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1 MP3-CD - 9 hours
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. “A witty new fantasy series.” —KELLY MEDING, author of Three Days to Dead
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. “A witty new fantasy series.” —KELLY MEDING, author of Three Days to Dead
9 pages, MP3 CD
First published June 7, 2011
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About the author
Kevin Hearne
75 books12.8k followersKevin is the NYT bestselling author of the Iron Druid Chronicles, as well as The Seven Kennings, an epic fantasy trilogy, and the Tales of Pell, a humorous fantasy series co-authored with Delilah S. Dawson. INK & SIGIL, a new urban fantasy series set in the Iron Druid universe, will be out in 2020.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,162 reviews
September 7, 2011
I was hesitant to bring this up in my last review because I thought it was just me - I thought I was reading too much into these novels. But I don't think so anymore and the issue is ruining my enjoyment of an otherwise good series.
You see, this series is terribly sexist - yet it's all so subversive that it was hard to pin at first.
There are many, many female characters. Normally, I'd consider this a good thing.
However we can effectively separate them into categories.
Harmless, likable and a sex object
Harmless, laughably evil and a sex object
Dangerous, unstable and a sex object
For example, Atticus' initiate is harmless and likable. She is probably the only woman who fits into this category. She's also probably the closest thing Hearne has written to a positive female character.
The many, many evil witches in this novel fit into the second category. Atticus is sure to take special note of their appearance. I say laughably evil because whilst they have power - it's nothing compared to Atticus' and Hearne goes to great lengths to make them objects of derision in our eyes. They will always try petty, pathetic things that make you happy that Atticus lays the smack-down on them. They are arrogant and tragically doomed to fail like Team Rocket from Pokemon. For every evil male character there are at least eight bad female characters. There is only one Harmless and laughably evil male character. There are many, many of these female characters and they all play second fiddle to the main bad character - a man. They are Hearne's version of the nameless goons in Bond movies. They are the faceless Red shirts from Star Trek.
Then there's the Dangerous, unstable and a sex object category and possibly the most offensive. These are women that Atticus is supposed to take seriously because they are all powerful in their own right - many are supposed to be more powerful.
Yet even goddesses are throwing themselves at Atticus to be in his bed. All of them are seriously unstable, highly emotive and completely subject to their own pettiness. Atticus spends most of this novel indulging them like you would play to a crazy person to keep them happy. I guess it's hard to blame Hearne too much. Men and the medical profession have been painting women as hysterical, unreasonable creatures for most of history. It's nothing new but it's terribly disappointing.
The ruler of the Tuatha De shows up and plays the damsel in distress to Atticus. She does the whole, "Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope!" Routine in the first book. Seriously? SERIOUSLY!? She is the fucking RULER of an ancient people. SHE IS A GODDESS! It's just all so... unempowering.
Still, I thought I was being sensitive after reading the first novel. In the second, Atticus strips Brighid down, humiliates her and lectures her in very reasonable tones while she froths at the mouth and acts the part of two-bit villain. Now I'm just insulted. An immortal goddess, so proficient at politics, bargaining and magic is so pathetic that she would act as she did and be caught as she was? Oh, of course. She's a woman and this all makes sense if your unconscious bias is to believe that women - even immortal ones - and creatures completely enslaved to whatever petty emotion is running through their fragile bodies.
Atticus' sexual assault, the use of sex as a weapon and many, many other small instances in this book only cemented my opinion that Hearne does not have a high respect for women - or he simply knows so little of them. There are much fewer male characters in this book - yet every single one with the exception of Percy, is a powerful, reasonable, intelligent, logical character. When comparing their uses and functions in these books, it becomes clear that men, as characters, as significantly more likable, powerful and reasonable than women.
It's a really sad thing to behold for a series that is otherwise fun and interesting.
You see, this series is terribly sexist - yet it's all so subversive that it was hard to pin at first.
There are many, many female characters. Normally, I'd consider this a good thing.
However we can effectively separate them into categories.
Harmless, likable and a sex object
Harmless, laughably evil and a sex object
Dangerous, unstable and a sex object
For example, Atticus' initiate is harmless and likable. She is probably the only woman who fits into this category. She's also probably the closest thing Hearne has written to a positive female character.
The many, many evil witches in this novel fit into the second category. Atticus is sure to take special note of their appearance. I say laughably evil because whilst they have power - it's nothing compared to Atticus' and Hearne goes to great lengths to make them objects of derision in our eyes. They will always try petty, pathetic things that make you happy that Atticus lays the smack-down on them. They are arrogant and tragically doomed to fail like Team Rocket from Pokemon. For every evil male character there are at least eight bad female characters. There is only one Harmless and laughably evil male character. There are many, many of these female characters and they all play second fiddle to the main bad character - a man. They are Hearne's version of the nameless goons in Bond movies. They are the faceless Red shirts from Star Trek.
Then there's the Dangerous, unstable and a sex object category and possibly the most offensive. These are women that Atticus is supposed to take seriously because they are all powerful in their own right - many are supposed to be more powerful.
Yet even goddesses are throwing themselves at Atticus to be in his bed. All of them are seriously unstable, highly emotive and completely subject to their own pettiness. Atticus spends most of this novel indulging them like you would play to a crazy person to keep them happy. I guess it's hard to blame Hearne too much. Men and the medical profession have been painting women as hysterical, unreasonable creatures for most of history. It's nothing new but it's terribly disappointing.
The ruler of the Tuatha De shows up and plays the damsel in distress to Atticus. She does the whole, "Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope!" Routine in the first book. Seriously? SERIOUSLY!? She is the fucking RULER of an ancient people. SHE IS A GODDESS! It's just all so... unempowering.
Still, I thought I was being sensitive after reading the first novel. In the second, Atticus strips Brighid down, humiliates her and lectures her in very reasonable tones while she froths at the mouth and acts the part of two-bit villain. Now I'm just insulted. An immortal goddess, so proficient at politics, bargaining and magic is so pathetic that she would act as she did and be caught as she was? Oh, of course. She's a woman and this all makes sense if your unconscious bias is to believe that women - even immortal ones - and creatures completely enslaved to whatever petty emotion is running through their fragile bodies.
Atticus' sexual assault, the use of sex as a weapon and many, many other small instances in this book only cemented my opinion that Hearne does not have a high respect for women - or he simply knows so little of them. There are much fewer male characters in this book - yet every single one with the exception of Percy, is a powerful, reasonable, intelligent, logical character. When comparing their uses and functions in these books, it becomes clear that men, as characters, as significantly more likable, powerful and reasonable than women.
It's a really sad thing to behold for a series that is otherwise fun and interesting.
July 17, 2017
So far I have only read 2 of these books but they crack me up 😂 😂😂😂
I love that Atticus is a hot Druid that gets help by the Earth. And he has very funny conversations with his dog in their minds 😊 Oberon is an Irish Wolfhound and he is funny too!
So almost right off the bat, Atticus hast to fight off a huge bug but the Earth helps him. And his crazy neighbor hates him.
Atticus' lawyer wants him to kill Thor and is mad at him because he doesn't want to. I love Thor! Anyway, Atticus has two lawyers, one a vampire and one a werewolf.
So some evil witches are trying to take over the town so Atticus has to get help from some other supernatural beings to help get them out.
There are other things going on as always seems to be the case in these books. Either way, I like it 😊
Demons smell like @ss--nasty @ss that slithers down your throat, finds your gag reflex, and sits on it with authority.
I love that Atticus is a hot Druid that gets help by the Earth. And he has very funny conversations with his dog in their minds 😊 Oberon is an Irish Wolfhound and he is funny too!
So almost right off the bat, Atticus hast to fight off a huge bug but the Earth helps him. And his crazy neighbor hates him.
"O'Sullivan?" an uncertain voice pulled my consciousness back aboveground. It was Mr. Semerdjian.
"Yes, sir, how may I help you?" Everything was back to normal--that is, vines looked great and so did my mesquite tree. The saguaro cactus using its many arms to mold stone as if it were clay and making loud bugcrunching noises was admittedly worth comment.
My neighbor raised a skating index finger to point at the saguaro. "That moving cactus . . . and the big bug. . . and you, you spooky bastard. What are you?"
I stuffed my hands in my pockets and grinned winningly at him. "Why, I am the Antichrist, of course."
Mr. Semerdjian responded by fainting, which seriously surprised me. I'd expected a vulgar expression of disbelief, like a middle finger or a clenching of the crotch, because the man had seen a giant demon and casually offered to blow it up like a tough guy.
Atticus' lawyer wants him to kill Thor and is mad at him because he doesn't want to. I love Thor! Anyway, Atticus has two lawyers, one a vampire and one a werewolf.
So some evil witches are trying to take over the town so Atticus has to get help from some other supernatural beings to help get them out.
There are other things going on as always seems to be the case in these books. Either way, I like it 😊
June 26, 2017
Reread: 2017
3.5 stars
Part of the appeal of these books (for me, at least) is that druids haven't oversaturated the market yet. I mean, name one romance novel with a sexy druid as the leading man.
....
See?
I'm not saying it's impossible, but if you managed to do it, you probably had to think about it for a minute. Oh, and I'm also not saying Hexed is a romance novel! It's not.
