Chasing Magnus through the Norse Lore.
The unwritten criticism of young adult offerings (and it's not a genre, it's a market ) is that none ever seem to pass the bar of its progenitor J.K. Rowling -- all else that follows Harry Potter's been derivative. Nor have they been able to strike such a grand balance between character & world-building as Rowling. That bar still remains unapproached by Rick Riordan's latest trilogy series launch, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer , though you'd think with the richness of Norse Lore to draw from it might surpass the young wizard, but Magnus makes for a fun read. Much like Riordan's Percy Jackson series, our titular protagonist has a mystery daddy, is a streetwise kid, has an important prophecy at age 16 event to propel their plot, and much internal thought reactions of sophomoric adolescent "smartness" in their texts for the teen reader & young-at-heart to identify with. And our newly chosen hero & hi...