The Hammer of Thor

UPDATE 2022: When you are trying to influence kids, you have to walk a fine line. This line is razor-thin, as parents can see the book as either an excellent example of representation on the one hand or the author yelling from their high horse on the other. This, at best, can help to generate discussion with the parent and the child, or, at worst, have the book banned for objectionable content.
That was what I had going through my mind for The Hammer of Thor. At some points, it can be a fun story with Rick at the helm. At worst, the story gets buried under the weight of the messages he is trying to send to young kids. What you believe about this book, I would leave up to you. As for what I thought...well...it could have been better.

Now before I begin with the things that I had problems with (and believe me, we'll get there), let's go over what I liked.

One element that I really loved was Loki. He is, perhaps, the best villain that Riordan has written to date. Combined with the darker tone, Loki is a villain who I felt could appear at any time with almost any kind of plan. Unlike in other forms of media (cough Marvel Movies *cough) here he really feels like the gods of tricks, as he is always scheming for one reason or another, leading to constant tension in the story.

I also loved the character development that Hearth had. Although I had some problems with seeing Elfhame (which we will get to in a minute), I liked how we saw what his life was like and how he overcame that. It adds to his character and shows how you can grow from an abusive situation. Also, the love and care showed between Hearth and Blitzen. It was very touching.

Speaking of relationships that were really touching, I found that the relationship between Sam and Amir was very sweet, as it showed us, for the first time that I can recall, a relationship between a magical person and a normal human. I liked how Amir was just someone who was there for Sam, even if he did not completely understand what was going on. This was a strong message to send to the reader that you do not have to always be involved in a person's life, by their side, fighting monsters. Sometimes just letting them know that you are there can be a blessing.

Then there were some elements that I felt were not handled as well as they could have been, or were just botched altogether.

One of which was the political messages in this book in the form of the elf police and Alex as a genderfluid person. Now, before you grab your pitchforks and torches, let me explain. I like it when there is diversity in books. I want for there to be diversity in books, but just because something is there, does not mean that it is handled well in a story. See the examples below:

One of these political messages is the elf police. When Magnus and Hearth travel to Elfhame, they are found by some elf police who are a not-thinly vailed attempt to compare this mythical police force with real-life policing today. My problem is it is done away within the span of a few chapters, played off as a joke most of the time, and is never seen again. With all of the other messages in this book, it just feels lost in the mix, making me wonder why this had to be added in in the first place.
Then there is Alex and their gender-fluid identity. I get the feeling people are going to be of two camps about this: On the one side are the people who love to see the diversity in a mainstream series, the other is going to see it as Riordan preaching from his soapbox. As for me, honestly, I can understand both sides. While I think that it is good that Riordan has decided to include a character we do not often see in his books, at worst, this person is literally used as a plot device, as they can, using the magical power of their father Loki, can change from a boy to a girl at any time. Some may find this okay, but I just found it predictable and was able to guess this would come back into the plot when the idea was introduced at the beginning of the story. Perhaps it is because I have read so many Riordan books and I can recognize his formula, but I found that this plot point is not as effective as he wanted it to be.

Next are the Gods and the fun of reading this book. One of the major selling points of the previous series was how the ancient gods worked in our modern timeframe. This meant not only dressing them up in new age clothes but also showing them as thousand-year-old beings. They tended to be older, wiser, and angrier than humans. The lives of a hero were just a small memory of five years when they were at camp, compared to Gods being thousands of years old, and seeing the world grow and change from ancient times. Reading the Percy Jackson books, it is no wonder that the Gods would act superior in the face of a puny mortal.

Here, though, we get none of that. The Asgardian Gods do not seem like immortal beings with wisdom beyond our mortal years, just cheap plot devices meant to move the plot along. They are here for cheap laughs poking fun at modern media, and little else. This makes each stop on the quest not nearly as much fun to read about as I thought.

Then there is Magnus Chase himself. As a character, he...well...doesn't have a defined character. I feel as though he is whatever Riordan needs him to be at the time. Does he need him to be a street-wise tough kid? Got it. Does he need him to be an inclusive friend? Done. It just feels like he is too malleable a person to have a defined character with faults and feelings that he needs to overcome. Add to that the problem that he does not grow in this novel. Perhaps this is saved for the final book, but I felt like he was the same from beginning to end, which makes me wonder how a person cannot be changed by all the experiences that one has seen in this novel alone.

This shows that even the best of authors, with the best of intentions, can stumble with writing a book. I would say that if you are going to read this, do so with these elements in mind. I'm not saying you should not read it, nor go in with the negative thoughts, but just be aware of them from the start. You may find that this book could be just what you were looking for, or it could turn into a major disappointment. As for me, I felt that this book's plot and fun were buried under poorly implemented messages. I give it a two out of five.

DNF: 29% or 136 pgs.


I just cannot do it.

In the midst of just completing another book on audio, I decided that it was time for me to listen to something else. Upon browsing the audiobook selections available to me, I saw that the next Gods of Asgard book was available. This sounded just like what I needed. For those of you who do not know, I liked the first book in the series. It was something that sounded interesting, and upon reading it, it was exactly what I expected in that it was another Riordan book that followed the Riordan formula for these types of books. It was not really a surprise, but then again, I did enjoy it, sort of as a guilty pleasure.

Then there is the second book. Firstly, let me say that the fact that I am reviewing this on audio, so that may have reflected badly on this review. The narrator is horrible. He brings very little in the way of humorous voices that the roles demand, and when he does, the performance can be inconsistent, at best. Also, he has a habit of reading far too fast, often times, I wished I could slow him down just so I didn't miss a word or two, but I had no such luck. He was simply terrible for the role, no questions asked.

That aside, there was little for me to really find outstanding about this book. I am starting to feel like I shouldn't even bother with this review because many of the expectations I had with this book was ultimately what I got, for better or worse. If you've read any Riordan book published in the last few years, you've probably read this one, and if you like his work, then you are going to like this one too. I just can't really find anything in me to get so worked up about. I just cared so little about it that I have decided to not finish it in favor of something else.