Book Review:The Sword of Summer

Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard (#1): Written by Rick Riordan

Release Date: October 6th, 2015

Publisher: Disney Hyperion Books

Format of Novel: Hardcover

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary (from good reads): Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother’s mysterious death, he’s lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.

One day, he’s tracked down by a man he’s never met—a man his mother claimed was dangerous. The man tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god.

The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years.

When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision.

Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die..

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At long last, Rick Riordan has created a trilogy with Norse Mythology! (Yay Loki and Fenrir!). This book was a delight to read. We follow Magus Chase, the cousin of Annabeth (not a surprise there if you as me..) and his journey in the demi-goddess status of Valhalla after taking the leap of faith to protect those that helped him and dying in the process. Wait a minute you may ask, he died? Well hell yeah he died.. How else are you going to get to the hotel of the gods right? Haha. Sorry there, I needed to be a butt with you all. But, for those that have read this book already caught on with this cruel short summary of the book. Any who, if you all followed Riordan in the past, you know that the end of the book or is it? haha.

In this exciting book, we follow Riordan's take on Norse Mythology and Magus Chase's life before and after he discovers the truth of his heritage. Unlike the Percy Jackson Series, this book took on a little more serious approach with the character development, especially with Magus. We see him transisting from being homeless, to death, to living in this freakin' beautiful and adventurous hotel filled with fallen heroes from all different times periods, to embracing a quest in a similar matter like Percy did in his series. In a personal opinion, I felt that this book was my instant fan girl book out of all of the Rick Riordan books I've read in the past because I felt a more mature connection with Magus from the moment I read the first sentence.

The other character were fantastic as well. Like the ones from Percy Jackson, these characters maintained a humor to them that we see from the crazy author that really brought out the story to life. The action scenes in this was spot on with exciting descriptions and the dialogue was realistic and wonderful. Each of the plot twists and milestones were a great touch to the start of this wonderful trilogy. Even though this was the first to Magus' adventure, I'm dying to read more of this protagonist and his friends in the near future. This book was a nice touch to Riordan's mythological world and I can't wait to read more from him in the near future!