(Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: Book 3)
Rick Riordan
410 pages
Well, another Reading Challenge is in the books...pun intended. I had been waiting a year for this book to come out and was so happy that I could fit it into the challenge this year. So, if you have read Percy Jackson, or the Heroes of Olympus, or Apollo, or Magnus Chase before, you'll know that the stories themselves are not based on specific mythological stories, but many of the tasks and characters are based loosely on mythology. Like Magnus Chase himself is not a mythological person, but his father is Fray, the Norse god of summer, and his biggest enemy is Loki.
Now that that is out of the way, this book is the third in the series. I really liked this installment. The second one wasn't my favorite, but this one really drew me back into the story. In this book, Magnus has to challenge Loki to a flyting. Essentially it's an insult battle, but the loser is literally shrunk down to a tiny size -- mimicking how they feel. The idea is that if Magnus can beat Loki, they can capture him and restore him to his prison, thus delaying Ragnarok.
Since theses quests are never easy, Magnus and his band of loyal companions must complete life-threatening tasks. One of which is stealing some mead that will give Magnus a silver tongue and aid him in defeating Loki. Of course the mead is guarded by giants and such.
It's not easy to review these books as individual books because I tend to see a five-book series as one big story. What I can say is that this one was a great chapter in this story. The characters are lovable and you can't help but root for them. There are heartfelt moments and moments that make you laugh out loud (even the chapter titles are funny, like: If You Understand What Happens in this Chapter, Please Tell Me, Because I Have No Clue).
I will always recommend books by Riordan. I'm hoping to get my daughter into the books as soon as possible, I just don't think she's quite ready for them...but soon.
4 Stars