In The Predator’s Stone series, 12-year-old Cinder Moss wants nothing more than to belong―and perhaps go three days in a row without getting into a fight. Fortunately, headlining in the starring role of an ancient prophecy foretelling the destruction of the Nine Realms, leaves Cinder little time to dwell on her misery. Odin has the most to lose (his words, not ours) and putting his trust in Cinder has him questioning his immortality. After barely surviving a giant mythical boar attack on her way to school, Cinder Moss realizes her questing days are far from over. Shield Maiden Trigga is back, newly promoted to Odin’s Elite Guard and harboring a secret too dark to share. Together, Cinder and the Valkyrie return to the Proving Grounds, hoping the Stormbringer can pick up where she left off, and save the Nine Realms from the Twilight of the Gods. As if the approach of Ragnarok wasn’t bad enough, Thor’s hammer has been taken for a murder he didn’t commit. Or at least he claims he didn’t do it. Cinder is not the only one that questions his innocence---the God of Thunder’s closest allies in Asgard are dropping faster than the temperature in Jotunheim, and as Thor’s Thronerunner, only Cinder can retrieve the legendary weapon from the City of Ice. No pressure. Can Cinder and her friends survive a horde of crocodile-human hybrids, a two-headed Elvis impersonator, a haunted hockey rink in Canada, and war with the frost giants? Thor has faith in Cinder, but Odin is betting against her. Again. The god’s errand girl is back, and the ancient prophecy isn’t going to fulfill itself. A skilled teen, wielding a blade of Asgardian silver, embarks on a mission to recover Thor’s hammer in Boden’s middle-grade fantasy sequel. According to prophecy, Cinder Moss is connected to the end of the Nine Realms. After the events of the last novel, the 13-year-old, certain that said realms were out of danger, returned to her Midgardian life in Richmond. As such, she’s surprised when Trigga, one of the Valkyries, shows up to take her back to the Proving Grounds in Iceland to train for a new mission. Although Odin the Allfather sent her on her last quest, this latest one comes from Odin’s son, Thor. The Council of Twelve has effectively confiscated his hammer, which someone else used in a murder. Thor wants Cinder to retrieve his weapon so that he can protect Asgard from a probable attack. He also sends Cinder’s friends Tori, a powerful warrior called a Predator, and half-elf Brandon, who’s currently an Irish setter due to an unwanted magical transformation. Grud, a Viking, also joins the group, although Cinder doesn’t get along with him. Armed with her magically enhanced sword, Talon, the teenager leads the others into Jotunheim, the land of the giants. Along the way, she hopes to find a way to return Brandon to his half-elf body and help another beloved human who’s also in animal form. The new quest takes the quartet to the likes of Asgard, the United States, and Canada, and they encounter huge creatures, blisteringly cold weather, and a bevy of villains during their travels. Boden’s sophomore series installment is just as breezy as its predecessor. Cinder endures and overcomes harrowing circumstances―bravely confronting vicious beasts and a minor god in league with a more formidable deity―but her first-person narration and dialogue are consistently relaxed, allowing for such things as Star Wars references. Cinder also offers vivid descriptions, such as this passage from a fight scene: “‘We need to cross the river!’ I shouted, cutting down the closest giant, then rolling to the side before his lifeless body could crush me as it fell.” The cast vibrantly blends new and returning characters, some from Norse mythology and at least one figure from American history. Fans of the series will appreciate that previous plot arcs don’t fizzle out; over the course of the novel, even figures who don’t (or barely) appear get updates, and a looming threat turns out to be closer to Cinder than she’s initially aware. An assortment of obstacles keeps the narrative moving at a steady clip, as when Grud challenges Cinder to a “monster dash,” which will get her banished from the Proving Grounds if she loses, or when Cinder must deal with another menace before she leaves Richmond. She and her companions also encounter numerous fantastical beings, including crocodile mutants, giant sky snakes, frost giants, and a shapeshifter. The author ties off a few subplots and leaves others dangling, which a subsequent volume will hopefully pick up. Another grand, otherworldly adventure in a memorable fantasy series. ― Kirkus Reviews , Kirkus G. R. Boden discovered his passion for writing about things that never happened when his short story Lady in the Market took first place in a college writing contest and was published in the San Joaquin Review . Stormbringer , his first full-length novel, was a thousand years in the making but took a much shorter time to a