Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan | Review

Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan | Review

Welcome Back Bookaholics!

Welcome back to another Book Review!!

Today I am going to discuss with you all what I thought of the first Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard novel, Magnus Chase and The Sword of summer by Rick Riordan. I did an anticipation post for this over a year ago which was titled; Why I can’t wait to read… – I know cool title right?

It has been a ridiculously long time since I have read Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan, the first book in the Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard series, but despite the time frame, I still remember how I felt reading this amazing book, due to its lasting impact it has had on me.

After becoming super obsessed with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially Thor and Loki – who are played by the fabulous Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston respectively –  I started researching Norse Mythology as we had touched on it briefly in school and I had read up on some myths and legends on Tumblr. As I became further invested into Norse Mythology and some other mythologies I turned to Rick Riordan – who’s books I shamefully have never read – and saw  that he was releasing a novel based on Norse Mythology called Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard, which I knew I just had to read.

Being the first ever Rick Riordan book I have ever read – sad? I know right – I had super high expectations, and trust me I was NOT disappointed!

 

About The Book:

25090719 - Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan | Review

Goodreads Synopsis:

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 an uncle he’s never met—a man his mother claimed was dangerous. His uncle 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 . . .

Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer is the first book in another one of Rick Riordan’s epic series which does feature one character from his Percy Jackson and The Olympians series – although I am not going to mention who – I will say that this person is a relative of Magnus’s and you DO NOT need to have read any of Rick’s books prior to picking up this one. As I said previously, I haven’t and I still had an enjoyable reading experience.

I borrowed the Australian paperback edition from  a friend of mine – and a mad Percy Jackson fan. I treated this book like it was gold. And it certainly looked like it…

The Review!

In my anticipation post for this novel titled Why I Can’t Wait to Read…, I displayed the US cover (I hope to get my hands on it soon) of this book, which is waay cooler than this cover! Mostly because of the beautiful, vibrant colour palette and the fact that there is a  floating sword, which totally baffles people once they realise it is actually floating and not being held by Magnus.

I’m just going to start this review by saying that this book is exceeded my expectations!

amazing - Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan | Review

Like I said, I have never read a Rick Riordan book in my life, but I had heard amazing things constantly about his works, so I had super high hopes for this book, and like I said above, it exceeded my expectations.

I was unable to put this book down.

As soon as I read the first chapter title; “Good Morning! You’re Going To Die.” I knew that I was going to enjoy this book. I have never read a book where the main character is dead, before. So you can imagine my shock when Magnus starts narrating the events that lead up to his agonising death.

Going into this book, I expected Magnus to not be the narrator. I also expected Magnus’s personality to be either really serious or entirely playful. What I did not expect was Magnus to be sarcastic and sound like a totally ‘done’ teenager.

I can just imagine Magnus saying to people; ‘”No. Just No.” Please stop asking me about my death. You don’t wanna die. I didn’t want to die so plz stop or I will kill you, then you will die.’

From this moment on I was laughing out loud, while learning more and more about my favourite Mythological Religion. There are too many great aspects to this book, so I am going to list my all time favourites;

  • Jack The Talking Sword. This was the first time I questioned this book (and Riordan’s sanity). The whole book seemed to be travelling smoothly and much like a ‘normal’ middle-grade novel until this point. As soon as the sword talked, I was like WHAT?! and the sword was like WHAT?! and I think everyone was just a little bit confused for a few minutes.
  • The Fashionable Dwarf Blizen. There’s always one person who likes to deviate from tradition and that person is Blitzen. Instead of being obsessed with traditional crafting like all other Dwarves, Blitzen created his own trade degree for fashion wich isn’t actually a recognised Dwarven craft. Kinda sucked for him because he was challenged to a crafting contest by another Dwarf and well that didn’t go too well.
  • Giving Names to Inanimate crafted objects. Yes, this is what dwarves do. I found it strange at first but I loved how it really established the Dwarven culture of Svartalfheim and accentuated how invested in craft the dwarves actually are.
  • Pop Culture Addict, Thor. This really got me. I had to put the book down and laugh for like five whole minutes. It was a stark (teehee) contrast to how the hero Thor is portrayed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as someone who does not know anything about earth or Earth etiquette, compared to Riordan’s idea of a pop culture nut, body-built, blazé God.
  • The 8 Legged Horse. What? YAS! This was my favourite part of the book – aside from the pop culture Thor aspect. Sleipnir, one of Loki’s many odd looking offspring and Odin’s horse is probably my favourite creature in Norse Mythology and I was so glad Rick included this in the book.

There is really nothing negative to say about this book except for the fact that it ended on a cliffhanger and I had to wait over a year for the next book to come out (tomorrow), to which I can say that the time has flown and I am damn well ready to get my hands on the next book.

 

Rating!

I gave this book a ★★★★★ (5/5 star) rating on Goodreads, but I would’ve given it waay more stars if my rating scale was higher, but even then I would still probably wish to rate it and infinite number of stars.

 

Recommendation.

I would recommend this book to anyone literally. But most specifically people who love Mythology and also love a good, light, humorous and informative read.

I would also recommend checking out (and maybe doing) my Asgardian Book Tag for the release of the second book tomorrow!

 

Thank You so much for reading and I hope to see you all again Saturday 🙂

bree xoxo - Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan | Review


I’m a Book Depository Affiliate! Get Free Shipping on ALL BOOKS Everywhere!


© Jasper+Spice 2015. All Rights Reserved. Please do not use without permission. All graphics were sourced from Goodreads. Some photos were sourced from my Instagram @jasperandspice.

Leave a Comment

Comments

Leave your thoughts and comments here :)