Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard Book 1: The Sword of Summer

   The time has come for a new era of Riordan. The first book in a Norse mythology series has been released, and wow did it impress me! It was exactly what I expected and nothing like I expected at the same time. Rick Riordan, you've done it again. You've woven a beautiful tale from the legends of generations passed. I simply cannot express how much I loved this book without revealing too much, so please, I beg you, pick up a copy of The Sword of Summer.

*****SPOILERS*****

    This book surprised me in so many ways. In a way, I was expecting another series starter like The Lightning Thief, but this....I don't want to say better because TLT will always have a special place in my heart, but in a way, it was. I've been saying for years, that Heroes of Olympus would make an amazing YA series if Riordan added cursing, slightly more gore, and more romance. Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard is fulfilling my dream. I struggled throughout the book, trying to establish whether this was still going to be a middle-grade series. I mean, it can't be! Magnus says "dammit" and "jackass".
    I can really only say this plainly, but I immediately fell in love with Magnus. In the beginning I loved him for his toughness and the way he just lays down the cold hard truth at the reader's feet. First of all, he's homeless. A sign that Riordan is delving into darker themes, which we'll discuss later. This makes Magnus a complex and versatile character. He goes from the 'eff you' guy who gives Surt the finger as he's about to die and tells people to shove walkers up their asses to the adorable snowflake who wants to hug everyone.
     Through the book, Magnus really grows as a person, but the character development is gradual enough to be realistic, something that's been problematic for me in Riordan's previous books. By the end of the story, Magnus is one of the biggest, most soft-hearted characters Riordan has ever written. Loki makes him let go, not only of his mother, but also of his anger. He doesn't resent his godly-parent, something every demigod struggles with. His power is warmth and love, and he uses it perfectly. He's not a fighter like Percy, Jason or Carter. In this way, he reminds me of Piper McLean.

    He is a healer. He radiates a peaceful nature that causes people to stop fighting. He's a reverse Ares! His tough guy demeanor is not fed by resentment. In fact, when he looks upon his time as a homeless person, he reflects on what he learned from it, not why he is angry. Not only that, but his growth of wisdom in one book rivals that of Annabeth's after ten!

    Speaking of Annabeth, I was very surprised by her part in the book. I knew from Blood of Olympus that Magnus was her cousin and that she had a small cameo in the first chapter. I was just not expecting her to be reoccurring! Her appearance at the end of the book was so perfect for the closure the readers and Magnus needed about his mom. It totally makes sense, she's the one person that can give him a break from all the Norse craziness but also completely understand what he's going through. 

    I think it is an extremely huge deal that Magnus and Annabeth are now aware of each other's worlds. Of course Annabeth has been through this with the Romans and now the Egyptians, but there's only so much she can take. And Magnus still has two more books where he's dealing with his own problems but will also be fully aware of other gods. Don't you think that might affect the Norse world? They start betting before the reader truly registers how monumental this is. Plus, the fact that the chapter was titled "I Lose a Bet" implies that they came to the conclusion that Annabeth's life is weirder, which I'm not sure I agree with. Sure she's been doing the whole demigod thing longer, but I think a ship made of dead warriors' toenails really takes the cake.

    I also just want to mention that sword related puns must run in the family.

Magnus in The Sword of Summer

Annabeth in The Lost Hero

    Let's just discuss the sword of summer itself, I mean himself. First of all, that piece of metal should strike up a sponsorship deal with Adidas because he is crazy pumped about everything throughout the entire book. It was almost Coach Hedge-worthy. Also he apparently speaks Spanish. That's fine. I'll bite. But I nearly threw the book on the ground when he said "blades before babes". I'm sorry, when did the sharpest blade in the nine realms turn into a straight white boy? Another reason he should work for Adidas. 

    I nearly died when this exchange occurred.

Rick Riordan making fun of his own ideas. Priceless. #getwrecked Riptide. A certain son of Poseidon on Long Island is clutching his pen sword to his heart in agony.

    Samirah al-Abbas's mere existence makes me jump for joy. The fact that Riordan has moved on to religious inclusion in his books makes me tremendously happy. He even addresses society's fear of Muslims in the book. Samirah is so badass and she kicks butt in her magic hijab. 

    My favorite thing about their relationship is Magnus's complete disregard for the fact that he is in a children's book (debatable) and Sam's need to censor him. Like when Magnus said Junior could shove his granny shuffler up his-"annnnnyway...".

