The Hammer of Thor

Disappointed. Definite agenda and right off noticed obvious digs at my personal religious beliefs. I’m a fan of mythology and enjoyed these books until the author decided to make them his soapbox. Deleted from my device and didn’t get past the first few chapters. Looks like this author is no longer an enjoyable read. My beliefs are attacked on a daily basis now, I’m sure not going to pay for it!

Loved the Percy Jackson stories and the first Magnus Chase was decent. This seemed to focus more on political correctness instead of a story. Characters weren't developed, instead of developing them and showing us why you should embrace and celebrate someone different....the story was you must accept me without condition regardless of if I'm a jerk. The characters were terrible. Won't buy any more books in this series.

I discovered Rick Riordan as a mature adult and have been enjoying his stories overall. However, to the Magnus Chase series is my least favorite for two reasons. First, the characters are Viking editions of the Percy Jackson characters. Riordan did Percy Jackson so much better. Second, the Magnus Chase series is a walking political agenda for identity politics — and that part of the series is laughable and preachy.Riordan has written some entertaining series. He writes for the young adult audience but folks of all ages can enjoy his stories. If you’re in the mature range, the reading is fast and don’t expect to broaden your vocabulary. However, Riordan provides an entertaining twist on ancient mythologies.Here’s my recommendations:1. Percy Jackson series - Excellent! Lots of engaging characters to enjoy and care about. Entertaining plots.2. The Kane series - Good. Same as above.3. Apollo series - Good. It’s hilarious to hear Apollo’s god-y perspectives. Meg is a bore, though, and my least favorite character to date in the Percy Jackson world.4. Magnus Chase - Okay. The character personalities are reboots of Percy Jackson. I kinda of care about them and kind if don’t. The series is more violent. And there’s the identity politics agenda.

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).

My 13 year old son and I loved the book. We enjoy Rick Riodan's writing. I am a bit conservative, but there is a character who is transgender. Had to Explain that, but this character is also a shape shifter, so explanation was ok. Interesting character.Definitely worth the read.