Book Review: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard--the Sword of Summer

“Wrongly chosen, wrongly slain,
A hero Valhalla cannot contain.
Nine days hence the sun must go east,
Ere Sword of Summer unbinds the beast.” 

The National Novel Writing Month website has a year-round forum for writers.  On this forum, writers can ask fact-check questions of other people, brainstorm through plot-holes, get advice on characterizations and more.  I love this forum, but there is one thing that bothers me on there.  The mythology questions.  "I want a mythological character who can be my villain.  Does anyone know of any mythological characters associated with ice and death who didn't like humans?"; "I'm writing a Greek myth spin-off.  Does anyone know of a mythological character who could be their guide?"  When I read these kinds of posts, I struggle with some charity.  On the one hand, the theme of NaNoWriMo is that everyone has a story to write, and everyone is welcome to write those stories.  Whether they are a middle-aged mechanic who has never attempted creative writing, or a published, professional author.  Not every story is fit for publication, but writing a novel has benefits for everyone.  And I don't want to discourage these people's writing, but a part of me wants to say, "And if you have to ask that question, you have absolutely no business writing that mythology." 

Myths aren't just a collection of characters.  Myths, like all art-forms, are governed by rules.  They have structures.  They have common themes.  They have overarching struggles.  And that's why I am always so nervous about modern myth adaptations.  I love modern myth adaptations.  But only when done well.  Too many times, in Greek modern myth adaptations, Hades is equated with Satan, the Underworld with Hell, Olympus with Heaven, Zeus with God, etc.  We just can't help ourselves from making these comparisons. In reality, they are just completely unfounded comparisons.

When I started reading the Percy Jackson series, I was nervous.  Could Riordan do it?  I was pleased when he did.  I know not everyone's a fan, and that's okay.  But I love them.  I talked about how I was nervous for the Kane Chronicles for this reason--I knew that he did the Greek and Roman myths well. But Egyptian mythology is as dissimilar from Greek/Roman myths as Greek/Roman myths are from Christian myth (and there is such a thing as Christian myth, and I say that as a Christian.  Remember myth doesn't NECESSARILY equal untrue.  I also understand that Greek and Roman myth are different, with Riordan still respected beautifully, but they are inbred cousins, much like the majority of their pantheons).  But the Kane Chronicles saw that difference and respected it entirely, in a very beautiful way.

When Riordan announced his newest series, based on Norse mythology, I was still nervous. Okay, so he'd done it twice. Three times?  I don't know.  But I was very excited, none-the-less.

I shouldn't have been worried.  I know by now that Riordan is an immensely talented author. How could I have ever doubted him?  This book, which came out at the beginning of October, is yet-another masterpiece.  I am only mildly disappointed that Riordan stayed in Young Adult with this book, because I feel like he is so very talented in the Middle Grade category, but other than that, I don't really have any criticism.

Sixteen-year-old Magnus Chase lives on the streets of Boston, estranged from his family, and alone after his mother died two years previous when she was attacked by wolves (and I am probably the only Riordan fan who didn't notice the Chase last name...yeah, I'm an idiot.  And no, it's not an accident).  When his crazy uncle shows up, Magnus thinks he's really gone off the deep-end when he tells Magnus that his father was a Norse god.  Did we mention that this was the uncle his mother told him he wasn't to trust, no matter what happened?

Magnus, along with an Iraqi-American Valkyrie named Samirah (Sam), his alf friend Hearthstone, and his dwarf friend Blitzen, and a talking sword with a huge destiny named Sumarbrandr, must work to delay Ragnarok in whatever way possible.  But Magnus feels that his heart just isn't into the blood and gore like the rest of the Viking-folk, and just wants to go home--to any home that may be.

The story respects Norse mythology so beautifully.  It encompasses the hero journey, the inevitability of fate and how choice plays into that, and the contrast of peace and war, all of which are integral parts of the Norse story.  Supplemented with spunky characters, bizarre analogies, and fast-paced writing, I am pleased to give the story a full endorsement.

The blood...well there's blood.  The bloodthirsty nature of Norse myths make that a necessity, but Riordan tries to make them less bloody (and does so) by making a hero who isn't galvanized by the smell of splattering blood.  Most descriptions are, "It was bloody.  I wanted to puke," and things like that.  I think we'll say maybe a 5 on the blood scale, with 1 being Paddington Bear, and 10 being Quentin Tarantino.

I'm giving it an easy and happy 5 stars.