The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan

GoodReads Summary:
Magnus Chase, a once-homeless teen, is a resident of the Hotel Valhalla and one of Odin’s chosen warriors. As the son of Frey, the god of summer, fertility, and health, Magnus isn’t naturally inclined to fighting. But he has strong and steadfast friends, including Hearthstone the elf, Blitzen the dwarf, and Samirah the Valkyrie, and together they have achieved brave deeds, such as defeating Fenris Wolf and battling giants for Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. Now Magnus faces his most dangerous trial yet. His cousin, Annabeth, recruits her boyfriend, Percy Jackson, to give Magnus some pointers, but will his training be enough?
Loki is free from his chains. He’s readying Naglfar, the Ship of the Dead, complete with a host of giants and zombies, to sail against the Asgardian gods and begin the final battle of Ragnarok. It’s up to Magnus and his friends to stop him, but to do so they will have to sail across the oceans of Midgard, Jotunheim, and Niflheim in a desperate race to reach Naglfarbefore it’s ready to sail. Along the way, they will face angry sea gods, hostile giants, and an evil fire-breathing dragon. But Magnus’s biggest challenge will be facing his own inner demons. Does he have what it takes to outwit the wily trickster god?
Review:
I wish I was able to be more excited about this series. The Ship of the Dead was a good conclusion to an interesting series. I liked the characters. I mostly liked the story. And I really enjoyed the mythology. But I just didn’t love this series as much as I did Riordan’s others. I did enjoy it and I definitely love these characters.
The story continues following Magnus Chase as he and his friends (who are totally my favorite) try to stop Ragnarok. This story had the typical quests and action scenes and demigod hijinks. It was the characters that made the story good. I loved Magnus. He’s a huge goofball. But further, Sam was my favorite. She’s Muslim, but she’s also a Valkyrie. She holds firm to her beliefs despite the world potentially ending. In this book, it’s Ramadan. So, we get to see Sam fast while sailing around the world, trying to get to Loki before he sails Naglfar. I loved that this was included in the book. Then we have Alex, who was my favorite. She’s genderfluid and snarky as hell. I loved Alex a ton.
Overall, I don’t have a ton to say about this book. I’ve said already that I love the characters. I also really liked the message that was shared in the final ‘battle’ between Magnus and Loki. I think this was a great series for the middle-grade age group. It’s diverse and interesting. It focuses on Norse mythology, which isn’t nearly as popular as other myths. So, I liked that it has it’s own series now.
Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.