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The Unofficial Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard Companion: The Norse Heroes, Monsters, and Myths Behind The Hit Series
Date: Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Time: 6:22 AM
Author: Peter Aperlo
Ratings: 4/5
Synopsis: Long ago in the legendary land of Asgard, battles raged throughout the Heavens and Earth between powerful gods, Viking heroes and deadly monsters.. These timeless tales of bravery, deceit, and love come alive in this all-new illustrated guide.
As enthralling today as when first told around arctic campfires, these ancient myths are the inspiration for Rick Riordan's captivating new Magnus Chase books. An ideal source of Norse mythology for anyone reading his novels.
Important Reminder: This book is not associated with or authorised or approved by Rick Riordan or his publishers. This book is an independent and unauthorised fan publication. No endorsement or sponsorship by or affiliation with Rick Riordan, his publishers, or other copyright and trademark holders is claimed or suggested. All references in this book to copyrighted or trademarked characters and other elements of books by Rick Riordan are for the purpose of commentary, criticism, analysis, and literary discussion only.
Review: Apparently the Norsemen of old tales had alot of the to make up stories about the Viking gods, heroes, giants, and other mythological creature during those long winter nights, because their well-populated pantheon makes the ancient Greeks and Roman tales pretty paltry.
With the release of Rick Riordan's already bestselling first novel in his new series Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, adventure loving young adult readers are going to need to bone up their Norse gods and goddesses, elves, dwarves, giants, and monster lore, and Peter Aperlo's just published The Unofficial Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard Companion: The Norse Heroes, Monsters, and Myths Behind The Hit Series is the perfect guide to have handy as they follow Magnus Chase, former homeless Boston orphan, who discovers that he is the demigod son of the god Frey with the mission of averting the end of the world and becomes a genuine hero of Asgard all in one day. All the many players who populate Magnus' story, plus many more, are identified in this small handy volume.
Peter Aperlo's unofficial guide offers a fascinating and illustrated rundown of Norse history and social mores, a generous sampling of some of the more famous Norse myths, and an extensive Who's Who biographical dictionary of the Scandinavian pantheon of deities, mortals, heroes, monsters and otherwise villainous characters that is sure to be indispensable in reading Riordan's first book and his proposed series. Apelo offers a bonus pronunciation guide to Old Norse vowels and some links to further reading into the world of Viking archeology. All this in an inexpensive paperback or even cheaper e-book that young readers can keep at hand, especially since the sequel, The Hammer of Thor is forthcoming in 2016. And with Riordan's Disney connection through the publisher of this series, there are surely prospects for a movie or so, with the Boston setting offering plenty of colourful location shots for the action.
Who knew that a ride on one of Boston's famous Swan Boats could secretly be a Viking Cruise? How wicked is that?Labels: Book Companion, Norse Mythology, Peter Aperlo, The Unofficial Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard Companion: The Norse Heroes Monsters and Myths Behind the Hit Series
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Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer
Date: Monday, December 14, 2015
Time: 5:25 AM
Author: Rick Riordan
Rating: 5/5
Synopsis: Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother's mysterious death, he's lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.
One day, he's tracked down by a man he's never met - a man his mother claimed was dangerous. The man tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god.
The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants, and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousand of years.
When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision.
Sometimes the only way to start a new life is to die.
Review: As someone who has read all three (Percy Jackson and The Olympians, Heroes of the Olympus, and Kane Chronicles) series by Rick Riordan, I clearly see that his writing just kept improving since The Lightning Thief. There was no question, then, as to my reading his latest series Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.
I didn't know the synopsis of The Sword of Summer before I bought it. I saw that it was a new book by Rick Riordan and it's about the Norse Gods, and I bought it. It did not disappoint at all. True to what I now deem to be Riordan's style. The Sword of Summer is filled with young adult-appropriate language, kick-ass action, weird but lovable characters, talking animals, self-absorbed gods, several plot twists and heart-breaking family issues.
Magnus Chase is an orphaned teenager living on the streets, when he is forced to fight the Norse god of fire , Surt, and accidentally plunged to death. His soul was brought to Valhalla by the Valkyrie Sam. And what's a hero story without a quest? To save the world from the early coming of Ragnarok, Magnus sets out to fight the wolf of his nightmares.
Unlike in Percy Jackson where the kids must be trained to fight, Magnus' physique was upgraded when he died.
Another factor I enjoyed in The Sword of Summer is that Valhalla sounds awesome. And whilst reading, I couldn't avoid but imagine my beloved Tom Hiddleston whenever Loki's character appeared in the story.
I don't know much about Norse Mythology (and learning about new things is part of the reason why I love to read) but by the end of The Sword of Summer, I have a new found appreciation for it. Unlike in Percy Jackson, where I was pretty familiar with Greek gods because we studied The Illiad extensively in college and we were made to understand the Greek goddess Psyche. The Norse gods where wholly new territory for me. So thank you, Rick Riordan, for challenging me to explore a whole new topic.
I am excited to see how Odin will be, if he will be depicted differently from Zeus. I guess the challenge for Riordan in continuing to write about heroes and along this vein, is how to differentiate each series and primary character from one another. I am seeing alot of Percy Jackson's characteristics in Magnus Chase (recklessness thirst for adventure, ignoring the rules) but the persona of the latter character works out for me so far because of the different scenarios and challenges. I hope this will not turn out to be a tiresome repetition of character, events, and locales, as it does for some writers.
