The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

[Jackson]

This summer I read the book The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan. It’s the first book in a three book in the series Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the book, it never failed to captivate and surprise me in every one of its seventy-three chapters. The plot is extremely well thought out and keeps the reader “addicted” in a way. The novel starts on Magnus’s sixteenth birthday, Magnus is the main character and he’s homeless. He has two close friends that are also homeless and in a way act like his parents Hearth and Blitz. Magnus ends up breaking into his uncle’s house which his mother (who was murdered) endlessly reminded Magnus never to go near. His uncle Randolph then proceeds to catch Magnus redhanded per say. Randolph puts Magnus in his car and begins rambling about ancient gods, how they’re real, how Magnus was a demigod, and how he was in imminent danger. As they darted through traffic they eventually stopped at a bridge and Magnus summoned a “pipe-like object”, that ended up being the long lost and corroded Sword of Summer. Surt (a demon like fire giant) then appears on the bridge behind them and attacks Magnus as pedestrians flee and cars begin to melt because of Surt’s heat. Then Surt lunges at Magnus as the blade of the sword leaps upward into Surt’s gut and they both fall into the icy river and die. Magnus soon wakes up in a hotel for fallen heros, Hotel Valhalla, he had been brought there by a Valkyrie, Samir al-Abbas (Sam). After a few days there he meets some people that helped him escape back into the normal world where he seeked to retrieve his sword from a goddess of sea trash. After bartering with the sea trash collector/goddess he gets the sword and begins the journey to Nidavellir, where a magically terrible wolf if bound, The Fenris Wolf. On the journey he has to help Thor retrieve one of his magical weapons and he takes them to Nidavellir. After a long battle the story’s heroes are victorious as Hearth, Sam, Blitz, some valkyries, and Magnus slay the fire giants, including Surt who somehow lived, and are able to rebind the Fenris Wolf before he can escape his prison island. Overall, I loved the book, it was easy to read even though it was long and I can’t wait to start the next book in the series.

[Brenda]

You summed up this book well. I also found the book to be one that always drew me in. I enjoyed the adventure.

[Theis]

It really is an amazing book - And the other books in the series are just as good! (Actually, I think they are even better)