The
Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1)
by
Rick Riordan
Publication
Date: Oct 6th 2015
Publisher:
Disney Hyperion Books
Source: Bought
Source: Bought
Find
This Book: The Sword of Summer
Rating:
5/5
I preordered this book the second it was available
and was sitting as patiently as possible to await it’s arrival. Let me just say
this- I was not disappointed! While I’m not sure if it reaches Percy
Jackson/Heroes of Olympus standards, it was just as good, if not better than
the Kane Chronicles. This book brings together a homeless boy in Boston, a deaf
elf, an unappreciated dwarf who’s trade is bulletproof ascots, and a strong,
empowering woman of color. None of these characters felt stereotyped and each
brought something new and fresh to the story. Thank you Uncle Rick for bringing
together some diversity here! Each of the characters had their own depth and
backstory and while we got a satisfactory summation of each, I hope that that’s
something Riordan will dive deeper into in future books.
For those of you that may have been wondering,
Riordan pours on the sass and wit in this wonderful volume of Norse Mythology. There
are many jokes for long-term fans of Riordan as well as just genuinely funny
remarks. It’s similar to his old series, but at the same time The Sword of
Summer is distinctly different. They travel to some of the different realms,
encounter a squirrel, and have a very intense deep sea fishing expedition! In
Midgard the world is set in Boston which was pretty cool. Knowing a bit about
Boston drivers from living there myself it was also amusing to see this city from
Magnus’s perspective. Additionally, we get to see Annabeth in the book
momentarily and Magnus clearly doesn’t appreciate how much of a badass she is:
yet.
Ok so general plot: Magnus is destined to pull his
Father’s old weapon The Sword of Summer out of an old Norse shipwreck here in
Boston and this basically triggers Ragnarok because that sword has been missing
for centuries and it’s needed to cut Fenris Wolf free to start the apocalypse.
For a unique twist, Magnus our main character gets killed in the first chapter.
We then proceed to delve into Norse myth along with Magnus, which I thought was
great because I don’t know them was well as I know Greek Myths. As usual the
whole story flowed well and this is just another huge Riordan masterpiece.
I would definitely recommend this to Riordan Fans,
fans of Norse mythology, or anyone looking for characters other than strong
hero-type hetero-normative white males! Not even Magnus truly fits that
stereotype and it was just pure amazingness.
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