The Ship of the Dead

U.S. cover of first edition.
Author	Rick Riordan
Cover artist	John Rocco
Language	English
Series	Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard(book 3)
Genre	Fantasy,Norse mythology,young-adult
Publisher	Disney Hyperion
Publication date	October 3, 2017
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover andpaperback),audiobook,e-book
Pages	432
ISBN	978-1-4231-6093-9 (Hardcover)
Preceded by	The Hammer of Thor

The Ship of the Dead is ayoung-adultfantasynovel based onNorse mythology written by American authorRick Riordan. It is the third and final novel in theMagnus Chase and the Gods of Asgardtrilogy, preceded byThe Hammer of Thor. It was released on October 3, 2017, byDisney-Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group. The novel is narrated in thefirst-person view byMagnus Chase, 16-year-olddemigod andhomelessorphan. He and his crew sail to the farthest borders ofJotunheim andNiflheim in pursuit of Asgard's greatest threat.

Magnus and Alex Fierro travel to the Chase Mansion, where they recover notes written by Randolph at different points in time. After reachingValhalla, 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 conversation is heard by theNine Billow Maidens, who take them to the court ofAegir, where they discover Hearth and Blitz are being held prisoner. Aegir's eldest daughter recognizes Magnus from his previous encounter with her motherRán. Upon being threatened, Magnus swears by his troth to defeatLoki in aflyting contest and to avenge Aegir's humiliation, as Aegir was previously defeated by the god in a contest. Aegir invites them to escape while he isn't looking, but the crew is attacked by Aegir's nine daughters. They manage to escape with the help of Magnus' grandfather,Njord. Njord reveals to Magnus that the only way to defeat Loki is by drinkingKvasir's mead. The crew continue on their journey, with Blitz and Hearth travelling separately to retrieveBolverk's whetstone.

As the crew heads to York, the backstories of the members are revealed. Mallory died disarming a bomb in Ireland; Halfborn died nearJorvik; TJ died after forcefully accepting a hopeless challenge, a trait inherited from his fatherTyr. Samirah fasts during the Ramadan season. The crew arrives at York, where they duel with the giantHrungnir for the location of Kvasir's mead. They get the information that they need: Kvasir's mead is in Jorvik, also known as Norway in the human realm. The crew goes to Norway, retrieves Kvasir's mead fromSuttung's daughter,Gunnlöð, and killsBaugi. Suttung is killed single-handedly by Halfborn. They also learn thatNaglfar is frozen betweenNiflheim andJotunheim. They almost froze to death while travelling to Niflheim, but they are rescued bySkadi, Njord's ex-wife. Magnus drinks Kvasir's mead, and the crew goes toNaglfar. There, Magnus begins his flyting against Loki, but decides not to insult the god. Instead, he expresses the love and trust he has for his crew and pities Loki for his evident loneliness, as even his wifeSigyn abandons him. Loki shrinks to the size of a nut upon hearing Magnus's words, and he is imprisoned in a walnut given to Mallory earlier byFrigg. Magnus and his friends go toVigridr, the Last Battlefield, and meet the gods, who congratulate them for defeating Loki and delayingRagnarök. For this, Magnus is rewarded with a boon fromOdin, and he asks Odin to lend him his lawyers so that he could convert Randolph's mansion into an orphanage andhomeless shelter. He later recounts his adventure to Annabeth, who is crying due torecent events.

• Magnus Chase(Beantown) - 16-year-old son ofFrey who dies in the first few chapters but becomes an einherjar. He isAnnabeth 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.^[1]
• Samirah Al-Abbas (Sam) - TheValkyrie who brought Magnus to Hotel Valhalla. A daughter ofLoki, she emigrated from Iraq with her family and is a descendant of a medieval Arab traveller and historian who wrote an important account about living among theVolga 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 practicingMuslim. She is a shapeshifter and carries an ax and a greenhijab, which doubles as a camouflage cloak. She is engaged to Amir Fadlan, who works in afalafel shop.^[1]
• Hearthstone (Hearth) - A friend of Magnus. He is analf (elf). He isdeaf-mute, but speaks Alf Sign Language and canread lips. He had an abusive childhood, with parents who disliked him because of his disabilities. In exchange for working forMimir, he received the ability to work rune magic.^[1]
• Blitzen(Blitz) - Another friend of Magnus, asvartalf (dwarf). He is the son ofFreya. 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 (unusual for dwarves) but is a master fashion advisor. He, like Hearth, once worked for Mimir.^[1]
• Mallory Audrey Keen (Mack) - 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.^[1]
• 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.^[1]
• 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 redhead" woman. Nine months later, the female form of 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 ability to shapeshift between the two sexes, 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.^[1]
• 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.

Rick Riordan announcedThe Ship of the Dead on the same day of the release ofThe Hammer of Thor, the second book of theMagnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard trilogy. According to him, this would be the last book in the series.^[2]

AniTunes preview containing the first three chapters of the book was released on September 17, 2017.^[3] The cover, illustrated byJohn Rocco, was released on April 26, 2017,^[4] and a trailer was published on YouTube on October 2, 2017.^[5] To promoteThe Ship of the Dead, Riordan went on a nine-day tour around the United States beginning on October 3, 2017.^[6][7]

The Ship of the Dead was released in the United States byDisney-Hyperion on October 3, 2017.^[8] Anaudiobook, narrated by Michael Crouch, was published on the same date byBooks on Tape.^[9] The book also receivede-book andpaperback versions, and has been translated into 11 languages to date.^[8]

The Ship of the Dead sold over 57,000 copies during the first week.^[10] By the end of 2017, it sold over 219,000 copies.^[11] Upon release, the book rankedNo. 2 onUSA Today's bestseller list^[12] and was considered one of the best books of the year byBarnes & Noble.^[13] It also won theGoodreads Choice Award for Middle Grade & Children's of 2017.^[8]

• 2017 American novels
• 2017 fantasy novels
• Novels set in Boston
• 2017 children's books
• Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard
• Disney-Hyperion books

• Articles with short description
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• Use mdy dates from March 2025