Title: The Sword of Summer
By: Rick Riordan
Published: October 6, 2015
Source: Library
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 a man he’s never met—a man his mother claimed was dangerous. The man 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 . . .
My first thoughts about this book was that it would be as amazing as the Percy Jackson series and it was! But even though it did live up to my expectations, I don't know why but the spark I felt when I began reading the book had gone away. Halfway through the book, the book honestly felt like it dragged on so much. Like honestly I really don't think it's the book, I just think it was me. I was in a bit of a book slump and I do think it affected me while I was reading this book.
OKAY. Moving onto the good aspects of this book that I really enjoyed. I really liked the characters in the book such as Hearth and Blitzen. They were sort of the comic relief in my opinion. Even though they are meant to protect Magnus, they do it in such way that makes it so much easier to love them! But if I have to say the character whose truly the main comic relief of this entire book it would be Thor! I could not read a scene in the book that included him with a straight face. We all expected him to be some blond haired, hunky, handsome guy like from the movies but instead he's not what we all expected at all. Instead the one who truly looks like the Thor that we are all used to seeing is Magnus' father, Frey.
It was also really interesting to see the contrast between the gods of PJO and the gods of this book. Compared to the Greek/Roman gods the Norse gods to me seemed a lot more lax. But hey that might change since this is just the first book in the series. And as I said before Thor is pretty different. Odin is just amazingly unique with all those hobbies he harbors. Gods that I want to see more of though are Frey and Loki. Especially Loki, he seems to have so many tricks up his sleeves and I really want to know what he's planning. Cause at the end of the book it's so obvious that he's going to play a larger role in this book series as it continues.
Even though this book did drag at some certain points, Rick Riordan's books will never fail to make me smile and laugh. That is one aspect that I really love about his books. He comes up with so many new things in his books! Whether its Greek, Egyptian or Norse mythology, his books always intrigue me and sucks me into the world of mythology. They always make me want to learn more about the gods from the books! The way he even incorporates the myths into the book while adding his own little twist is awesome. Also lets not forget those awesome moments that the main characters of each respected book series had experienced crazy things. Like who doesn't enjoy falling down from the St. Louis Arch or being chased down by a killer squirrel on a sunny day in Valhalla?! *Evil laughs. To the people who have read this book already, remember the chapter 'I Lose a Bet'? Annabeth totally crushed him in the category of who had the crazier life*
Anyways in this book I honestly don't have any ships at all. I mean the main girl is already in love with someone else.. But I'm good with what we have so far in the book. We can wait and Rick might possibly bring a new female character into the book. You never know. I do like that Rick isn't that big in romance department, he lets it develop over the series as they continue. I mean even though he isn't that big in the romance department he's a genius when the romance finally blooms between characters. He makes us feel so connected to what the characters feel and that is what makes us such a huge fandom. I mean look at Percy and Annabeth?! They are amazing together and they are the ultimate power couple in my opinion.
The one thing I hope to see in the future books featuring Magnus would be that he meets Percy at least once throughout the series and see's Percy's sword. When he does I will be laughing so hard. Magnus is gonna choke on his words since Percy has a sword that camouflages as a pen! And the fact that Magnus hates the color blue?! What, is he going to do when he see's that his cousin is dating a guy who simply loves the color blue and eats blue food?! I really cannot wait for these two to meet! IT WOULD BE THE HAPPIEST MOMENT OF MY BOOK FANDOM LIFE!! xD
I personally will give this book 4 stars. So guys what are your thoughts about this book? Did you enjoy it and did it live up to your expectations? Also did any of you guys catch who Rick thanked in the beginning of the book? ;)
Until then, Cindy x)
