Category: Literature

Where we study creative works, often alongside other subjects as part of topics/projects.

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Who knew that there is a ship made from toenails and finger nails in Norse Mythology?

MrsDTB didn’t for one and thus got the shock of her life when MasterKAF announced this over breakfast this morning! MasterKAF is currently reading Magnus Chase and the Ship of The Dead by Rick Riordan.

http://rickriordan.com/book/the-ship-of-the-dead/

This made MrsDTB feel a little queasy but also inquisitive to find out more as we had watched Thor: Ragnarok the day before. It got us to thinking how accurate both the Marvel films and the Rick Riordan books are, when compared with other records of Norse Mythology.

The Magnus Chase book is called The Ship of the Dead. Here is a quick synopsis from the Penguin Randomhouse website:

” Magnus Chase, a once-homeless teen, is a resident of the Hotel Valhalla and one of Odin’s chosen warriors. As the son of Frey, the god of summer, fertility, and health, Magnus isn’t naturally inclined to fighting. But he has strong and steadfast friends, including Hearthstone the elf, Blitzen the dwarf, and Samirah the Valkyrie, and together they have achieved brave deeds, such as defeating Fenris Wolf and battling giants for Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. Now Magnus faces his most dangerous trial yet. 

Loki is free from his chains. He’s readying Naglfar, the Ship of the Dead, complete with a host of giants and zombies, to sail against the Asgardian gods and begin the final battle of Ragnarok. It’s up to Magnus and his friends to stop him, but to do so they will have to sail across the oceans of Midgard, Jotunheim, and Niflheim in a desperate race to reach Naglfar before it’s ready to sail. Along the way, they will face angry sea gods, hostile giants, and an evil fire-breathing dragon. But Magnus’s biggest challenge will be facing his own inner demons. Does he have what it takes to outwit the wily trickster god?”

MasterKAF did some further research on Naglfar which is thought to mean Ship of Nails but some call it the Ship of The Damned. It turns out that the etymology of Naglfar has long been a point of discussion and certainly the fact that Riordan refers to both The Ship of Nails and The Ship of The Dead supports this.

MasterKAF also watched an episode or two from Overly Sarcastic Productions which is a really useful and funny YouTube source of information that provides “…summaries of classic and not-so-classic literature and mythology, as well as major historical events!”

Its fair to say that this is not our last post on the topic as we have barely scratched the surface, so keep checking back for more updates.

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Book Review – Not So Normal Norbert – written by James Patterson and Joey Green

Master KAF has written this review,  MrsDTB helped a bit and done the typing.

There are three main characters in the book. Norbert Riddle a normal schoolboy who in a fit of rage does a hilarious impression of the country’s dictator. He gets sentenced to the “Astronuts Camp” on the planet Zorquat 3. Drew Weaver who is in the same class as Norbert in Middle School 1022 in Region 154. He too is arrested by the Truth Police for laughing at Norbert’s impression of the country’s dictator and for occasional doodling. Lastly, Sophie Singer who meets Norbert and Drew on the ship taking them to Zorquat 3 and its crazy farm. She is arrested for constantly having music on her mind and making lots of music.

The story takes place on Zorquat 3 which is a distant planet, according to Drew “Zorquat Three is a bleak planet covered with quick-sand pits and giant, man-eating lizards”.

Norbert tries to prove himself to be normal so he can be sent back home to carry on searching for his parents. His Dad was arrested when he was 5 years old by the Truth Police. His Mother made art after her husband was arrested and ended up being apprehended as well.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

 At the climax of the book, he finds his mother who reveals that his father is on one of the planet’s two moons and forced to work in a labour camp.

***** END OF SPOILER ALERT*****

Norbert does not succeed in proving himself normal so he is stuck on Zorquat Three. He ends up working on a TV show called Astronuts, near the end of the book. The show is meant to entertain everyone on the planet who has a Truth Screen which is this universe’s TV.

Anyone between the age of 6 and 12 would surely enjoy this book. It has a lot of humour but also has some serious parts (but not too serious).

This book could be considered part of the dystopian genre, which in definition means not perfect. A lot of dystopian books have rebels fighting back but in this book, everyone on the planet who is capable of rebelling even slightly will be sent away, because “different is dangerous, creative is crazy and imagination is insanity”.