Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard

MagnusChase and the Gods of Asgard.

By Rick Riordan.

Disney Hyperion.

Magnus Chase, son of Frey the god of Summer, fell off a bridge, died, and became an einherji – one of the Norse champions of Asgard. He lives on Floor 19 of the Hotel Valhalla together with his friends Alex (who occasionally changes sex), inseparable friends Hearthstone (an elf with father issues) and Blitzen (a dwarf with a literally killer fashion sense), Thomas Jefferson Jr. (a crack-shot Civil War veteran who can never resist a personal challenge), Samirah (devout Muslim Valkyrie) Halfborn Gunderson (Viking berserker with a straightforward approach to life), and Mallory Keen (an Irish revolutionary with mother issues). And then there’s Magnus’ sword Jack, sentient Sword of Summer with a penchant for singing hit songs from the 70’s and 80’s. Life in the hotel is cozy – if you don’t mind dying every day in the ultra-competitive rehearsals for Ragnarok: Watercolor lessons to the death, anyone? The trouble is, Ragnarok might come early. 

 

Loki, god of mischief, is on the loose once more. He’s building an army of giants and undead warriors aboard the gigantic warship Naglfar. Magnus and his friends must recapture Loki before he brings about the end of the Nine Worlds. Bravely setting forth on a banana-yellow magic longship, they encounter a mead-loving sea giant with particular dietary requirements, a Yorkshire giant with a talent for creating murderous pottery, Hearthstone’s father who should never have taken a cursed ring, and a group of giant thralls who really should have unionized. Immortal relatives and Magnus’ feelings for Alex make life even more colorful for the heroes before they have to face Loki for the ultimate trash-talk smack-down.

Riordan’s offbeat and wry sense of humor infused with a deep knowledge of Norse mythology makes Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard an entertaining read from start to finish.

Snap Judgment

SnapJudgment

by Marcia Clark

Thomas & Mercer

Criminal lawyer Samantha Brinkman is used to sparring with respected attorney Graham Hutchins on a TV legal show, and he turns to her for help when his daughter Alicia is murdered. After a high-pressure upbringing Alicia Hutchins won a place and much-needed independence at USC, and she seemed to have a glittering future. When Alicia was found with her throat slashed, suspicion turned on her controlling ex-boyfriend Roan Sutton – but then Sutton is found dead a few days later. Was it suicide – or did Graham Hutchins avenge his daughter?

A witness places Graham at the scene, but he denies any blame for Sutton’s death. Samantha and her team, investigator Alex and BFF/receptionist Michy set to work on the case, but uncover more questions than answers. Alicia’s halo slips a little as Samantha investigates the circumstances. Was Alicia a good girl having fun for the first time in her life, or were there darker forces at work? Matters are complicated for Samantha when a big time criminal shows up to call in a favor. Javier Cabazon isn’t the kind of guy you can say no to. He wants an important witness tracked down – or Samantha and her father Dale will pay the consequences. With Cabazon’s deadline, and the police closing in on Graham Hutchins, Samantha and her friends need to pull out all the stops. She plays by her own rules and is willing to bend or break any law to get results – but can Samantha cut through the mass of motives and family secrets to pull it off this time?

SnapJudgment sees the return of a terrific character in Samantha Brinkman. Marcia Clark renders the world of high-stakes law and flexible morals in perfect three dimensional clarity. 

 

Song of Edmon

Song of Edmon

Adam Burch

47North

Edmon Leontes’ birth was marked in spectacular fashion by a new Fracture opening in the heavens above the tidally-locked world of Tao. His father Edric, proud ruler of the House of Leontes proclaimed its appearance an omen that his son would one day be mightier than he, that the new Fracture would lead to wealth for Tao as it traded with new worlds. Thereafter he seemed to forget about Edmon, allowing him to remain in the care of his mother Cleopatra, matriarch of the Island of Bone in the perpetual light of the Dayside. 

Edmon’s idyllic upbringing crashes to a halt one day when a stranger arrives on the island to claim the rights and privileges of fostering. Phaestion of House Julii is impossibly beautiful and adept at the arts of combat to an uncanny degree. He moves through life with all the assurance of one born to rule – and he claims Edmon for one of his Companions, his elite bodyguard. Edmon must move away from home to begin initiation into the dark and savage martial culture of the more technologically advanced Nightside, where the powerful Houses jockey for position around the throne of the decrepit Wusong, ruler of Tao. 

On the Nightside trial by combat is held as the ultimate expression of humanity, yet Edmon discovers there are secrets the glittering nobility prefer to remain hidden. When a shocking act of betrayal casts him far from his privileged upbringing, Edmon must use all the resources he has and can find and become a player, not a pawn – or else the world he knows will end. 

Adam Burch’s Songof Edmon is a powerful debut with distinct shades of Herbert’s epic Dune novels. The world of Tao and its cultures come to life with a clarity that is sometimes brutal but never less than gripping.