Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard Hardcover Boxed Set (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard)

My 11 year old loved it. He keeps on discussing about Greek mythology after reading these books. Becuse of these books he was away from gadgets at least for some time.

Good read for my teen son.

i liked it the 1st and 2nd books were very good but 3rd book was so simple

I have mixed feelings about this series. After having the thought stuck in my head for a while, I thought I’d write a review. (I was REALLY torn on the star rating to give it… I would have liked to go higher, because I’m enjoying it a great deal, overall. But I’m trying to base it a bit on the writing quality, and a bit in context with the other books in the surrounding series.)I’ve been enjoying Rick Riordan’s work, and am reading the first series to the girl I babysit. I’ve read Percy, Kane, more Percy, the in between books… They’re fun. It took me a bit longer to get into the Kane Chronicles than the Percy stories (admittedly, I grew up on Greek Mythology, so maybe that was just because I was more familiar and close to the base content), but I ended up liking those, too. The humor has improved the farther I’ve gone (I noticed a marked increase/improvement in the volume where the Percy/Kane characters met each other.) The characters’ personalities seem to flesh out.Now I’m on Magnus Chase. I’m maybe 2/3 through the second of three books.I had been looking forward to the Norse Mythology. And it’s been fun; I dove in way more smoothly than with the Kane series. The humor alone has gone up again; I love the easy wit the characters portray. The story is interesting to me. The way the Norse gods are portrayed felt a little uneven at first. Loki seems fairly typical of his character. Then others are in various ways ‘wacky.’ But I got used to it and like the alternative view. (I did go into the story expecting a unique take, as done in the other series, so no great shock.) I think these books are a good way for younger people to get into mythology, and also to enjoy a fun new version of the pantheons. (And it isn’t easy to find good collections of Norse myths; they’re often either overly dumbed down, or peppered with paragraphs of analysis.)That said, I am having one issue with the series.My complaint is rooted in something that I initially reacted to with pleasure. I was impressed by it, until a certain point. As a precursor, it’s possible that the issue stood out to me more after having read all the other books, and hence comparing them. But it still feels off.One of the reviews on the jacket of the second book claims “…cast that is effortlessly diverse…”Well, I more than agree with the ‘diverse’ part, and appreciate it.Effortless… Not so much.The main characters include, just to start, deaf, black, muslim, gay, homeless, rich, people from various countries, and further in, transgender/gender fluid…(BEFORE ANY COMMENTS ARE MADE, I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH ANY OF THOSE, NOR WITH ANY OF THEM GETTING REPRESENTATION! THAT IS NOT THE POINT I’M MAKING!)It’s not as though there was NO diversity in his previous books, but there certainly wasn’t this contrived/affected mishmash, nor was it so focused on the concept. I LIKE the characters. I find them interesting… But it’s a bit obviously forced, and the flow has suffered increasingly as the series progresses.At first I thought “Wow, that’s cool, and a bit daring. Must be challenging to write with such a mix, at times, and of course there will be fallout from certain people.” I was glad to see some other factions getting page time in literature. And, as someone who enjoys writing, I was also looking at it from the perspective of how I would handle writing scenes with such a cast.As I kept reading, I began to lift my eyebrow on and off. I got closer to the characters, and that was great. But it seemed more and more that Riordan wanted to do a bunch of PSAs, made a ‘diversity’ list, and started working off of it. And that he didn’t want anyone to forget it.Early in the first book, there’s a paragraph or so about how that night’s dinner happens to be luau themed, and the main character thinks it’s cultural appropriation. It might be a point to make, but it stood out as a totally irrelevant thing to bring up in context; both the dinner theme, itself and the view the character had of it. I think it was at the beginning of the second book, when the transgender/gender fluid character was added, that I started to take the feeling of awkwardness way more seriously. When he shortly after began describing many of the ASL gestures (once or twice it was relevant, other than that, it really wasn’t helpful in any way), it began to get really awkward.When you’re in the middle of a scene, especially a fast-paced one, and keep having to stumble over descriptions of what people are saying, the flow really suffers. Continue with a large part of a chapter devoted to the main character asking for explanations of gender fluid, after earlier narration having stated that he was already familiar with the concept. I wasn’t even entirely positive if the way transgender/gender fluid was explained was fully accurate, and in the context of a fantasy series, amid other series that never involved such concepts, it’s easy to see kids just dismissing it as another fantasy element, killing the entire PSA from the start. The single scene during which the muslim girl stops for one of her daily prayers felt similarly shoehorned in.The diversity is so extreme that it stops feeling like exposure for those groups, and more like a glaring neon poster of various types and issues with a story scribbled around it. Scenes that I think would have felt natural, and which I could have appreciated in other stories, just felt jammed in to force reminders of the diversity being employed, and throw out PSAs. It interrupts the flow, and makes me weirdly uncomfortable about being uncomfortable, because something I want to cheer for is making it hard to enjoy the story.(A couple totally unrelated side warnings… If anyone has phobias about vomit, be forewarned, Magnus throws up fairly often… Also, this is Norse mythology. Things are a bit more brutal in some ways than the stuff in the Greek and Egyptian series. Violent killing is encouraged, and animals, talking and regular, are regularly slaughtered and brought back to life in an endless cycle. No personal problem with these things in the series, but do know some people who would prefer to be forewarned.)In the end, I’m really enjoying the books. They’re fun. I’m just disappointed in the way the newfound diversity was employed; it stands out glaringly among the Riordan books, after the smooth-flowing predecessors. It seems like his writing got both better and worse. It may be especially rocky reading to younger kids who had been following the books up to this series, and are getting first explanations of certain concepts. Some parents may prefer to explain certain things themselves, so it might be good to read this ahead of or with your child, if they’re on the younger side. For older readers, I still think this is worth reading, and enjoyable. Just be prepared for some awkwardness, and try to focus on the story and humor.