I just meant that once a magical person/place/thing hits romance novel status you're pretty much sick of the sight of them. As in, remember when vampires were scary motherfuckers and not sexy motherfuckers?
Yeah, those of us from the Jurassic era look back fondly on those days...
On a happier note: Hexed has a druid!
And all the fun gods that come with him...
Yes, there are werewolves, fae, witches, and even a vampire in this book, but to counteract the been there, done that feeling of those characters you've also got a handful of less used magical people/creatures. Including, but not limited to, the Atticus' adorable sidekick, Oberon.
I mean, who wouldn't want a talking Wolfhound to be your BFF?
Ok, truth time. There's something lacking in these books that I can't quite put my finger on yet. It isn't as though I don't enjoy the action, the plot, or the characters...I do! But at the same time, I'm not in a great hurry to pick up the next book in the series again. And whatever the reason is, it must be why I forgot/abandoned these books to start with. Still, it's hard to find a really good urban fantasy series that doesn't regurgitate the same old crap characters, so I'm determined to give this the Iron Druid a fair shot at winning my heart this time around.
Original review: 2012
Hexed picks up where Hounded left off. Atticus is dealing with the fallout from killing his old enemy, and the power vacuum that his death caused. A lot of the gods want him dead, or on their side...whichever is easier.
And of course, everyone wants him to kill Thor next.
This is a pretty fun action/adventure series, and so far I'm really enjoying it.
Recommended for fans of series like The Dresden Files.
3.5 stars
Part of the appeal of these books (for me, at least) is that druids haven't oversaturated the market yet. I mean, name one romance novel with a sexy druid as the leading man.
....
See?
I'm not saying it's impossible, but if you managed to do it, you probably had to think about it for a minute. Oh, and I'm also not saying Hexed is a romance novel! It's not.
I just meant that once a magical person/place/thing hits romance novel status you're pretty much sick of the sight of them. As in, remember when vampires were scary motherfuckers and not sexy motherfuckers?
Yeah, those of us from the Jurassic era look back fondly on those days...
On a happier note: Hexed has a druid!
And all the fun gods that come with him...
Yes, there are werewolves, fae, witches, and even a vampire in this book, but to counteract the been there, done that feeling of those characters you've also got a handful of less used magical people/creatures. Including, but not limited to, the Atticus' adorable sidekick, Oberon.
I mean, who wouldn't want a talking Wolfhound to be your BFF?
Ok, truth time. There's something lacking in these books that I can't quite put my finger on yet. It isn't as though I don't enjoy the action, the plot, or the characters...I do! But at the same time, I'm not in a great hurry to pick up the next book in the series again. And whatever the reason is, it must be why I forgot/abandoned these books to start with. Still, it's hard to find a really good urban fantasy series that doesn't regurgitate the same old crap characters, so I'm determined to give this the Iron Druid a fair shot at winning my heart this time around.
Original review: 2012
Hexed picks up where Hounded left off. Atticus is dealing with the fallout from killing his old enemy, and the power vacuum that his death caused. A lot of the gods want him dead, or on their side...whichever is easier.
And of course, everyone wants him to kill Thor next.
This is a pretty fun action/adventure series, and so far I'm really enjoying it.
Recommended for fans of series like The Dresden Files.
March 25, 2014
When Tempe's witch population booms, Atticus O'Sullivan is forced to make peace with the members of the former coven and join forces with them to drive the newcomers out of town. But what other deals will he have to make to see his task through to the end?
Hexed is the second volume in the Iron Druid Chronicles and nearly as good as the first. Witches following Bacchus roll into town from Vegas and start shaking things up. Throw in Coyote, Atticus' new apprentice, and some mop from the previous book and Hexed is pretty hard to put down. Once again, Atticus gets bits burned and lopped off, but manages to survive. He also manages to set up the next book.
The magic system in the Iron Druid Chronicles works better for me as a reader than that of the Dresden Files. That might be that Atticus doesn't explain the same things in every book, though. His modern slang continues to get on my nerves, however. I understand that he needs to fit in but his personality doesn't really fit my concept of a 2000 year old being either. He seems more like a typical 30 year old and doesn't display much more wisdom than that. I did appreciate the depth of his pop culture references, although he could stray further from the Butcher repertoire.
Curmudgeonations aside, I still had quite a bit of fun reading this. The widow McDonaugh and Oberon continue to be my favorites among the supporting cast. The witches were further developed and I expect they'll continue being a prominent part of the series. The Morrigan and Brighid seem to have a power struggle brewing.
Hexed shows that Hearne's pulling Atticus from the Harry Dresden mold but the imprints are still pretty clear. Four out of five stars.
Hexed is the second volume in the Iron Druid Chronicles and nearly as good as the first. Witches following Bacchus roll into town from Vegas and start shaking things up. Throw in Coyote, Atticus' new apprentice, and some mop from the previous book and Hexed is pretty hard to put down. Once again, Atticus gets bits burned and lopped off, but manages to survive. He also manages to set up the next book.
The magic system in the Iron Druid Chronicles works better for me as a reader than that of the Dresden Files. That might be that Atticus doesn't explain the same things in every book, though. His modern slang continues to get on my nerves, however. I understand that he needs to fit in but his personality doesn't really fit my concept of a 2000 year old being either. He seems more like a typical 30 year old and doesn't display much more wisdom than that. I did appreciate the depth of his pop culture references, although he could stray further from the Butcher repertoire.
Curmudgeonations aside, I still had quite a bit of fun reading this. The widow McDonaugh and Oberon continue to be my favorites among the supporting cast. The witches were further developed and I expect they'll continue being a prominent part of the series. The Morrigan and Brighid seem to have a power struggle brewing.
Hexed shows that Hearne's pulling Atticus from the Harry Dresden mold but the imprints are still pretty clear. Four out of five stars.
November 8, 2016
In most any American town, one can find a popular all night eatery where a plate of hash browns can be prepared scattered, smothered, covered, chunked etc. Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid chronicles serves up a steaming hot and delicious plate of fun and prepared Hounded, Hexed, Hammered, Tricked etc.
Hearne’s 2011 addition to the Chronicles, check-off list, Hexed, is good as the rest of the series. Iron Druid checklist:
2100-year-old last of the druids – CHECK
Blood sucking vampire lawyer – CHECK
Pack of affluent and urbane professional werewolves – CHECK
Coven of stylish Polish witches – CHECK
Ancient body snatching Indian witch – CHECK
Demons – CHECK
Native American trickster god - CHECK
Tuatha Dé Danann - CHECK
Gratuitous and athletic sex magic - CHECK
References to Asgard - CHECK
Wise cracking, Scooby snack dealing telepathic Irish wolfhound – CHECK!!
Just as in the earlier Hounded and various shorter works, Hearne’s imaginative and talented writing crafts an urban fantasy adventure for protagonist Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the great Irish druids and now residing in Arizona. This episode finds our hero making friends with some witches and battling others.
Lots of Celtic and mythological good times
Hearne’s 2011 addition to the Chronicles, check-off list, Hexed, is good as the rest of the series. Iron Druid checklist:
2100-year-old last of the druids – CHECK
Blood sucking vampire lawyer – CHECK
Pack of affluent and urbane professional werewolves – CHECK
Coven of stylish Polish witches – CHECK
Ancient body snatching Indian witch – CHECK
Demons – CHECK
Native American trickster god - CHECK
Tuatha Dé Danann - CHECK
Gratuitous and athletic sex magic - CHECK
References to Asgard - CHECK
Wise cracking, Scooby snack dealing telepathic Irish wolfhound – CHECK!!
Just as in the earlier Hounded and various shorter works, Hearne’s imaginative and talented writing crafts an urban fantasy adventure for protagonist Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the great Irish druids and now residing in Arizona. This episode finds our hero making friends with some witches and battling others.
Lots of Celtic and mythological good times
October 26, 2011
I listened to the narration of this book and did not finish the book. I stopped around chapter 13 or so.
Positives: The narration is decent. I liked the inclusion of Coyote. I think he is a great character. I enjoy his presence in other books by other authors, this one was not an exception. Atticus and Oberon are mildly entertaining. The scene where Oberon talks to Atticus about life and death and Atticus tells the readers that he has been artificially prolonging Oberon’s life was very moving. This was the best scene in the two books I read in this series. Ultimately, this series is just not for me. I love urban fantasy and fantasy books. I enjoy male authored and male point of view books, but for me this book missed the mark. I am clearly in the minority.
Okay, on to the rest of my review: I thought this book suffered from the same issues I had with book #1: no emotional connection with Atticus, low cost to using his magic, everything comes easy for him. here is my review for #1.
I am not going to go into a lot of detail about this book, but here are some scenes that irritated me:
The scene in the beginning where his assistant answers the door scantily clad is just beyond silly. First, no woman who was not purposely trying to entice would answer the door dressed like that. Let me make it clear -- I have no problems with purposely trying to entice, titillating scenes or scantily clad women. It was the delivery of this scene I thought was off. Once Atticus is conversing with her, his apprentice is apparantly clueless as to the affect of her near nakedness and continues to wonder out loud why Atticus is uncomfortable and looking up in the air? Umm, any woman knows immediately when a man is reacting to her appearance in such an obvious way! Sorry Kevin Hearne, women don’t answer the door dressed like that generally and usually don’t go to bed wearing such an outfit unless there is a specific man present they want to please. I hope this doesn’t disappoint you too much. I know the general style of humor he was attempting here -- oblivious sexy woman doesn't understand her effect on man, walks around in sexy nighties just waiting to answer the door for men who ring it. I just thought it was not very believable. And because of that I couldn't enjoy it.
