The Hammer of Thor
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
Thor's hammer is missing again. The thunder god has a disturbing habit of misplacing his weapon - the mightiest force in the Nine Worlds. But this time the hammer isn't just lost, it has fallen into enemy hands. If Magnus Chase and his friends can't retrieve the hammer quickly, the mortal worlds will be defenseless against an onslaught of giants. Ragnarok will begin. The Nine Worlds will burn. Unfortunately, the only person who can broker a deal for the hammer's return is the gods' worst enemy, Loki - and the price he wants is very high.
I completely loved Sword of Summer when it came out, I am still yet to read Percy Jackson but I had to get all over Magnus Chase because Norse Mythology. I'm such a mythology lover, and I hardly ever read anything with Norse Mythology and Sword of Summer.....my word. I was loving it. It was like heaven. I loved the twists and the action and the characters and all the mythology! So I've been anticipated Hammer of Thor hardcore!
In Hammer of Thor we get a new character and Alex is my fave. Completely and utterly my fave. Alex is a child of Loki, and Alex is transgender and gender fluid. I was SO stoked to see this kind of representation in a series by such a well loved, and wide read author. I loved how open and blunt about it Alex was, and the pronouns to be used each day, I'm not a leading authority on transgender and gender fluid people at all, but I feel like it was really well done and the thought of kids reading about such a character and learning and being more open minded filled me with a little bit of hope for the future. I loved Alex. I can't say it enough, the shape shifting, the badass-ness. MORE ALEX. ALL THE ALEX.
Aside from Alex, all of our favourite characters are back we get to learn more about Hearth and see his home and more of that situation with his family. Sam....poor Sam. She has a lot to deal with this book after Loki outs her as a Valkyrie to her family and Amir, and she handles it astoundingly. Unfortunately we get more Randolph. I kind of want to hate him a little bit but I mostly just feel pity. I hate Loki too, we get lots of Loki. I really don't like him...but he's kind of funny and I'd keep snorting involuntarily when I was reading scenes with him! OH and I really liked Inge! I'm kind of hoping to see more of her! We get some more of Amir, and the poor guy is struggling a bit in this book. The whole Norse Gods/Valkyrie thing is a lot to take in to be fair!
Although I was a little sad we didn't get to see more of Magnus's floor mates, and we didn't get much Blitz either, but I really did enjoy getting to see more of Hearth! Hearth is one of my faves, and I'm sensing a bromance between him and a certain God of vengeance!
Magnus is as sarcastic, funny and dorky as usual, but you root for him hardcore. He does the right thing even when he doesn't have to, he's brave and heroic when he needs to be, and I love how he deals with the whole "oh you're dead and the son of Norse God" thing. I'm not going to lie, while Ricks books aren't like OMG ROMANCE EVERYWHERE, LOOK AT ALL THE HEARTS AND FLOWERS, they're more lowkey.....I'm seeing a ship for Magnus. I don't want to spoil it for people, but I am curious as to whether I'm the only person who saw this ship and was like YES. THAT'S IT. THAT'S THE ONE. Genuinely, I will ship this with my dying breath. Also, is it wrong of me to lowkey ship Hearth and Blitz? I know they're friends and everything but I was kind of torn this book because Inge....but Blitz....I just see ships everywhere, it's a problem!
Hammer of Thor is just as hilarious as Sword of Summer, I love the chapter titles, they always give me a good chuckle! But I really needed the humour the book gave, I hadn't been reading it for five minutes before I was chuckling! Magnus's sassy narrative gives me life! I love the balance of humour and the darker, more serious moments in the book. There's action and adventure, sure maybe not so much as the first book, for me things seemed a bit slower than the first book but there was still plenty to enjoy and the set up for the next book...I can't even!
I loved the world of the first book, it was atmospheric and vivid and really brought my imagination to life. I'd hoped to see more of the Nine Worlds in this book and Rick has granted that wish! We get to see Alfheim, and after recently rewatching SAO I needed to check that mental image at the door. I loved how Rick portrayed the world with his own twist, it had it's own atmosphere and I loved seeing how different it was to the other worlds we'd seen, ditto the Giants world. I do love opening this book and being in a completely different place, although he did it again! When I finished the book, I once again had a burning need for MORE. I'm excited to see where he's going to take us in the third book!
I should mention that we get to see more Gods! I did get a shock momentarily because I forgot that Rick didn't go with the blond haired Thor for this, and my brain had to recalibrate! I loved reading about all the Gods and getting to meet more Gods and Goddesses. I love how Riordan makes them his own. As far as I'm aware Rick is very true to the original Norse mythology, he just coats it in sarcasm and marks it with his own stamp! OMG. Heimdall. Just wait for Heimdall. Thanks to Marvel I had a certain image of him, and this book completely 180'd him!
I LOVED the ending. I have to say. We get to see Annabeth again briefly, and I love how Rick interconnects the book. Annabeth references events from Trials of Apollo so it's a minor spoiler at the end if you haven't read it yet...but there are hints. I'm thinking we might get a team up. I've been dreaming about this team up and I shouldn't get my hopes up because I might be reading in to things...but I'm kind of hoping Percy and Magnus are going to meet in the next book, at least! It also made me excited for the next Trials of Apollo book!
Hammer of Thor is a brilliant continuation of the series, with more Gods, more mythology and more humour! Not to mention the action and adventure! I loved how the next book has been set up and I'm so excited to see where this is going to go...also MORE ALEX!
