The third book in the Magnus Chase series “Ship of the Dead,” leads the reader on a fast-paced, action packed, and often times hilarious quest to prevent Ragnarok, the end of the world.

This installment in the series takes place an entire summer after the events of the last book, where Magnus Chase and his allies failed to stop Loki from escaping his prison. Now, with Loki planning to sail the ship of the dead and begin Ragnarok, Magnus sets off on a new mission to not only defeat Loki but to find a possible way to do so. From battling sea gods to a fire breathing dragon, this story is sure to have readers hanging on to every word until the very end.

The biggest disappointment for fans of Rick Riordan’s original series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, is that Percy only appears in the first two chapters. After the large cliff hanger and announcement in the last book that Percy would be coming to help, the let down of discovering that he will only be on the first 19 pages will be disappointing for any long time fan of Riordan.

However, once a reader gets past this the rest of the characters have their own chance to make an impression. With new revelations about many of the smaller characters, individuals such as Mallory and Hearthstone are better developed and made more relatable to the reader. Having many of Magnus’s fellow einherjar, or undead warriors who have been waiting centuries for the great battle of Ragnarok, finally developed adds a new depth to many of the books minor and previously forgettable characters.

Ultimately, the book’s interesting story and further development of the many side characters will overcome any readers disappointment about not seeing more of Percy. Readers will find themselves unable to put this book down until they finally discover if Magnus and his friends will finally defeat Loki.