Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer, by Rick Riordan

I have to be honest here and admit that I don't read much of Riordan's books...not because they're not good, they are! But because most of you already know how good they are - they fly off the shelves, always and seemingly forever! So there isn't much I could tell you that many of you don't already know. However, in the case of The Sword of Summer I took the plunge because this is one of this year's OBOB books, and I try to read all of them every year...with success most of the time! So as I make my way through this season's OBOB books, it was time for this one...and it is a good one! SoS takes on Norse mythology, much like the Lightning Thief tackled Greek mythology, so I had to learn some new words (always a good thing!) and plenty of mythology I didn't know (also a good thing!) and of course Riordan weaves a great story every single time! The only reason I give this book 4 paws and not 5 is because there were many times while reading I was wishing for it to end so I could move on to whatever my next book would be. Not because it was boring - it wasn't! - or poorly written - it wasn't! - but it just seemed to go on about 100 pages too long. I don't mind long books, if their length is needed...I never felt that way reading Marie Lu or Richard Paul Evans...again, not bad, just a bit long.  If you like action/adventure/fantasy, Riordan is a must-read author! But know that his books can be long, and that isn't always a good thing.