Atticus verbally attacks a teacher who calls out and wonders what is going on, no animosity in her voice – he is fighting a demon near the school. Atticus then proceeds -- out of nowhere and completely disconnected with the scene – to attack the teacher for not teaching the children English well enough. So here we have someone he apparently does not know, we have had no information or discussion of poorly prepared students in the subject of English presented in this book thus far. Then Atticus says to himself, “I need to shut up and stop taking my frustrations out on this poor frumpy lady who probably never gets laid.” Huh? Just random attacking of teachers based on assumptions, criticizing their appearance and then making assumptions that they don’t have sex because her appearance is not pleasing to him? I really don’t have a problem with “frumpy” as a description, but when it is contrasted with how he describes almost every other woman in the story and we don’t get to know anything else about her appearance (mousy limp hair maybe? Don’t know, not in the description. Slack ill fitting clothes? Don’t know, not in the description. All he says is “frumpy” which I guess means he doesn’t want to have sex with her and thus he assumes she is not getting laid very often, because you know if Atticus doesn’t want her she isn’t getting any. What if she has a husband or wife somewhere she has spent her life with? I know I am getting deep here and humor was intended. I just don’t think it is funny to make jokes about innocent bystander's appearance. It really rubs me the wrong way.) I know the humor he was going for, but it just came off the wrong way. I think that if he also described men as frumpy or had provided more of a decription of this woman beyond "frumpy" and had not equated her being frumpy with not having sex, I likely would not have had an issue. For me it was the delivery e.g. -- I find her unattractive, I will dismiss her completely and assume that no other man wants her. I honestly don't think this is the way most men think.
I won’t be reading or listening to Hammered, #3 in this series.
Positives: The narration is decent. I liked the inclusion of Coyote. I think he is a great character. I enjoy his presence in other books by other authors, this one was not an exception. Atticus and Oberon are mildly entertaining. The scene where Oberon talks to Atticus about life and death and Atticus tells the readers that he has been artificially prolonging Oberon’s life was very moving. This was the best scene in the two books I read in this series. Ultimately, this series is just not for me. I love urban fantasy and fantasy books. I enjoy male authored and male point of view books, but for me this book missed the mark. I am clearly in the minority.
Okay, on to the rest of my review: I thought this book suffered from the same issues I had with book #1: no emotional connection with Atticus, low cost to using his magic, everything comes easy for him. here is my review for #1.
I am not going to go into a lot of detail about this book, but here are some scenes that irritated me:
The scene in the beginning where his assistant answers the door scantily clad is just beyond silly. First, no woman who was not purposely trying to entice would answer the door dressed like that. Let me make it clear -- I have no problems with purposely trying to entice, titillating scenes or scantily clad women. It was the delivery of this scene I thought was off. Once Atticus is conversing with her, his apprentice is apparantly clueless as to the affect of her near nakedness and continues to wonder out loud why Atticus is uncomfortable and looking up in the air? Umm, any woman knows immediately when a man is reacting to her appearance in such an obvious way! Sorry Kevin Hearne, women don’t answer the door dressed like that generally and usually don’t go to bed wearing such an outfit unless there is a specific man present they want to please. I hope this doesn’t disappoint you too much. I know the general style of humor he was attempting here -- oblivious sexy woman doesn't understand her effect on man, walks around in sexy nighties just waiting to answer the door for men who ring it. I just thought it was not very believable. And because of that I couldn't enjoy it.
Atticus verbally attacks a teacher who calls out and wonders what is going on, no animosity in her voice – he is fighting a demon near the school. Atticus then proceeds -- out of nowhere and completely disconnected with the scene – to attack the teacher for not teaching the children English well enough. So here we have someone he apparently does not know, we have had no information or discussion of poorly prepared students in the subject of English presented in this book thus far. Then Atticus says to himself, “I need to shut up and stop taking my frustrations out on this poor frumpy lady who probably never gets laid.” Huh? Just random attacking of teachers based on assumptions, criticizing their appearance and then making assumptions that they don’t have sex because her appearance is not pleasing to him? I really don’t have a problem with “frumpy” as a description, but when it is contrasted with how he describes almost every other woman in the story and we don’t get to know anything else about her appearance (mousy limp hair maybe? Don’t know, not in the description. Slack ill fitting clothes? Don’t know, not in the description. All he says is “frumpy” which I guess means he doesn’t want to have sex with her and thus he assumes she is not getting laid very often, because you know if Atticus doesn’t want her she isn’t getting any. What if she has a husband or wife somewhere she has spent her life with? I know I am getting deep here and humor was intended. I just don’t think it is funny to make jokes about innocent bystander's appearance. It really rubs me the wrong way.) I know the humor he was going for, but it just came off the wrong way. I think that if he also described men as frumpy or had provided more of a decription of this woman beyond "frumpy" and had not equated her being frumpy with not having sex, I likely would not have had an issue. For me it was the delivery e.g. -- I find her unattractive, I will dismiss her completely and assume that no other man wants her. I honestly don't think this is the way most men think.
I won’t be reading or listening to Hammered, #3 in this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 15, 2018
Another well-written, excellent narration of the Iron Druid Chronicles. Great story. 10 of 10 stars
January 31, 2019
Whoa, this series is getting quite addictive. Every time I plugged in my earphones and turned on Audible, time just seemed to melt away as I tried very hard not to laugh out loud in public while I was being thoroughly entertained by the story and narration.
Judging from the title of the book, I suspected that witches will be the fodder for trouble in this volume and 'lo and behold, I was spot on. Polish and German witches to be specific. One thing's for sure, Arizona is quite a melting pot of a myriad pantheons. Firstly, Atticus will never outrun his heritage and his promise to the Morrigan, which resulted in some scenes which were quite hilarious and even a bit moving as the Chooser of the Slain can be nicer than the scary, deathly aura she emanates - don't ever say that to her face though. I also thoroughly enjoyed the appearance of Coyote (well, of course Native American will feature in Arizona) and the Virgin Mary as a manifestation of unwavering faith. Atticus also drops a lot of references to pop culture through different eras, which ratchets up the fun.
Atticus is growing on me as a character. True, he can come across to be quite a smart-ass at times, but let's face it - if the guy can survive 21 centuries and still appear like in his twenties (with a nice bum too, apparently, and I do have a weakness for that), then I'll say he has every right to be so. What warms the cockles of my heart the most is the love he has for the land and natural life - being a druid by nature - and for Oberon, his wolfhound. As a biophile and a huge dog-lover, this undoubtedly means a lot to me. Speaking of Oberon, this lovable canine continues to steal the show. And right behind his wagging tail is the widow, Mrs MacDonagh. I swear if I have such an adorable old lady in my neighbourhood, I'd regularly spend some time with her drinking whiskey on her porch.
Have I ever mentioned how darn good Luke Daniels is? He just gets the nuance of each character down pat. Special mention needed to be made of his voice-acting for the vampire, Leif, and the werewolf, Hal. For the former, he does this silky smooth and formal voice while the latter had more gruff and growl. The best part of all was how he layered over those voices a certain sense of threat or danger that these personages represent.
As much as I am loving this series, especially on audio, I need to space them out so that I can savour the remaining 7 books for as long as I can.
Judging from the title of the book, I suspected that witches will be the fodder for trouble in this volume and 'lo and behold, I was spot on. Polish and German witches to be specific. One thing's for sure, Arizona is quite a melting pot of a myriad pantheons. Firstly, Atticus will never outrun his heritage and his promise to the Morrigan, which resulted in some scenes which were quite hilarious and even a bit moving as the Chooser of the Slain can be nicer than the scary, deathly aura she emanates - don't ever say that to her face though. I also thoroughly enjoyed the appearance of Coyote (well, of course Native American will feature in Arizona) and the Virgin Mary as a manifestation of unwavering faith. Atticus also drops a lot of references to pop culture through different eras, which ratchets up the fun.
Atticus is growing on me as a character. True, he can come across to be quite a smart-ass at times, but let's face it - if the guy can survive 21 centuries and still appear like in his twenties (with a nice bum too, apparently, and I do have a weakness for that), then I'll say he has every right to be so. What warms the cockles of my heart the most is the love he has for the land and natural life - being a druid by nature - and for Oberon, his wolfhound. As a biophile and a huge dog-lover, this undoubtedly means a lot to me. Speaking of Oberon, this lovable canine continues to steal the show. And right behind his wagging tail is the widow, Mrs MacDonagh. I swear if I have such an adorable old lady in my neighbourhood, I'd regularly spend some time with her drinking whiskey on her porch.
Have I ever mentioned how darn good Luke Daniels is? He just gets the nuance of each character down pat. Special mention needed to be made of his voice-acting for the vampire, Leif, and the werewolf, Hal. For the former, he does this silky smooth and formal voice while the latter had more gruff and growl. The best part of all was how he layered over those voices a certain sense of threat or danger that these personages represent.
