Name: The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 1)
ISBN: 9781423160915

Rick Riordan

Magnus Chase has seen his share of trouble. Ever since that terrible night two years ago when his mother told him to run, he has lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, staying one step ahead of the police and truant officers. One day, he's tracked down by an uncle he barely knows, a man his mother claimed was dangerous. Uncle Randolph 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 . . .

The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 1)

Julia Rutgers

I was proud that the four of us responded as a team. In perfect unison, like a well-oiled combat machine, we turned and ran for our lives.

I love this series with my entire being and this reread was so refreshing. I want to go back there and live it for the 1rst time again.

Tsu 💙

Sarah Sammis

What I really want is a spin book (or books) about the life and times of Hearthstone and Blitzen. 

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2017/comm...

Christine

Magnus looks like Kurt Cobain I'm cackling

Vicky  Nuñez 

Rick Riordan is back, this time along with the Norse gods to torture us with a new set of heroes.
And I love it.

I loved Magnus Chase and his quest to look for his mom. He's such a good character, but what made him great was his relationship wih his friends. They were so much fun and it was so heartwarming to see them become a family. That's what makes this book so awesome and keep you rooting for him.

Also, Rick Riordan is a genius. He's proved it before, but it still made me laugh when he managed to connect even the randomest things to Norse Mythology.

Overall, a great book. I'm looking forward to see what happens next.

Salsa

akynn 

I think the main reason I didn’t end up enjoying this book much was because it took me a year to read for some reason.

Magnus Chase has seen his share of trouble. Ever since that terrible night two years ago when his mother told him to run, he has lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, staying one step ahead of the police and truant officers. One day, he's tracked down by an uncle he barely knows-a man his mother claimed was dangerous. Uncle Randolph 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 . . .

Date read:  February 4-February 7, 2020 

 Actual Rating: 3.75 STARS 

Reading stuffs other than greek mythology from Uncle Rick always has a touch of unfamiliarity to me. Just like reading The Kane Chronicles, I was kind of looking for something that I might connect with Percy's worlds. You see, I am really a sucker for Percy Jackson and everything about him. Unfortunately, it is slightly different from reading Uncle Rick's other mythology-inspired books. The connection I felt with the characters was a little off. I can't help myself from comparing it with Percy and the gang. But please be reminded that this is the little girl in me with a deep love for Percy's world who's talking. It was kind of hard not to relate it with each other as I can see and still feel the familiarity of the writing. 

But putting aside all these comparing stuffs, reading the first book in Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, it was really fun. It was a fun ride the whole time. I was always drawn to this kind of humor. The humor that makes me laugh all throughout the book. The funny sarcasm in the midst of all the dangerous quests, the characters' banters, their realistic personalities. And even the morals thrown at the readers here and there. These are all the reasons I loved Uncle Rick's writing so much. It never gets boring. These books are always bringing the happy kid in me. I always look forward with more of Uncle Rick's works.

julia

i love the amount of sarcasm in this book

Whitney Nicole

I won’t act like I loved this as much as PJO, HOO, or the Kane Chronicles it was still classic Rick Riordan. Going into his other series’ I knew a lot about the different mythologies they were based on, but I’ve never known a lot about Norse mythology. So this definitely made me pay more attention to detail in this. It’s most definitely his most diverse series. Magnus is similar to Percy with a few distinct differences, the first being that while Magnus’s father is a God, he’s not one of the most well-respected or warrior ones. Magnus’ powers lie more in peace and healing, in contrast to Percy Jackson who was whooping Greek ass all over the place because his father is one of the big three. Not that Magnus whoop any Norse ass, he does. But he handles it much differently. I’d give the whole book a solid 3.5 stars.

deva

Anna

Funny, easy to read with no boring moments.
Great book

lea.

this was my first time diving into a rick riordan book. i've never read the percy jackson series or one of his other ones. but i'm glad that i picked up magnus chase because i ended up loving it with my whole heart. it was such an easy read, the story was interesting and action packed, the characters were all lovable (jack is my favourite! such a sassy sword) and the whole plot was easy to consume. i'm curious to why most booktubers don't read nor recommend this book :( but anyway, i cannot wait to continue with the second book! here's to more adventures with magnus chase and friends ❤️

