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Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Fantasy (2016)When a druid has lived for two thousand years like Atticus, he's bound to run afoul of a few vampires. Make that legions of them. Even his former friend and legal counsel turned out to be a bloodsucking backstabber. Now the toothy troublemakers - led by power-mad Theophilus - have become a huge problem requiring a solution. It's time to make a stand.
As always, Atticus wouldn't mind a little backup. But his allies have problems of their own. Ill-tempered archdruid Owen Kennedy is having a wee bit of troll turns out when you stiff a troll, it's not water under the bridge. Meanwhile, Granuaile is desperate to free herself of the Norse god Loki's mark and elude his powers of divination - a quest that will bring her face to face with several Slavic nightmares.
As Atticus globetrots to stop his nemesis Theophilus, the journey leads to Rome. What better place to end an immortal than the Eternal City? But poetic justice won't come without a In order to defeat Theophilus, Atticus may have to lose an old friend.
As always, Atticus wouldn't mind a little backup. But his allies have problems of their own. Ill-tempered archdruid Owen Kennedy is having a wee bit of troll turns out when you stiff a troll, it's not water under the bridge. Meanwhile, Granuaile is desperate to free herself of the Norse god Loki's mark and elude his powers of divination - a quest that will bring her face to face with several Slavic nightmares.
As Atticus globetrots to stop his nemesis Theophilus, the journey leads to Rome. What better place to end an immortal than the Eternal City? But poetic justice won't come without a In order to defeat Theophilus, Atticus may have to lose an old friend.
337 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 26, 2016
996 people are currently reading
11965 people want to read
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 1,317 reviews
August 18, 2017
Hal 🙁
I'm so in love with Owen 😄 Especially listening to him on audio. The narrator does his Irish accent perfectly! He's a bad ass Druid and he's always got something to say. It usually involves fecking, shat and arsehole. Lol. He's great.
Oberon a daddy. Hmm ......
I'm so in love with Owen 😄 Especially listening to him on audio. The narrator does his Irish accent perfectly! He's a bad ass Druid and he's always got something to say. It usually involves fecking, shat and arsehole. Lol. He's great.
Oberon a daddy. Hmm ......
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2016
I don't normally add anything after I finish a book but I'm kinda pissed with how this story ended and the story in general and needed to rant even if no one will care. Since the third book the story has been going downhill. Every book after that is just a continuation of consequences from that one book.
Atticus had great potential but it just seems that all he does is make puns talk with his dog and get blamed for EVERYTHING that goes wrong in the world. You would think after two millennia of existence he'd have learned to stick up for himself more rather than just accept whatever blame is heaped on him. He needs to sack up and defend himself from everyone blaming him. Everything that has happened to him call all be traced back to Brighid forcing his confrontation with Aenghus Óg. Everything he's done or been a part of stems from that action and he never defends himself from any accusations.
At the end this story he gets banished from Flagstaff and Tempe, where he was welcomed for years, because "We do not want our pack to be collateral damage in his endless series of crises." . The first book is the only one that they could considered to have been collateral damage from Atticus's actions. Every time he asks for something from them he pays for it. They haven't had a significant role in any conflict since the first book. In this one it would be more Owen's fault he is the one who drew danger to them. Since he was with them they attacked them. But Greta has a grudge and is using this as an excuse now that she's the leader conveniently forgetting her own words “They’ll be perfectly safe and you know it. They’ll be inside a warded house at sundown and up at sunrise, all of them protected by us and their parents, and none of us easy to kill.” She blames Atticus for the death of Gunnar Magnusson but it was his own quest for revenge that got him killed Atticus was just there and even avenged his death. Her own arrogance plays a part in Hal Hauk's death. She seems to think that her and her pack are immune to strife. They had advanced warning of possible attacks but really did nothing about it. No matter the situation if Atticus is involved she thinks it's all his fault and ignores everyone else's culpability. I personally think she's setting things in motion so that she can kill the MC or turn Owen against him.
