The Hammer of Thor

As per usual, it was a fun read. I'm giving it an extra star for representation, and I hope I won't change my rating this time.

Alex Fierro is undoubtedly one of the best characters Rick Riordan has ever come up with, and although Magnus does still sound like an extra Percy Jackson, I was waiting for it this time, so I don't think it bothered me nearly as much. We also got to know more about Sam's family, including her husband-to-be, Amir Fadlan, who has brought to the story an interesting perspective (a common mortal getting to know the Nine Worlds) which I hope will play a bigger part in the sequel. Oh, yes—and Magnus had his hair cut, finally!

4 stars

Like typical Riordan this book is hilarious mix of adventure and Norse mythology in a engaging and entertaining story

I especially liked the trans character Alex. It's so refreshing to have characters from the GSRM community included in the story without a direct in your face about it.

Rick Riorodan effectively weaves the characters sexuality and gender identity with the prejudices of others and the challenges Alex must deal with in a way that does not impact the primary plot and story arc.

Although Rick Riordan eased up on all the Percy Jackson allusions (my blood pressure thanks ye), that ending...it...it was so...AKSEILDFHAGSKDHFLJAHSGJDFKLASDF. I think it's safe to say that the ending was my most favorite part of the whole book. The contents weren't terrible or anything. And there were certainly plenty of adrenaline-pumping adventures to spare. However, none of that compared to the shock I received upon...that fated ending.

 Okay, I love Alex!! They're such a fun character! I still feel like I don't understand a lot going on story wise, but I really enjoy all the characters and how they all interact. Jack, the sword, is so funny, especially for an animate object. I'm looking forward to the third book, even though it's the last in the trilogy.

Ese sonido entre chillido de rata y Gato atacando ha sido bastante interesante.

And yes, IT IS TIME! (!!!!!)

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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Thor's hammer is missing, so not only can he not stream Netflix (I'd forgotten that was a thing in this series) on it, he can't intimidate the giants into not invading. You can guess which bothers him more. The Valkrie Samira and her pal Magnus have to go find it before things get out of hand.

I didn't like this one as much as the first book in this series – but I didn't dislike it. It's still the same outline that Riordan is following with these books – there's a quest; the hero and his friends have to go find the whatever to stall doomsday a little longer; to get the X the group has to beat a series of mini-challenges and then they'll have a shot at the X. Since this is a book 2, they'll get X, but many other things will go wrong, forcing the series into another book. For the most part, the minor challenges worked better for me than I expected.

I enjoyed Magnus' friends – Samira in particular; although I'm pretty torn about the new character added to Magnus' group: Alex Fierro – a child of Loki. I understand what Riordan was trying to do with this character, but I'm not sure he succeeded. I'm not convinced that Alex was a person, and not just a conglomeration of traits. But I have hope. Alex's presence, I thought, ended up short-changing some of the other characters when it came to action and involvement in the plot, which I wasn't crazy about.

I really enjoy seeing different authors' take on the same mythological characters. Comparing/contrasting Kevin Hearne's and Riordan's Thors and Lokis would make for a very entertaining piece (I think Riordan's Thor is more comical, but his Loki just might be more sadistic), and I will admit I got distracted a couple of times listening to this by thinking about the differences.

The best part of this was seeing how the problems Magnus, etc. are dealing with intersect some of what Percy, Annabeth and Apollo are going through in Riordan's other series, and the strong hint that we'll see some sort of cross-over soon. We'd understood that the Egyptian gods were threatening the earth about the same time that the Problems with Camps Jupiter and Half-Blood start up, but this was a much more explicit description. I like thinking that the various pantheons are having troubles at the same time, and that Earth could be doom in any number of ways simultaneously.

I bought this in hardcover the week it came out (last October, I think), but haven't been able to find/make the time to read it. When I saw it as available on my library's audiobook site, I figured I'd jump – just to get that TBR pile a little smaller. I hadn't listened to Riordan on audio before, and was curious ow it translated. I was surprised to hear Kieran Culkin's name (and voice) at the beginning of this – he didn't strike me as the kind of actor who'd do audiobooks. I'm glad that he did, though. I really enjoyed his work throughout the novel – the narration, the characters – he just nailed it. That's how Magnus Chase should sound.