As much as I am loving this series, especially on audio, I need to space them out so that I can savour the remaining 7 books for as long as I can.
November 1, 2011
I'd like to think I tolerated a lot. Atticus' Gary-Stuness, his talent of getting away from danger every single time, the fact that an omg scarily powerful!!!! fallen angel was no match for him (and oh hey, it pierced his side to the point where he felt the claws "scrape by his ribs" - and after the battle was finished, all he had was a "flesh wound"). The veiled sexism (covered very well in this review, which gave me a Bad Feeling before starting this): every woman is introduced by how attractive she is. The completely out of place snark on public schools. The Morrigan healing his ear with magical healing sex. Brighid coming by immediately after that, burning his kitchen, and then sitting through a three- or four-page scene wherein he subdued her, lectured her on why that was wrong, and made her apologize. Remember, this is an Irish goddess we're talking about here.
It's a short book, so I kept going.
p. 203:
"Out, out, thou strumpet Fortune!" I cried with all the venom of Charlton Heston.
< What's a strumpet? > Oberon asked.
"It's a Shakespearean word for whore."
...
< Who'd you call a strumpet? >
"Fortune. It's a quote from Hamlet. The idea is that Fortune is fickle or unfaithful, like a whore."
... Okay. Well. That made me uncomfortable, but I guess that's... accurate... ? Kept going.
And then he encounters the Bad Witches. Okay. Pages 212-213:
They looked like they wanted to be Pat Benatar. Or maybe Joan Jett. They wore form-fitting black leather pants with boots rising to mid-calf, spaghetti-strap black camisoles barely restraining the sort of epic chests one finds in comic books
Bolded text is when I snapped and threw the book at the wall. I don't think I've ever done that before.
You know what, I don't give out one-star reviews very often. And this was a series I really, really wanted to like - I thought the first book was pretty cool, with a few issues, but was assured that those problems were resolved. (They're not.) And maybe it's unfair that I'm giving a one-star review to something I haven't finished - maybe those last eighty pages are pretty good! But at this point, I do not care. This has crossed the point from being funny to grossing me out.
I might revise this when I've cooled off a little. Maybe I'll pick it up, and if the ending's to my liking, raise it to two stars. But I'm not exactly hopeful.
eta: Finished it, it never got better. Dropping this series.
edit 4/24/12: Shoot, Goodreads ate the Oberon quotes between the brackets - added spaces to make them visible.
It's a short book, so I kept going.
p. 203:
"Out, out, thou strumpet Fortune!" I cried with all the venom of Charlton Heston.
< What's a strumpet? > Oberon asked.
"It's a Shakespearean word for whore."
...
< Who'd you call a strumpet? >
"Fortune. It's a quote from Hamlet. The idea is that Fortune is fickle or unfaithful, like a whore."
... Okay. Well. That made me uncomfortable, but I guess that's... accurate... ? Kept going.
And then he encounters the Bad Witches. Okay. Pages 212-213:
They looked like they wanted to be Pat Benatar. Or maybe Joan Jett. They wore form-fitting black leather pants with boots rising to mid-calf, spaghetti-strap black camisoles barely restraining the sort of epic chests one finds in comic books
Bolded text is when I snapped and threw the book at the wall. I don't think I've ever done that before.
You know what, I don't give out one-star reviews very often. And this was a series I really, really wanted to like - I thought the first book was pretty cool, with a few issues, but was assured that those problems were resolved. (They're not.) And maybe it's unfair that I'm giving a one-star review to something I haven't finished - maybe those last eighty pages are pretty good! But at this point, I do not care. This has crossed the point from being funny to grossing me out.
I might revise this when I've cooled off a little. Maybe I'll pick it up, and if the ending's to my liking, raise it to two stars. But I'm not exactly hopeful.
eta: Finished it, it never got better. Dropping this series.
edit 4/24/12: Shoot, Goodreads ate the Oberon quotes between the brackets - added spaces to make them visible.
December 11, 2017
Full review now posted!
I've got to give Hearne one thing; the man is funny.
Hexed is the followup novel to Hounded, the first book in the Iron Druid Chronicles. I find that with many longer series, the second book tends to be a good deal weaker than the first. A large part of this is due to a successful first novel being optioned into a series, and the author having to find a way to stretch their idea into multiple books, generally far more than a trilogy in the urban fantasy genre. Often, by the third of fourth book the author has found their stride with the series, but this frequently results in a second book that is weak and forgettable.
That might have been the case with this book if not for one thing: the humor. I wasn’t nearly as interested in the lore for the Polish and German witches who featured so prominently in this book as I was in all of the Celtic lore presented in Hounded, but the amount of humor seeded throughout the book kept me reading anyway. There were so many hilarious, nearly slapstick situations packed into the narrative that I could actually overlook my relative disinterest in the main plot line. Also, our main character’s canine friend, Oberon, is even more entertaining than he was in the first book. The dialogues between him and Atticus, and between Atticus and various other side characters, were often so funny that I honestly laughed out loud as I read.
Something I love about these books so far, and the reason I’m looking forward to reading more of the series, is the mix of lore from around the world. Books that serve as a mythological melting pot, such as Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, just make me really happy, and this series shows that promise. While I wasn’t a big fan of the Eastern European witchcraft lore around which most of the plot was based, I loved the additions of the Native American god Coyote, the Virgin Mary, and various Celtic goddesses who were present in the first book. I also love how much everyone, no matter what pantheon they come from, hates Thor. As the next book is entitled Hammered, I have a sneaking suspicion that this hatred will be addressed soon.
I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the first, but I did really appreciate the humor. This is for sure a series worth reading if you like funny urban fantasy.
Original review can be found at Booknest.
I've got to give Hearne one thing; the man is funny.
Hexed is the followup novel to Hounded, the first book in the Iron Druid Chronicles. I find that with many longer series, the second book tends to be a good deal weaker than the first. A large part of this is due to a successful first novel being optioned into a series, and the author having to find a way to stretch their idea into multiple books, generally far more than a trilogy in the urban fantasy genre. Often, by the third of fourth book the author has found their stride with the series, but this frequently results in a second book that is weak and forgettable.
That might have been the case with this book if not for one thing: the humor. I wasn’t nearly as interested in the lore for the Polish and German witches who featured so prominently in this book as I was in all of the Celtic lore presented in Hounded, but the amount of humor seeded throughout the book kept me reading anyway. There were so many hilarious, nearly slapstick situations packed into the narrative that I could actually overlook my relative disinterest in the main plot line. Also, our main character’s canine friend, Oberon, is even more entertaining than he was in the first book. The dialogues between him and Atticus, and between Atticus and various other side characters, were often so funny that I honestly laughed out loud as I read.
Something I love about these books so far, and the reason I’m looking forward to reading more of the series, is the mix of lore from around the world. Books that serve as a mythological melting pot, such as Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, just make me really happy, and this series shows that promise. While I wasn’t a big fan of the Eastern European witchcraft lore around which most of the plot was based, I loved the additions of the Native American god Coyote, the Virgin Mary, and various Celtic goddesses who were present in the first book. I also love how much everyone, no matter what pantheon they come from, hates Thor. As the next book is entitled Hammered, I have a sneaking suspicion that this hatred will be addressed soon.
I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the first, but I did really appreciate the humor. This is for sure a series worth reading if you like funny urban fantasy.
Original review can be found at Booknest.
June 1, 2016
just as good if not a little better then the first one.
now i really want to read the third.
he really can't hold on to his ears;)
now i really want to read the third.
he really can't hold on to his ears;)
August 20, 2015
***Wanda's Summer Festival of Reading Fluff***
Second books are always difficult. How do you live up to the expectations generated by a good first book? Despite the fact that I have given book two the same rating as book one, there were a few disappointments in the second installment.
First, there is not nearly enough of Oberon, the wolfhound. His character made the first book for me and although he features prominently in book two, his page time had been cut down. I miss all his dopey doggy comments. And this despite the fact that I am not a dog person.
Second, Atticus now has an apprentice, Granuaile, who really doesn’t get to do an awful lot in this book. Perhaps she will get her spot in the sun in upcoming volumes, but it was a shame that she had to spend what little time she got concocting alibis for Atticus and pretending to be his girlfriend (and, unbeknownst to her, distracting him with her feminine attributes—I mean really, this guy is supposed to be 1000 years old and he is still that easily distracted by a pretty woman?)
Third, there are lots of women in this book. Lots. And it still fails the Bechdel test miserably. The women don’t talk to each other in any meaningful way—they are all focused on Atticus. They are all merely plot devices to make him look powerful or solve a problem for him.
However, I am willing to continue for at least another book before I decide to abandon this series. I like the Celtic mythological aspects. I like the druid angle. I love Oberon. I see potential in Granuaile.
Summer is winding down, and as it does, I will have less time for this urban fantasy fiesta that I have happily indulged in. But I have definitely enjoyed it and will continue to read in the genre as time allows.
Second books are always difficult. How do you live up to the expectations generated by a good first book? Despite the fact that I have given book two the same rating as book one, there were a few disappointments in the second installment.
