Magnus Chase Book Review

The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was fun. In some aspects, it was very much as I expected. However there were still several surprises and a particularly intriguing ending so I feel satisfied. For once my review will not contain major spoilers. One of the challenges of writing so many interconnected books is to manage a large cast of characters that is sufficiently diverse while still being believable participants in the worlds you are creating. I think Riordan does a fabulous job with this overall. Ultimately I felt that Percy, Jason, and Magnus (I haven't yet read the Egyptian ones) are different enough in their back stories and personalities to be the main male characters for each series. Even though at times the jokes and humor felt rather predictable and somewhat reminiscent of previous characters, this book was still very funny and enjoyable.

Most of all I was highly impressed by Riordan's determined effort to include main characters with "minority" backgrounds. In one single book he introduced homeless, deaf, and Muslim characters in a respectful way. I think this will prove highly effective for the intended audience (middle-schoolers), and is a fabulous effort to introduce kids to social and physical diversity. Most importantly, these characters are the heroes of the story: neither the villains, nor the ridiculed side-kicks. And this to me is paramount in an increasingly global community. Well done, Riordan. I hope this is a new tradition in your future books. (Side note: as a linguist I was deeply impressed and just relished how Riordan incorporated sign language into the book and took time to describe several specific signs in detail to further develop the characters and plot)

I was also intrigued how Riordan would portray the Norse pantheon differently from the previous ones he has written. I think he nailed it! Or at least, I think he set himself up to nail it over the course of this series as we see more and more of the Norse gods as characters. On a related note, I am very curious to see just how all of Magnus's demigod abilities will be fleshed out. So far they have come across as vaguely temperature/weather/summer-associated. I look forward to further explanations and examples.

All this being said, I see a great deal of potential for this series, although I must say that the Greco-Roman ones are still my favorite. Latin nerd through and through here. :)


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