Nessa Luna

Back in 2012, I started reading the Percy Jackson series for the first time. A fictional book series about Greek demigods, which I enjoyed very much! At the beginning of this year, I finally started reading the Heroes of Olympus series, which is a sort of spin-off sequel to the PJ series, but this time with Roman demigods thrown in too. I really liked that series too (maybe a bit more than the original series). All I hoped was for Rick Riordan to pick up Norse Mythology (because he also did an Egyptian series!) and he did! The Sword of Summer is the first book in - what I believe - a trilogy about a demigod named Magnus Chase.

This book follows Magnus as he finds out he's a Norse demigod and gets brought to Hotel Valhalla (sort of like Camp Half-Blood, but different). He then goes on a quest without permission of the hotel owner and shit happens. Yes, it's the same formula as PJ and HoO, but honestly I love it so much more! Because I love Norse Mythology so so much, it kind of made the fact that the book was predictable a lot better.

Because yes, I am going to be terribly honest - this book is predictable. Magnus goes on a quest with two companions (initially, but he does get a third companion along the way); they meet a couple of the gods (to introduce people to Norse mythology I guess), they meed some of the mythology creatures (including the offspring of Sleipnir, an eight-legged horse that Loki gave birth to (yes really!)). And then there's a big fight at the end with the enemy that was introduced in this book. But this book is just so cool that I didn't care about that at all. Because I love these quest books, and it's Norse Mythology, come on!

Magnus is of course the main character of this book, and he's the only one who has a POV in this story which I liked a lot. Because that also meant the resturn of the chapter titles! That was one of the reasons I loved the PJ books so much, the hilarious chapter titles every time. I missed those in Heroes of Olympus and was super happy to find out they were back in this book! My favourite one, which hopefully isn't spoilerish, was: "Hearthstone passes out even more than Jason Grace (though I have no idea who that is)".

Aside from Magnus, we meet several other characters - including an elf and a dwarf, an eight-legged horse which they call 'Stanley', a bunch of guys called Erik, some Valkyrie and of course a couple of norse Gods. Not sure which one was my favourite, but Thor was definitely one of them. Magnus' companions are Blitz, Hearth and Samirah, and personally I liked Sam best. She's a muslim and a Valkyrie and gods I loved her so much!

I won't tell you who Magnus' father (because that we already know because of the synopsys) is, because that's a spoiler, but I can say I was surprised. (view spoiler)[It wasn't Thor, or Loki, it wasn't even Odin. No, his godly parent was Frey, a Vanir god (the 'lesser' God apparently); which I liked at lot! Because after seeing his appearance on the cover I was so afraid he might be the son of Thor (though of course Marvel's Thor doesn't look at all like how he 'actually' looks like. Still... (hide spoiler)]

We also find out a bit more about the Chase family - because yes, Annabeth and Magnus are related. They are cousins, but at the moment this book starts they haven't seen each other for at least seven or eight years. Whether or not Annabeth is in this book or not I won't tell you, you'll have to find out for yourself!

In the end, I really loved The Sword of Summer and I can safely say it's my favourite mythology book so far from Riordan. I hope the rest of this series will be as awesome as this one, but seeing as it's Rick Riordan, and seeing as it's Norse mythology, it probably wil! I recommend this book to people who loved the previous three series, and especially to fans of The Almighty Johnsons, The Blackwell Pages and of course Norse mythology in general! 

My opinion on this book in one gif:

Leann!

Izza

Siya S

4.5/5 Stars

Find out more at:
https://thebleedingeyes.wordpress.com/

OH.MY.GODS

“My name is Magnus Chase. I’m sixteen years old. This is the story of how my life went downhill after I got myself killed.”





I mean, it’s not even a surprise that the awesome human being that is Rick Riordan has yet again written a glorious, squealing worthy kind of a book. A great introduction to a great series. I’ve been a sucker for Norse mythology for ages, so of course falling in love head over heels with Magnus Chase is a no-brainer. 

