Book Review: Magnus Chase and The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan

Magnus Chase and The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan

Pages: 512
Publish date: 4th October 2016
Publisher: Penguin Teen Australia
ISBN: 0141342552
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Thor’s hammer is missing again. The thunder god has a disturbing habit of misplacing his weapon – the mightiest force in the Nine Worlds. But this time the hammer isn’t just lost, it has fallen into enemy hands. If Magnus Chase and his friends can’t retrieve the hammer quickly, the mortal worlds will be defenceless against an onslaught of giants. Ragnarok will begin.

The Nine Worlds will burn. Unfortunately, the only person who can broker a deal for the hammer’s return is the gods’ worst enemy, Loki – and the price he wants is very high.

Magnus Chase and The Hammer of Thor:

This review will have spoilers from the previous book Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer.

I received a copy of Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan from Penguin Teen Australia in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

When I pick up and Rick Riordan book I know that I am going to like it. It was just as hilarious, nail biting and adventurous as The Sword of Summer.

The Hammer of Thor continues to follow Magnus Chase son of Frey who is still coming to terms that he is an einherjar. Magnus’ life before these books was tough, and his life after death isn’t any better.

Someone has stolen Thor’s hammer…again. And who better to try and retrieve it than Magnus Chase and his squad. The hammer wasn’t just taken by anyone, it’s fallen into enemy hands. And if Magnus and his friends can’t retrieve it, well Ragnarok will begin and everything will be destroyed.

I don’t think there was anything that I didn’t like about The Hammer of Thor. It’s one of those books that makes you laugh at 1am, bit your nails and nearly bring you to tears. It’s everything that you want in a book, wrapped into one. The Hammer of Thor not only showcases the characters that we already know and love, but introduce us to more that you cannot help, but fall in love with.

Magnus is just as amazing as he was in The Sword of Summer. He is witty, fun and most of the time his a dork. But, that is why I love him. He has this compassion about him, and maybe that is also one of his faults. He cares, too much sometimes. And he will stop at nothing to help his friends.

Sam, oh my heart breaks for her. I liked her in the first book, but I grew to love her in The Hammer of Thor. I adored that she never wanted to give up on her beliefs, what she has grown up to believe – even when she is living in a world which goes against everything. Sam goes through some tough things in this book and I want everything to work out for her – because she totally deserves it.

Alex Fierro a shape-shifting child of Loki is introduced to the reader when Sam brings Alex to Valhalla. At first, Alex is hard to get along with, Alex is rude and simply doesn’t want to be there. But as the story goes on, we find out why and it’s totally understandable. Alex is also gender–fluid who identifies with he/she depending on the day. I love that Riordan was able to include someone who is gender-fluid, you don’t see it much in YA and it’s needed. It’s needed for those who want to understand who they are and might not know how. I love how Alex was so open and blunt about it. It was great to see.

The banter between the group was fantastic putting a massive smile on my face. Although Magnus, Sam and Alex all have different personalities, they all meshed together well.

Throughout The Hammer of Thor, we are going on a journey to find Thor’s hammer, but like most Riordan’s book, it’s not that simple. Our character sometimes are taken where we don’t expect. It might not work in other books, but the diversions work so well here.

Another thing that I loved about The Hammer of Thor was the diversity. I think it’s something that Riordan does so well. It’s nice to see different races, religions, sexualities and gender identifications and disabilities represented in a young adult novel. We are seeing it more and more, but we need it to be so that we don’t go looking for it.

Overall, The Hammer of Thor is an engaging hilarious novel that takes you on a journey that you never want to leave. It’s about friendship, family, and finding out who you are. It’s nail-biting, entertaining and one for everyone, plus with that last line – I am in need of the final book.