The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase)

375 Pages·2016·3.53 MB·English

by  Rick Riordan

Copyright © 2016 by Rick Riordan
Cover illustration © 2016 by John Rocco
Cover design by SJI Associates, Inc.
All rights reserved. Published by Disney • Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of
this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney • Hyperion, 125 West End
Avenue, New York, New York 10023.
Rune and symbol art by Michelle Gengaro-Kokmen
ISBN 978-1-4847-5859-5
Visit www.DisneyBooks.com
www.ReadRiordan.com
To J. R. R. Tolkien,
who opened up the world of Norse mythology for me
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
1. Could You Please Stop Killing My Goat?
2. Your Standard Rooftop Chase Scene with Talking Swords and Ninjas
3. My Friends Protect Me by Telling Me Absolutely Nothing. Thanks,
Friends
4. A Cheetah Runs Me Over
5. My Sword Has a Better Social Life Than I Do
6. Love Me Some Weasel Soup
7. Have You or Someone You Love Ever Suffered from Lindworms?
8. I Am Saved from Certain Death by Being Killed
9. Never Take a Bubble Bath with a Decapitated God
10. The Most Awkward Viking Luau Ever
11. What’s a Guy Gotta Do to Get a Standing Ovation?
12. Samirah and Magnus Sitting in a Tree, T-A-L-K-I-N-G
13. Relax, It’s Just a Little Death Prophecy
14. Cry Me a Blood River. Wait. Actually, Don’t
15. All in Favor of Slaughtering Magnus, Please Say Aye
16. Hearthstone Unleashes His Inner Bovine
17. Uncle Randolph Gets on My Naughty List BIG-TIME
18. I Need to Learn Many, Many More Cusswords in Sign Language
19. Should I Be Nervous that the Pilot Is Praying?
20. In Case of Demonic Possession, Please Follow Illuminated Signs to the
Nearest Exit
21. Loiterers Will Be Shot, Then Arrested and Shot Again
22. Pretty Sure Hearthstone’s Dad Is a Cow-Abducting Alien
23. Yep, His Other Car Is Definitely a UFO
24. Oh, You Wanted to Breathe? That’ll Be an Extra Three Gold
25. Hearthstone? More Like Hearthrob. Am I Right?
26. We Nuke All the Fish
27. Let Me Go Immediately, or I Will Make You a Billionaire
28. And If You Order Now, You Also Get This Cursed Ring!
29. Nøkk, Nøkk
30. Somewhere Over the Rainbow, There’s Some Messed-Up Stuff Going
On
31. Heimdall Takes a Selfie with Literally Everyone
32. Godzilla Sends Me an Important Message
33. Falafel Break? Yes, Thank You
34. We Visit My Favorite Mausoleum
35. We Have a Tiny Problem
36. Solving Problems with Extreme Fashion
37. Meat S’mores Roasting on an Open Fire
38. You Will Never, Ever Guess Blitzen’s Password
39. Elvis Has Left the Bowling Bag
40. Little Billy Totally Deserved It
41. When in Doubt, Turn Into a Biting Insect
42. Or You Could Just Glow a Lot. That Works, Too
43. You Keep Using the Word Help. I Do Not Think It Means What You
Think It Means
44. We Are Honored with Runes and Coupons
45. Pigtails Have Never Looked So Frightening
46. Here Comes the Bride and/or the Assassin
47. I Prepare for Funkytown Combat
48. All Aboard the Cheesy Gordita Express
49. Thrym!
50. A Little Refreshing Poison in Your Face, Sir?
51. Hello, Paranoia, My Old Friend
52. My Uncle Gets Some Backup Singers
53. It’s Hammer Time! (Someone Had to Say It)
54. Squirrels in the Window May Be Larger Than They Appear
55. Daisies in the Shape of an Elf
56. Let’s Try This Whole “Meeting for Coffee” Thing Again
57. I Call In Some Favors
Glossary
Pronunciation Guide
The Nine Worlds
Runes (In Order of Mention)
Also by Rick Riordan
Preview of The Trials of Apollo, Book One: The Hidden Oracle
About the Author
Could You Please Stop Killing My Goat?
LESSON LEARNED: If you take a Valkyrie out for coffee, you’ll get stuck
with the check and a dead body.
I hadn’t seen Samirah al-Abbas in almost six weeks, so when she called
out of the blue and said we needed to talk about a matter of life and death, I
agreed right away.
(Technically I’m already dead, which means the whole life-and-death
thing didn’t apply, but still…Sam sounded anxious.)
She hadn’t yet arrived when I got to the Thinking Cup on Newbury
Street. The place was packed as usual, so I queued up for coffee. A few
seconds later, Sam flew in—literally—right over the heads of the café
patrons.
Nobody batted an eye. Regular mortals aren’t good at processing
magical stuff, which is fortunate, because otherwise Bostonians would spend
most of their time running around in a panic from giants, trolls, ogres, and
einherjar with battle-axes and lattes.
Sam landed next to me in her school uniform—white sneakers, khaki
slacks, and a long-sleeve navy shirt with the King Academy logo. A green
hijab covered her hair. An ax hung from her belt. I was pretty sure the ax
wasn’t standard dress code.
As glad as I was to see her, I noted that the skin under her eyes was
darker than usual. She was swaying on her feet.
“Hey,” I said. “You look terrible.”
“Nice to see you, too, Magnus.”
“No, I mean…not terrible like different than normal terrible. Just terrible
like exhausted.”
“Should I get you a shovel so you can dig that hole a little deeper?”
I raised my hands in surrender. “Where have you been the last month and
a half?”
Her shoulders tightened. “My workload this semester has been killing
me. I’m tutoring kids after school. Then, as you might remember, there’s my
part-time job reaping souls of the dead and running top secret missions for
Odin.”
“You kids today and your busy schedules.”
“On top of all that…there’s flight school.”
“Flight school?” We shuffled forward with the line. “Like airplanes?”
I knew Sam’s goal was to become a professional pilot someday, but I
hadn’t realized she was already taking lessons. “You can do that at sixteen?”
Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “My grandparents could never have
afforded it, but the Fadlans have this friend who runs a flight school. They
finally convinced Jid and Bibi—”
“Ah.” I grinned. “So the lessons were a gift from Amir.”
Sam blushed. She’s the only teenager I know who has a betrothed, and
it’s cute how flustered she gets when she talks about Amir Fadlan.
“Those lessons were the most thoughtful, the most considerate…” She
sighed wistfully. “But enough of that. I didn’t bring you here to talk about
my schedule. We have an informant to meet.”
“An informant?”
“This could be the break I’ve been waiting for. If his information is good
—”
Sam’s phone buzzed. She fished it out of her pocket, checked the screen,
and cursed. “I have to go.”
“You just got here.”
“Valkyrie business. Possible code three-eight-one: heroic death in
progress.”
“You’re making that up.”
“I’m not.”
“So…what, somebody thinks they’re about to die and they text you
‘Going down! Need Valkyrie ASAP!’ followed by a bunch of sad-face
emojis?”