Book Review: Magnus Chase and The Ship of the Dead

The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3) by Rick Riordan

Pages: 456
Publish date: October 3rd, 2017
Publisher: Penguin Australia
ISBN: 9780141342597
Purchase: Book Depository– Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

Loki the trickster god is free from his chains. Now he’s readying Naglfar, the Ship of the Dead, armed with a host of giants and zombies, to sail against the Norse gods and begin the final battle of Ragnarok. It’s up to Magnus Chase and his friends to stop Loki’s plans, but to do so they will have to sail across the oceans of Midgard, Jotunheim and Niflheim in a desperate race to reach Naglfar before it’s ready to sail on Midsummer’s Day.

Along the way, they will face angry sea gods, hostile giants, and an evil fire-breathing dragon who happens to be a former acquaintance. But Magnus’s biggest challenge will be facing his own inner demons. To defeat Loki, Magnus will need to use words, not force. This will require finding a magical elixir so deadly that it will either make Magnus Chase powerful enough to out-talk the silver-tongued Loki, or destroy Magnus utterly

The Ship of the Dead

I received a free copy of The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan for review from Penguin Teen Australia in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

This review will contain spoilers from The Sword of Summer and The Hammer of Thor.

I’ve loved reading Rich Riordan’s books for years – and now because I work in a bookshop I try and recommend it as much as I can. The Magnus Chase series has to be one of my favourites – it’s full of diversity, adventure and breaks my heart at the same time. You can check out my reviews of The Sword of Summer and The Hammer of Thor. I loved them both, so when I started reading The Ship of the Dead, I was excited and I wasn’t disappointed.

The Ship of the Dead made my heart fill up so much. I loved seeing how much the characters have grown throughout the whole series. I loved seeing characters find themselves – find out who they are. It’s one of my favourite aspects of young adult books – characters finding themselves. Going on that journey as a young adult when life seems shit – but in the end, you find out things that you never knew.

The Ship of the Dead follows Magnus Chase and his fellow crew on a journey to save the world from Loki and Ragnarok. Everyone comes together to travel the seas and try to attempt to stop Loki – again. It’s really nice seeing everyone come together – sort of their differences and save the world.

The Sword of Summer – is the classic Hero’s Journey arc and I really loved seeing it in the setting that is based on myths. It’s very different to other YA books hero journey’s and I loved it. This series also sparked my interest in Norse Mythology, which I didn’t know a lot about before.

I loved Magnus in The Ship of the Dead. Like I said before he really finds himself in this one and I loved seeing it. Throughout the whole series, the reader is able to see Magnus struggle with finding himself, coming to terms with his death and many other elements of his life. It was hard to see him struggle, but it was also realistic. The reader is able to see a character in fantasy esq world – struggle with who they are.

Again Alex was fantastic in The Ship of the Dead. Like Magnus, Alex sometimes struggles with who they are and it hurts my heart. Alex uses this front to hide away from that and we see it fall in The Ship of the Dead. The reader is really able to see Alex in this last book – before they were hidden away and throughout the whole book, the mask falls.

I could talk about this book for some time – but I’ll stop here. If you haven’t picked up a Rick Riordan book, please do. They are fantastic and you can really see him grow both as an author and as a person throughout all of his books

Overall, I loved this ending to another fantastic series from Rick Riordan. The Ship fo the Dead was intense, a little crazy at times and put a smile on my face. I let a few tears fall at the ending because my heart is weak okay. It was just really nice to see. The Ship of the Dead explores the notion of family and finding yourself. It’s about more than blood and loyalty at it’s highest. If you love mythology, diversity, and an adventure of a lifetime – this series is for you.