Hello! It's certainly been quite a while. It has been exactly a year since I last wrote anything for this blog, so I decided that I should probably make some kind of attempt at a new post. In light of that, I'd like to share with you my thoughts on the first book of Rick Riordan's new series, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.
I started the book sometime in October - not too long after it was released. Unfortunately, I got so busy with my school work that I didn't get a chance to actually finish it until my Christmas break. If I had read the book more quickly, then I probably would have been able to keep better track of what was going on as I read, but unfortunately I wasn't able to do that. That being so, my review won't be super specific. Also, I'm supposed to be doing homework right now, so I'll try to keep it brief while still covering all of the bases that I need to cover.
To be honest, my first source of excitement was the dedication page. I really loved how he dedicated the book to Cassandra Clare, because I love her Infernal Devices series, and I also liked the Mortal Instruments series as well - and, of course, Magnus Bane.
When I actually got into reading the book, I realized how much I had missed Riordan's writing style. The prose and the dialogue move so quickly and smoothly, which is great for people who love to read fast, like me. Most of all, I seriously appreciated the sarcasm. It just gets better and better with every book he writes. Magnus seems to be even more sarcastic than Percy, and I'm really loving it. Even the chapter names were very tongue-in-cheek. My favorites include...
- "Gunilla Gets Blowtorched and It's Not Funny. Okay, It's a Little Bit Funny."
- "I Am Trash-Talked by a Squirrel"
- "Hearthstone Passes Out Even More than Jason Grace (Though I Have No Idea Who That Is)"
That last one really got me.
As far as the new mythology goes, it's very interesting to learn about, and just a tad confusing. There are definitely lots of gods, creatures, and worlds to keep track of, but I think I can handle it. It seems that Riordan is doing a pretty decent jobs of separating the personalities of the Greek gods and the personalities of the Norse gods. The only criticism I really have in that regard is that I was getting some serious Aphrodite vibes from Freya. I expected Thor to be somewhat similar to Zeus or Apollo personality-wise, but I was happy to see that Riordan presented him with a very vibrant and distinctive personality. (Although when he mentioned that he had a season of Sherlock left to watch, I really wanted someone to warn him that there really isn't any hurry, with the rate that they're making that show...)
Other than Riordan's trademark super-amazing humor and writing style, the strongest aspect of the book for me was the characters. Of course I loved seeing Annabeth again, but I was glad that she only played a secondary role. I really didn't want the focus to be drawn away from Magnus's personal quest, and I'm also not sure if she's quite ready to find out that there's another set of gods out there. I loved the family-like dynamic between Magnus, Hearthstone, and Blitzen, and I think Sam will be a really cool person to read about in upcoming books. The secondary characters were also very interesting personalities. My personal favorite was Hunding.
The overarching plot was so-so for me, but that probably had something to do with me taking so long to get through the book and having trouble keeping up with what was going on. I found the individual "quests" where Magnus or one of his friends had to accomplish a particular task to be the most interesting things in the book, such as Blitz's crafting competition and Magnus and Sam's venture into the giants' home. Beyond those, I wasn't super curious about how the entire book would end, because I figured they'd be successful in the end anyway. Despite that, the ending did surprise me... Who would've thought that Odin would just show up? I thought that would be final book material for sure.
Overall, The Sword of Summer proved to be an enjoyable read. I hope to become more invested in the storyline, mythology, and characters as the series progresses, and I definitely am looking forward to more sarcastic commentary and dialogue in The Hammer of Thor!!
What did you think of The Sword of Summer? Leave a comment! I'll try not to completely abandon the blog in 2016. :)
