All the Norse Knowledge You Need! The Unofficial Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard Companion by Peter Aperlo

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Apparently the Norsemen of old had a lot of time to make up stories about the Viking gods, heroes, giants, and other mythological creatures during those l-o-o-n-g winter nights, because their well-populated pantheon makes the ancient Greeks and Roman tales look  pretty paltry.

With the release of Rick Riordan's already best-selling first novel in his new series, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 1: The Sword of Summer (Disney Hyperion, 2015), adventure-loving young adult readers are going to need to bone up on their Norse gods and goddesses, elves, dwarves, giants, and monster lore, and Peter Aperlo's just published The Unofficial Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard Companion: The Norse Heroes, Monsters and Myths Behind the Hit Series (Ulysses Press, 2015) is to perfect guide to have handy as they follow Magnus Chase, former homeless Boston orphan, who discovers that he is the demigod son of the god Frey with the mission of averting the end of the world and becomes a genuine hero of Asgard all in one day. All the many players who populate Magnus' story, plus many more, are identified in this small, handy volume.

Peter Aperlo's Unoffical Guide offers a fascinating and illustrated rundown of Norse history and social mores, a generous sampling of some of the more famous Norse myths, and an extensive Who's Who biographical dictionary of the Scandinavian pantheon of deities, mortals, heroes, monsters, and otherwise villainous characters that is sure to be indispensable in reading Riordan's first book and his proposed series. Aperlo offers a bonus pronunciation guide to Old Norse vowels and some links to further reading into the world of Viking archaeology. All this in an inexpensive paperback or even cheaper e-book that young readers can keep at hand, especially since the sequel, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 2: The Hammer of Thor is forthcoming in 2016. And with Riordan's Disney connection through the publisher of this series, there are surely prospects for a movie or so, with the Boston setting offering plenty of colorful location shots for the action.

Who knew that a ride on one of Boston's famous Swan Boats could secretly be a Viking cruise? How wicked is that?

Don't Make Me Hurl These Thunderbolts! Oh My Gods!: A Look-It-Up Guide to the Gods by Megan E. Bryant

Are you ready to get your myth on? Then you've come to the right place: MYTHLOPEDIA, your one-stop shop for everything you need to know about the stars of Greek mythology. From gods and monsters to goddesses and heroes, the myths that rocked the ancient world are ready to rock yours!

Given the runaway success of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians, readers who have become hooked on the the soap-opera drama of the classical gods certainly need a guide through the maze of interpersonal (or interdeital?) relationships of the titans, Olympians, demigods and demigoddesses, heroes, monsters, nymphs, and mere mortals. While professors of classical studies must be salivating at the promise of future undergraduates crowding their classes, kids whose primary point of entry to the pantheon is Perseus (Percy) Jackson need help right now, and that's the promise of Megan Bryant's Oh My Gods!: A Look-it-Up Guide to the Gods of Mythology (Mythlopedia) (Scholastic, 2009).

There's a "classical" form underlying this volume: Bryant succinctly defines mythology and myth, explains their ancient purpose, and briefly points out the many points of reference for the classics in modern life--Cupid on Valentines, Nike on sneakers, Apollo spacecraft on the moon--and then launches into a classical scholarly and alphabetical presentation, from Apollo to Zeus, of the biggies of Mt. Olympus. Not that Bryant is exactly egalitarian: some gods seem to have more, er, karisma, than others, so Apollo gets three double-page spreads while his bad-boy brother Ares rates only two.

But each deity does draw the same design--a sidebar "Profile," featuring Greek and Roman names and aliases (with pronunciation guide), generation check boxes (Titan, Olympian, and the ubiquitous Other), "Divine Powers" and "Attributes", and "Top 10 Things to Know about Me." A "bottom bar" deals with those messy "Family, Flings, Friends, and Foes" issues, and the remaining regular text delves into all the tales, gossip, connections, and vocabulary spinoffs surrounding the character. Catchy boxes pass on useful knowledge, for example, Asclepius's caduceus, the symbol of medicine, and his health-oriented daughters Hygieia and Panacea, who also lent their names to modern practice. An additional sidebar, titled "Don't Dis Death" recounts Asclepius's unfortunate deadly duel with Hades, who was angered at the healing god's divesting him of his due of dead souls.

Wry touches catch the eye of modern readers: a marble image of Dionysus, wearing a party hat and with a party whistle in his mouth, features a thought balloon which says "The party goes where I go!" and parents Ares and Aphrodite get an irate email from their kids' school:

From: Principal@MountOlympusSchool.edu
Re: Parent-Teacher Conference

Dear Ares and Aphrodite:

The new school year has just begun, and your sons Deimos, Phobos, and Cycnus have already begun terrorizing students on the playground. I remind you that Mount Olympus School has a zero-tolerance policy regarding bullying. Please contact my secretary to arrange a parent-teacher conference.

A text message to Dionysus reads "D-Dude! i gotta do something about those maenads. 4 real. totally wack! my dad is gonna freak when he sees what they did to the minotaur." Hermes says "You've got mail," and Pan brags "I am the original party ANIMAL!" Poseidon himself presides over a theme park titled "Poseidon's Water World," featuring attractions such as "Proteus's Fun House of Mirrors." There are puns and parodies aplenty. Prometheus jokes "Light My Fire," and Zeus tries to placate spouse Hera with a weak apology: "Hera, baby, light of my life, mother to, well, a few of my children...those other 114 didn't mean a thing to me!"

Spoofs aside, though, there are plenty of basic facts about the personalities of the pantheon here, including maps of the classical world and a "Family Tree," beginning with Gaea and Uranus, which tries to bring some order to the deities' doings. There is also a glossary, a sky chart of the "Stars of Greek Mythology," a bibliography and list of useful web sites, and an index to pull together all these messy mythological characters insofar as we mere mortals may.

For the distaff side of deity doings, mythological mayhem, and pantheonic pranks, there is a "sister" volume to this one, also by Megan Bryant, She's All That!: A Look-it-Up Guide to the Goddesses of Mythology (Mythlopedia), and its companions, All in the Family: A Look-it-Up Guide to the In-laws, Outlaws, and Offspring of Mythology (Mythlopedia) and What a Beast!: A Look-it-Up Guide to the Monsters and Mutants of Mythology (Mythlopedia). And the die-hard demi-deity devotees of Percy Jackson must not miss the mega-popular (and priced for mere mortals) Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide (Hyperion, 2010).