Review: Magnus Chase And The Ship Of The Dead - Rick Riordan

Warning: This review contains spoilers for the first two Magnus Chase books!

Genre: Fantasy

Published: 3rd October 2017

Length: 423 pages

My rating: 8/10

Overview: In the final instalment of The Magnus Chase trilogy, Magnus and his friends race against time to stop Loki and delay Ragnarok.

So yet another book series by Rick Riordan is over *sighs*. I'd say it's currently my third favourite series by him, rating above Trials Of Apollo and The Kane Chronicles, but not quite being able to capture the wit and imagination of Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus. That being said, it is his most diverse series yet, including Muslim, disabled, and genderqueer characters that are all well rounded and important, unlike most book series where a gay character is shoved in for diversity and gets minimal attention and development. Honestly I'm so proud of Rick for doing this; his books always top children (I mean I'm pretty sure half his readers are adults and teenagers but whatevs) and honestly for children to read something so inclusive and maybe find something of themselves within these characters is so important, and for that I really think this series deserves more recognition.

Let's talk plot! It follows the formula of the other two books of having lots of side quests leading up to the big event at the end. Fair enough. It gets a bit repetitive but its also a chance to get to know each character better, especially Magnus' floor mates which was nice. The battle between Loki and Magnus at the end was different and original, and I thought it was well planned out, seeing as its been stressed from the start that Magnus is not great at fighting and often gets through things with words and a quick mind rather than fighting. I don't want to give too much away but it is really heart warming how friendship helps Magnus in the final battle and I'm glad we had a different type of showdown after the disappointment of Blood Of Olympus. However the ending was quite bittersweet in a way, as (*SPOILER*) Magnus reflects on how one day Ragnarok will come and they will die on the battlefield. Obviously all characters will die eventually, but it seemed quite sad to know that no matter what it will happen.

You know who I'm dying to talk about? ALEX! One of the best characters ever! (I'm gonna use he/him pronouns because if I remember correctly the last time we saw Alex they were male and he doesn't like they/them so yeah). When we met him in the last book and it was revealed he was gender fluid I cried because I was so thankful to Rick. I still haven't figured out my gender (going as non-binary for now) and having a non cis character is so important to me. I wish this book had been around when I was a kid so I could have realised a lot sooner that what I feel doesn't make me a freak. Anyway, at the end of the last book I was kinda shipping Alex and Magnus, although I would have been okay if they were just friends because it takes balls for an author to write a series where the main character has no love interests. However, Alex and Magnus are VERY cute in this, and the end just killed me. In a good way. Alex being gender fluid isn't a problem and Magnus has no struggle about his sexuality or anything, he's just attracted to Alex and that's that, and honestly thinking how far we've come from the only gay character from being angsty and depressed (I love Nico but you know what I mean) to this casual representation? Amazing.

Not gonna lie, I was kinda annoyed Percy was in this, even if it was just for one chapter. LET THE POOR BOY HAVE A BREAK RICK. I'm fine with Annabeth being in it as she's related to Magnus (Throwback to when the series had just got announced and everyone theorised Magnus was her grandfather because Magnus means great. Good times.) but please leave Percy alone. Also, wtf was the end where Magnus called Annabeth and something really bad happened but we don't know what? I feel like something happened to Percy's sister but I don't know and I'm so scared. This conversation was only like a page and a half but you have no idea how much it messed me up. I was literally crying for an hour just at the suggestion of something bad happening, which was great because I had an exam the next day and needed sleep which I didn't get so if I fail I'm blaming it on Rick. But seriously, this teaser was just cruel. Guess I'm going to have to wait until the next Trials Of Apollo to find out what it means. It is mean though, after everything Percy and Annabeth have been through, to keep messing things up for them. Seriously Rick.

Overall, a pretty nice ending to the series with a mixture of nice and bittersweet moments. It doesn't stand out particularly from the former two books, but there is good character development and humour, so worth a read.

#review #rickriordan