The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan

Series: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Paranormal Fantasy adventure with mythology

Subjects: adventure, fantasy, gods, magic, mythology, Norse mythology, paranormal, summer, supernatural, Valkyries, gods and goddesses, Massachusetts, humor

Setting: Boston, Massachusetts, and the world of Norse Mythology, Valhalla, and the Nine Worlds

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, past tense: Magnus Chase

Age/Grade Level: Teen, maybe younger, middle school and up?

Length: 459 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $19.99

Publisher: Hyperion

Summary/ product description: “Thor's hammer is missing again. The thunder god has a disturbing habit of misplacing his weapon--the mightiest force in the Nine Worlds. But this time the hammer isn't just lost, it has fallen into enemy hands. If Magnus Chase and his friends can't retrieve the hammer quickly, the mortal worlds will be defenseless against an onslaught of giants. Ragnarok will begin. The Nine Worlds will burn. Unfortunately, the only person who can broker a deal for the hammer's return is the gods' worst enemy, Loki--and the price he wants is very high.”

My Review:  The Hammer of Thor is the hilarious and fun sequel to the Sword of Summer in Rick Riordan’s Magnus Chase series. Like all of Rick’s YA and MG books, it takes mythology and puts it in modern day and add funny twists. In this sequel, Thor’s hammer was stolen, likely by giants since they’re the ones who’ve done it in the past, and Thor’s wants Magnus and his friends to get it back.

Magnus is the demi-god son of the Norse god Frey and cousin of Annabeth, daughter of Athena, from the Percy Jackson series. His friends are Samirah, a muslim girl who moonlights as a Valkyrie, retrieving souls of fallen heroes. There’s Blitzen, a drawf with a great fashion sense and Hearthstone, a deaf elf with an affinity for rune-stone magic. There’s the einherji, the fallen heroes that live on the same floor as Magnus: T.J, Halfborn, and Mallory. They gain a new ally who’s an einherji too named Alex. Alex is a child of Loki like Samirah, but Alex is a gender-fluid argr, and usually a girl, but sometimes has very male days. Alex shape-shifts into animal often, but doesn’t have control of when she’s male or female. It’s very confusing.

They go on a journey through the nine worlds. They have to find a special sword and the stone that sharpens the blade. They travel from Midgard to Alfheim, Jotunheim, and Asgard. It’s a dangerous quest full of perils like angry elves, bowling giants, and gods who take selfies with a phablet using a sword as a selfie-stick. It’s a fun thrill-ride and never boring, but it took me a while to get through this book. It’s not fast-paced because you have to really work to picture some of the silly stuff that happens, and sometimes it get wordy. I really enjoyed it, but I was pretty busy and it took me two weeks to finish this.

If you have read and enjoyed Loki’s Wolves, Odin’s Ravens, and Thor’s Serpent by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr, then I highly recommend this book. Also fans of the Thor movies, or anything myth-related. Norse Mythology is hot and different from the Greek stuff. This book is fun and you will learn about Norse Mythology, even if Rick has twisted it a little.

Cover Art Review: Great illustration! Very typical of Rick Riordan books.

The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

Series: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Paranormal Fantasy adventure with mythology

Subjects: adventure, fantasy, gods, magic, mythology, Norse mythology, paranormal, summer, supernatural, Valkyries, gods and goddesses, Massachusetts, humor

Setting: Boston, Massachusetts, and the world of Norse Mythology, Valhalla

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Magnus Chase

Age/Grade Level: Teen, maybe younger, middle school and up?

Length: 491 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $19.99

Publisher: Hyperion

Summary/ product description: “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 Review:  It’s been a while since I’ve read any Rick Riordan books. I never got past the first The Lost Hero. Reading this book was a real treat. It’s funny and exciting and pure entertainment. It’s very much like his other books, written in first person this time. Magnus is a little like Percy, but he’s Annabeth’s cousin. When I started this book I didn’t know that, and then Annabeth shows up. I forgot her last name was Chase too. I almost didn’t read this book because I didn’t read the Heroes of Olympus series, but thankfully there’s no spoiler to that series in this book. You can read The Sword of Summer without having read any other Rick Riordan book.

Magnus is a pretty interesting character. He lived on the streets of Boston for about 2 years, he ends up in Valhalla after dying, and finds out he’s a demi-god. He can heal people. He has to track down the sword of summer, which he lost in the river when he died. The character Sam is interesting too. She’s half-middle eastern and wears a green head scarf (hijab). Her father is Loki, but she’s not like him. She’s also a Valkyrie and has a double life. She’s got a normal school life at home, living with her grand parents.