And his F*CKING archdruid Owen is one of the biggest assholes I've ever read in a story counting villains. Atticus tells him there could be retaliation from the war with the vampires and he could be a target and to be prepared. After the attack he's quick to goes along with everyone saying Atticus is trouble when his own lack of preparation is the problem. Plus he knew that it was to stop the vampires from killing ALL druids. He was going to be attacked regardless of Atticus's actions for simply being a druid and trying to train more. If he wants to start a grove and make new druids he shouldn't have been so complacent. The threat should have been dealt with before any notion of bringing children around him. He doesn't even try and help till the end is in sight and even then he makes it sound like he's only doing it out of obligation. He trained Atticus and was a supposed to be a 'surrogate father' but he is the first badmouth him and undermine him to others. I can't recall having seen him support even one of his decisions. He might have given Atticus some belated praise in the last book but his words and actions defy it. He really needs to get his head out of his ass and treat Atticus with at least the respect of an equal. Greta is a poison and is just binding him deeper to her with making the pack children his apprentices. I hope Atticus kills her and then at least beats him to within an inch of his life in the next book. His loyalty should be to his fellow druid and one time student but his every word and action seem to deride him. I just don't get how he can say he cares about Atticus one minute and then as soon as you turn a page he's disparaging everything he's done. At least Granuaile sometimes does something that the Atticus couldn't do to advance to story. All Owen is, is a useless character and all he seems to do is undermine the MC to everyone else. Everything else he does the MC could do.
Atticus is like Cassandra from Greek mythology warning of danger and being ignored. He excepts the banishment way to easy I get he's upset but he really should have defended himself. He warned two different people about possible danger. A second character confirmed it. Someone should have been on the lookout for exactly what he said would happen. He's the oldest druid on the planet and presumable with all that time he has more knowledge of it the Owen. If he is removed from the education of the new batch of druids, who around Owen and Greta will be raised to believe everything wrong in the world is his fault, they will probably come to see him as some kind of enemy and will miss out on what he could add to there knowledge base. I foresee some kind of conflict.
I'm glad this series only has one more book. I enjoyed it immensely in the beginning but now I've had to force myself to finish this story. I know almost no one will care for my opinion and I'll more than likely get trashed for it but I really needed to rant to someone. Thanks for listening.
Atticus had great potential but it just seems that all he does is make puns talk with his dog and get blamed for EVERYTHING that goes wrong in the world. You would think after two millennia of existence he'd have learned to stick up for himself more rather than just accept whatever blame is heaped on him. He needs to sack up and defend himself from everyone blaming him. Everything that has happened to him call all be traced back to Brighid forcing his confrontation with Aenghus Óg. Everything he's done or been a part of stems from that action and he never defends himself from any accusations.
At the end this story he gets banished from Flagstaff and Tempe, where he was welcomed for years, because "We do not want our pack to be collateral damage in his endless series of crises." . The first book is the only one that they could considered to have been collateral damage from Atticus's actions. Every time he asks for something from them he pays for it. They haven't had a significant role in any conflict since the first book. In this one it would be more Owen's fault he is the one who drew danger to them. Since he was with them they attacked them. But Greta has a grudge and is using this as an excuse now that she's the leader conveniently forgetting her own words “They’ll be perfectly safe and you know it. They’ll be inside a warded house at sundown and up at sunrise, all of them protected by us and their parents, and none of us easy to kill.” She blames Atticus for the death of Gunnar Magnusson but it was his own quest for revenge that got him killed Atticus was just there and even avenged his death. Her own arrogance plays a part in Hal Hauk's death. She seems to think that her and her pack are immune to strife. They had advanced warning of possible attacks but really did nothing about it. No matter the situation if Atticus is involved she thinks it's all his fault and ignores everyone else's culpability. I personally think she's setting things in motion so that she can kill the MC or turn Owen against him.
