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fantasynovel's review against another edition
4.0
The Deus ex Machina of Summer was pretty good! Except for the fact that Magnus won every fight by letting go of his amazing talking sword which would then swoop around and kill everyone. Don't worry, though, it's not a total deus ex machina bc whenever Magnus picked it up again, he felt all the exhaustion of what it had done!!! Ugh. That's not a real consequence for magic. It's just boring and led to Magnus passing out a lot and talking to Loki.
This book really wasn't that bad, though. Magnus's powers being peace powers was a nice change. And Samirah al-Abbas was actually amazing. She flies, she shape-shifts, she has a magical hijab, she fights with AXES. Axes are immediately impressive and much cooler than swords that fight for themselves. The "villains" like Gunilla were fleshed out and sympathetic. And it was really fun to see Annabeth outside of Perciville.
There also weren't any major love subplots, although: does anyone else ship Blitz and Hearth? I was getting major vibes from them. Like, MAJOR vibes. And Samirah did have that cute scene with Amir at the food court.
I guess I really missed reading Rick Riordan. Maybe this year I'll go back and read all of his books. That might be fun.
This book really wasn't that bad, though. Magnus's powers being peace powers was a nice change. And Samirah al-Abbas was actually amazing. She flies, she shape-shifts, she has a magical hijab, she fights with AXES. Axes are immediately impressive and much cooler than swords that fight for themselves. The "villains" like Gunilla were fleshed out and sympathetic. And it was really fun to see Annabeth outside of Perciville.
There also weren't any major love subplots, although: does anyone else ship Blitz and Hearth? I was getting major vibes from them. Like, MAJOR vibes. And Samirah did have that cute scene with Amir at the food court.
I guess I really missed reading Rick Riordan. Maybe this year I'll go back and read all of his books. That might be fun.
acosta109's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
tamoker's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
cutenanya's review against another edition
5.0
The books spells A-W-E-S-O-M-E! Seriously, it raises my expectations for the next two books. There are many things I love about Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer, and though the plot may not be as intricate as the Heroes of Olympus (so far), the diversity of the characters, the sassy titles, Norse Mythology, the partnership of an elf and a dwarf (I'm a sucker for elf-dwarf partners EVER since LOTR and the Hobbit), a kickass Muslim heroine, a smartass Magnus Chase, a TALKING sword, and the appearance of ANNABETH more than compensate.
Most important of all, there is NO ROMANCE! Instead, we get LOTS OF FAMILY LOVE! YEAH TO A COOL FAMILY!!!!!
P.S. I love how Riordan manages to piss off both Percy and Jason in a book narrated by Magnus who have NO IDEA who these guys even are!
Most important of all, there is NO ROMANCE! Instead, we get LOTS OF FAMILY LOVE! YEAH TO A COOL FAMILY!!!!!
P.S. I love how Riordan manages to piss off both Percy and Jason in a book narrated by Magnus who have NO IDEA who these guys even are!
niff_the_nerd's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child death, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Ableism
bluejaybooks's review against another edition
4.0
Magnus Chase has one of the strongest voices of any character I have read for some time. This being the author of Percy Jackson that comes as little surprise. While I normally hate it when authors break third wall, Rick Riordan does so in a way that somehow manages to add to the story.
There appears to be much concern about this book being too much like Riordan’s Percy Jackson books. There were some major parallelisms, Magnus is even the cousin of on of the main characters from the Percy Jackson book and it is clear there will be more overlap between characters of Riordan’s various series in future books.
That said, readers do not need to have read any of Riordan’s other books to read The Sword of Summer. The series stands on its own thus far in spite of the sometimes not so subtle callbacks to Riordan’s previous books.
The similarities between this book and other books by this author don’t really bother me. Whenever I read several books by one author I start seeing common themes and character arcs throughout their works and even see the same in my own writing. The similarities between Riordan’s books just happen to be more obvious than most.
Perhaps my favorite thing the Percy Jackson books and this series have in common are the hilarious chapter titles. I missed the chapter titles in The Heroes of Olympus.
Some of the side characters were very well developed while others felt like they didn’t get enough development. *slight spoiler* There was one side character in particular that died in this book, but didn’t get all that much development. I feel her death would have been more meaningful had the reader been given a chance to get to know her.