The thing about Riordan is that he likes pop culture references. He’s that guy who keeps up with all the trends, trying really hard to bond with his teenage kids (thus the dad jokes in all his books). And there’s no harm in that, right?. That jab about micro brewing and beard and flannel shirt? hilarious. The small mention of Doctor Who and Game of Thrones and Kurt Cobain? I love it.

Lord Th– I mean, Thor,’ said Sam, ‘Won’t you come with us? This is an important battle – the fire lord Surt, Fenris Wolf. Surely that’s worthy of your attention.’

Thor’s right eye twitched. ‘That’s a fine offer. Really. I’d love to, but I have another pressing appointment –’

‘Game of Thrones,’ Marvin explained.


And I also like the way he sneaks facts and proper pronunciation of things into the dialogues without making them feel off or weird, like we can actually learn some shits from this. I just think his books are really good for kids and even adults alike.

"Let’s see, today is Thor’s Day the sixteenth.”

“You mean Thursday?”

“That’s what I said. The island will rise on the full moon six days from now, on the twenty-second, which is Woden’s Day.”

“Wednesday?” I asked.

“That’s what I said.”


Just like all the books in Percy Jackson series (I’m not much of a fan for The Kane Chronicles), The sword of Summer brought you into the world of gods and what-not in the very same old fashion we all come to love; gods in the modern days; extravagance narration of the creative settings; a flawed likable heroes with lots of equally likable friends; and an army of unconventional foes marching in from all directions. It was a hilarious, action-packed, fast-paced modern days mythology infused with plot-twists and the unpredictables. It cherishes the best thing in this life known as friendship, and it teaches you to be yourself and whack the hell out of those who try to tell you to be otherwise.

Just look at this one remark Magnus made about using sign language with his deaf-mute elvish friend:

I kind of liked that, actually. You couldn’t multitask while talking to him. The dialogue required one hundred percent focus. If all conversations were like that, I imagined people wouldn’t say so much stupid garbage.



Speaking of dumb Elvish friend, I do love the diversity of characters. Once again Riordan has introduced us so many characters from various cultural backgrounds, a bunch of misfits, and then throwing in lots and lots of semi-offensive jokes (in which some people might fine them vein and shallow. Well, I don’t.) while at the same time trying to break free from the expectation. I mean, since when we last seen a very much noble, very much deaf elf, a fashionable dwarf and a Muslim Valkyrie (with an arranged marriage coming in her way) all in one saga?

People do say this book is like Percy Jackson all over again. Well Percy, Jason Grace, and now Magnus do actually have the same snarky, sarcastic voice that keeps bombarding us with dad jokes (CORALLLLL meme quality). I don’t mind that. I’ve met a lot of unlikable characters (those brooding, boring, possessive asshats in YA fantasy romance books for a start) so I don’t feel like complaining when I come across one, two or even three…the triplets of same narrating voice that I actually love.

Isabela H 

Rick Riordan continues to be one of my favorite authors. He provides the same comforts of Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus but with a whole new refreshing cast of characters and the world of Norse Mythology

Kirsten Simkiss

** spoiler alert **
           It's definitely a very enjoyable pieces of children's literature, though very similar in style to Percy Jackson. Assuming it will link up more in the future with Annabeth being Magnus's cousin, it will be interesting to see how Magnus and Percy get along. Humor-wise, they're very similar. I did think that Magnus was a great deal more cynical, but Rick Riordan clearly has a love for witty and impulsive main characters. It's not a bad thing, but his main characters are all fairly similar in terms of personality and how they react to unusual situations - being generally with some form of witty retort. This book is definitely Riordan's usual action adventure with a dash of an old school religion thrown in.

I loved Sam as the side character. You don't often get decent characters that are multicultural in children's literature and that is something I have always found Riordan to do very well. Especially in the Heroes of Olympus stories, the range of characters is delightful. I also loved having a character who spoke primarily in ASL - that's definitely something that isn't often seen. I applaud Riordan for his diversity.