It was entertaining enough to keep going, and I trust that Riordan knows what he's doing, I'm just not convinced that he did all he could to make this book as good as it could be.

most of what i said in the first book's review applies to this book as well. i will say there were some moments where it really felt like riordan was like an older guy trying to be supportive but not really understanding. some of the lines (most regarding alex) come off a bit like someone who has no idea what theyre talking about but i appreciate the effort (and i think alex is funny).

blitz and hearth are even more gay married in this one so its even better than the first book

Magnus and his friends are the cutest. This is such a fun book and I always forget what a treat a Riordan series can be.

Short review: The Magnus Chase series is back to the good, funny, fast moving, but still paying attention to character development, types of books that Percy Jackson series was. The Heroes series got distracted by overly complicated story arc and extended the story way beyond where it should have gone. The Kane Chronicles was just not that good.

But the Magnus Chase story is good. Changing the area of the Gods, but still having a relationship to the Greek/Roman gods I think is fascinating. Putting in a practicing muslim character that has to deal with the fact that these ancient gods exist while she continues in her faith is interesting. Making the main character the son of a god of healing instead of a warrior god I think is a good way to mix up the story and moves it away from one battle after another.

It is still a middle grade/younger end of young adult book. So it is not overly complex story line. You can speed through it and enjoy it. I just wish I didn't have to wait another year for the next book in the series.

my full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/hammer-of-thor/

I love this series that is all

Binge read this in about 4 hours. Not as funny as the first one but still a really good read.

Definitivamente Rick Riordan sabe como dar a conocer mitología con una genial historia mejor que nadie. Me encanta.

I did like this book more than the previous in the series - and it reads a bit less like Percy Jackson 2.0. I do like the characters, but that was really never in doubt because I generally like Riordan's characters. Even if I don't love them. But...

Look, we travel to other worlds. Other worlds that are distressingly similar to Midgard. I mean...I'm just disappointed that this is what we get. It could be anything and it's, basically, just like ours only with non-humans. I do get that a lot of the humor comes from the absurdity that ‘oh, hey, we've got an all powerful Norse god that dresses just like a frat boy' but that doesn't mean a change wouldn't be super nice. (We get things like cop cars and bowling alleys, I mean.) (And, also, the whole extended series was kind of glaringly US-centric before we added the entry to Yggdrasil in Boston. Now it's like the Greek gods and the Norse gods live practically on top of each other.)

Also, I would love to have some own voices thoughts on Alex. I've come across a handful of trans characters in fantasy/sci-fi and the one thing they all have in common is that they have shape shifting abilities. Personally, I am vaguely unsettled by this - but I really don't know if that's just a me problem, or if there's something here that isn't the best. As I said, love some own voices thoughts on that.

UPDATE 2022: When you are trying to influence kids, you have to walk a fine line. This line is razor-thin, as parents can see the book as either an excellent example of representation on the one hand or the author yelling from their high horse on the other. This, at best, can help to generate discussion with the parent and the child, or, at worst, have the book banned for objectionable content.
That was what I had going through my mind for The Hammer of Thor. At some points, it can be a fun story with Rick at the helm. At worst, the story gets buried under the weight of the messages he is trying to send to young kids. What you believe about this book, I would leave up to you. As for what I thought...well...it could have been better.

Now before I begin with the things that I had problems with (and believe me, we'll get there), let's go over what I liked.

One element that I really loved was Loki. He is, perhaps, the best villain that Riordan has written to date. Combined with the darker tone, Loki is a villain who I felt could appear at any time with almost any kind of plan. Unlike in other forms of media (cough Marvel Movies *cough) here he really feels like the gods of tricks, as he is always scheming for one reason or another, leading to constant tension in the story.

I also loved the character development that Hearth had. Although I had some problems with seeing Elfhame (which we will get to in a minute), I liked how we saw what his life was like and how he overcame that. It adds to his character and shows how you can grow from an abusive situation. Also, the love and care showed between Hearth and Blitzen. It was very touching.

Speaking of relationships that were really touching, I found that the relationship between Sam and Amir was very sweet, as it showed us, for the first time that I can recall, a relationship between a magical person and a normal human. I liked how Amir was just someone who was there for Sam, even if he did not completely understand what was going on. This was a strong message to send to the reader that you do not have to always be involved in a person's life, by their side, fighting monsters. Sometimes just letting them know that you are there can be a blessing.

Then there were some elements that I felt were not handled as well as they could have been, or were just botched altogether.

