The Ship of the Dead

I listened for about 2 hours to the audio tape on a long car ride and was so bored, I turned it off and opted for music the last hour of my car trip. Author’s Percy Jackson series and follow up series were great, but you can tell what his political views are by reading this book and I just thought it wasn’t necessary to include in a children’s book. If you believe gender is fluid, then it won’t bother you, otherwise, it might just feel annoying and unnecessary.

I have been a fan of Rick Riordan for years and really wanted to like this series. The first book was the best of the three, but even it was a disappointment compared to his other series.

This last book was too much vague rambling with a poor plot. One reviewer said the Alex and Magnus ending was a shocker. . . Really? Riordan only beleaguered Alex’s character for two books and had the worst non-subtle foreshadowing I’ve read in a while. If you want to politicize a children’s book, go for it. At least don’t let your writing suffer because of it. Pages and pages of explaining “gender fluid” over and over again.

If you are looking for a book with a haphazard story line and more political statements than substance, this is the book for you. If you are hoping for something akin to Percy Jackson or the Kane Chronicles, keep looking elsewhere. Writing should get better with experience, not worse.

In the conclusion to the trilogy, Magnus Chase & Co. are tasked with preventing Ragnarok. To do this they must sail eastward, to the Old World (if that sounds familiar then that is because we saw something similar in The Heroes of Olympus series). Now Magnus, Samirah, Alex, Heath, Blitz and the rest of floor 19 sail to Norway to prevent Loki from launching the ship that will allow the forces of the dead and the Giants to begin Ragnarok. They don’t get too much help from the Gods because that would make it too easy and then the book would be depressingly short.

Riordan’s book is as humorous as always. I think my favorite part was the way he described Aegir as a hipster interested in microbrews, stuck in the express line at a Whole Foods because he just wanted to buy his matcha smoothie but ahead of him were tons of individuals who did not respect the sanctity of the express lane. As someone who has found himself in a similar situation at Whole Foods (thought it was Maple Water for me), I found this hilarious. In addition there are hilarious scenes involving giant metal ducks.

The book is a great conclusion to the trilogy. Though I wish this were a five-parter and we had two more books with these characters, Ah well, maybe they will appear in some future books as Annabeth and Percy have appeared here. Here’s hoping.

Too much social justice, boring – actually fell asleep. All three books are depressing, the characters are depressing, the readers for the audio versions sound depressing, with none having any skill at reading stories (especially the second book reader), and you feel like the author is just going through the check off list for book writing. He really needs to refund his readers.

The Ship of the Dead was a great conclusion to the Magnus Chase series, however I did think it was the weakest entry of the three books. The first 150 pages or so were just way to convenient and predictable to look pass for a higher rating. This doesn’t deter me though from saying this book was loads of fun and exciting. After we got pass the speed bumps of the first 1/4 of the book, Ship of the Dead truly shined. What Magnus Chase does best for me is how it develops its characters. You really got a more in-depth look into all the characters with this final book. Some more then others yes but every character had a spotlight moment. The plot ties up wonderfully but also leaves a door open to continue the series. Rick Riordan never disappoints his readers and if he does choose to continue Magnus’ story best believe I will be along for the ride.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member