And his F*CKING archdruid Owen is one of the biggest assholes I've ever read in a story counting villains. Atticus tells him there could be retaliation from the war with the vampires and he could be a target and to be prepared. After the attack he's quick to goes along with everyone saying Atticus is trouble when his own lack of preparation is the problem. Plus he knew that it was to stop the vampires from killing ALL druids. He was going to be attacked regardless of Atticus's actions for simply being a druid and trying to train more. If he wants to start a grove and make new druids he shouldn't have been so complacent. The threat should have been dealt with before any notion of bringing children around him. He doesn't even try and help till the end is in sight and even then he makes it sound like he's only doing it out of obligation. He trained Atticus and was a supposed to be a 'surrogate father' but he is the first badmouth him and undermine him to others. I can't recall having seen him support even one of his decisions. He might have given Atticus some belated praise in the last book but his words and actions defy it. He really needs to get his head out of his ass and treat Atticus with at least the respect of an equal. Greta is a poison and is just binding him deeper to her with making the pack children his apprentices. I hope Atticus kills her and then at least beats him to within an inch of his life in the next book. His loyalty should be to his fellow druid and one time student but his every word and action seem to deride him. I just don't get how he can say he cares about Atticus one minute and then as soon as you turn a page he's disparaging everything he's done. At least Granuaile sometimes does something that the Atticus couldn't do to advance to story. All Owen is, is a useless character and all he seems to do is undermine the MC to everyone else. Everything else he does the MC could do.
Atticus is like Cassandra from Greek mythology warning of danger and being ignored. He excepts the banishment way to easy I get he's upset but he really should have defended himself. He warned two different people about possible danger. A second character confirmed it. Someone should have been on the lookout for exactly what he said would happen. He's the oldest druid on the planet and presumable with all that time he has more knowledge of it the Owen. If he is removed from the education of the new batch of druids, who around Owen and Greta will be raised to believe everything wrong in the world is his fault, they will probably come to see him as some kind of enemy and will miss out on what he could add to there knowledge base. I foresee some kind of conflict.
I'm glad this series only has one more book. I enjoyed it immensely in the beginning but now I've had to force myself to finish this story. I know almost no one will care for my opinion and I'll more than likely get trashed for it but I really needed to rant to someone. Thanks for listening.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2017
I guess I’m a Kevin Hearne groupie.
I’ll join the fan club, wear a T-shirt, hang out at his booth at Comic Con, get a tattoo – well, no, I’m not getting a tattoo.
But I PRE-ORDERED this. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before. Sure, I’ve went to the store and picked up a copy as soon as it was on sell, but I was like the people camped out at Wal-Mart. I couldn’t wait!
Staked, his 2016 Iron Druid novel and 8th novel in the series (there are also several short stories and novellas - and yes, I’ve read them all) brings us once again into the AWESOME urban fantasy world of Atticus O’Sullivan, Oberon the Irish Wolfhound, Granuaile MacTiernan and (rapidly becoming my favorite character in the series) Owen Kennedy.
And vampires. Lots and lots of bloodsucking, nocturnal, undead and foppishly coutured vampires. And werewolves and ghosts and witches and gods and dwarves and trolls, etc etc.
There is much good ole Irish ass-kicking and undead staking.
And I do mean OLD Irish. Atticus is a two thousand year old druid, which in kind of a weird irony means he’s pre-pre-Irish. The historical quality of his heritage means that he’s not really Irish in the sense that we know the folks from Dublin and Galway and Cork. He’s very early Celt or Gael and then just stuck around and fit in with the crowd that would eventually become what we know as Irish today.
I think it is this ancient linear connection that draws me again and again to the series.
That and Hearne’s addictive writing.
So, Atticus has drawn the ire of the world’s vampires and Hearne has been leading to this for a while. As a druid, he has a special ability to “unbind” the unnatural dead. For this reason, centuries before, the vampires had manipulated the Romans to hunt down and destroy all of the druids. Except for Atticus. And here we are.
The key to the success of this series has always been Hearne’s combination of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and Staked makes the best of both inspirations. There are more than enough connections to world mythology and to cool druidic power, but there may have been a meeting with the publisher where more action was discussed.
Staked is action packed from cover to cover. This is like a Schwarzenegger flik, and the subject matter fight with thousands of vampires provides plenty of opportunity for blood and guts.
Good fun.
And we finally learn why Atticus does not want to be Nigel in Toronto.
I’ll join the fan club, wear a T-shirt, hang out at his booth at Comic Con, get a tattoo – well, no, I’m not getting a tattoo.
