Someone is looking for Magnus Chase, and after two years
living on the streets in Boston, this 16-year-old knows he needs to lie low
until he has a little more information. When he overhears the man and his
daughter, who are handing out flyers with Magnus’s picture on it, he realizes
that he is being sought by his uncles and a cousin, whom he hasn’t seen in ten
years – and whom his mother warned him away from right before she died.
Curiosity leads Magnus to break into his uncle’s house in
search of clues about why his family is looking for him after all these years
of not caring. But he lingers longer than he should and Uncle Randolph prevents
his escape.
Claiming Magnus’s life is in danger, Randolph persuades him
to get in his car, and they take a speedy drive to the Longfellow Bridge. As
explosions and fires draw near, Uncle Randolph explains to Magnus that he is
the son of a Norse god; that today, his 16th birthday, he has
attained manhood and will be able to resurrect his father’s powerful sword from
the bottom of the Charles River, where it has lain for centuries. And the
perpetrator of the pyrotechnics is after the same souvenir.
In true Riordan style, the non-stop action is a little over the
top. Our hero is just this side of a smart-aleck – a little snarky, a little
irreverent. Supporting characters are well-defined with their own quirks that
add to the humor of the book.
Riordan sets the opening scene and many subsequent ones in
Boston, which is brilliant. In the late 1800s, a Harvard professor was
convinced that the Vikings had set up housekeeping in the Boston area, and he managed
to get a statue of Leif Erikson erected on a main thoroughfare in the city. He
was also responsible for including copies of Viking ship mastheads on the
pillars of the Longfellow Bridge. He based all of this on wishful thinking and
supposition, and Boston has lived with it ever since. Boston landmarks are
prominent in the story. (The famous Swan Boats in the public garden are used to
great comedic effect – but you have to read the entire book to get there.)
Norse mythology is a tangled thicket of nine worlds, and it
helped that I had read up on it a bit. With giants, elves, dwarves, major gods,
lesser gods, and even people, there is a lot to keep track of. While the story
is complex, it isn’t confusing. And what a romp! Riordan hits this one out of
Fenway Park.
