Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club discussion

The Hammer of Thor is book #2 in the Magnus Chase Trilogy.

We read book #1 last month (January):
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

We will be reading book #3 (the winner of the middle grade category) in March.



Thor's hammer is missing again. The thunder god has a disturbing habit of misplacing his weapon--the mightiest force in the Nine Worlds. But this time the hammer isn't just lost, it has fallen into enemy hands. If Magnus Chase and his friends can't retrieve the hammer quickly, the mortal worlds will be defenseless against an onslaught of giants. Ragnarok will begin. The Nine Worlds will burn. Unfortunately, the only person who can broker a deal for the hammer's return is the gods' worst enemy, Loki--and the price he wants is very high.

Anyone else reading this?

I'm nearly half-way through and it's okayish. But I also think I'd be totally fine if I just stopped reading at this point as I just don't care what happens.
I love how he focuses on bringing in diverse people which makes me want to love these books more. I guess I'm just too old to truly relate to the story. It's kind of fun and I enjoy some of the humor, but I just want it to be over quickly as well since it's kind of boring and always following the same old pattern.

I really really really hope that one day we'll end up with a middle school book not featuring gods, heroes and/or Rick Riordan as the author. But, we probably have to wait for him to stop writing or sth.

Yeah, I've just started it yesterday.

I've opted for audible this time around and really enjoying it so far (currently on chapter 10).

Loving the humour as always which had me laughing out loud on my car journey yesterday.

I do agree Janina that they always follow the same pattern, and I always think they are way too long.

I don't think I would have the patience to listen to them either. I've finished the book (though I skipped a few pages here and there in the second half).
I think these books are great. They are funny and exciting and at the same time, they might even teach kids something along the way. Plus, I love any book that includes non-binary, non-straight and/or non-white characters .. especially if they are middle grade.

Alas, I just don't like reading them all that much myself. I may have been born a few years too early ...

This was a dnf for me, sadly. I felt like I was reading the same book with same characters, just different names, locations and gods.

As to the non-binary, non-straight and/or non-white characters, I totally agree with you Janina except in this book I felt like Riordan wanted to teach me tolerance and/or fall into a trend. It didn't feel natural, more like strategic/commercial choice. I might be wrong of course but that's how I felt reading the first part of the book.

Yes, I agree with you on that, Savanes. In general, compared to the early PJ books, I feel like he is trying to be too trendy and too conscious about selling this product that he is known for. It takes away from the charm of the earlier books which felt more like sth the author enjoyed or had fun writing.

I've now finished and like book 1 enjoyed it but felt there is always a bit too many quests that they have to do before getting anywhere, which becomes a bit monotonous.

However I did enjoy it - it was funny and entertaining like you would expect. I 'read' the audible and Kieran Culkin did an excellent job.

I didn't feel that his non-binary, non-straight and/or non-white characters were forced. Were you talking about the introduction of Alex and his / her fluidity?
I thought he / her fit in perfectly with the plot as their fluidity was the perfect thing to be able to deal with Loki, which I feel is going to be a key factor in the next and final book.

Yes I was talking about Alex. I have to admit that I didn't go as far as the strategic aspect with Loki.

I finished this last week and enjoyed it. I still really like Magnus as a character and all his friends. The book did suffer a bit from being the middle book of the series, as expected.