But I PRE-ORDERED this. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before. Sure, I’ve went to the store and picked up a copy as soon as it was on sell, but I was like the people camped out at Wal-Mart. I couldn’t wait!
Staked, his 2016 Iron Druid novel and 8th novel in the series (there are also several short stories and novellas - and yes, I’ve read them all) brings us once again into the AWESOME urban fantasy world of Atticus O’Sullivan, Oberon the Irish Wolfhound, Granuaile MacTiernan and (rapidly becoming my favorite character in the series) Owen Kennedy.
And vampires. Lots and lots of bloodsucking, nocturnal, undead and foppishly coutured vampires. And werewolves and ghosts and witches and gods and dwarves and trolls, etc etc.
There is much good ole Irish ass-kicking and undead staking.
And I do mean OLD Irish. Atticus is a two thousand year old druid, which in kind of a weird irony means he’s pre-pre-Irish. The historical quality of his heritage means that he’s not really Irish in the sense that we know the folks from Dublin and Galway and Cork. He’s very early Celt or Gael and then just stuck around and fit in with the crowd that would eventually become what we know as Irish today.
I think it is this ancient linear connection that draws me again and again to the series.
That and Hearne’s addictive writing.
So, Atticus has drawn the ire of the world’s vampires and Hearne has been leading to this for a while. As a druid, he has a special ability to “unbind” the unnatural dead. For this reason, centuries before, the vampires had manipulated the Romans to hunt down and destroy all of the druids. Except for Atticus. And here we are.
The key to the success of this series has always been Hearne’s combination of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and Staked makes the best of both inspirations. There are more than enough connections to world mythology and to cool druidic power, but there may have been a meeting with the publisher where more action was discussed.
Staked is action packed from cover to cover. This is like a Schwarzenegger flik, and the subject matter fight with thousands of vampires provides plenty of opportunity for blood and guts.
Good fun.
And we finally learn why Atticus does not want to be Nigel in Toronto.
January 28, 2016
There's a lot to love here and a small portion of sausage, too.
Or actually, there's a ton of sausage and other massive meat products being consumed in this novel by a certain hound, but more importantly, this novel is practically All Meat.
I mean, aside from a few Doggie BathTime stories, we're inundated with action, action, plot development, a bit more action, and a big hunking slab of action to go down with not a single piece of lettuce. No buildup required or necessary, assuming you've been reading all these novels up to now, and you know that it's WAR.
Of course, it's a one-Druid war against a world of undead because of the mass of interlocking promises and treaties he's been forced to make just to survive all his other misadventures, and of course this little nightmare is spilling over into his old Master's Druid Training Camp and his onetime apprentice is getting into her own messes, but this is a remarkably straightforward and readable adventure with loveable characters and an occasional vamp lord needing a vicious unbinding.
There's really no downtime except at BathTime, and that's fine. The sub-stories are interesting enough, but I was actually pretty damn amazed at the quality of myth research involved in this series. I mean, I can barely keep up with just how many thunder gods are running around, here, and fighting the Aesir was always some of my favorite parts of the previous novels, but it's the depth of the realms and the variety of cameos and established myths/gods/fae-made-real that makes these novels really stand out.
At a few points, I was struck with mute wonder at the complexity and ease with which it all poured out of the page, but it was never so much that I was drowned. Hearne has a particular gift, here.
Aside from making wonderful and snarky characters, of course. Atticus is getting less face time because Granuaile and his old Master Owen and Oberon have almost equal page-space. I can't say I dislike it at all. Granuaile has her own quest motif going on, Atticus is fighting a one-man War, Owen is the perpetual "A Druid Walks Into A Bar and Says" joke, and Oberon loves sausage. Even Haggis.
It's quick and fun and easily one of the best crazy UF's out there. I'm actually rather sad that all the plot-lines are getting wrapped up, but not that sad. Nothing's worse than a frayed edge to a great series. :)
Or actually, there's a ton of sausage and other massive meat products being consumed in this novel by a certain hound, but more importantly, this novel is practically All Meat.
I mean, aside from a few Doggie BathTime stories, we're inundated with action, action, plot development, a bit more action, and a big hunking slab of action to go down with not a single piece of lettuce. No buildup required or necessary, assuming you've been reading all these novels up to now, and you know that it's WAR.
