it’s embedded in the languages, which he says are inherently hilarious.

I feel the answer to his question is, in part, that humans would have a better chance of surviving. And as Highway indicates, living joyfully, laughing till we fart, laughing till we die. This is a brilliantly insightful book. 

The entire Nine Worlds Rising series is an exercise in watching Loki get taken down a peg or six. I’m deeply in love with Norse myth material, and Lyra is not afraid to take a deep look at the pain that people inflict on each other. Book One deals with betrayal, ostracization, self-sabotage, and becoming the worst version of yourself. It’s not all doom and gloom, however, because the author has a fantastic sense of humour that really shines in Loki. Many of the characters are queer, including at least one that you won’t expect! 

Trickster Drift is Book Two in the Trickster trilogy. (Side Note: I loved the entire trilogy, but Book Two is my favourite.) Trickster Drift is an edgy blend of the supernatural, Indigenous lore, and substance abuse. The characters, particularly Jared’s mother Maggie (who is literally a witch) are memorable, and the dialogue is smart and funny. I have to be careful of spoilers, so I’ll just say that Jared’s conversations in his aunt’s Vancouver apartment with a certain individual wearing a bathrobe are not to be missed. Robinson juggles a number of characters (something I have to contend with in my hockey books), and she does it very well.   

This is a classic Middle Grade book that was first published in 1975 and still holds strong. Neil Gaiman himself endorsed it, so you know it’s going to be a fantastic mythology-based book! This is one of those stories that drops so many clues and hints that when you get to the end, you’ll want to read it again to catch everything you missed.

This is less a romance novel and more a high fantasy novel with romantic elements, but the romance subplot is exceedingly strong.

(I can highly recommend a mental fan-casting of either Arhys or Ilvin as Pedro Pascal, because he’d absolutely knock one of those roles out of the park if this was ever made into a miniseries).

Ista is over 40, a queen, a new grandmother, a recovered madwoman, and…wait for it…a living saint. Seeking to get away from the suffocating (yet loving) arms of her family, she goes on a pilgrimage (Road Trip!) with a group of younger people and ends up getting into multiple adventures and a more than near miss with outright war. It’s an absolute romp and one of my all-time favorites.

Another split realm recommendation! I loved every second of this spicy, enemies-to-lovers, magical book! The worldbuilding is next level, and I was transported to the world with vicious faeries. Lark is one of three sisters that have crossed the borders into the faerie world. Lark is sent to the mountain to the fae who rules over the sky. The journey up the mountain and Lark’s personality made me laugh and cheer her on. Lark is hilarious, witty, free-spirited, and doesn’t let her fear get the best of her. She’s inventive, always finding a way out of tough situations. I love the dynamic between Lark and her two other sisters, and who doesn’t love a found family? Ultimately, Lark’s story is captivating, compelling, and I highly recommend!

Paranormal literature contains both entry-level texts and advanced reading.

George P. Hansen’s The Trickster and the Paranormal firmly occupies the latter category; it is best digested a paragraph at a time. Anyone taking the plunge is rewarded with an erudite argument for understanding the paranormal, one yielding ever-increasing dividends the more it is applied: everything supernatural, from the phenomenon itself to those who study it, is subject to the influence of a subversive Jungian archetype known as The Trickster.

This is not an entity but rather a set of pervasive characteristics manifesting independently: transgressive, self-negating, liminal, playful, and, dare it be said, dangerous. Hansen’s speculation makes a little more sense of the insensible, including why irrefutable evidence of the paranormal yet eludes the scientific establishment.

Kevin Crossley-Holland published excerpts from his Norse Myths as a book for children. But as a child’s first introduction to the tales, it might be too poetic. I’d recommend, instead, Norse Mythology for Kids by Mathias Nordvig.

Nordvig retells the myths as your wise uncle might—if he happened to be Loki, the trickster god. For Nordvig not only blends different versions of a tale, but he also adds bits he thinks our original sources shouldn’t have left out.

Into that “mist world” at time’s beginning, for instance, Nordvig inserts a loon who helps the goddess Jord build the Earth. It’s a tale I’m familiar with from Native American mythology, but as Nordvig asserts, the Norse stories “are still alive.” And to keep them that way, we need to make them our own.

