With a teenager in the house again after many years, I’ve been reading some Young Adult books to encourage their reading and discuss with them. I have always enjoyed Rick Riordan’s books, both his adult Tres Navarre mystery series and his many YA series. In the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series, Riordan does for Nordic myths what he has previously done with Greek and Roman gods—brings them life with a contemporary twist and many heroic escapades spiked with humor.
The protagonist is Magnus Chase, the son of the god Frey and a human mother. He gives his life to save others and is grabbed by a Valkyrie, Sam, a Muslim girl who has long ancestral ties to Vikings, and taken to Valhalla. Like Percy Jackson, Magnus has to deal with many adventures to accomplish his task. In this case, he must prevent the god Loki from starting Ragnarok, a great battle in which many Norse gods will perish. In the first book, The Sword of Summer, Loki’s wolf son, Fenrir, attempts to escape his bonds. Magnus and his buddies must prevent the wolf’s escape. In book two, The Hammer of Thor, Thor has lost his hammer which he needs to prevent giants from wreaking havoc. Also, Loki escapes his bonds, despite all Magnus and his friends can do to prevent this from happening. In book three, The Ship of the Dead, Magnus and his friends must find Loki, and Magnus must challenge the trickster god to a flyting, an insult contest—and win.
Riordan deftly handles all these adventures while introducing with some heavy issues—like homelessness, Muslims and the wearing of hijabs and Ramadan, and LGBTQ+ issues—and handling them with a refreshing open-mindedness.
********************
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard Series Books 1 – 3 (Penguin, January 1, 2021) is available through Amazon as a box set and individually through Barnes and Noble.
********************
You can read my reviews of other Rick Riordan books here:
********************
This post contains affiliate links to third party sites. This can help you visually identify books I recommend. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small compensation at no additional cost to you. This offsets some of the cost of maintaining this blog.
