The Sword of Summer
U.S. cover of first edition
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| Author | Rick Riordan |
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| Cover artist | John Rocco |
| Country | United States |
| Series | Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard (bk 1) |
| Genre | Fantasy, Norse mythology, Young adult |
| Publisher | Disney Hyperion |
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Publication date
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October 6, 2015 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback), audiobook, e-book |
| Pages | 528 pp. |
| ISBN | |
| Followed by | The Hammer of Thor |
The Sword of Summer is the first novel in the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard trilogy, written by American author Rick Riordan. It is a fantasy novel based on Norse mythology. It was released on October 6, 2015 by Disney•Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group. It is narrated in the first-person view by Magnus Chase, 16-year-old demigod and homeless orphan. After his death and arrival in the Norse afterlife, Magnus discovers that he is the son of the Norse deity, Frey, and must stop Fenris Wolf from escaping his prison and ending the world.
The Sword of Summer has appeared on the New York Times children's Best Seller list and the USA Today Best Seller list. Reviewers such as Publishers Weekly have praised the book, saying, "Riordan plays much of the material for laughs...and brings the Norse gods into the 21st century... The sensibility is right in line with the Percy Jackson novels, and the audience will be just as large."
A sequel, The Hammer of Thor was released on October 4, 2016.
During Riordan's book tour for The House of Hades, he announced that he was writing a Norse mythology series that would take place in Boston. He also stated that his plans for the setting were unrelated to his recent move to the city, although living in Boston made researching for the series less difficult. On September 23, 2014, Riordan broadcast a webcast from the Empire State Building and announced the name of the series: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. The title of the first book, The Sword of Summer, was revealed in the final page of The Blood of Olympus. On June 18, 2015, the cover and the second chapter were released on USA Today. The first five chapters were revealed on September 28, 2015. To prepare readers for the new book, Riordan posted images of Norse vocabulary words on his Twitter account starting August 28, 2015, along with the hashtag #norsecrashcourse. Words such as Valhalla, Ragnarok, and Yggdrasil were all included and defined.
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Wikipedia