The Ship of the Dead
The Ship of Dead is a young-adult fantasy novel based on Norse mythology written by American author Rick Riordan. It is the third and final novel in the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard trilogy, preceded by The Hammer of Thor. It was released on October 3, 2017 by Disney-Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group. The novel is narrated in the first-person view by Magnus Chase, 16-year-old demigod and homeless orphan. He and his crew sail to the farthest borders of Jotunheim and Niflheim in pursuit of Asgard's greatest threat.
Plot summary
Magnus Chase receives an ocean survival jumping lesson from Percy Jackson, a Greek demigod who is his cousin Annabeth Chase's boyfriend. The latter advises him, mentioning the possessiveness of sea gods over their weapons. Alex Fierro and Magnus travel to the Chase Mansion, where they recover notes, guarded by a wolf, scribbled by Randolph at different points of time. Alex feels that these notes hold the key to defeat their parent). After reaching Valhalla, Magnus summons a ship gifted by his father Frey. Mallory Keen, Halfborn Gunderson, Thomas Jefferson Jr., Samirah al-Abbas and Alex accompany Magnus, while they plan to pick up Blitzen and Hearthstone along the way. The crew's talk is heard by the Nine Billow Maidens, who take them to the court of Aegir, where they discover Hearth and Blitz are held prisoner and that Aegir was once humiliated by Loki himself in a flyting. Aegir's eldest daughter realizes Magnus' identity though very funnily, from his previous encounter with her mother Ran.Upon being threatened, Magnus swears by his troth to defeat Loki in a flyting contest and to avenge Aegir's humiliation, and the Sea God tells them to escape while he isn't looking and the crew is nevertheless attacked by Aegir's nine daughters. They escape with the help of Magnus' grandfather Njord who appears even though he is unwelcome but respected. Njord instructs them and tells Magnus that the only way to defeat Loki is by drinking Kvasir's mead. The crew continue on their journey, with Blitz and Hearth travelling separately to retrieve Bolverk's whetstone.As the crew heads to York, the backstories of the members are revealed. Mallory died disarming a bomb in Ireland; Halfborn died near Jorvik; TJ died after forcefully accepting a hopeless challenge, a trait inherited from his father Tyr. Samirah fasts during the Ramadan season. The crew arrives at Old York, where they duel with the giant Hrungnir for the location of Kvasir's Mead. They get the information that they need: that the Kvasir Mead is in Jorvik. Magnus later has a word battle on board Naglfar in which he wins not by insulting Loki but making his teamwork evident and his words make Loki shrink due to his evident faults and says that even among the midst of thousands, he is alone, as even his loyal wife Sigyn disappears from his side. Magnus wins due to which Loki reduces to the size of a nut and is imprisoned in a walnut given earlier by Frigg; Mallory's mother and the queen of Asgard, when she came to meet her in the train in Norway.
Magnus and their friends travel back to Valhalla to meet their godly parents who congratulate them for defeating Loki and delaying the Ragnarok for which he is rewarded with a boon from Lord Odin. Magnus asks Odin to lend him his lawyers so that he could convert his mansion to an orphanage and home for the homeless. He later calls Annabeth and tells her his adventure and notices her, sobbing.
Characters
- Magnus Chase ' - 16-year-old son of Frey who dies in the first few chapters but becomes an einherjar. He is Annabeth Chase's cousin, but last saw her when he was very young. He has healing and regeneration powers, resistance to extreme temperatures, and other magical abilities. As a human, he was asthmatic and weak, but gains extreme strength and endurance after his death.
- Samirah Al-Abbas - The Valkyrie who brought Magnus to Hotel Valhalla. A daughter of Loki, she emigrated from Iraq with her family and is descended from a medieval Arab traveler and historian who wrote an important account about living among the Vikings. She is stripped of her powers as a Valkyrie as a result of her choice to make Magnus an einherjar, but is reinstated by Odin himself. She is a practicing Muslim. She is a shapeshifter and carries an ax and a green hijab, which doubles as a camouflage cloak. She is engaged to Amir Fadlan, who works in a falafel shop.
- Hearthstone - A friend of Magnus. He is an alf. He is deaf-mute, but speaks Alf Sign Language and can read lips. He had an abusive childhood, with parents who disliked him because of his disabilities. In exchange for working for Mimir, he received the ability to work rune magic.
- Blitzen ' - Another friend of Magnus, a svartalf. He is the son of Freya. He and Hearth watched over Magnus while he was living in the streets. Blitz's father was killed by Fenris when he was a child, after an attempt to replace the Fenris Wolf's bindings. Blitz is unskilled at crafting but is a master fashion advisor. He, like Hearth, once worked for Mimir.
- Mallory Audrey Keen - Mallory Keen was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland to Frigg and an unnamed man. Mallory had a poor relationship with her father due to his alcoholism. On 21 July 1972, which later became known as Bloody Friday, Loki disguised himself as one of Mallory's friends and tricked her into installing a car bomb on a school bus, claiming that soldiers were onboard instead of children. Her mother, Frigg, knowing Mallory would die, appeared to her disguised as an old hag and convinced her to disarm the bomb, giving her two knives. The car bomb blew up, killing Mallory, but since she died a heroic death with a weapon in her hand, she was taken to Valhalla.
- Halfborn Gunderson - A berserker extraordinaire, Gunderson left his hometown Flam to gain riches and glory and promised his mother he will be back to make their lives better. However, he never saw her again as she died in a mysterious fire. Halfborn Gunderson now fights as a Norse mercenary amongst his Enheirjar friends.
- Alex Fierro - Alex's family is influential, which first attracted Loki's attention, causing him to seduce Alex's father in the form of a "voluptuous red-head". Nine months later, Loki left him with a child. The family didn't take the news well, especially after Loki permanently "opened their eyes" and made them aware of the Nine Worlds and the Norse gods. Alex spent her/his life being resented for her/his Norse heritage and for her/his gender fluidity, which was thought to be Loki's fault. Only her/his grandfather accepted her/him for who she/he was, and taught her/him how to make pottery. About two years before becoming an einherji, Alex became homeless and began to wander the streets of Boston. At some point in life, he/she lived in a youth shelter on Winter Street in Boston, at roughly the same time when Magnus was there. He/She remembers hating the place.
- Thomas Jefferson Jr. - The son of Tyr, who died in a battle fighting during the Civil War. He also lives in Valhalla on the same floor as Magnus and all his friends.
Development
An iTunes preview containing the first three chapters of the book was released on September 17, 2017. The cover, illustrated by John Rocco, was released on April 26, 2017, and a trailer was published on YouTube on October 2, 2017. To promote The Ship of the Dead, Riordan went on a nine-day tour around the United States beginning on October 3, 2017.
Release
The Ship of the Dead was released in the United States by Disney-Hyperion on October 3, 2017. An audiobook, narrated by Michael Crouch, was published on the same date by Books on Tape. The book also received e-book and paperback versions, and has been translated into 11 languages to date.The Ship of the Dead sold over 57,000 copies during the first week. By the end of 2017, it sold over 219,000 copies. Upon release, the book ranked 2 on USA Todays bestseller list and was considered one of the best books of the year by Barnes & Noble. It also won the Goodreads Choice Award for Middle Grade & Children's of 2017.