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*Non-Spoilery* Summary:
Magnus Chase is the cousin of Annabeth and he is homeless. He does see Annabeth in the first chapter so there could be some interesting intertwining between the Greek and Norse worlds. The day we meet him he is thrown into the Norse mythology world and many things happen that end up sending him on a quest. Now, Magnus can't go on alone. He's accompanied by a dwarf and an elf and a Valkyrie, which is a person who brings the souls of the bravely fallen into Valhalla. He goes into this quest knowing barely anything about himself other than he's meant to either hasten or prolong Ragnarok (doomsday) and he's determined to stop it if he can.
This book was so fun to read. I mean I hate how I don't know much about Norse mythology so I can’t theorize that well as I'm reading BUT it's also a cool learning experience. I had to actually take notes on the different Gods and Worlds as I was reading. There are Nine Worlds and so many gods that CAN actually die and it's just crazy. If I had to pick three words to describe this book, they would be: adventure. Loyalty. And SARCASM! The sarcasm was very present literally on every page and it was AWESOME. Just read the book. Read it. You'll be laughing tonsss. If you like the first person POV and structure of how Percy Jackson and the Olympians was, well this first book is pretty similar and you should enjoy it.
*SPOILERS BEGIN HERE!*
Let’s talk about the plot highlights for me:
The first thing that happens is Magnus dies! He’s taken to Valhalla where he’s essentially resurrected, but what. We have a death in the first three chapters. While he’s in Valhalla he starts to learn a lot more about the Norse worlds and how everything is supposed to work, including his destiny. Valhalla was interesting with all the “TO THE DEATH!” stuff and his hallmates were adorable. I do like them a lot, but we did not get to spend that much time with them, so I’m thinking they’ll definitely be more present in the next book. Here we also find out that Blitz and Hearth are a dwarf and an elf! And they come in later to bust Magnus out which causes all sorts of drama.
Once, he’s back in Midgard, the realm of humans, he immediately tries to search out the sword of summer which leads to him seeing Annabeth and my heart just squeezed! Annabeth comes in here and I am so hoping we see her more! I know she was there at the end and they are about to tell each other everything about their lives and I cannot wait to listen to that conversation.
Boom, Hearth is attacked and after some stalking Sam joins the group.
So to get the sword back, they have to meet Ran and get a golden apple and sword from her. Apparently, Magnus has a new ability that whatever boat he’s on will not capsize because he’s the son of the God of sea voyages which is so random its funny. Magnus shows a lot of Annabeth-like characteristics here talking his way out of a dangerous situation and also getting everything he needed. After that voyage, Magnus tries to get his sword to glamour and is like "can you turn into a pen?" And the sword is like "how lame, a pen sword..." and I'm over here thinking... HA PERCY. LOL.
Coming up next we meet Freya. First thoughts: WHAT BLITZEN's MOM?! & Magnus. Poor Magnus. Entranced by his own aunt tries to focus on her eyebrow and can't even speak straight OMG. All she wants is earrings. Just earrings no big deal. And she will help them (sort of). To get said earrings, Blitzen has to compete against junior. With much medling and sabotage Blitzen pulls through and gets the special rope to rebind the Wolf and the earrings. After that, they end up having to run away because they found out about the sabotage. Blitzen is poofed away by his mom which leaves Hearth (who gets lost) and Sam and Magnus alone.
Next thing I know is Sumarbrander can TALK?! What?! Haha and he's so much like Magnus already. They're gonna be the best of buds. I feel it. His name is Jack now.
To escape they end up in Jotunheim where we meet another God and what is Thor haha. He's so lame and not like the hunky marvel one. We later find out that the hunky one is Magnus’s dad so score! After helping Thor, they get the information for where the Wolf’s island is and off we go to die!
When we meet the wolf my first thought is I bet Gunilla is gonna come in somewhere and make things difficult. Then, guess what happens! Gunilla comes in and becomes even more a pain in the ass. Magnus' shield buddies are so cool though because they stay loyal to him. I like them. They can understand the simple logic that Magnus is on the GOOD side. Gunilla needs to go home. She only redeems her attitude once she starts fighting Surt and her and her valiant Valkyrie die on the battlefield.