    At first I was a little worried about the character dynamic between Samirah and Magnus being too similar to Riordan's other series but it wasn't. Their completely platonic, sibling-like relationship was so well done. It just added more depth to the themes of family in the story and the relationship between the whole group.

    Hearthstone and Blitzen, the mom and dad of the metaphorical family, were big surprises to me in the book. In the beginning, they are seen as just minor characters used for comic relief, but they grew into these great characters with depth and back stories and conflicting personalities. I also refuse to accept that they are anything less than the world's most adorable gay couple. I loved the fact that this was never addressed, too. Everyone just kinda went with it. It warmed my heart when the whole group was super supportive of Blitzen's fashion dreams and encouraged him to follow them. 

    I am also extremely excited about Riordan's choice to follow in Cassandra Clare's footsteps (not just with character names) and include disabled characters as heroes in his stories. Now joining Callum from The Iron Trial, we have Hearthstone who's deaf. I simply cannot explain how important it is to paint a positive image to young audiences that even if you are disabled, you can still do anything your heart desires. Like master rune stones, for example. I also think it was an amazing feat of Riordan's writing to be able to write in ASL consistently throughout a story.

    Another relationship I wanted to discuss is the small glimpse we get of Frey and Magnus. Their hug was the sweetest thing of this whole book. This scene gives the both closure on Magnus's mom, and it's more powerful because they are doing it together. It gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling to know that Frey had been watching over him all these years. It was even better that Magnus understood this and doesn't think of Frey as a bad father. I have very high hopes for their bonding. Maybe this Chase will have something close to a healthy parental relationship.

    Rick's writing was really on point in this book. Even though I'm not very familiar with Norse mythology (besides Marvel's Thor), the plot was super easy to follow. I didn't catch on quite as quick as with Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but Riordan did a very good job of not introducing everything at once. The only thing I really struggled with was the chapters following the reveal of Magnus's father. Because I'm not familiar with the hierarchy of Norse gods, this didn't mean anything to me initially. Even after I began to learn about Frey, it still wasn't as monumental a situation as being revealed to be the son of Zeus. With him, I understand how big a deal that is.

    Like I mentioned earlier, the character development was done really well, and the funny chapter titles filled a hole in my heart that's been there since I realized HOO didn't have them. As hilarious as some of the chapter titles were, the award for "Title that Literally Made Libby Cry Actual Tears" goes to...

    Something that majorly surprised me was Odin. I very much enjoyed his PowerPoint presentation and his acceptance of modern technology, something many gods struggle with. As soon as the Fenris Wolf said that line about someone hiding and not showing themselves. Someone was not who they seemed. I didn't know who the shifty one was, but I definitely didn't expect them to tuRN INTO ODIN! I thought it was really amazing how Samirah had this secret connection to him. It just shows how humble she is that she still sought redemption from Valkyries, even after they treated her horribly and didn't trust her.
    I was very surprised that Magnus and his crew got rewarded after just one book. Hearthstone and Blitzen seem like they're all set for their life goals and their story is complete, which I really hope is not true! Percy had to wait five books before Zeus even acknowledged all the things he's done, and even then it was still pretty begrudgingly. Odin is so much more chill than Zeus. He fought alongside the demigods, went undercover to make sure Valhalla was honorable, and just generally seems like a good person (god?). This book didn't even involve Greek mythology, and somehow it made me hate Zeus even more.   
    The last thing I want to discuss is my thoughts and theories for the next book, The Hammer of Thor. In the beginning of the book, Magnus is cautioned against sitting on Odin's throne and searching for his heart's desire. When Odin appeared at the end of the book, I wondered whether that moment was coming sooner than I thought. This was not the case. I think this is going to be a finale kind of moment that will occur at the end of the trilogy. We also have a little cliffhanger in the epilogue where we discover that Uncle Randolph is working for Loki! I'm still a little confused about where Loki's loyalties lie, but I assume that's the point. I had a little reassurance in that Randolph was working with him only for his family. I know that's bad, but I was happy that Randolph's intent wasn't willingly malicious. I really just don't know what's going to happen in this next book!

*****SPOILERS*****

    I absolutely adored this book. If you love Rick Riordan, Norse mythology, or laughing your face off at this adorable character, then I'd definitely suggest this book. It's so hard for me to explain how much these books mean to me and how amazing they make me feel. It's a good break from the world full of laughter and action and general awesome-ness (or "swag-ness" as Magnus would say). For now I leave you with an adorable Magnus drawing. Farewell!