You've probably heard of the Aesop fables, which were written so that slaves could speak the truth to their masters in disguised terms. The Life of Aesop is an ancient novel length version of the escapades of the slave. Potbellied, snub-nosed and bandy-legged, his openly sexual behaviour broke all the rules of ancient life, which generates much of the humour. He is a trickster who wins small, temporary victories based on an intimate knowledge of how the powerful operate. He works constantly to invert the social order and even though he loses in the end it is only to overwhelming odds. The translation can be found in Daly, L. W. (ed.), Aesop Without Morals: The Famous Fables and a Life of Aesop.

I love children’s series that encourage young readers to keep track of what their favorite character is up to in the next book…and the next. Pixie Tricks is an early chapter book series that does just that. In the first book, the main character finds a portal to the fairy world right in her own backyard. In the following books, she must deal with baffling situations such as mysteriously leaking faucets and figuring out a way to rescue her cousin who is somehow trapped inside a video game. There are 5 books in this series and children ages 6 to 8 love to collect them all.

I picked up a copy of Kill Sequence after chatting to the author via Twitter (Or X or whatever it’s called nowadays). It sounded intriguing so I thought I’d give it a shot, and I’m so glad I did.

I really struggle to define a genre for this book, and this is one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much. If pushed I would call it a thriller with a twist of grounded Sci-Fi. What I didn’t expect is how well-written the book is. It starts with a bang in the middle of a violent fight and the story unfolds itself as you read on.

The main character, Shawn, is a likable, sympathetic man, and I found myself quickly rooting for him as the mystery unfolds around him, taking him from England, to Greece and several other locations. Shawn is accompanied (sort of) by the elegant and charismatic Michael,… show more.

Technically two books (Trickster’s Choice and Trickster’s Queen), this duet follows Alianne, daughter of the heroine Alanna and spymaster George, who is kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave to an outcast royal family. The trickster god enlists/coerces her to aid the family’s plot to reseize their throne, which has Aly working as a spy against her homeland. All of Pierce’s books are fantastic, and the Tortall series shaped me as both a reader and writer of fantasy. It was interesting to move away from the heroism and adventure of the earlier books in this universe to a more morally gray protagonist with spy and assassin training who is secretly working for a god. Also, her love interest is a crow turned human, and it works surprisingly well.

I’m sneakily recommending a trilogy here, of which this is the first book. By turns funny, gritty, dark, difficult, and magical, this book by Eden Robinson, who is a member of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations from the Pacific Northwest, is another coming-of-age novel that dives into the gritty realism of life on a reservation, as well as the deep, magical roots of Haisla mythology. 

This is one of my favorite picture books. To me, the main character is life itself. A mischievous, greedy, daring, vulnerable, colorful aliveness. The strong colors and the bold shapes of the illustrations demonstrate the raw intensity of life. And the theme of Grandmother loving Pig-Boy unconditionally is one mothers would resonate with. Such a treat!

In modern culture where it’s reiterated that women must always be fierce girl bosses, The Witch’s Heart is a refreshing tale that shows the gratification of motherhood.

Angrboda is an ancient witch who falls for the Norse god, Loki, the mischievous trickster who visits her in the forest. What I found striking about Angrboda is when she becomes a mother to Loki’s unusual children, she lives a life of contentment, raising her brood in the forest.

She’s also not dependent on Loki but rather turns to a friendly huntress for help. With Loki, nothing is ever boring as he’s often entangled in the cruel games of the gods.

When threats rise to her family from Loki’s father, Odin, Angroboda reaches deep within to explore her mysterious powers for her family’s survival.

This follow-up to American Gods once again puts ancient gods in the modern world, but you don’t have to have read the first book to jump in. American Gods centers on Shadow, the son of Odin, while Anansi Boys focuses on the children of the trickster god, Anansi. Anansi is a classic storyteller, who fooled the animal god Tiger into giving him ownership of all stories. This book is all things you would expect from Gaiman—clever, humorous, and mythic. And it directly analyzes the power and purpose of storytelling, giving readers a rare glimpse into a storyteller’s toolbox.