The battle with the wolf was crazy. Hearth was awesome with his renewed magical abilities. Sam embraces her powers and becomes a lion. Blitzen almost ALMOST gets slashed at the throat but his bullet proof necktie saves him. Magnus figures out how to bind the Wolf by using Jack to do all the tying but Surt is still up and running once the doggie is put down.
Here we see that Magnus has incredible power. He can wield the sword, he can use alf seidr (elf magic), and he can heal people! He manages to disarm everyone, open a portal behind Surt using Jack, and send Surt back into Muspel and I'm just like yassss Magnus you go!
On he way back to Valhalla Magnus meets his father in his dreams and it was SO HEART TOUCHING! They hugged and talked and reminisced about his mom and Frey just reminded Magnus to call Annabeth and they just had a great reunion.
LASTLY, the last couple chapters KILLED ME. Not a cliff hanger really but it's like the part where he leads you into the next book and I'm just like “Noooooooo! Keep going, must know moreeee!” I need to know how Magnus reacts to Annabeth and her life and how Annabeth will react to Magnus and his life and I just need to knowwwww how they're world will collide in the next book.
Onto the characters:
Magnus:
He is basically Percy with sarcasm x10. I have a hard time picturing him because he’s supposed to come off homeless but my mind automatically makes all the Rick Riordan characters super hot soooooo oh well. I do imagine him like what would be Annabeth's brother if she had one. I love his personality. I love his loyalty to his elf and dwarf. I love his courage and almost Annabeth-like way to talk his way out of situations like with Ran. He also owns a talking sword that can magically do whatever he needs up to the energy use of killing him. Like how cool is that. The sword’s name is also Jack which I think is so cute. Magnus is just awesome. He can also get a long well with horses-just like Percy am I right?
Sam:
She was bothering me in the beginning because she's so hard to get and its like she made her bed and she has to lie in it but she wants to blame Magnus when all he did was die like its his fault. He doesn't know much about Norse mythology and he's in Valhalla all confused. You have no right to blame poor Magnus for getting kicked out of the Valkyries. I don’t know if that made sense, but I start to like her character a lot more when we get to Jotunheim and meet Thor. She's started redeeming herself earlier too. Helped Blitzen win his competition. Saved Hearth on the Tree. Now she's starting to warm up to the team.
Blitz:
Blitz. "Magnus's dad" per say. Is a spot on description haha. He seems to be the second most rational person or dwarf in the group. He's fashionable and wants to own a haberdashery. I don't even know how to picture a fashionable Dwarf but I imagine a 19 or so, well-dressed, dark skinned short guy.
Hearthstone:
He has a special place in my heart because he's an elf. I love the elvish or alvish because they always are associated with beautiful people in my mind. Hearth is extra special though because he's got some adorable attributes like always having a runny nose, dressing super monochromatic besides his red scarf, AND being deaf and can still do awesome magic. So he's flawed and not perfect and I just have a thing for purposely flawed characters. I also think of him as the most rational person in the group. His upbringing is WOW. To be deemed useless by your own parents and becoming a complete masochist to learn magic. I can't even imagine the strength that takes.
Gunilla:
She actually pisses me off and the language is about to get a bit colorful here. Gunilla is a class A, annoying, stupidly oblivious bitch sometimes. Just needs to get out of the way if she's not gonna listen to reason. When she's captured by the Giants, Magnus is the one who SAVES her and yet she still calls him a criminal. I was hoping for a turning point in her character but NO. She insists on being a lousy "goodygoody" that will hasten doomsday rather than prolong it. And when they get to the island omg... Like obviously Magnus is trying to rebind the Wolf... Why would he go through all that trouble to get a new rope if not? Obviously he's there to fight Surt if he shows up because he would die either way if he didnt... Obviously this bitch need stop and think for a second. Her death was uncalled for though. I really was not expecting anymore death especially so early in a series, but she died to help Magnus and that was her redeeming point in the book for me. That one last act.