Book Review: The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase #2)

The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #2) by Rick Riordan
Published by Disney-Hyperion on October 4th 2016
Genres: adventure, fantasy, myths
Pages: 471
Goodreads

The 411 Junkie Rundown

The adventures *coughs troubles* for Magnus continues. A missing hammer, another prophecy, a new hall mate, and stopping Ragnorak--again--seems to be the new norm for Magnus and his friends. We visit more of the nine realms, get up close and personal with giants, and meet new gods in this latest installment of Rick Riordan's Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.

The Hook: Book one has me hooked until otherwise

And, really, since I’m a sucker for Norse history so, carrying on.

Five things I liked about this one:

• Backstories! Yeppers. I love the backstories that Mr. Riordan dives into with this one. We see more into the lives of Magnus’ companions and each one of them is worthy of at least a novella.
• The many faces of Loki. Being the trickster that he is, I’d imagine there are many personalities that Mr. Riordan can explore and we start to see some of that (well, a little more of that) in this one.
• Mr. and Mrs. Thor. With the title being The Hammer of Thor, I’m not counting this as a spoiler. I love this depiction of this pair. I’m sorry. I just do. Hilarious!
• View Spoiler »The main character as . . . secondary? I’m not sure if I’m explaining it right, but to me, it seems like Magnus takes a back seat to his companions in this one « Hide Spoiler and while some people may not like that idea, I do. It shows that the hero doesn’t always have to be a hero to move along the story. He was a huge support for his friends and I like that.
• Alex. View Spoiler »I’m intrigued with the way Mr. Riordan wrote this character. I’ve never read a character like Alex and it was just done so well and tied into this cast of characters so well I’m looking forward to what’s in store. « Hide Spoiler

I know, I know. Two out of the five are spoiler-y, but I can’t help it if that’s something I like. And since this is book two, I’m assuming you read book one so I don’t count this as a spoiler. And I probably should have put in my review for book one, but since it’s an ongoing thing throughout the series, I give myself permission to put it here 😉 .

The one thing I love the most about this series in general is Magnus’ parentage. Norse gods like Odin and Thor are usually the most popular ones and the Vanir gods usually take a back seat. Which is why I appreciate that Magnus is the son of Frey. I LOVE IT!