The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #3)
by Rick Riordan

2 out of 5 stars

Magnus has one last chance to stop Loki from triggering Ragnarök. If his friends can find a magical mead that grants amazing poetic powers, then Magnus can challenge Loki to a duel of words and hopefully imprison him in time to stop the Ship of the Dead from sailing. But magical mead doesn’t grow on trees, and they have to defeat a lot of giants and travel to Ireland and Norway before they can locate even a small amount of the mead.

I have mixed feelings about this third book in the series. I like the characters and the fun magical adventures! You get all the sass and wit that I love in Riordan’s books. But there were a few things that really annoyed me and it was hard to get past that.
I loved that the book starts with a little cameo from Percy and Annabeth. Percy is trying to teach Magnus some tips for crossing the ocean and avoiding angry sea gods. It was fun to see them interacting!

Alex, a “gender fluid” character, is a child of Loki, so “he/she” can shapeshift, but they say that they can’t control what gender they are from day to day or even minute to minute. In this third book, Magnus is developing a crush on Alex, and the two have an awkward flirtation and kiss a couple of times. I did not like their romance, and I felt like it didn’t fit in with their personalities or with the story at all. It was very awkward and odd.

As always, I loved learning about all the Norse legends, the ancient gods, and the Nine Worlds! I love the fun adventure and the magical elements of the plot. But I just couldn’t stomach some of the weirder scenes in this book.

To see the violence and other sensitive content in this book, check it out on the Screen It First website! https://screenitfirst.com/book/the-ship-of-the-dead-magnus-chase-and-the-gods-of-asgard-3-484568