First, there is not nearly enough of Oberon, the wolfhound. His character made the first book for me and although he features prominently in book two, his page time had been cut down. I miss all his dopey doggy comments. And this despite the fact that I am not a dog person.
Second, Atticus now has an apprentice, Granuaile, who really doesn’t get to do an awful lot in this book. Perhaps she will get her spot in the sun in upcoming volumes, but it was a shame that she had to spend what little time she got concocting alibis for Atticus and pretending to be his girlfriend (and, unbeknownst to her, distracting him with her feminine attributes—I mean really, this guy is supposed to be 1000 years old and he is still that easily distracted by a pretty woman?)
Third, there are lots of women in this book. Lots. And it still fails the Bechdel test miserably. The women don’t talk to each other in any meaningful way—they are all focused on Atticus. They are all merely plot devices to make him look powerful or solve a problem for him.
However, I am willing to continue for at least another book before I decide to abandon this series. I like the Celtic mythological aspects. I like the druid angle. I love Oberon. I see potential in Granuaile.
Summer is winding down, and as it does, I will have less time for this urban fantasy fiesta that I have happily indulged in. But I have definitely enjoyed it and will continue to read in the genre as time allows.
November 7, 2016
As much fun as the first one.
October 8, 2015
Number 2 in the series and not quite as good as the first one but still a very entertaining book! I love the fact that that Atticus has such great super powers and is practically unbeatable especially with that sword. I love the talking dog and all the laugh aloud moments that this same dog introduces to the story. Comparisons with the Dresden Files are impossible to avoid but who cares when both series are so good. Loved it and now on to the next one and presumably a battle with Thor. ( who I now visualise as Chris Hemsworth due to the movies)
April 6, 2023
Atticus O’Sullivan, the last of the Druids resides in Arizona with his wolfhound Oberon. He runs an occult bookshop and makes herbal tea remedies. After the events of Hounded, the Tuatha Dé Danann try to enlist Atticus in killing their foes. Just want this ancient druid wants. He tries to avoid the Tuatha Dé Danann not be recruited by them. He is also busy teaching his new Druid apprentice Granuaile. Atticus has problems right in Tempe though, as a new coven of witches from Vegas makes a power move and he soon finds himself battling Bacchants, fighting off a feisty Celtic God and enlisting the help of Leif, his lawyer. Eek gads this was a fun, fast-paced installment.
We have several storylines that kept me listening into the wee hours. Some are filled with humor and we even see a little sexy action. I laughed so hard I had tears. We also see different types of demons, supernatural creatures and all sorts of Gods. Fans of Ilona Andrews will feel right at home with this series. Hearne is a masterful storyteller and gives balance to each of the treads. Leif, our vampire lawyer is friggin hilarious. He is trying to grasp modern language and slang..the results will keep you in stitches. Since Atticus asks for his aid he now owes him a debt. We get a glimpse into what Hammered will be about. I love the play on the title. (You'll understand once you read it)
Secondary characters like the Sisters of the Three Auroras, Hal the werewolf, Granuaile, Atticus’s trusty apprentice, the Virgin Mary, and Coyote add interests and loads of problems. Not to mention the Tempe Police who have an interest in Atticus. I loved the encounters dealing with Atticus' noisy neighbor. That poor, rotten man. The Morrigan kills me! She is hilarious and one of my favorite characters. Mrs. MacDonagh an elderly woman who lives in the neighborhood cracks me up and is one of the few humans who know about the others.
Luke Daniels rocked my ears off from his interpretation of Atticus to his voice for Oberon. Nailed it! While I am sure reading the books is equally fun the Iron Druid Chronicles are made for audio and add another level of enjoyment to the series. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer
Update: #ReadAlong2023 update. Read for challenge @booksofmyheart. I am so enjoying listening to this series a second time. Moments that were new to me come with the knowledge of what is yet to come and some strike me as hilarious. What a spectacular cast of characters and circumstances.
We have several storylines that kept me listening into the wee hours. Some are filled with humor and we even see a little sexy action. I laughed so hard I had tears. We also see different types of demons, supernatural creatures and all sorts of Gods. Fans of Ilona Andrews will feel right at home with this series. Hearne is a masterful storyteller and gives balance to each of the treads. Leif, our vampire lawyer is friggin hilarious. He is trying to grasp modern language and slang..the results will keep you in stitches. Since Atticus asks for his aid he now owes him a debt. We get a glimpse into what Hammered will be about. I love the play on the title. (You'll understand once you read it)
Secondary characters like the Sisters of the Three Auroras, Hal the werewolf, Granuaile, Atticus’s trusty apprentice, the Virgin Mary, and Coyote add interests and loads of problems. Not to mention the Tempe Police who have an interest in Atticus. I loved the encounters dealing with Atticus' noisy neighbor. That poor, rotten man. The Morrigan kills me! She is hilarious and one of my favorite characters. Mrs. MacDonagh an elderly woman who lives in the neighborhood cracks me up and is one of the few humans who know about the others.
Luke Daniels rocked my ears off from his interpretation of Atticus to his voice for Oberon. Nailed it! While I am sure reading the books is equally fun the Iron Druid Chronicles are made for audio and add another level of enjoyment to the series. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer
Update: #ReadAlong2023 update. Read for challenge @booksofmyheart. I am so enjoying listening to this series a second time. Moments that were new to me come with the knowledge of what is yet to come and some strike me as hilarious. What a spectacular cast of characters and circumstances.
May 10, 2018
This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
I liked this one but not as much as the first book in the series. This one really falls somewhere between 3 and 4 stars for me but I have decided to go ahead and round up. I was really excited to get back to the series after enjoying the first book in the series. This is definitely a series that needs to be read in order since this book picks up shortly after the events of the previous installment. This ended up being another enjoyable listen.
One of the things that I loved the most about the first book was the characters. I was really happy to see all of the key players back for this installment in the series. There were a few new characters that were rather impressive as well. I really like Atticus. He is incredibly patient and able to determine the best course of action in most situations. I love that he has adapted to the present time better than most of the other that have lived a very long time. Oberon is such a wonderful character and anytime he was a part of a scene I usually had a big grin on my face.
This book has all of the excitement that I had hoped to see. Atticus has to team with the local witch coven when bad things start happening. Atticus has several problems that he is juggling during the story and somehow he makes it all seem easy. This book balanced the action very nicely against some of the lighter moments in the book.
Luke Daniels continues to do a fantastic job with the narration of this series. He does such a great job with all of the character voices and adds a lot of emotion to story. His portrayal of Oberon is simply outstanding. I couldn't imagine an intelligent Wolfhound sounding any other way. I had not problem listening to this one for hours at a time.
I would recommend this series to others. It is a very unique series that contains the perfect combination of humor, action, and thought provoking mystery. I can't wait to read more of this wonderful series.
Initial Thoughts
Maybe 3.5 stars? I liked this one but not as much as the previous book in the series. Oberon is still my favorite character and I do wish he had been in the book just a bit more. This was highly entertaining with appearances from most of the characters that played a part in the first book. Luke Daniels continues to do a fantastic job with the narration of this series.
Book source: eStories purchase
I liked this one but not as much as the first book in the series. This one really falls somewhere between 3 and 4 stars for me but I have decided to go ahead and round up. I was really excited to get back to the series after enjoying the first book in the series. This is definitely a series that needs to be read in order since this book picks up shortly after the events of the previous installment. This ended up being another enjoyable listen.
One of the things that I loved the most about the first book was the characters. I was really happy to see all of the key players back for this installment in the series. There were a few new characters that were rather impressive as well. I really like Atticus. He is incredibly patient and able to determine the best course of action in most situations. I love that he has adapted to the present time better than most of the other that have lived a very long time. Oberon is such a wonderful character and anytime he was a part of a scene I usually had a big grin on my face.
This book has all of the excitement that I had hoped to see. Atticus has to team with the local witch coven when bad things start happening. Atticus has several problems that he is juggling during the story and somehow he makes it all seem easy. This book balanced the action very nicely against some of the lighter moments in the book.
Luke Daniels continues to do a fantastic job with the narration of this series. He does such a great job with all of the character voices and adds a lot of emotion to story. His portrayal of Oberon is simply outstanding. I couldn't imagine an intelligent Wolfhound sounding any other way. I had not problem listening to this one for hours at a time.
I would recommend this series to others. It is a very unique series that contains the perfect combination of humor, action, and thought provoking mystery. I can't wait to read more of this wonderful series.
Initial Thoughts
Maybe 3.5 stars? I liked this one but not as much as the previous book in the series. Oberon is still my favorite character and I do wish he had been in the book just a bit more. This was highly entertaining with appearances from most of the characters that played a part in the first book. Luke Daniels continues to do a fantastic job with the narration of this series.
Book source: eStories purchase
August 15, 2011
I'm enjoying the Iron Druid series and feel Hexed lives up to the promise of Hounded. I find them both to be fast, engaging reads, with a host of interesting characters, from the main ones to the minors. Hexed has a load of action, perhaps too much, but it's largely appropriate, as a couple conflicts are fall-out from Hounded, and the new one involves an invading witch group. I enjoy the complexity of Atticus, from his seemingly extreme distrust of witches, to his committed friendship with his wolfhound, to new details we learn about him during WWII. Oberon, his hound, continues with his clever remarks and provides quite a few laughs.
