“Blades before babes, you know what I’m saying?
Title: The Sword of Summer
Series: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #1
Author: Rick Riordan
Published: October 6, 2015
Edition: hardcover
Pages: 499
Goodreads page
WARNING: THERE IS A MINOR SPOILER ABOUT THE PERCY JACKSON/HEROES OF OLYMPUS SERIES.
Let’s just cut to the chase. No pun intended there (You know, Magnus Chase? Never mind. Why do I even try with puns).
It wasn’t a bad book. It’s just not as good as the others that Rick Riordan has written.
It focuses more on the sassy side of all the characters rather than the quest part of the story. Magnus had be laughing all the way through, but I felt it wasn’t as serious as it should have been. In a way, it seemed as though Rick Riordan was making fun of Norse mythology, although I don’t think that was his intent.
One thing I didn’t realize until I started reading this book was that Magnus is the cousin of Annabeth from the Percy Jackson series. I mean, they do have the same last name and all, but I never gave it thought until it was mentioned inside the story.
I would say that I appreciated the diversity, but “diversity” would be one person of color. The rest of the characters were either white or some kind of mythical creature. On the bright side, that’s more than I can say for a lot of other young adult books. It’s progress. We’re getting there.
Like all the other main characters in Rick Riordan’s series, Magnus’s mother is dead. Seriously, think about it. Percy Jackson’s mother: deceased. Carter & Sadie Kane’s mother: deceased. Jason Grace’s mother: deceased. (Sorry about the minor spoilers, but their deaths happen early in the first book of the series.)
I know I shouldn’t be comparing this book to Riordan’s other works, but the battles in this book are less epic than the ones in the other series. Riordan’s attempt at humor dulled the intensity of the fights.
Something that makes Magnus different from demigods like Percy and Jason is that Magnus’s father isn’t a god that’s good at fighting and combat. Magnus is better with the magic than fighting. Throughout the story, he uses magic to heal others and expel other people’s weapons.
It wasn’t a bad book, but I was expecting more. I give this book 4 / 5 BBC Sherlock heads.
Until next time….
The Awkward Book Blogger 
Lovely review Jessica! I agree with pretty much all points you made, it’s so hard to not compare this with Riordan’s other works when they’re so SIMILAR. I also freaking loved that pun at the beginning of your review, by the way. I laughed a little more than I should have, haha 🙂
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Haha thanks! 😀 I’ve come to expect so much from Rick Riordan ever since I read his Percy Jackson series, and it’s so hard not to compare!
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I haven’t read this one, but I’ve read the Percy Jackson series and Heroes of Olympus and absolutely loved the books!
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I think you’ll really like this one if you liked Rick Riordan’s other books.
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