Inside cover blurb:
“Magnus Chase, a once-homeless teen, is a resident of the Hotel Valhalla and one of Odin’s chosen warriors. As the son of Frey, the god of summer, fertility, and health, Magnus isn’t naturally inclined to fighting. But he has strong and steadfast friends, including Hearthstone the elf, Blitzen the dwarf, and Samirah the Valkyrie, and together they have achieved brave deeds, such as defeating Fenris Wolf and battling giants for Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. Now Magnus and his crew must sail to the farthest borders of Jotunheim and Niflheim in pursuit of Asgard’s greatest threat. Will they succeed in their perilous journey, or is Ragnarok lurking on the horizon?”
-from publisher
Thoughts:
I liked this one a lot more. Maybe that’s because I had just come off the last Trials of Apollo book and found this one to be a refreshing palate cleanser.
I felt like there was some actual character growth here and a positive message. Magnus realizes that he may not be the strongest demigod in terms of brute force, but he does possess something quite powerful- the ability to be positive and bring out the best in others.
That’s a really great message, especially in times like these.
And the relationship between Magnus and Alex is really quite ground-breaking in mainstream YA, a male main character who has feelings for a gender fluid person. As much as I might drag Riordan for some of his goofier books (*cough* Apollo *cough*), I really do think he’s doing some great advocacy work through his writing and I applaud him for it.
Plus: The overwhelmingly positive message of this series is why I never give up on Riordan completely.
Minus: Kind of wish Riordan would pick some more interesting mythologies to write about, but I guess that’s what we’ll be getting out of his publishing imprint.
If you like this book, try:
Freya by Matthew Laurence- A fresh take on the “old god in the new world” trope, this time with Freya, goddess of love, war, and death.