There appears to be much concern about this book being too much like Riordan’s Percy Jackson books. There were some major parallelisms, Magnus is even the cousin of on of the main characters from the Percy Jackson book and it is clear there will be more overlap between characters of Riordan’s various series in future books.
That said, readers do not need to have read any of Riordan’s other books to read The Sword of Summer. The series stands on its own thus far in spite of the sometimes not so subtle callbacks to Riordan’s previous books.
The similarities between this book and other books by this author don’t really bother me. Whenever I read several books by one author I start seeing common themes and character arcs throughout their works and even see the same in my own writing. The similarities between Riordan’s books just happen to be more obvious than most.
Perhaps my favorite thing the Percy Jackson books and this series have in common are the hilarious chapter titles. I missed the chapter titles in The Heroes of Olympus.
Some of the side characters were very well developed while others felt like they didn’t get enough development. *slight spoiler* There was one side character in particular that died in this book, but didn’t get all that much development. I feel her death would have been more meaningful had the reader been given a chance to get to know her.
luis343's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
carleighdipasquale's review against another edition
2.0
You know that saying, "If you've got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all"? Well, unfortunately I just cannot keep my mouth shut about Magnus Chase.
I seem to be in the minority here when I say I don't like the Percy Jackson series Rick Riordan is famous for. *prays to God Percy Jackson fangirls don't attack* I've started reading them before on multiple occasions, but every single time I dnfed before I could ever get too far into the books. So, when I first bought Magnus Chase in October, my initial thoughts were "Oh, this book is gonna be great! I mean, the plot and characters seem intriguingly epic, and who doesn't love a good fantasy book that isn't Percy Jackson?" My initial thoughts while actually reading were "When is this book finished? Good God it's boring and cliche and these characters suck!"
The first problem I encounter a few pages into this book were the characters themselves. Magnus is too arrogant, and his hall mates are quite boring. Ugh, I hated Sam, I'm pretty sure she's hooking up with Magnus in the sequel (obviously) and she was just a typical middle grade/ya sidekick. The only character I actually liked was Hearthstone, and he couldn't hear or speak. Yet he still had the best morals!
My next problem would have to be the fact that Magnus Chase is just so cliche! Having read Red Pyramid around three years ago, I was startled to see how achingly similar these books were. Maybe Rick Riordan should take a break from mythology based series. *once again prays fangirls don't come for me* This book had so much potential, but the author definitely played on the safer side with this. Everything written in Magnus Chase has been done before!
Don't even get me started on how bored I was while reading! I'm not kidding when I say I fell asleep twice while reading, and I thinks that explains enough.:/
So, maybe Rick's series just aren't for me...I'm pretty positive I won't be read anything else by him.:(
I seem to be in the minority here when I say I don't like the Percy Jackson series Rick Riordan is famous for. *prays to God Percy Jackson fangirls don't attack* I've started reading them before on multiple occasions, but every single time I dnfed before I could ever get too far into the books. So, when I first bought Magnus Chase in October, my initial thoughts were "Oh, this book is gonna be great! I mean, the plot and characters seem intriguingly epic, and who doesn't love a good fantasy book that isn't Percy Jackson?" My initial thoughts while actually reading were "When is this book finished? Good God it's boring and cliche and these characters suck!"
The first problem I encounter a few pages into this book were the characters themselves. Magnus is too arrogant, and his hall mates are quite boring. Ugh, I hated Sam, I'm pretty sure she's hooking up with Magnus in the sequel (obviously) and she was just a typical middle grade/ya sidekick. The only character I actually liked was Hearthstone, and he couldn't hear or speak. Yet he still had the best morals!
My next problem would have to be the fact that Magnus Chase is just so cliche! Having read Red Pyramid around three years ago, I was startled to see how achingly similar these books were. Maybe Rick Riordan should take a break from mythology based series. *once again prays fangirls don't come for me* This book had so much potential, but the author definitely played on the safer side with this. Everything written in Magnus Chase has been done before!
Don't even get me started on how bored I was while reading! I'm not kidding when I say I fell asleep twice while reading, and I thinks that explains enough.:/
So, maybe Rick's series just aren't for me...I'm pretty positive I won't be read anything else by him.:(