Book Review: Hammered by Kevin Hearne

Hammered by Kevin Hearne
Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is worse than a blowhard and a bully—he’s ruined countless lives and killed scores of innocents. After centuries, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson is ready to get his vengeance, and he’s asked his friend Atticus O’Sullivan, the last of the Druids, to help take down this Norse nightmare.

One survival strategy has worked for Atticus for more than two thousand years: stay away from the guy with the lightning bolts. But things are heating up in Atticus’s home base of Tempe, Arizona. There’s a vampire turf war brewing, and Russian demon hunters who call themselves the Hammers of God are running rampant. Despite multiple warnings and portents of dire consequences, Atticus and Leif journey to the Norse plain of Asgard, where they team up with a werewolf, a sorcerer, and an army of frost giants for an epic showdown against vicious Valkyries, angry gods, and the hammer-wielding Thunder Thug himself.

By the end of Hexed, the second book in the Iron Druid Chronicles, Atticus had made two deals and was in debt to two very powerful people. The first, an Indian witch named Lashka who in turn for helping Atticus kill a dozen bacchants requested that he steal for her an immortal youth-inducing Golden Apple. The second person was Atticus’ long-time friend and lawyer Leif Helgarson a Nordic-vampire who in exchange for helping Atticus take down a coven of evil witches and demons would require Atticus’ help in killing Thor, the Norse God of Thunder. Both favours require Atticus to travel between planes and to the world of Asgard; both favours also put Atticus in a lot of trouble.

Atticus does not want to go to Asgard, he does not want to make his existence more known to those that might want to smite him or put the ones he loves in danger but he gave his word and despite receiving two warnings from two gods of two different religions he is still going to go ahead with his quest, a quest that he might not walk away from. Hammered definitely had a different feel to it than the first two books in this series. It was still a fun and humorous read but there was also a more serious tone interspersed throughout the narrative as well as an obvious hint that things were about to change forever and not necessarily for the best.

I enjoyed this third volume but not as much as its predecessors. Although there was interesting back stories revealed on not only Atticus but Granuille (Atticus’ apprentice), his friend Leif, and Gunnar, the Alpha werewolf of the Tempe pack, there were also stories shown about other characters that were introduced for the first time in the novel that I wasn’t too interested. It was my least favourite part of the novel and wished would have been done differently or cut down shorter. Still, if you are a fan of the series this is definitely not an instalment you should skip; many changes take place in this volume as well as hints of things to come. I believe this book was not only the end of an ARC but a set-up to the next one.

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Book Review: Hexed by Kevin Hearne

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.

With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.

After defeating a hateful Irish god of love, taking on a coven of wicked witches, and losing his right ear to a demon I think it’s appropriate to say that Atticus O’Sullivan deserves a break. But not everyone gets what they deserve and unfortunately the last thing our witty protagonist catches in this second installment of the The Iron Druid Chronicles is a break. Before Atticus can sign a mutual non-aggression agreement with the local Tempe coven of Polish witches, he’s magically attacked by a new resident of witches who don’t like to share. Well those ladies picked the wrong Druid to piss off, ok he’s the only Druid but that’s be sides the point, the point being that Atticus may not like to pick fights but he sure as hell is going to finish them.

If I thought the first book in this series had action then Hexed definitely doubles the ante, not only does Atticus have badass witches to deal with but he also has a ravenous fallen angel buffeting at the local high school (a consequence of Hounded) and a troupe of Bacchants looking to have a good time, unfortunately these ladies’ parties tend to destroy lives. Not only this, but Atticus’ longtime acquaintance the Morrigan is back and although she’s technically not against Atticus she’s also not against dropping trouble at his door. You think with all this going on the book would feel a tad convoluted but the way Kevin Hearne lays out the plot and subplots I could easily keep track of each storyline and had the thought, while reading, that this series would make a fantastic graphic novel series with maybe two or three volumes per novel.

Getting back on track though, besides the action keeping the pace of this book quick and the story entertaining I have to say that the characters are my favourite part. Many old favourites return from Hounded like Granuaile (brilliant druid apprentice) and Oberon (hilarious Irish wolfhound). Along with a few new comers who make brief appearances like Coyote and others who might be coming back in later books to cause Atticus some unwanted trouble, think hunters of all things “evil”.

In conclusion, this book is just fun, the author obviously does his research and it pays off in the world building and his writing is laced with humour and the story is carried by great characters. If you’re looking for a book that is different from the usual stack of urban fantasies then give this series a shot.

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Book Review: Hounded by Kevin Hearne

Hounded by Kevin Hearne

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old—when in actuality, he’s twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.

Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power—plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish—to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.

I have read books about faeries, many of them staying true to folklore and few of them including specific characters right out of Irish mythology like the Morrigan but never had I read a book that shed light on other aspects of Irish mythology like Tir nan Og and the Tuatha de Danann. I have also never, though I suspect there are novels out there, read a book where the main character was a druid.

Siodhachan O Suileabhain or Atticus O’Sullivan as he is known to almost everyone in current modern times is a witty, twenty-one century old druid living in Tempe, Arizona with his Irish wolfhound Oberon. He enjoys hunting for Big Horn Sheep in his down time though never able to catch them, making googly eyes at the local bartender. And making sure that the Irish God of Love Aengus Og never finds him because if he does love would be the last thing Aengus wants to give Atticus since he stole a very special sword from him centuries ago and has refused to give it back ever since.

In this book the action starts from the very first page where the reader gets to see right away the consequences Atticus has had to face ever since he stole from Aengus Og and we see that for the most part Aengus’ persistence has been more irritant than danger since the fae he sends to defeat Atticus do little more than give him a flesh wound. This attack however is just the beginning of a much bigger threat and after a visit from the Morrigan - the Irish Goddess of Death Atticus knows that Aengus’ who has never tried to retrieve the sword personally before may indeed be serious about repossessing it this time.

This story was an action packed and entertaining read filled with a whole host of witty, dangerous, ancient, badass, funny, and interesting characters who range from witches to werewolves, Irish Gods to a mind-speaking wolf hound and Ancient Druid to vampires. The writing was fresh, had me laughing in almost every chapter and was both fast pace and full of charm. I enjoyed Kevin Hearne’s different take on the many familiar supernatural creatures I have come across in previous paranormal and urban fantasies but I especially enjoyed his version of the figures and deities of Irish mythology which I admit I did not know very much about before reading Hounded. The only down side to this lovely novel was that although it starts off strong soon after it reaches a hitch in pace. There was a need for some background information for readers to understand Atticus’ current situation and I thought that part was slow and found myself being distracted as I read it. However, if you can get past that little blimp then I recommend this to all fans of urban fantasy because you will indeed enjoy it.

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