Review: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer

Just so you know, this does contain spoilers.

I am a HUGE Rick Riordan fan and love all of his mythology books. When I heard that he was coming out with a new series, I was excited, but when I saw it was about Norse mythology, I got confused, because everything that happens in Norse mythology was fated to happen millions of years ago, so it would be kind of hard to make an interesting story if you already know what's going to happen. I first read about Norse mythology in D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths, which is a series of children's books, teaching about Norse mythology. In the book, it had a few mysteries that the main character had to figure out about Norse mythology, that I already knew about, but overall it was a great book. You can read one Norse mythology book and learn about the great gods and how they fought bravely, and then you can read this book and learn about the mighty Thor, slayer of giants, owner of the most powerful weapon in the world, and fan of The Walking Dead.

The basic plot is this: Magnus Chase is your regular motherless teenage boy on the streets, until he gets killed by Surt, king of the fire giants, and sent to Valhalla, a war camp/fancy hotel for dead warriors. He finds that his father is Frey, lord of light and has healing powers. He escapes it to go on an unauthorized quest to retrieve the Sword of Summer with a dwarf, Blitzen and an elf, Hearthstone, who are both his friends. He also meets the former-valkyrie (Sam) who got kicked out of the valkyrie corps because of him, which is pretty awkward. Once he finds the sword of summer, he must learn how to control its power to fight Surt and Fenris wolf, who retrying to hasten doomsday.

A wacky plot? check. Hilariously sarcastic characters? check. A funny twist on mythology? check. Yep, this is defiantly a Rick Riordan book. It really is hard to say anything bad about any Rick Riordan book because they really are so well written. He even came out with the second book of the series this month, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor, which I can't wait to read. Every character, even most of the bad guys are likable and funny, even when they're talking about sad or serious stuff. This series may be my favorite yet, because it is so inventive and different than other Rick Riordan series. I mean, this is the first book I have ever read where the main character dies at the beginning. My favorite part of the story was just when they introduced the characters and talked about their past lives. Either that, or Magnus and Sam flirting. My least favorite part would have to be the beginning, where his uncle is talking on and on about Norse mythology. It was necessary though, as it introduced the setting and everything. I will have to give this particular book 4 1/2 stars. I really enjoyed and have already read it multiple times. I hope you enjoy this book, its edge-of-your set adventures, and its hilarious narrative. :)