Camp Half-Pod: A Percy Jackson Podcast

*drumroll please* we have finished another series! This marks our FOURTH series we've completed on this podcast. Magnus defeats Loki with the power of friendship. While we thought the flyting was a bit anticlimatic, we also thought the message was really sweet and true to Magnus's character. Loki is delivered back to the gods, and Magnus returns to Valhalla. The series wraps up nicely with...

We have reached the romance! FINALLY! We naturally bring up Pirates of the Caribbean. Alex and Magnus cozy up in the cold. They meet up with Skadi, who helps them on their way to the Naglfar. Magnus drinks the mead and feels nothing. Manasa comes face to face with her shame about the ship indeed being full of the dead. There is a lot of fighting with the undead. People are invisible, and we get sl...

We welcome back third time guest Mal from Demigod Debut to discuss these Mallory-centric chapters! Mal offers her insight on being a Mallory. We think Frigg's power is kind of useless. Frigg gives the gang some guidance, and then they go murder giants. This is their second giant murder in this book alone! Rick brings up loincloths again. Maybe we should have a loincloth counter. They get the mead...

Magnus, with the help of Jack, defeats the Dragon Daddy in a strange but effective way. It’s all very deep and traumatic. We learn about nissers, or hobs, who are cutie little sprites. Magnus volunteers to damage his soul to save Hearth. They get the whetstone that they need, and then Hearth drops the plot twist that he’s planning to eat his father’s heart! Metal. Fortunately, Magnus drops the hea...

It’s time for the weird giant battle. One of these seems to happen every book, and it’s where we get super confused. Alex’s clay creation, Pottery Barn, battles a lumpy clay giant, while TJ battles Hrungnir. Magnus just kind of stands there. Relatable king. We both wish we got to see more of Alex and Magnus’s relationship developing. They defeat the giant and his clay friend, and are told to trave...

Manasa apologizes for the aforementioned strong opinion in the last episode. Erin has discovered sound effects on the recording platform they use. Get ready for lots of “ballpark!” Magnus learns all about Kvasir and his mead. Hearth and Blitz set off to find the location of Bolverk’s whetstone, while Magnus and his friends head towards England. TJ has an insane take about thanking the British. Eri...

Manasa has a strong opinion about the title of this book. It’s 100% because she hasn’t finished the book yet and doesn’t know the full context, but shhh, don’t tell her. Once again, Magnus has run into shenanigans with giants. Magnus and friends are captured by nine large giant water women, who are all daughters of Aegir. They are taken to Aegir’s palace, where they discover that Blitz and Hearth...

Time for the final book in this series! We start off as all good books should begin, with a cameo from Percy Jackson. Manasa thinks that Jack was created specifically to anger her. Erin thinks that Jack is actually delusional and living in a false world. Percy helps Magnus train for his journey on a ship, and then Magnus and Alex go to clear out Randolph’s house, where they find some clues, and al...

ONE MORE BOOK DOWN! We finish up the final chapters of Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor. They end with a bang -- Alex shatters some pottery and Magnus asks prying questions. Then Magnus regroups with Sam and connects with our very favorite, Annabeth. We go on a long tangent about toxic relationships and how one is supposed to know when to cut someone off. We wish life gave us breaks in between...

We are here at the climax of this book, and as usual, things get funky. Sam and Alex do a switch-a-roo on Thrym. Erin claims that Rick stole from Animorphs, again. The ceremony is at a secret second venue, Loki's cavern! Nothing says wedding like ominous bubbling liquids and a man being poisoned. Loki frees himself from his chains, and the Aesir gods show up just in time to not be very useful....

FINALLY, we get to see Otis and Marvin again! But first, Utgard-Loki has to encourage Magnus and friends to do some critical thinking. Sif comes to the rescue and takes them to her home. They meet up with Thor and update him on their progress so far. Otis and Marvin are there and it's very special. Sif gives everyone a makeover. Magnus continues to be down bad for Alex. We pronounce everything...

We're back with another chunk of classic Riordan fever-dream chapters! Sometime around 2016, Rick started getting silly with his side quests. This is the perfect example. Magnus makes Alex share more about her personal life. Blitz uses the power of fashion to make a magical bag. They arrive at Utgard Lanes and are challenged to a competition by all the giants. Magnus can't stop murdering giants fo...