I'm not sure how much I liked the interpretation of Norse mythology, but it wasn't horrible. I definitely wasn't expecting Valhalla to be a luxury resort or sorted by age group. That seemed odd to me. I definitely want to meet the senile warriors in the older age group and listen to their grumping, though I figure that'll happen in books to come. Jack the talking Summer Sword also was pretty unexpected. I don't recall Norse mythology having any talking swords. Personally, some of the interpretations of the Gods seemed a little more like caricatures of them than personalities, with Loki being the most complex of the bunch. This book also seemed like it was much more black and white in terms of right and wrong. In Percy Jackson, I know there was always this sort of frustration with how the gods were running things and how they managed their children. In this, it really seemed like nobody was questioning the natural order of how things were being managed, despite that none of the Norse gods seemed like particularly efficient leaders.

I would definitely recommend a read, but I'm hoping it gets more complex in future books.

linda

** spoiler alert **
           Good plot. I enjoyed the diversity of the characters. I also liked the references that Riordan made throughout the book to the Percy Jackson series and pop culture (passing out like Jason Grace, the "safe place" Annabeth was referring to, and Blank Soace). I liked the action, the Annabeth crossover, and how this book was slightly different from the quests we encountered before. Looking forward to the next one!

Sara

i didn’t intend to reread this again but it happened and i’m not complaining

Nicole Dykeman

This new installment from Rick Riordan is very similar to his other series, but that was kind of expected. I've read pretty much all of his books, and I would say I have high hopes for this Norse mythology series. 

The original five Percy Jackson books will always be my favorite, and I feel like out of all the books he has written since, this one was the most similar in voice. He brings back the amusing chapter titles and sarcastic humor of Percy Jackson that I missed in the Heroes of Olympus and the Kane Chronicles. I also liked that there was no POV switching in this one. Keeping track of the characters got to be too confusing in some of Riordan's more recent books. 

Basically, I was a bit wary of this when I first started it but it definitely exceeded expectations. I'll definitely be reading the second book when it comes out.

jess

Rick Riordan does it again! He manages to create an entirely fresh start, even if we do see two old characters in it, and he takes us through a journey that is new and unpredictable even though it's much the same thing we've seen in Percy Jackson. This is a bit darker than the rest of the books he's written and it's awesome. The first person is back. The snarky titles are back, which is delightful. Magnus relies a lot more on black humor. He's a complete shithead and he is a complete shithead out loud and in his head (unlike Percy, who is a complete shithead in his head ... mostly). 

The gods - I'm gonna have to give this a reread when I know more about Norse mythology because I know NOTHING about Norse mythology but let me tell you that this carries the same charm as all his books do, modernizing the gods into reasonably plausible modern human beings who have had trouble adjusting to this world. Odin, Loki, Thor, Hel - they were all very interesting. Like I said - I know nothing about the Norse, but he did a very good job at explaining it, and likely there are mythological references that I didn't even catch. 

One of the things I love about his books is that he manages (well, after the original series) to include multiculturalism into series that would otherwise be mostly white (like the first series) - Cherokee and Chinese cultures in the Heroes of Olympus books mixing with Greek Mythology, in the Heroes of Olympus, and a British white girl mixing with Egyptian mythology. This is no exception; somehow, Rick manages to have a Muslim girl mix with Norse mythology, which, weird, but it rolls somehow. He's always done pretty good at addressing racism (past the first series; seriously the whiteness and straightness of the first series is my one big complaint lol). 

Another point of diversity: Hearthstone is deaf. (Is it bad that I ship Hearth and Blitz? Is this a thing? Please.) And Rick could have gone the way of being deaf but he can talk in people's minds, but except for a few rare occasions - and it's by magic when it happens, this doesn't happen. Hearth communicates almost solely using lip-reading and sign language. 

The plot was breakneck. Yes, it's another AAAH THE WORLD IS GOING TO END AND HERO NEEDS TO STOP THE WORLD story but like, Rick Riordan is good at writing these and I'm probably going to keep reading them as long as he keeps writing them, gods damn it. I'm so pumped for the next one.

Claire Hirst

i can't believe that i forgot how much i love rick riordan's writing style! i genuinely adore this book and these characters. well worth a read (or a reread, or a third or fourth or fifth read...)