I really enjoy the earth magic Atticus uses and feel its a different angle on the road to power and magic systems. I find it interesting that he seems to feel restoring life to the forest destroyed in Hounded is so important, but unfortunate that he gets minimal time to do so in Hexed. I look forward to learning why he hasn't recreated a druidic grove and what the implications will be.
I know some feel like he is too powerful, but ultimately, he is supposed to have two millennia to refine and gather his power--that's a whole lot of time. I also believe Hearne is using the terms "gods" much like the Greeks and Norse did--immortal members of a pantheon of deities, but certainly not all-powerful or all-knowing. Understanding that helps make it clear how Atticus can beat a "god." I also feel his tips to the goddesses about amulet making help give the impression of how time-consuming some of that learning can be.
As a matter of fact, that leads me to one of my only quibbles with the series, in that Atticus "feels" and acts so young--a little too contemporary. Reactions to attractive young mortal women seem to encourage the sense of youngness, in that he is very embarrassed by his reaction to his apprentice. There is a section in Hexed that deliberately deals with language "updating," and Atticus giving hints to another long-lived entity. But he generally seems and acts like a contemporary, spending very little time meditating/ experimenting/ practicing, and mostly maintaining his business, socializing with the neighbor and going for runs with Oberon. In short, he feels and acts like a young modern soul.
Nonetheless, his story is engaging and the cast of side characters are fascinating. I plan to continue the series and will undoubtedly put it on auto-buy.
I really enjoy the earth magic Atticus uses and feel its a different angle on the road to power and magic systems. I find it interesting that he seems to feel restoring life to the forest destroyed in Hounded is so important, but unfortunate that he gets minimal time to do so in Hexed. I look forward to learning why he hasn't recreated a druidic grove and what the implications will be.
I know some feel like he is too powerful, but ultimately, he is supposed to have two millennia to refine and gather his power--that's a whole lot of time. I also believe Hearne is using the terms "gods" much like the Greeks and Norse did--immortal members of a pantheon of deities, but certainly not all-powerful or all-knowing. Understanding that helps make it clear how Atticus can beat a "god." I also feel his tips to the goddesses about amulet making help give the impression of how time-consuming some of that learning can be.
As a matter of fact, that leads me to one of my only quibbles with the series, in that Atticus "feels" and acts so young--a little too contemporary. Reactions to attractive young mortal women seem to encourage the sense of youngness, in that he is very embarrassed by his reaction to his apprentice. There is a section in Hexed that deliberately deals with language "updating," and Atticus giving hints to another long-lived entity. But he generally seems and acts like a contemporary, spending very little time meditating/ experimenting/ practicing, and mostly maintaining his business, socializing with the neighbor and going for runs with Oberon. In short, he feels and acts like a young modern soul.
Nonetheless, his story is engaging and the cast of side characters are fascinating. I plan to continue the series and will undoubtedly put it on auto-buy.
January 1, 2025
This is the second book of a series. I suggest reading the first book as that one introduces the characters and explains them more than this one. In this one Atticus is trying to make nice with a coven of witches. He is attacked by another coven of witches that he has a shared past. The battle is on.
Before writing my review for this book I went back to my review of the first book in this series to see why I liked that one more than this one. After reading it I realized that I read this book before. It is a copycat of the first book with the first book having tighter storytelling than this one. I literally could have copied and pasted that review for this one and just change the star rating. Everything is the same. The humor, the supernatural elements, and the topical references are the same. But like I said this book lacked from a tight story. We have several different separate plots and I was wondering how in the hell was the author going to tie them all together. The answer is he doesn't. Some of them are left unresolved and I am assuming we will tackle them in latter books. That is fine if the foreshadowing is used to entice. I did not get that here as it felt like it was more page filler. That is another gripe of mine. I read this on my kindle and we all know how it shows the progress of the book. I thought I had so much more when it ended. The book was filled with other offerings. I think I was expecting the unresolved plots to be answered because in my mind there was still more to this book.
The story works and the characters will make you laugh with their actions and the scenes they find themselves involved in. Plus Oberon rules. He does deserve a snack. I loved the topical references. How could I not when you quote lines of an Iron Maiden song or rocking to the Crue is excellent? The story works but I just wanted a little more punch. This kind of felt like an athlete suffering from a sophomore slump. You were expecting it to recapture the magic of the first season but it does not happen. That is how I feel about this book. I liked it and I enjoyed it. It just never caught the special something that the first book possessed. Onto the next one in this series to see if the author can repeat what he did in the first novel.
Before writing my review for this book I went back to my review of the first book in this series to see why I liked that one more than this one. After reading it I realized that I read this book before. It is a copycat of the first book with the first book having tighter storytelling than this one. I literally could have copied and pasted that review for this one and just change the star rating. Everything is the same. The humor, the supernatural elements, and the topical references are the same. But like I said this book lacked from a tight story. We have several different separate plots and I was wondering how in the hell was the author going to tie them all together. The answer is he doesn't. Some of them are left unresolved and I am assuming we will tackle them in latter books. That is fine if the foreshadowing is used to entice. I did not get that here as it felt like it was more page filler. That is another gripe of mine. I read this on my kindle and we all know how it shows the progress of the book. I thought I had so much more when it ended. The book was filled with other offerings. I think I was expecting the unresolved plots to be answered because in my mind there was still more to this book.
The story works and the characters will make you laugh with their actions and the scenes they find themselves involved in. Plus Oberon rules. He does deserve a snack. I loved the topical references. How could I not when you quote lines of an Iron Maiden song or rocking to the Crue is excellent? The story works but I just wanted a little more punch. This kind of felt like an athlete suffering from a sophomore slump. You were expecting it to recapture the magic of the first season but it does not happen. That is how I feel about this book. I liked it and I enjoyed it. It just never caught the special something that the first book possessed. Onto the next one in this series to see if the author can repeat what he did in the first novel.
October 5, 2018
I should have loved this but for some reason this series doesn’t quite work. It has all the right ingredients: witches, vampires, werewolves, gods, druids, gods and Goddesses,enchantments, spells, swords and baseball bats, demons who ‘smell like ass’. I love Oberon the Irish wolfhound, but even Oberon wasn’t enough to win me over.
June 17, 2014
Atticus and Oberon are back! This book picks up immediately after the first volume, Hounded. Atticus, his dog, and his new apprentice are trying to resume their peaceful, quiet life when, out of the blue, he is attacked by a coven of diabolical German witches. To make matters worse a group of Bacchants are descending on the town from Las Vegas. It turns out that killing all those witches at the end of the last book created a bit of a power vacuum. Atticus must either get out of town or fill the void himself. Now that he is no longer hiding from an angry deity, he decides to throw down.
Parts of this book tickled me to no end. And those parts start with Oberon. He is exactly what I expect my dogs would be like if they could talk. Sweet, good natured, ready to pitch in to help, not quite understanding of human behavior, and, in general, big, goofy fur-balls. For example, when Leif, the vampire, describes how bad Atticus' neighbor smells ("Like a chili dog with mustard and cheap light beer. His blood courses with grease and alcohol"), the dog's reaction is priceless: "Wow. I didn't think he would smell that good." That's exactly how a dog would react. His obsession with treats was also funny. Oberon enlightens the whole story. Without him I am fairly certain these books would struggle to really find themselves.
A couple of things kind of bothered me about the book. As a father or two totally awesome daughters, I couldn't help but think that this book would fail the Bechdel test - in a very big way. Women are portrayed in only one of two ways: sexpots or villains.
There are the somewhat friendly coven of local witches that have enchanted hair and lips that always seem to reduce Atticus to a quivering mass despite his protective magic-cancelling amulet. There is the Goddess Morrigan who jumps Atticus' bones to work some (I kid you not) 'sex' magic (and to pre-empt the Goddess Brighid, who also wanted to jump his bones)! And then there are the Bacchants - female followers of Bacchus. These ladies slap their staves down and create an instant insane party where everyone's inhibitions evaporate and they descend into an uncontrollable orgy. Of course, the Bacchants are also evil. As are the German witches (who happen to look like porn stars). The few women that are neither one nor the other are generally minor characters - the widow, his apprentice. (And even his apprentice gets into the act by play acting she's in a relationship to cover Atticus with the police.)
Finally, reading the books, I just get a sense that this is Harry Dresden in Arizona. Fun and enjoyable, but still Dresden and Mouse. It needs something more, some additional spark of originality to really separate itself. Maybe we'll see that later in the series.
Another enjoyable book from Kevin Hearne. Three and a half stars rounded down to three.
Parts of this book tickled me to no end. And those parts start with Oberon. He is exactly what I expect my dogs would be like if they could talk. Sweet, good natured, ready to pitch in to help, not quite understanding of human behavior, and, in general, big, goofy fur-balls. For example, when Leif, the vampire, describes how bad Atticus' neighbor smells ("Like a chili dog with mustard and cheap light beer. His blood courses with grease and alcohol"), the dog's reaction is priceless: "Wow. I didn't think he would smell that good." That's exactly how a dog would react. His obsession with treats was also funny. Oberon enlightens the whole story. Without him I am fairly certain these books would struggle to really find themselves.
