The Sword of Summer is the first book in Riordan's Norse mythos series, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. I really, really enjoyed this book. I am a huge fan of Norse mythology, and found the way that Riordan melded modern society and mythology together. A thing I find I really enjoyed with this book is how Riordan treats writing characters who are deaf. There is a character who communicates through ASL, and the character being deaf is not treated as a character flaw/crippling problem. When there are communication failures because he is deaf, it is shown as an external problem with how our society is not as accessible to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. Though he is not the main character, he is a central character, and the interactions between him and the protagonist are really well written. The plot is fun and engaging, and even the parsing out of terms and names from Norse mythology are helped by having a glossary in the back to help explain them. For the intended audience, pre-teens and young adults, this has a great balance between familiar words/language constructs and introducing new words/language constructs. I'm excited to read the rest in this triliogy, as well as starting to dive into other books written by him and under his "Rick Riordan Presents" series.
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