To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment. Riordan is again fighting for a revolution in middle-grade fiction with his funny, whiplash-fast writing and deep moral convictions. The climax, a deeply emotional testament to the power of community, could leave some in tears. But black, deaf, trans, Muslim, white, homeless, and formerly homeless readers will see characters like themselves cracking jokes and caring for one another, with identities that are crucial to success rather than a distraction or side issue. No one is perfect there’s a throwaway fat joke, and Riordan could work on refining the sign language deaf elf Hearthstone uses, which is called American Sign Language but in description is different enough to frustrate. The villain is still Loki, but readers might see similarities to other morally corrupt leaders putting selfish interests ahead of marginalized people and their allies-with a silent, inscrutable wife at his side. Samirah’s Ramadan fast lends her focus and clarity.
Genderfluid Alex creates a nonbinary clay warrior, drawing on her indigenous Mexican family history. But here, one quest confronts the evil lurking within wealthy white suburban men (well, elves).
The plot almost passes as a typical Riordan adventure: main quest, side quests, happy ending, new disaster looming in the future.
Riordan’s third installment of Magnus Chase’s adventures careens through the Nine Worlds in a boat called the Big Banana.
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