Labels: Magnus Chase And The Gods Of Asgard, Norse Mythology, Rick Riordan, The Sword Of Summer, Young Adult
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The Unofficial Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard Companion: The Norse Heroes, Monsters, and Myths Behind The Hit Series
Author: Peter Aperlo
Ratings: 4/5
Synopsis: Long ago in the legendary land of Asgard, battles raged throughout the Heavens and Earth between powerful gods, Viking heroes and deadly monsters.. These timeless tales of bravery, deceit, and love come alive in this all-new illustrated guide.
As enthralling today as when first told around arctic campfires, these ancient myths are the inspiration for Rick Riordan's captivating new Magnus Chase books. An ideal source of Norse mythology for anyone reading his novels.
Important Reminder: This book is not associated with or authorised or approved by Rick Riordan or his publishers. This book is an independent and unauthorised fan publication. No endorsement or sponsorship by or affiliation with Rick Riordan, his publishers, or other copyright and trademark holders is claimed or suggested. All references in this book to copyrighted or trademarked characters and other elements of books by Rick Riordan are for the purpose of commentary, criticism, analysis, and literary discussion only.
Review: Apparently the Norsemen of old tales had alot of the to make up stories about the Viking gods, heroes, giants, and other mythological creature during those long winter nights, because their well-populated pantheon makes the ancient Greeks and Roman tales pretty paltry.
With the release of Rick Riordan's already bestselling first novel in his new series Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, adventure loving young adult readers are going to need to bone up their Norse gods and goddesses, elves, dwarves, giants, and monster lore, and Peter Aperlo's just published The Unofficial Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard Companion: The Norse Heroes, Monsters, and Myths Behind The Hit Series is the perfect guide to have handy as they follow Magnus Chase, former homeless Boston orphan, who discovers that he is the demigod son of the god Frey with the mission of averting the end of the world and becomes a genuine hero of Asgard all in one day. All the many players who populate Magnus' story, plus many more, are identified in this small handy volume.
Peter Aperlo's unofficial guide offers a fascinating and illustrated rundown of Norse history and social mores, a generous sampling of some of the more famous Norse myths, and an extensive Who's Who biographical dictionary of the Scandinavian pantheon of deities, mortals, heroes, monsters and otherwise villainous characters that is sure to be indispensable in reading Riordan's first book and his proposed series. Apelo offers a bonus pronunciation guide to Old Norse vowels and some links to further reading into the world of Viking archeology. All this in an inexpensive paperback or even cheaper e-book that young readers can keep at hand, especially since the sequel, The Hammer of Thor is forthcoming in 2016. And with Riordan's Disney connection through the publisher of this series, there are surely prospects for a movie or so, with the Boston setting offering plenty of colourful location shots for the action.
Who knew that a ride on one of Boston's famous Swan Boats could secretly be a Viking Cruise? How wicked is that?Labels: Book Companion, Norse Mythology, Peter Aperlo, The Unofficial Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard Companion: The Norse Heroes Monsters and Myths Behind the Hit Series
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Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer
Author: Rick Riordan
Rating: 5/5
Synopsis: Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother's mysterious death, he's lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.
One day, he's tracked down by a man he's never met - a man his mother claimed was dangerous. The man tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god.
The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants, and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousand of years.
When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision.
Sometimes the only way to start a new life is to die.
Review: As someone who has read all three (Percy Jackson and The Olympians, Heroes of the Olympus, and Kane Chronicles) series by Rick Riordan, I clearly see that his writing just kept improving since The Lightning Thief. There was no question, then, as to my reading his latest series Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.
I didn't know the synopsis of The Sword of Summer before I bought it. I saw that it was a new book by Rick Riordan and it's about the Norse Gods, and I bought it. It did not disappoint at all. True to what I now deem to be Riordan's style. The Sword of Summer is filled with young adult-appropriate language, kick-ass action, weird but lovable characters, talking animals, self-absorbed gods, several plot twists and heart-breaking family issues.
Magnus Chase is an orphaned teenager living on the streets, when he is forced to fight the Norse god of fire , Surt, and accidentally plunged to death. His soul was brought to Valhalla by the Valkyrie Sam. And what's a hero story without a quest? To save the world from the early coming of Ragnarok, Magnus sets out to fight the wolf of his nightmares.
Unlike in Percy Jackson where the kids must be trained to fight, Magnus' physique was upgraded when he died.
Another factor I enjoyed in The Sword of Summer is that Valhalla sounds awesome. And whilst reading, I couldn't avoid but imagine my beloved Tom Hiddleston whenever Loki's character appeared in the story.
I don't know much about Norse Mythology (and learning about new things is part of the reason why I love to read) but by the end of The Sword of Summer, I have a new found appreciation for it. Unlike in Percy Jackson, where I was pretty familiar with Greek gods because we studied The Illiad extensively in college and we were made to understand the Greek goddess Psyche. The Norse gods where wholly new territory for me. So thank you, Rick Riordan, for challenging me to explore a whole new topic.
I am excited to see how Odin will be, if he will be depicted differently from Zeus. I guess the challenge for Riordan in continuing to write about heroes and along this vein, is how to differentiate each series and primary character from one another. I am seeing alot of Percy Jackson's characteristics in Magnus Chase (recklessness thirst for adventure, ignoring the rules) but the persona of the latter character works out for me so far because of the different scenarios and challenges. I hope this will not turn out to be a tiresome repetition of character, events, and locales, as it does for some writers.
Labels: Magnus Chase And The Gods Of Asgard, Norse Mythology, Rick Riordan, The Sword Of Summer, Young Adult
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