There’s also Magnus’s dwarf and elf friends. Blitz has a crazy sense of fashion. Hearth is deaf and Magnus speaks to him in sign language. What a great group of characters. Rick’s so great at developing characters. Even characters with smaller roles are very unique and developed. Like, did you know that Thor is a TV addict and watched Arrow and the Walking Dead? That’s pretty cool. And there’s a sea goddess named Ran who like to collect junk?

This book has so many ridiculous surprises, it’s unbelievable. It’s so unrealistic and nonsensical, but I love it. I like the idea of that Gods being up on modern society and technology. It’s cool, but then apparently giants text and dwarves listen to Taylor Swift. There’s some weird stuff that makes this feel like a parody movie. This story is 491 pages long. If I didn’t have school and work I would have probably finished it in 2 days. Fast reader maybe in 1 day. There are no dull moments. It’s bam, bam, BAM! Non-stop awesomeness. You will not want to put this book down. It will feel as if your hands are glued to the book and your eye stuck open.

If you have read and enjoyed Loki’s Wolves, Odin’s Ravens, and Thor’s Serpent by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr, then I highly recommend this book. Also fans of the Thor movies, or anything myth-related. Norse Mythology is hot and different from the Greek stuff. This book is fun and you will learn about Norse Mythology, even it Rick has twisted it a little.

Cover Art Review: Great illustration! Very typical of Rick Riordan books.

Earthrise by Aprilynne Pike

Publication Date: Sept 1, 2015

Series: Earthbound (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance

Subjects: mystery, supernatural, abilities, love, mythology, gods and goddesses, past lives, memory

Setting: Phoenix, AZ, and various places around the world

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, present tense: Tavia Michaels

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 356 pgs.

HC/PB: Paperback (On Amazon)/E-Book

List Price: $9.99/$5.99

Publisher: Imaginary Properties LLC (NOT Penguin: Razorbill)

Summary/ product description: “Even with the power to create and destroy at will, Tavia Michaels couldn't save her parents. She couldn't save the boy she's loved for countless lifetimes. She barely managed to save herself from the treachery of supposed friends. So how can she save the world from a deadly plague--and the immortals spreading it? As the events of EARTHBOUND and EARTHQUAKE reach their thrilling conclusion, no one is safe--Tavia least of all!”

My Review:  As the final book of the Earthbound Trilogy, Earthrise is an awesome, romantic finish. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to this series. Now I’m just sad it’s over. I love Aprilynne Pike’s books, though I’ve only read this series and the Wings series. She write really interesting, compelling characters. She does a great job of creating a world or society within the real world.

To recap, In Earthbound, Tavia suddenly has the ability to create things out of nothing, but they only last temporarily. She is living with an aunt and uncle after her parents died in a plane crash. Tavia was injured in the plane crash too and had to under go brain surgery. Some people are out to kill her and a guy named Benson, who works at the local library, helps her. She’s seeing this blond guy, which turns out to be Quinn, her lover in a past life. At the end of the book she meets Quinn’s current incarnation, Logan. She also finds out she’s a goddess, an earthmaker. In Earthquake Tavia tries to convince Logan of what he is, and then his house explodes and they are both captured by the Rediciates and taken to their facility. Logan later receives his memories when they are taken to the Curatoria facility in the Death Valley area. Their powers resurge, but Tavia still only has memories from her past lives as Rebecca and as Sonya. The Rediciata creates a virus that can not only kill people, but Earthbounds too, permanently.

At the beginning of Earthrise, Tavia’s mission to create and distribute vaccines to the world and involves help from a doctor and her friends. She travels to different country, trying to avoid the Reduciata Earthbounds Daniel and Mariana. Tavia exhausts herself and has to create high-caloric foods just to keep her energized enough to create vaccines. Some Earthbounds are dying and catastrophes are occurring. The Rediciata gets of the their tale and tries to discredit the vaccine. Bad stuff happens, but the ending wrap ups nicely.

Also, Tavia is back with Benson. I love Benson. Logan is okay, but Benson is just a regular guy who’s father is an Earthbound and they got caught up in everything. Benson really cares for Tavia. He’s smart, funny and sweet. Logan seems a bit arrogant in believing that Tavia has to love him. They’ve had so many lives together, many of which Tavia’s unable to remember. I think she and Benson deserve a chance to be together for their life.

I recommend this series to fans of: Fallen by Lauren Kate, The Immortal series by Alyson Noel, Halo by Alexandra Adornetto, Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini, any books with mythology, gods and goddesses, angels, demon, magic or abilities. Paranormal Romance in general. Try this book. Also if you liked any Aprilynne Pike books, such as Wings, Spells, Illusions, Destined, Life After Theft or Sleep No More, read Earthbound.

Cover Art Review: Saundra Mitchell designed this cover? The author of the Vespertine? Really? Why wouldn’t Penguin publish this final book?