Book Beginnings & The Friday 56: Magnus Chase

     I'm currently reading Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan! He's my auto-buy author so when I saw this book in the store I bought it immediately! Enjoy!

Book Beginnings by Rose City Reader

"YEAH, I KNOW. You guys are going to read about how I died in agony, and you’re going be like, 'Wow! That sounds cool, Magnus! Can I die in agony too?'"- Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan. Sounds interesting right!

Friday 56 by Freda's Voice

"Hunding grunted 'No one brings luggage anymore. Don't they put anything on your funeral pyre?'"- Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan. I honestly don't understand this. As of right now, I haven't read to this point, so I'm extremely confused at the moment.

*If you do this tag, comment below so I can see! Also, there are linkys at both websites to add your url for whichever tag you do.*

The Blood of Olympus

     The awesome Heroes of Olympus series has ended and I am sad to see it go. Blood of Olympus, the last book, was published October 7, 2014.

     I loved this book Riordan tied up all the loose ends very neatly. He also didn't kill off as many characters as he could have, which masked me happy. It all ended the same way as it started and he made sure to end the series well. I'm glad he didn't just get lazy on the last book and make it sloppy. He stayed true to his fans and made sure the series ended well. This is why I give the book 5 stars.

"Though the Greek and Roman crew-members of the Argo II have made progress in their many quests, they still seem no closer to defeating the earth mother, Gaea. Her giants have risen—all of them—and they're stronger than ever. They must be stopped before the Feast of Spes, when Gaea plans to have two demigods sacrificed in Athens. She needs their blood—the blood of Olympus—in order to wake.       The demigods are having more frequent visions of a terrible battle at Camp Half-Blood. The Roman legion from Camp Jupiter, led by Octavian, is almost within striking distance. Though it is tempting to take the Athena Parthenos to Athens to use as a secret weapon, the friends know that the huge statue belongs back on Long Island, where it "might" be able to stop a war between the two camps.       The Athena Parthenos will go west; the Argo II will go east. The gods, still suffering from multiple personality disorder, are useless. How can a handful of young demigods hope to persevere against Gaea's army of powerful giants? As dangerous as it is to head to Athens, they have no other option. They have sacrificed too much already. And if Gaea wakes, it is game over."-goodreads.com

     I recommend this book to anyone ages 11-16 that like Greek and Roman mythology. Anybody above the age of 16 might think the book is stupid and anybody below 11 might get scared or confused. Before reading this book try read the first four books, The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, The Mark of Athena, and The House of Hades. Also, to be clearer about what is going on in the series, read the Percy Jackson series that this series was based off of.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

I have to say, I wasn't sure if I was going to write any reviews considering Book-Attic prides itself on book reviews by kids for kids. However, since Makenzie will not be reading this book for a while, I am going to tackle the first book in Cassandra Clare's The Immortal Instruments. 

First let me say, I picked up the book at Walmart in search of a newly published vampire thriller just to keep up on with the genre in my effort to become part of it. The summary on the back does mention vampires and werewolves, but that is in no way the typical vampire story.

Clarissa Fray heads to a New York City club expecting the typical club night with her best friend Simon. Instead she meets Jace, Alec and Isabella. The twist, she isn't supposed to be able to see her. Attempting to shake off the nights events, she moves on with her life, but Jace had different plans for her. In time, Clary realizes she is different from other humans, or mundanes as the Shadowhunters call them, and that her short sixteen year life has been nothing but a closet full of secrets. Not only is the world ridden with demons and hunters who destroy them, but she soon finds that ALL stories are real.

 I do have to say, I was incredibly interested to see Clare use a bit of mythology along with the popular Hunter/Vampire themes in a new unexpected way. Warlocks and werewolves, though incredibly important to the story, are not truly what the story is about, though they do serve as a great hidden message about racism, much like that of Rowling's mud-blood reference. Ridden with the ever so typical teenage love triangles (and yes I did make that plural), City of Bones carries a great coming of age message. Readers are able to watch five teenagers fight to find their niche in a rough and crazy world.

I highly recommend this to the millions of Harry Potter lovers that populate the literate world limited to ages thirteen and up due to underlying innuendos. With a reading level of fifth grade, the 485 pages becomes a rather quick read.

Did I mention this the first in a series of four books? Or that IMBD reports  a movie in the making? In the words of Entertainment Weekly, prepared to be hooked!

IL: UG - BL: 5.0 - AR Pts: 20.0

The Serpents Shadow

Review by George Long III

The Serpent's Shadow is a book by Rick Riordan. The book is set at various locations, such as Dallas, Texas. There is also a magical realm called the Duat that they enter. Carter and Sadie Kane have had various battles across the world, trying to stop the Egyptian Chaos snake, Apophis, from destroying the world. You will like this book, guaranteed!

The Serpent's Shadow, the third book in the series, is about two magicians (kids), Carter and Sadie Kane, trying to defeat the Chaos snake, Apophis, while trying to restore the sun god, Ra. Carter becomes the pharaoh and receives the crook and flail, weapons of the pharaoh. Sadie has been doing well on many spells, including Ma'at-order. Most of the gods are weak, and might not be able to defeat the Chaos snake. Cater and Sadie have discovered a way to defeat the serpent, but it may cost them their lives. Can they manage to beat Isfet-chaos?

 I like this book, and would recommend this for readers who like action, adventure, fiction and mythology (especially Egyptian).

IL: MG - BL: 4.8 - AR Pts: 15.0

Also written by Riordan:

The Percy Jackson Series  (AR Pts: 57.0)
The Heroes of Olympus   (AR Pts: 56.0)
The Kane Chronicles  (AR Pts: 50.0)
The DemiGod Files IL: MG - BL: 4.3 - AR Pts: 3.0
The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel IL: MG - BL: 3.1 - AR Pts: 1.0