Magnus and friends climb up the rainbow (happy pride month) and visit with Heimdall, who loves a selfie. Once again, Rick dates this as solidly 2016 with selfie sticks and Vine (RIP). They are summoned to Jotunheim via a mysterious bowling alley sign, and get roped into trying to carry a giant bowling bag for giants. Apparently Jack can sew, what can’t the sword do! SUPPORT US ON PATREON: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Magnus and Hearth have a run-in with a fish dwarf (and possibly commits ecoterrorism). We learn about the inspiration for the Ring of Power in Lord of the Rings. Erin talks about dream journaling. Magnus and Hearth bring Mr. Alderman the treasure, and he goes crazy with power and possibly becomes a dragon. The retrieve the stone and leave Alfheim to meet up with Sam and Amir, where Sam nearly brea...

It may be episode 169 (nice), but the topics of these chapters are distinctively Not Nice! They're actually quite sad! Sam flies a plane (notably, without a license, which stresses Erin out) to drop Hearth, Magnus, and Stone Blitz off in Alfheim, to see a guy about a hot stone. The guy with the hot stone is unfortunately Hearth's abusive father. We hate Mr. Alderman. He would probably be i...

Fresh off an hour-long yap session, we are ready to yap further about Magnus Chase. Magnus and Sam meet up with Hearth and Blitz, and traverse into the Wight's Barrow. The mummies are very democratic. The Skofnung Sword is hot, and also afraid of women, apparently. Can Jack see? How does he know the sword is hot? Also why are the swords gendered? Rick, we have questions. Erin talks about her t...

It's time to fight a giant worm! And also get to know Alex better! We discuss the merits of being an introvert vs. an extrovert. Is Magnus more extroverted or introverted? What about Percy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! Erin thinks lindworms sound kind of cute. They'd definitely get into the Salt Spitoon. Alex murders Magnus (they're off to a fantastic start). Magnus has s...

We're back, baby! Starting off book 2 of the Magnus Chase series with the return, and consequent murder, of our favorite goat, Otis. Manasa brings up Hoodwinked this time. Magnus has a wild chase with a goat killer. Jack is really into pop music now and has had a lot of personality development. Jack is now Manasa's enemy. We get to meet Alex Fierro, a character we have long-anticipated, and see he...

We are finally finishing this book! Magnus gets to meet his dad, who sounds hot. We get the big reveal of this book -- X is actually Odin, and was this whole time. Manasa doesn't like this plotline. She also got X confused with Halfborn for half of this book. Erin sees herself in Odin's love for a good PowerPoint. He walks us through the prophecy line by line (probably with crappy PowerPoi...

Sorry to our Luke lovers about the title -- if anyone can change our minds, it will be Charlie Bushnell! This week, Magnus is finally facing off with Fenris, The Wolf. We create a new character, Fernis, the nerdy brother of Fenris. Erin and Manasa decide they like The Wolf. He's very funny. He has pizzazz. We meet up with the floormates, and Gunilla dies. We're not all that sad about it. W...

This week, we come to the unfortunate realization that we are Otis and Marvin. Or perhaps we are just both Otis. The jury is still out. Erin brings up giant welfare in Ella Enchanted. We both think Magnus is actually in the wrong because he killed all three of Geirod's daughters. We both hate on Gunilla. Then we meet Hel briefly, who gives Magnus a difficult choice. Then they find some dwarves to...

Today is Manasa's birthday episode --- wooohooo! We start off the birthday episode with a made-up fan story about the notorious Mrs. Gibson the serpent. Then we discuss the great Chris debate. We get to meet Thor, who is a bit of a himbo. Jack defeats a giant by going up it's nose. Manasa gives us a deep dive on Sleipner, the horse with 8 legs. Erin argues that self-driving cars are actually our a...

We start off this week by discussing a fan-made Norse godly parent quiz (link below!) and having some deep self analysis. Then Blitz has a crafting contest and wins, thanks to Sam's animorphing powers. The gang escapes the angry dwarves, and in the process, they discover that the Sword of Summer can talk! We have PTSD because of the Arrow of Dodona. Erin proposes a theory about Rick's fixation on...

We are running out of references, folks. Somehow we bring up Spongebob, Lord of the Rings, Taylor Swift, Rudolph, Jimmy Neutron, and Stardew Valley, all in one episode. Magnus and friends navigate the world tree and face the giant squirrel. They end up in Folkvanger, and meet Freya, Blitz's mom. Magnus lowkey has a crush on his aunt, but we aren't going to think about that too much. They get what...

This week, Magnus and pals set sail with a strange man named Harold to see a goddess about a sword. Rick pulls his favorite trick to get two characters alone to bond. Rick also attempts to teach us about diversity. We meet Ran and get the Sword of Summer (which has yet to begin speaking). We find out who Big Boy is, and deep dive a little on Utgard-Loki. Erin talks about her Sims-induced psychosis...