Sunday, October 11, 2015

Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer

This is a review of Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan.
I gave this book ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5 stars, I loved it.

Magnus Chase is 16 years old and homeless.  His world pretty much revolves around finding his next meal, finding a safe place to sleep at night and avoiding police, social workers and anyone who says they want to "help" him.  His world is about to expand rather rapidly when he discovers that the old Norse gods are all too real, Valhalla exists and he is dragged into a quest to stop Ragnarok from happening.

In true Rick Riordan fashion the story grabs your attention and drags you along for the ride.  Magnus is a being of pure sass, snark, and witty comebacks.  Reading this felt a bit like reading Percy Jackson in that respect.  Magnus and Percy are definitely cut from the same sassy cloth but they are quite different people.  Where Percy jumps in and hacks with a sword, Magnus attempts to disarm enemies though he doesn't back down when the situation calls for it.

I will admit that I know far less about the Norse gods than I do about the Greek ones.  I can't say for sure how accurate Magnus Chase is when discussing the ancient mythology, but I would imagine it is pretty close.

There was a lot to like about this book, especially if you are a fan of Riordan's other series.  This one crosses over with Percy Jackson in a very neat way.  Riordan continues to branch out with his characters.  I think it is great that his stories have such a broad range of races and religions included, representation matters.

Personally I loved this book.  I couldn't put it down, I stayed up til 2AM reading it.  I highly recommend that you pick it up and give it a chance.  If you haven't read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Kane Chronicles series' by Rick Riordan you should also give them a shot. 

No comments:

Post a Comment