The book is about a boy named Magnus Chase who was an orphan since he was fourteen, ever since his mom was killed by a pack of wolves. On his sixteenth birthday, people who had the eyes of wolves came and attacked them. Then his uncle Randolph, a person his mom told him to avoid, comes and saves him. He tells Magnus that he is the son of a Norse God and that he must obtain a sword that will save the world. At first, he doesn’t believe him until Surt, the antagonist, appears and kills Magnus. He is saved by a Valkyrie named Samirah Al-Abbas and is taken to the place where people that die like a hero go, Valhalla. There he must go on an adventure that decides the world’s fate with help of a few friends.
I really liked the book. Knowing that it was written by the same author who wrote the Percy Jackson series, I was very hopeful. It exceeded my expectations with the humor of Magnus and plot. The characters, like in any other Rick Riordan book, are very different including their race(ex: humans,dwarves) and all had very distinct personalities which were crucial to the plot. Every character had its moment and you got to know them more through the parts that are mainly focused on the side characters instead of only focusing on the main character which I really liked.
The most memorable thing for me was the humor. In most action and adventure books, they have a very serious atmosphere where as Rick Riordan mixes it up. It can be serious some of the times but every scene, he makes at least one small thing hilarious. It gives readers a good break from the seriousness and helps you like the book even more.
Reviewed by Aswin, Grade 6, Twin Hickory Library
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