You might be confused. Or maybe you know exactly what I’m talking about. I'm going to explain just in case you don't. So, a long time ago (I don't know when, so don't ask me) this guy with the last name Chekov said that if you put a gun on the wall in Act 1, someone has to shoot it in Act 2. (Side note: some people say ‘chapter 1' and ‘chapter 2' instead of act, but act makes a lot more sense. Acts don't always refer to a play, but rather to sections of the story. Having this principle executed from one chapter to another kind of defeats the purpose of Chekov's Gun.) What Chekov was trying to say is that, if you introduce a detail as specific as that there is a gun present, rather than just saying something like “it was clear by the decorations that he hunted often” that it should be there for a reason, and there should be a clear, plot-driven reason for it. It doesn't have to be a gun, obviously. But if there's something this specific, the reader should get a reason for it, assuming it somehow furthers the plot. On the other hand, if this is done wrong, extremely miniscule details turn into Deus Ex Machinas.
So, now that we’re all on the same page and understand the principle of Chekov's Gun, let's see how this relates to Magnus Chase. I haven't finished The Ship of the Dead, but I've already seen two very distinct but very successful uses of Chekov's Gun.
Firstly, in one of the previous books, Magnus fought a sea goddess named Ran. He ultimately defeated her, but she mentioned something about her hipster husband who's into microbrews. This was quickly dismissed as yet another quirky piece of Norse mythology, used for comedic relief. In fact, I didn't remember this comment at all until Magnus met Aegir and remembered what Ran had said. Turns out it wasn't just comedic relief: it was foreshadowing. What this means is that not only did Rick know how he wanted the series to go, but he had the specific details worked out enough that he could slip in a Gun in the form of what seemed to be a throwaway line that would lead to something that wouldn't even happen until the next book. It reminds me of the Harry Potter series, and how Rowling had the entire story planned out, with events in the first book directly affecting events in the last book and vice versa.
The second Gun, which I only read about after writing last week's entry, is similar, but not entirely the same. Previously, Magnus, Blitzen, and Hearthstone went to Alfheim, where Hearth grew up, to search for the Skofnung stone. In the process, Hearth's frankly abusive father gets cursed into becoming even more evil (and possibly having multiple personality disorder, but that's a different story) before they leave. Now, Hearth and Blitz go to look for this whetstone that will somehow help them. The whole time, Magnus is thinking about how it's similar to the Skofnung stone, and hopes they don't have to go back to Alfheim and see Hearth's father again. Not only this, but Magnus has a nightmare where he sees a monster he's never seen before. And these two things, of course (Magnus feeling like this is similar to the previous quest and having a nightmare about a scary monster) combine into intertwined Guns, as the three of them do exactly what Magnus was hoping they wouldn't, and see that Hearth's father has been turned into a dragon, the one he saw in his dream. And you can also consider the curse a Gun if you want, since it's never said how exactly it will affect him.
So it turns out that, despite the quality of the Trials of Apollo not being quite up to my standards, it seems like the creativity and writing ability Rick does have is all being poured into what is easily one of my favorite book series. And we haven't even talked about the level of diversity in this series! I don't think I've mentioned Alex once, which is a shame, since they're one of my favorite characters. But I guess I'll save that for next week.
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