A couple of things kind of bothered me about the book. As a father or two totally awesome daughters, I couldn't help but think that this book would fail the Bechdel test - in a very big way. Women are portrayed in only one of two ways: sexpots or villains.
There are the somewhat friendly coven of local witches that have enchanted hair and lips that always seem to reduce Atticus to a quivering mass despite his protective magic-cancelling amulet. There is the Goddess Morrigan who jumps Atticus' bones to work some (I kid you not) 'sex' magic (and to pre-empt the Goddess Brighid, who also wanted to jump his bones)! And then there are the Bacchants - female followers of Bacchus. These ladies slap their staves down and create an instant insane party where everyone's inhibitions evaporate and they descend into an uncontrollable orgy. Of course, the Bacchants are also evil. As are the German witches (who happen to look like porn stars). The few women that are neither one nor the other are generally minor characters - the widow, his apprentice. (And even his apprentice gets into the act by play acting she's in a relationship to cover Atticus with the police.)
Finally, reading the books, I just get a sense that this is Harry Dresden in Arizona. Fun and enjoyable, but still Dresden and Mouse. It needs something more, some additional spark of originality to really separate itself. Maybe we'll see that later in the series.
Another enjoyable book from Kevin Hearne. Three and a half stars rounded down to three.
February 10, 2017
4,5
Diziye ikinci sezonla devam!
Gerçekten dizi gibi lan. Hani öyle güzel temel ata ata ilerliyor ki yazar... Dizi olsun!
Şimdi, aslında 5 puanlık bir kitap belki ama benden kaynaklı bir sorun vardı. İlk başları ilk kitap kadar iyi gelmedi ama sonra çok iyi toparladı. Gülmekten geberdim ki buna güncellemelerimden şahit oldunuz adfsgh Bir de araya seçimler girince ara vermek zorunda kaldım.
İkinci dünya savaşını cadılardan dinlediğim kısım favorim! Zaten olaylar bir saniye durmuyor. Aksiyon, aksiyon aksiyon, aksiyon.... Atticus önceki kitapta bol bol köpek olmuştu, bundaysa baykuş oldu. Tabii hayvan kılığına girince çıplak kalıyor, ondan dolayı yaşanan şeyler mükemmeldi adsfdgfhgj
Hele yaşlı kadının tepkileri ÖLDÜM! DSFDGGDHF
En sevdiğim sahnelerden biri:
HAL: Çöken karanlığın bütün tanrıları adına, çıplak bir halde dul kadının evinde ne işin var?
ATTICUS: Ah, lanet olsun.
HAL: Üstelik üzerinde yeni bir dizi tırmık izi ve sıyrık var. (Atticus daha önce bir tanrıçayla sert seks yapmıştı...sdfgdfh) Bu yüzden bana yardım et, eğer bunun sebebinin yine sert seks olduğunu söylersen seni şuracıkta yere sererim.
ATTICUS: Bak Hal, açıklamama izin...
HAL: Seni telefonundan arayıp durdum ve sanırım artık neden cevap vermediğini biliyorum.
ATTICUS: Hayır bu doğru değil, anlamıyorsun...
Dul kadın, koridordan, yani yatak odasına giden koridordan çıkmak için o anı seçti ve hafifçe pembeleşmiş yüzüyle, 'Bu oldukça heyecanlı ve eğlenceliydi, öyle değil mi oğlum?' dedi. Bir kahkahayla popoma bir şaplak attı.
ADSFLDGKSLFJKHSOJHPİBEJÖHRKVGDFSLMBKNJVLAKCÖVXMKNBCJLVKAŞÖVÇCNVJBLJVKDİSÖNBVLSKMLBV.DKNFLBLMÇDFÖMBNLDŞÖFVLWKSÖBMFKJBVLSÖFNKGOKELGKHPHŞKORGPJIH
OKUYUN BU SERİYİ!
Diziye ikinci sezonla devam!
Gerçekten dizi gibi lan. Hani öyle güzel temel ata ata ilerliyor ki yazar... Dizi olsun!
Şimdi, aslında 5 puanlık bir kitap belki ama benden kaynaklı bir sorun vardı. İlk başları ilk kitap kadar iyi gelmedi ama sonra çok iyi toparladı. Gülmekten geberdim ki buna güncellemelerimden şahit oldunuz adfsgh Bir de araya seçimler girince ara vermek zorunda kaldım.
İkinci dünya savaşını cadılardan dinlediğim kısım favorim! Zaten olaylar bir saniye durmuyor. Aksiyon, aksiyon aksiyon, aksiyon.... Atticus önceki kitapta bol bol köpek olmuştu, bundaysa baykuş oldu. Tabii hayvan kılığına girince çıplak kalıyor, ondan dolayı yaşanan şeyler mükemmeldi adsfdgfhgj
Hele yaşlı kadının tepkileri ÖLDÜM! DSFDGGDHF
En sevdiğim sahnelerden biri:
HAL: Çöken karanlığın bütün tanrıları adına, çıplak bir halde dul kadının evinde ne işin var?
ATTICUS: Ah, lanet olsun.
HAL: Üstelik üzerinde yeni bir dizi tırmık izi ve sıyrık var. (Atticus daha önce bir tanrıçayla sert seks yapmıştı...sdfgdfh) Bu yüzden bana yardım et, eğer bunun sebebinin yine sert seks olduğunu söylersen seni şuracıkta yere sererim.
ATTICUS: Bak Hal, açıklamama izin...
HAL: Seni telefonundan arayıp durdum ve sanırım artık neden cevap vermediğini biliyorum.
ATTICUS: Hayır bu doğru değil, anlamıyorsun...
Dul kadın, koridordan, yani yatak odasına giden koridordan çıkmak için o anı seçti ve hafifçe pembeleşmiş yüzüyle, 'Bu oldukça heyecanlı ve eğlenceliydi, öyle değil mi oğlum?' dedi. Bir kahkahayla popoma bir şaplak attı.
ADSFLDGKSLFJKHSOJHPİBEJÖHRKVGDFSLMBKNJVLAKCÖVXMKNBCJLVKAŞÖVÇCNVJBLJVKDİSÖNBVLSKMLBV.DKNFLBLMÇDFÖMBNLDŞÖFVLWKSÖBMFKJBVLSÖFNKGOKELGKHPHŞKORGPJIH
OKUYUN BU SERİYİ!
November 3, 2014
Audio-
This second book in the "Iron Druid Chronicles" series finds Atticus , the last druid, trying to make nice with the a coven of witches. He gets sidetracked by another cover this one he knows from the past, and they want death. Lets not forget he has the Bacchants and Celtic goddesses,leaving him scratched and tired. Oberon, Atticus's Irish wolfhound, steals my heart more than once. There are so many funny moments, my favorite has to do with the Widow...LOL
I am on to the next.
This second book in the "Iron Druid Chronicles" series finds Atticus , the last druid, trying to make nice with the a coven of witches. He gets sidetracked by another cover this one he knows from the past, and they want death. Lets not forget he has the Bacchants and Celtic goddesses,leaving him scratched and tired. Oberon, Atticus's Irish wolfhound, steals my heart more than once. There are so many funny moments, my favorite has to do with the Widow...LOL
I am on to the next.
January 17, 2022
This is such a fun series.
I think Atticus might be one of my favorite male characters.
This series reminds me so much of the October Daye series except this has so much more humor.
I am looking forward to seeing where this series goes. Such a fun read.
I think Atticus might be one of my favorite male characters.
This series reminds me so much of the October Daye series except this has so much more humor.
I am looking forward to seeing where this series goes. Such a fun read.
August 22, 2014
If you had lived over 2000 years what would you do for fun when you got together with another long lived such as yourself? Why you would of coarse banter in Shakespearean Quotes.
“Dude if that was a Shakespeare quote duel, he just kicked your ass."
“I know, but I slipped in some T.S.Eliot and he didn't even catch it. Hopefully next time I won’t be recovering from an assassination attempt, and then I'll do better.”
Atticus is the last Druid and that seems to cause him no end of trouble. When he isn’t running his book/tea shop he seems to be a pawn for the gods. Yes god(s) there are many of them, from all cultures and it seems that Atticus has the attention of far too many after killing a minor god in the last book. There is also the matter of some remaining Demons still bound to kill him before they are free of their bounds. Atticus seems to be finding trouble everywhere lately.
I still like this book but I didn’t love it. It was missing something that I really enjoyed in the first book and at the moment I can’t put my finger on it. I’ll blame it all on the witches. I didn’t connect with that part of the story as much and so the coven of bad witches wasn’t as enjoyable to me.
I still liked a lot of things though. All the pop culture references, the time spent talking with Oberon (I totally love that dog his thoughts are hilarious), and even the representation of Coyote a Native American spirit and trickster.
“You know how people are always threatenin' to shove this or that up someone's ass, but they never really do it? Well, now there's a new story gonna be told 'round the fire: 'How Coyote Shoved An Arrow Up A Fallen Angel's Ass.”
What is this book missing? A hint of romance I think. I’d like it if there was one, besides a slight flirtation with his apprentice Granuaile in which he thinks about baseball to control his attraction (do guys really do that?) there isn’t much of anything on the romance horizon. There are also a few goddesses trying to bed Atticus but that is more for political maneuverings and for the most part didn’t seem very enjoyable.