'Cause how embarrassing would it be for your 10-year-old Little Leaguer or Girl Scout not to know to ask their little playmates for their "preferred pronoun of the day"?! Yikes! Or to seem anything but politely bored by flamboyant transgenderism, bisexuality, gay romance, cannibalism, or patricide! Yep, folks, it's all in here.It's as if an overeager Diversity Enforcement Officer held a gun to Rick Riordan's head while he was writing this. That's my only explanation for how a writer as creative and entertaining as Rick Riordan could turn out such a ludicrous, though GLBTQA (...XYZ)-approved series as this. Personally, if I was going to jam-pack all the latest in PC genderqueer sensitivity training into a series based on mythology, I would have gone with basing it in Greek mythology. Choosing Viking mythology for your backdrop?!! It turns into unintentional comedy so much that it totally backfires. Viking culture isn't famous for its, ummm, sensitivity. I don't blame Rick Riordan for trying to plant his rainbow flag on territory usually claimed by white supremacists and Aryan Nation types, though... But to make it a propaganda piece for the holiness of Islam at the same time?!!! That goes beyond forced into pure preposterous. To go from Alex Fierro's (our gender-fluid mascot/character) boring and ponderous college lectures on genderqueer terminology (which are so many, so long, and so boring that they actually slow down the plot!!) and the archaic wickedness of anybody who doesn't rejoice in that sort of thing to our Muslima Valkyrie Samirah Al Abbas instructing us on how to properly pray to Allah just made me burst into uncontrollable laughter!!Oh come on now, Rick! Where is your trademark irreverent, clever, hilarious take on every culture's mythology now? Watching Rick go to great pains to spotlight the intense nobility of every Muslim character, and to exhort the reader through Samirah's apologetics on how wonderful it is to experience the peace of the Muslim faith through prayer is an interesting experience. Don't really blame him... I wouldn't want a fatwa pronounced against me either!So, in summary, this series is without a doubt THE most awkward series I've EVER read. Rick Riordan's genius was clearly beaten up and locked away by some PC bully who gave him the impossible task of reconciling genderqueer theory and Islamic apologetics in the most hostile and unlikely of places... the cosmology of the Aryan Nation. Coming from someone who has read just about every Rick Riordan book there is, I have to say: I would give this series a hard pass. Seriously, it's such a ludicrous, chaotic mess.

My boys have all loved these books, so I decided to give them a try as well. These are not "literature," of course, but they are really entertaining. This series has far more humor than the Percy Jackson books, quite engaging.BUT... after getting through the entire series... there is a really strong effort by the author to indoctrinate children with his political views. If you agree with his politics and want fiction authors to influence your children in this way, ok, you will be happy with this series. If not... you should plan to have conversations with your children about the topics promoted by Riordan before, during, and after they read the books. Specifically, know that this series is strongly supportive of gender-fluidity, homosexuality, Muslim religious practices, and arranged marriage. I personally prefer to guide my children on topics like these without assistance from the entertainment industry. But, if you want some help introducing these topics to your pre-teen, Riordan will certainly oblige.

Didnt know it would be about trans children! I’m not against how others live but do not want to read about this! I read Percy Jackson and LOVED the books. I read book one of magnus chase and got to book two where I will stop reading and give these books to a used book shop. How disappointing. This should be about Magic and fantasy not this garbage. My bad I didn’t read the reviews. Gah zero stars. Please readers read the plot first. If you like this stuff then my review is helpful. If you don’t want to read about inappropriate teenage relationships then you’re welcome. Gay or straight or not. I don’t want to read about romantic involvement with teenage kids. Back to the dragon slaying. 😔