One of which was the political messages in this book in the form of the elf police and Alex as a genderfluid person. Now, before you grab your pitchforks and torches, let me explain. I like it when there is diversity in books. I want for there to be diversity in books, but just because something is there, does not mean that it is handled well in a story. See the examples below:

One of these political messages is the elf police. When Magnus and Hearth travel to Elfhame, they are found by some elf police who are a not-thinly vailed attempt to compare this mythical police force with real-life policing today. My problem is it is done away within the span of a few chapters, played off as a joke most of the time, and is never seen again. With all of the other messages in this book, it just feels lost in the mix, making me wonder why this had to be added in in the first place.
Then there is Alex and their gender-fluid identity. I get the feeling people are going to be of two camps about this: On the one side are the people who love to see the diversity in a mainstream series, the other is going to see it as Riordan preaching from his soapbox. As for me, honestly, I can understand both sides. While I think that it is good that Riordan has decided to include a character we do not often see in his books, at worst, this person is literally used as a plot device, as they can, using the magical power of their father Loki, can change from a boy to a girl at any time. Some may find this okay, but I just found it predictable and was able to guess this would come back into the plot when the idea was introduced at the beginning of the story. Perhaps it is because I have read so many Riordan books and I can recognize his formula, but I found that this plot point is not as effective as he wanted it to be.

Next are the Gods and the fun of reading this book. One of the major selling points of the previous series was how the ancient gods worked in our modern timeframe. This meant not only dressing them up in new age clothes but also showing them as thousand-year-old beings. They tended to be older, wiser, and angrier than humans. The lives of a hero were just a small memory of five years when they were at camp, compared to Gods being thousands of years old, and seeing the world grow and change from ancient times. Reading the Percy Jackson books, it is no wonder that the Gods would act superior in the face of a puny mortal.

Here, though, we get none of that. The Asgardian Gods do not seem like immortal beings with wisdom beyond our mortal years, just cheap plot devices meant to move the plot along. They are here for cheap laughs poking fun at modern media, and little else. This makes each stop on the quest not nearly as much fun to read about as I thought.

Then there is Magnus Chase himself. As a character, he...well...doesn't have a defined character. I feel as though he is whatever Riordan needs him to be at the time. Does he need him to be a street-wise tough kid? Got it. Does he need him to be an inclusive friend? Done. It just feels like he is too malleable a person to have a defined character with faults and feelings that he needs to overcome. Add to that the problem that he does not grow in this novel. Perhaps this is saved for the final book, but I felt like he was the same from beginning to end, which makes me wonder how a person cannot be changed by all the experiences that one has seen in this novel alone.

This shows that even the best of authors, with the best of intentions, can stumble with writing a book. I would say that if you are going to read this, do so with these elements in mind. I'm not saying you should not read it, nor go in with the negative thoughts, but just be aware of them from the start. You may find that this book could be just what you were looking for, or it could turn into a major disappointment. As for me, I felt that this book's plot and fun were buried under poorly implemented messages. I give it a two out of five.

DNF: 29% or 136 pgs.


I just cannot do it.

In the midst of just completing another book on audio, I decided that it was time for me to listen to something else. Upon browsing the audiobook selections available to me, I saw that the next Gods of Asgard book was available. This sounded just like what I needed. For those of you who do not know, I liked the first book in the series. It was something that sounded interesting, and upon reading it, it was exactly what I expected in that it was another Riordan book that followed the Riordan formula for these types of books. It was not really a surprise, but then again, I did enjoy it, sort of as a guilty pleasure.

Then there is the second book. Firstly, let me say that the fact that I am reviewing this on audio, so that may have reflected badly on this review. The narrator is horrible. He brings very little in the way of humorous voices that the roles demand, and when he does, the performance can be inconsistent, at best. Also, he has a habit of reading far too fast, often times, I wished I could slow him down just so I didn't miss a word or two, but I had no such luck. He was simply terrible for the role, no questions asked.

That aside, there was little for me to really find outstanding about this book. I am starting to feel like I shouldn't even bother with this review because many of the expectations I had with this book was ultimately what I got, for better or worse. If you've read any Riordan book published in the last few years, you've probably read this one, and if you like his work, then you are going to like this one too. I just can't really find anything in me to get so worked up about. I just cared so little about it that I have decided to not finish it in favor of something else.