להב הקיץ

 Everything Rick Riordan writes that I have read as of yet has left me desperately, ridiculously depressed that there is not more. This book is no exception. Like all of his books, it is easy to suck it straight down in one fell swoop, then raise your head and realize in complete surprise that it was significantly longer than you expected. It never felt that long, but this is not a short book, which is all to the good as far as getting plenty of story packed in there. All of his books do seem to be connected in some way, even when you would expect they are not (as in when they are focused on entirely different mythologies), so watching for the little (and a few not so little!) connections between this and Percy Jackson's stuff was a lot of fun. It has some general similarities to the Percy Jackson series in that we are, again, looking at a boy who is not sure who is father is and discovers an entire new world in the process, as well as a place to belong. Magnus is a very different hero, though. He's clever and quippy in a very different way than Percy. He's honestly quite smart, and, much as I love Percy, he is...kind of not. He's also perhaps a tad less violent, though come on, this story includes Valhalla, so we're not looking at a peaceful and quiet book here. However, his parentage is rather different, so we are looking at quite a few different powers and reactions to situations than Percy gave. It's absolutely just as much fun, however. I liked the different characters from different walks of life. I was not expecting the Valkyries to work the way they did, and I also did not expect the way the 9 worlds were going to factor in and be handled. It opened things up quite a bit for all sorts of interesting things to happen, but everything was handled with empathy. I'm desperately trying not to spoil anything, here, so I'm trying to phrase things in such a way as to be enticing and not give anything away. No clue how well I'm doing with that, but seriously, read this book. If you liked Percy Jackson, read it. If you like Norse mythology, read it. If you like Rick Riordan, read it. If you have a vague interest in any of these things, read it. Unless something completely mind-blowing comes along, it's going to be my favorite book of the month, no questions, and I'm rather desperately awaiting the arrival of the second in the series. Which I may have already pre-ordered. I feel no guilt. 

The humor, the sarcasm, the chaotic characters, and the mythology were everything I loved about Percy Jackson...but with a fresh twist. Magnus has that same lovable, "I have no idea what's happening but I'm rolling with it" energy that makes Riordan's protagonists so much fun to follow.And can we talk about Norse mythology? I went in expecting a Percy-style adventure and came out obsessed with an entirely new pantheon. The gods were wild, the world-building was fantastic, and the supporting characters completely stole the show.The whole time I kept thinking, "Wow... I really thought it was just Percy." Turns out Rick Riordan can make me fall in love with a whole new set of heroes too.Funny, fast-paced, and packed with adventure, this book reminded me exactly why Rick Riordan is one of my favorite authors.