4.5 stars

I loved this book. I can always count on Rick to make me smile, because his books have the perfect blend of risk, humor, love, and sass.

I really liked the story in this book. I didn’t know what kind of wild ride it would be, only that there was a foreboding sense of finality that comes with a series finale. This is the final showdown, where Magnus and his friends face Loki to prevent Ragnarok. There were plenty of twists and turns along the way, and it was honestly so so good. I read 79% of this book in a matter of hours and finished it off this morning.

However, Rick’s trademark humor was noticeably absent in this book. There were still jokes and puns, but not as many. I still laughed, but not as much. I know a book can’t be entirely humorous, at least not a book like this one. I just expected a bit more? It felt much more intense and dramatic without as many quips. Not a bad thing, necessarily, just something I noticed.

I absolutely loved the characters, old and new. Magnus was still snarky, and he really embraced his inner healer in this book. Samirah was as badass as ever, as was Alex, my favorite character in the trilogy. Blitzen and Hearthstone were back, some other favorites of mine, and Magnus’s Valhalla friends came along for the ride: Mallory, T.J., and Halfborn. I liked getting to know the three of them, since they were never really major characters in the previous two books. And, as brief as it was, I loved getting Percy and Annabeth back. They were as cute as ever, and PERCY IS A BIG BROTHER. MY HEART. 😍😍

This book is also wonderfully diverse. Samirah is a woman of color and practicing Muslim. Throughout the story she was fasting for Ramadan, and even as someone without much knowledge on the subject I could tell Rick did his research. Alex is genderfluid and Latinx, and shifts between he/him and she/her depending on how she feels each day. T.J. is black, and Hearthstone is deaf and mute, so he and the rest of the crew communicate using ASL. It’s been said before and I’ll say it again: Rick writes diversity seamlessly in his books because he recognizes that that’s how the world is, and that’s just one reason to love him and his work.

Another nice thing is that, at least in this trilogy, there’s no ongoing romance. There are a few undertones and the ending is quite suggestive, but the action and friendships take center stage throughout the book. It’s a nice change.

My one major complaint, and the main reason this book isn’t getting five stars, is the ending. The flyting with Loki felt anticlimactic, and I couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed. I also liked how the characters’ stories ended, but it felt slightly unfinished. When I turned the page expecting an epilogue, there was the glossary. I liked the ending, but I still have a few questions.

Despite that, this book is definitely joining its predecessors on my favorites shelf. It was a great conclusion to a magnificent trilogy, and I can’t wait to see what Rick writes next.