Marshmallow reviews The Hammer of Thor (Book 2 of Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series) by Rick Riordan

Two weeks ago, Marshmallow reviewed The Sword of Summer, the first book of Rick Riordan’s Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series. Today she reviews the second book in this trilogy: The Hammer of Thor. Sprinkles, who is currently reading the book, is asking questions and taking notes.

Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, tell our readers about this book.

Marshmallow: If you like magic and mythology and fantasy and friendship and other books by Rick Riordan, then this might be the book for you! But of course first you should read The Sword of Summer, the first book in the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series.

S: Yes, and I did. Your review was convincing enough to get me to read that. And of course then I had to dive right into this second book. But I am not done yet. So please do tell our readers about the story line, but without too many spoilers.

M: Okay, will do. In the beginning of the book, Magnus Chase is planning to meet Samirah Al-Abbas for coffee to talk about a mysterious, important issue. Samirah is suddenly called away to help reap a soul. Remember that Samirah (Sam) is a valkyrie whose job is to bring the honorable dead to Hotel Valhalla. And she was the valkyrie who selected Magnus for Valhalla when he died in the first book.

Before she leaves, Sam says that an undercover operative will meet him at the café. While Magnus is waiting for her to return, he sees the undercover operative, Otis. Otis is one of the two goats of Thor we met in the first book. His job is to pull Thor’s chariot and provide him with goat meat. (Otis and his brother Marvin are eaten every night and resurrected every morning.) Otis is not exactly the greatest with disguises. he wears a coat, a hat, and sunglasses. Otis informs Magnus that Thor’s hammer is missing, unofficially. Thor doesn’t want his enemies to know that his main weapon of power is missing.

S: Okay, so we learn already that Thor’s hammer is missing and that is the main quest of this book.

M: Yes. Actually we had learned that Thor was missing his hammer in the first book. But now it is absolutely essential that Sam and Magnus and their friends Blitz the Dwarf and Hearthstone the Elf find it, and find it soon. Or Sam is going to have to marry a giant!

S: Okay, I actually got that far in the book but maybe we don’t want to give away a lot more than that.

M: Yes, true. We already set up the main story line of the book.

S: And I’m guessing that the rest is just fun and adventure and danger and all that stuff all intertwined with mythology that we have come to love in Riordan’s other books?

M: Yes.

S: Among the Riordan characters that you have read about so far, how does Magnus rank?

M: He is a good person and has natural reactions to things, and he tries to be thoughtful and sensitive. His sense of humor is similar to Percy Jackson‘s.

S: I noticed that too. I guess two narrators written by the same author can have some similarities in voice.

M: Yes, but you do know that they are definitely different people. Percy was a lot more naive and rash. And Magnus is a lot more mature in many ways.

S: Yes, and the third first-person voice we read from Riordan was Apollo / Lester from Trials of Apollo series, and that guy was the most immature of all, at least in the beginning.

M: More arrogant than immature, I’d say. Percy and Magnus are not arrogant.

S: Agreed. Okay, I can’t wait to get back to reading the book. So let us wrap up this review quickly. If you were to rate this book on a scale of 1 to 100 percent, what would you rate it at?

M: 95%.

S: And what do you want to tell our readers?

M: Stay tuned for more amazing reviews from the book bunnies!