Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 2: Hammer of Thor, The Paperback – April 3, 2018

Book came in pretty good condition, had some sticky residue on the front and back of the jacket cover that left an oily stain behind?? But the 5 stars is for the content of the book... what a foolish 16 year old i was.... I remember buying the first book on my kindle in like 2016?? 2017?? But i read like the first 10 pages and was like “not percy jackson...me no like” and here i am at 20 years old during COVID quarantine and have reread all of harry potter, percy jackson, kane chronicles, and heores of Olympus so i decide “I’ll try reading this again”. Needless to say, i ran through the first book in about a day, and i really liked it so i ordered the rest here (along with trials of apollo bc i love me some greek mythology) and now that I’ve finished magnus chase can i just say: I truly think this series is one of rick’s most well written ones (along with trials of apollo). It’s very inclusive and you can tell riordan works hard to get representation as close and respectful as possible. I thought samirah and alex were wonderful characters that are often never represented in media, and if they are, its in a very stereotypical and harmful way. Alex is my favorite character now (viva mexico!!!) and i feel that her characterization was a breath of fresh air in the riordanverse. I really wish this series was longer or riordan would write a sequel series like he did with pj, but alas, the best stories know when to end on the right note (though if he DOES announce a sequel or marvel mashup type series of his universe... i may or may not dance in my underpants)P.S. for all people in the comments that seem to hate this series because it’s “too inclusive” or “pandering to liberals”: sorry that you think lgbtq+ people are some kind of rare less-than-human species and that having several non-white characters is unrealistic. It’s not. Having an all/majority cis non-poc cast would be quite strange actually. Alex, tj, blitz, and sam are the only blatantly stated poc characters, while magnus, mallory, halfborn, and hearth are stated or coded as white. Out of those, only two (magnus and alex) are clearly written as not heterosexual and alex is trans-genderfluid. The rest are up for interpretation as they are not stated outright to be heterosexual or part of the lgbtq+ community. Not to mention the slew of side characters that don’t have gender or sexuality commented on. Which means that even in a book that has far more representation than any other mainstream book I’ve read, its not some sort of leftist propaganda so many close minded people like to claim it is... it’s just more realistic (in terms of diversity).

I love this book. It has a great plot, lots of excitement, some happy and sad parts. It's an all around good book with an excellent lead into the next book in the series. I can't wait to read it. I highly recommend this series.

This book...*shaking my head wordlessly*I shouldn't be surprised I loved it as much as I did. this is a Rick Riordan's book, after all. But before reading it, I was terrified of reading this book.Long story short, I had some major issues with the first book in the Magnus Chase trilogy.I still ended up enjoying it, but the shock of not absolutely loving it was just too hard for me to handle.So when it came to anticipating The Hammer of Thor, I was cautiously excited. I readied myself for the possibility I wouldn't love it.And then...OH GOD, I LOVED THIS BOOK!It was incredible and beautifully done.Rick Riordan... you're amazing!If you, like me, had your issues with The Sword of Summer, worry not! For this book will take it all away.In this book you may (or may not) find:A gender fluid shapeshifter who is also a love interest.A goat killer assassin.A talking sword that loves to sing.A wedding.A psychotic god trying to escapeOverall crazinessSome fun times.Some hard timesSome sad timesSome awesome times.Some times in general.See?Isn't this reason enough to read this book?No need to thank me as long as you read it.And now that we got the ones of you who haven't read it covered, let's talk spoilers!*Full Review (with spoilers)*This book, you guys...This book.'Just like the good old days: marching together into the unknown, searching for missing magical weapons, and risking painful death. I've missed my buddies!'Magnus Chase:Oh, Magnus. I loved him so much.This time, he really stood on his own. He didn't feel like a pale copy of Percy anymore. He was Magnus Chase, the brave healer with the talking sword.While Magnus does know how to fight, I loved that Rick didn't make him an all capable warrior or an expert in sword fighting.Our protagonist is more of a healer than a fighter, and I found that I liked it just fine.Samirah al-Abbas (a.k.a. Sam):Our fierce Muslim Valkyrie.She, as well, didn't feel like a pale copy of Annabeth anymore.She dealt with so much in this book (possibly more than anyone), but she pulled through. As hard as things got, she didn't give up.Sam is a strong female protagonist and I admire her capabilities.Hearthstone (a.k.a Hearth):I just love this elf so much! I want to give him a hug and tell him everything is going to be okay.Blitzen:Ah, I like this draft.I'm so glad he's not dead.Amir:We finally got some Amir time in this book!And it was so good. Aside from him almost freaking out to the death, that is.This guy deserves a medal. He's willing to do anything - anything - if it means staying with Sam. So cute.Also, I'm starting to see why Sam loves him so much.Alex Fierro:All hail Alex Fierro!The awesomest and craziest shapeshifter alive (ergg... well, depends on your definition of "alive").For the risk of repeating myself: I just loved her SO MUCH.Him too.Yeah, sorry, I'm still a bit Magnus-confused at how this works.But as she was, for most of the book, a she, I'm going to refer to her as a she for now.Don't you just love how effortlessly Rick combines diversity into his books?He does it like he does magic.I also somehow became a hardcore shipper of Magnus & Alex over the course of this book. I can't imagine them not together. Just like Amir & Sam, the two of them are meant to be.I'm definitely not scared of the third book anymore. Also not of the second book in the Apollo series.Rick Riordan is officially back and I just want more more more!"First we need advice," I said. "About sailing across magical waters, fighting weird sea monsters, and not dying at the hands of a bunch of angry aquatic gods. Strangely enough, I know just the person to talk to.""Your cousin," Sam guessed."Yeah," I said. "Annabeth."Annabeth smiled. "I don't know the ocean very well, but my boyfriend does. I think it's time you met Percy."*Dying of squealing*Magnus and Percy meeting?Percy making another appearance?This is going to be:Just...So...EPIC.

Another good read. I'm looking forward to the final installment. With coffee counsel, avoiding (rather not avoiding) an obvious trap, repaying a debt, a tournament of skill, and crashing a wedding is just a day in the life of heroes. Want to find out what I mean? Then you're gonna wanna read this book.