Rating: 5/5 stars
Genre: YA, fantasy, mythology
First published: 2015
Author: Rick Riordan
Synopsis: My name is Magnus Chase. I’m orphaned and living rough on the streets of Boston. And things are about to get much worse.
My day started out normally enough. I was sleeping under a bridge when some guy kicked me awake and said, ‘They’re after you.’ Next thing I know, I’m reunited with my obnoxious uncle, who casually informs me that my long-lost father is a Norse god.
Nothing normal about that. And it turns out the gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Apparently, if I can’t find the sword my father lost two thousand years ago, there will be doom. Doomsday, to be precise.
A fire giant attacking the city?
Immortal warriors hacking each other to pieces?
Unkillable wolves with glowing eyes?
It’s all coming up.
But first I’m going to die. This is the story of how my life goes downhill from there…
This is my favourite Rick Riordan book that I’ve read so far. I feel about Magnus Chase the same way a lot of people feel about Percy Jackson. I never loved Percy. I mean, I like him, but I don’t love him.
First of all, I love Norse mythology. So just that alone sold me on it. And somehow, I feel like Rick Riordan does Norse mythology even better than he does Greek mythology. Although that may have something to do with the fact that Norse mythology is just cooler anyway. this book was so much fun though and I learnt new things about Norse mythology. It just made me happy.
I love how we get the Norse world co-existing with the Greek world and all the other pantheons. I’m currently reading The Lost Hero and the more of Riordan’s books I read, the more I notice this interweaving and I love it and I’m really curious to read some of the cross-over stories. Anyway, I digress.
One of my favourite things about this book (aside from the mythology and Magnus) was that there wasn’t a romance between the male and female main characters. They’re just genuinely good friends and I really enjoyed that. Unfortunately, it’s not very often that you get to see male/female friendships that are well explored and focal to the story. And I love those kinds of friendships. I crave them. So this was a balm for my soul.
I don’t know if it’s just because I enjoyed this book more than his other books, but I found it to be even funnier than the Percy Jackson books. Magnus was so funny and his humour just got me. He’s very sardonic and dry and I love that. It speaks to me, we understand each other, we speak the same language. I just really want to be friends with Magnus.
Diversity man! We get some diversity. We get a muslim main character and a deaf supporting character, but those things aren’t really the focus. And I love that. They’re not the dominant characteristic of that character, as it often happens. They’re just realities and they’re acknowledged and incorporated into the character’s lives and personalities, but they’re not defining.
So yeah, I cannot wait to continue with this series. I’m actually really sad because I think there are only 3 books, I need more than 3 books. Percy Jackson got like… 10. Petition for more Magnus Chase!
A Book Nerd 
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