Still I really like the lore in the book and how the magic of the druids works. A few new very interesting factions have been added in the mix and Atticus has promised some favors to a few players so the next boo might be more interesting. There is hint of a hunt of the Thunder God who everyone seems to hate, so I’m in for at least another book.
“Dude if that was a Shakespeare quote duel, he just kicked your ass."
“I know, but I slipped in some T.S.Eliot and he didn't even catch it. Hopefully next time I won’t be recovering from an assassination attempt, and then I'll do better.”
Atticus is the last Druid and that seems to cause him no end of trouble. When he isn’t running his book/tea shop he seems to be a pawn for the gods. Yes god(s) there are many of them, from all cultures and it seems that Atticus has the attention of far too many after killing a minor god in the last book. There is also the matter of some remaining Demons still bound to kill him before they are free of their bounds. Atticus seems to be finding trouble everywhere lately.
I still like this book but I didn’t love it. It was missing something that I really enjoyed in the first book and at the moment I can’t put my finger on it. I’ll blame it all on the witches. I didn’t connect with that part of the story as much and so the coven of bad witches wasn’t as enjoyable to me.
I still liked a lot of things though. All the pop culture references, the time spent talking with Oberon (I totally love that dog his thoughts are hilarious), and even the representation of Coyote a Native American spirit and trickster.
“You know how people are always threatenin' to shove this or that up someone's ass, but they never really do it? Well, now there's a new story gonna be told 'round the fire: 'How Coyote Shoved An Arrow Up A Fallen Angel's Ass.”
What is this book missing? A hint of romance I think. I’d like it if there was one, besides a slight flirtation with his apprentice Granuaile in which he thinks about baseball to control his attraction (do guys really do that?) there isn’t much of anything on the romance horizon. There are also a few goddesses trying to bed Atticus but that is more for political maneuverings and for the most part didn’t seem very enjoyable.
Still I really like the lore in the book and how the magic of the druids works. A few new very interesting factions have been added in the mix and Atticus has promised some favors to a few players so the next boo might be more interesting. There is hint of a hunt of the Thunder God who everyone seems to hate, so I’m in for at least another book.
August 1, 2016
Executive Summary: More of the same. If you enjoyed the first book, you'll likely enjoy this one. If like me you were kind of so-so on the first one, you may feel the same way here as well.
Audio book: Mr. Daniels once again does a decent job. I think I've gotten used to his normal reading voice such that it didn't bother me in this book. He again does a few accents and voices, including his excellent take on Oberon.
Full Review
I wasn't really planning on jumping further into this series after being mostly underwhelmed by Hounded. However Audible, the length of the book and my reading schedule all colluded to get me to do this one.
I found it about on par with the first. It's possible I liked it a little less. It's hard to say for sure. I think your opinion on the first book will largely determine your opinion of this one.
It started too slow again for such a short book and had a lot of seemingly random elements introduced that eventually all tied together.
Oberon who found as the highlight of book 1 was already starting to annoy me by this book. His constant obsessions and stupid jokes felt repetitive. Maybe I'm simply spoiled by the excellent humor of the Dresden Files, but I just didn't really find his role of comic relief very good.
It's possible that this series isn't for me. They aren't bad books, but they aren't great and there is plenty of other stuff to read.
These books do have a light quick nature to them that can make for a quick time filler or diversion for heavier/darker reading, but I'll likely be taking a break unless Audible has another sale, or I decide to see if I can borrow the next audio book from my library sometime.
Audio book: Mr. Daniels once again does a decent job. I think I've gotten used to his normal reading voice such that it didn't bother me in this book. He again does a few accents and voices, including his excellent take on Oberon.
Full Review
I wasn't really planning on jumping further into this series after being mostly underwhelmed by Hounded. However Audible, the length of the book and my reading schedule all colluded to get me to do this one.
I found it about on par with the first. It's possible I liked it a little less. It's hard to say for sure. I think your opinion on the first book will largely determine your opinion of this one.
It started too slow again for such a short book and had a lot of seemingly random elements introduced that eventually all tied together.
Oberon who found as the highlight of book 1 was already starting to annoy me by this book. His constant obsessions and stupid jokes felt repetitive. Maybe I'm simply spoiled by the excellent humor of the Dresden Files, but I just didn't really find his role of comic relief very good.
It's possible that this series isn't for me. They aren't bad books, but they aren't great and there is plenty of other stuff to read.
These books do have a light quick nature to them that can make for a quick time filler or diversion for heavier/darker reading, but I'll likely be taking a break unless Audible has another sale, or I decide to see if I can borrow the next audio book from my library sometime.
June 24, 2013
Setup from the first novel gave us a slam dunk in the second. I can honestly call myself a new fan of this author. I am already aching to sink my teeth into the third. What I am most pleased about is the well rounded line-up of gods and baddies to do battle with, not that these books are entirely a type of beat-em up fiction. He does a great job with that, but more important is the much better character development. I was already planning ahead for it in the first novel, expecting some great stuff later, and of course it's always a pleasure to be satisfied. It is a shame that the novels aren't bundled together, but that can also be expected for later. It's pretty obvious the third is very closely tied to the first two. I'm reminded of Butcher's Dresden, that is also clumped together naturally.
I'm really enjoying this guilty pleasure series. :)
I'm really enjoying this guilty pleasure series. :)
February 22, 2015
This series is a fast and easy listen. I'm going to continue listening to them but the female characters leave a TON to be desired. Basically every single one of them wants to sleep with the protagonist. Totally believable! /s
January 15, 2020
I am enjoying this series and the main character Atticus. Needless to say he finds himself having trouble with witches again and with a few other creatures and gods and goddesses.
February 21, 2019
I bought the first six books of this series several years ago in paperback, but I wish I hadn't. I think if I read this by audio instead of hard copy, I would have enjoyed it more. (I really enjoyed my audio re-read of the first book a couple of months ago. Luke Daniels is one of my favorite narrators.) But I feel like it would be wasting all that money I spent, so I'm committed to do hard copies at least through book six. All of that to say, this book was fun, but I wasn't wowed by it or anything. Nothing grabbed me.
The book is supposedly about Atticus and the Tempe witches teaming up against a coven from Germany that they both have history with, who have suddenly invaded their territory, but this is really just one more consequence among many rippling out from the events of the last book. These new witches wouldn't have dared to encroach if there wasn't a power vacuum caused by the death of the six betraying witches. Same goes for the Bacchants who are making their way down from Las Vegas to take up residence in Scottsdale (of course), and the mysterious holy men who are dogging Atticus's every move. He also has to deal with the demon remnants from the fight at the Superstition mountains, one of whom is a fallen angel; many of them ran off after their side lost the fight, and they have been causing trouble elsewhere in the valley.
Nothing about this book was bad or anything, it was just a pretty good time the whole way through. Oberon the telepathic dog continues to be the best. Atticus makes strange friends and enemies everywhere he goes, and half the book is him being attacked by one entity or another. His weird war with his neighbor escalates. The elderly Irish widow McDonaugh makes for a refreshing ally (not many older people in contemporary fantasy books). His relationship with his vampire and werewolf attorneys continues to be amusing and also a source of potential conflict. Granuaile, his new apprentice, doesn't do much here. I would like more agency for her. And we're introduced to Coyote, or one of the Coyotes (each native tribe has one), who teams up with Atticus, of course tricking him in the process as well, because that's what Coyotes do.
Weirdly, I saw an entire pack of coyotes in the middle of the road this morning. They were extremely cute and I had to honk my horn to get them to move their butts. Before now, I've only ever seen one at a time. It was exciting for me.
[3.5 stars]
The book is supposedly about Atticus and the Tempe witches teaming up against a coven from Germany that they both have history with, who have suddenly invaded their territory, but this is really just one more consequence among many rippling out from the events of the last book. These new witches wouldn't have dared to encroach if there wasn't a power vacuum caused by the death of the six betraying witches. Same goes for the Bacchants who are making their way down from Las Vegas to take up residence in Scottsdale (of course), and the mysterious holy men who are dogging Atticus's every move. He also has to deal with the demon remnants from the fight at the Superstition mountains, one of whom is a fallen angel; many of them ran off after their side lost the fight, and they have been causing trouble elsewhere in the valley.
Nothing about this book was bad or anything, it was just a pretty good time the whole way through. Oberon the telepathic dog continues to be the best. Atticus makes strange friends and enemies everywhere he goes, and half the book is him being attacked by one entity or another. His weird war with his neighbor escalates. The elderly Irish widow McDonaugh makes for a refreshing ally (not many older people in contemporary fantasy books). His relationship with his vampire and werewolf attorneys continues to be amusing and also a source of potential conflict. Granuaile, his new apprentice, doesn't do much here. I would like more agency for her. And we're introduced to Coyote, or one of the Coyotes (each native tribe has one), who teams up with Atticus, of course tricking him in the process as well, because that's what Coyotes do.
Weirdly, I saw an entire pack of coyotes in the middle of the road this morning. They were extremely cute and I had to honk my horn to get them to move their butts. Before now, I've only ever seen one at a time. It was exciting for me.
[3.5 stars]
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