The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1)
Rick Riordan
middle grade, Norse mythology
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 . . .
Behold, the book I basically started reading in November and finished a week ago. Round of applause, please.
No matter what, come hell or high water, Rick Riordan's books will be good. However, I realize now that the appeal will lessen the older you get.
Unlike the Percy Jackson books, and like Heroes of Olympus, The Sword of Summer was a massive, almost 500-page book. Let's be honest - Heroes was not as good as PJ, but we loved it and read it anyway, partially because we loved the familiar characters and world. In the case of Magnus Chase, I found the size a bit of a problem. The Norse world and it's rules are not as familiar to the average reader as the Greek Gods and stories are (at least to me) and I found all the character arcs and backgrounds and subplots rather confusing.
Also, I found the supporting characters rather dull and not as relatable as Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson always were. Blitz and Hearth were not young kids, and Samirah, while having cool and useful abilities, didn't usually add much to the scene.
Truthfully though, all of the above is really just one flaw, and that is that the book was not Percy Jackson. If you can read it without expecting it to be what it cannot be, you should enjoy it(:
On to the things I loved: humor as spot on as usual, THE CHAPTER TITLES, the cover, the fact that it's a trilogy, pure originality, pop culture references, the dedication, Rick Riordan fandom inside jokes (passes out even more than Jason Grace), the talking goats, the talking sword.
The Alchemyst
Michael Scott
Middle grade fantasy
He holds the secret that can end the world.
The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330. Nearly 700 years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life.
The records show that he died in 1418.
But his tomb is empty.
The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. That's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won't know what's happening until it's too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it.
Sometimes legends are true.
And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.
Talk about a book that sat in my TBR for YEARS. Honestly, I'm preening with satisfaction that I've finished it, finally.
Overall? For such a loved series it was freaking DISAPPOINTING. Like if I were able to not finish books, this one would have been ditched a quarter way in. It was such a struggle.
At about 3/4 in it became mildly more interesting, but not enough that you should push yourself throught 250 pages. I will say that this sells at the bookshop I work at to a lot of middle grade boys, so I guess the book isn't terrible- it may just not have any crossover appeal.
Sophie and Josh were cute, likeable enough main characters, except that there was nothing remotely remarkable about them or their story to draw you in and differentiate The Alchemyst from other MG stories. Also, this novel was SORELY missing a funny character (there was what I think was an attempt at this with the character of Scathach, but it failed...). What kind of kids' book doesn't have humor?? The whole read was just dry without this.
Nicholas Flamel was ALL OVER THE PLACE. I honestly couldn't tell if I was supposed to like him or not. He was inconsistent in all his qualities. Also, I totally felt that he dragged the kids into this for no good reason. Prophecy shmophecy. You didn't know about that yet.
All the different elements in the book just did not come together smoothly. It almost felt like the writer was TRYING to drag everything out. We have no idea what anyone can do until conveniently something weird and unexplained happens so they get to use it. Nobody had any real motives - it felt like they were all hanging around the action because they were bored. There were no real stakes. Sure, Perenelle was captured - but they weren't doing anything to her and didn't seem to bother. Another thing done without any real reason.
I could probably gripe on and on, but I'll just say that after the age of 11, don't bother with this. The Kane Chronicles did it better. Rating:
Love,
Esty