Of course, it's a one-Druid war against a world of undead because of the mass of interlocking promises and treaties he's been forced to make just to survive all his other misadventures, and of course this little nightmare is spilling over into his old Master's Druid Training Camp and his onetime apprentice is getting into her own messes, but this is a remarkably straightforward and readable adventure with loveable characters and an occasional vamp lord needing a vicious unbinding.
There's really no downtime except at BathTime, and that's fine. The sub-stories are interesting enough, but I was actually pretty damn amazed at the quality of myth research involved in this series. I mean, I can barely keep up with just how many thunder gods are running around, here, and fighting the Aesir was always some of my favorite parts of the previous novels, but it's the depth of the realms and the variety of cameos and established myths/gods/fae-made-real that makes these novels really stand out.
At a few points, I was struck with mute wonder at the complexity and ease with which it all poured out of the page, but it was never so much that I was drowned. Hearne has a particular gift, here.
Aside from making wonderful and snarky characters, of course. Atticus is getting less face time because Granuaile and his old Master Owen and Oberon have almost equal page-space. I can't say I dislike it at all. Granuaile has her own quest motif going on, Atticus is fighting a one-man War, Owen is the perpetual "A Druid Walks Into A Bar and Says" joke, and Oberon loves sausage. Even Haggis.
It's quick and fun and easily one of the best crazy UF's out there. I'm actually rather sad that all the plot-lines are getting wrapped up, but not that sad. Nothing's worse than a frayed edge to a great series. :)
August 6, 2020
This is really just 2/3 of a good book, The Granuille chapters suck so badly I dropped it two stars. I was a huge fan of the series from the first book, being a huge fan of Celtic mythology. New takes on that pantheon were always welcome to me. I have taken the journey with Atticus and Oberon against celtic gods, evil witches, The norse gods, Native monsters, and evil vampires. I never particularly cared for Granuille, seeing her as entitled, smug and pretentious with daddy issues, but hey, she was just a non-POV sidekick character. Then Kevin Hearne decided to make her his wish fulfillment character, using her to expound his leftist politics, and made her a POV character. Ugh. He added Owen the Arch Druid, bringing the series more back to its lighter roots, but still keeping Granuille as a POV, and becoming more and more itrritating with her character having pages of monologuing about the evils of rich people, oil companies, climate change, scientists with legimate disagreement about climate change cause and results being labeled shady and dishonest. I mean, pages of monologuing about this stuff. Ugh again. There is nothing wrong with a mention of your politics, but when you use 5 or 6 chapters of your book for preachy monologuing, thats message fic, and there is enough of that garbage ruining sci-fi and fantasy as it is. Sad he has gone that direction, since the rest of the book was really good. The vampire war is finally settled, there are lots of good fight scenes, and there is some character growth in every character other than Granuille, who is just a cypher for Hearne's wish fullfillment. Greta the Werewolf is perfect example of a character stepping forward. I really like her, she is a good counterbalance to Owen. The Celtic Pantheon is about to explode again it looks like in book 9, so we'll see what happens there, but I have read my last chapter of Granuille, Captain Planet Druid. Since her POV chapters don't actually have anything to do with the rest of the story, they can actually be skipped, and you'll miss nothing. Easily the weakest effort from the author to date, and if this continues, I'll just drop it. There is too much other good stuff out there that dont feel the need to preach at you, like the Dresden Files, Tim Marquitz's Demon Squad books, Craig Schaefer's Daniel Faust series, or Ari Marmell's Mick Oberon books.
March 11, 2016
I am annoyed.
I may revise my stars upwards once I actually get to finish this book. Unfortunately I had to stop reading almost as soon as I started. Why? Because if you haven't read the novella "A Prelude to War" (buried within the Three Slices anthology) you're missing the first 3-4 chapters of the damn story.
I got maybe 10-20 minutes into this book, went back to Shattered (the previous book), and still couldn't figure out why I was SO confused. Then I did some googling and discovered that you have to read the novella to truly understand how we get to the beginning of this book. And this REALLY pissed me off because I've been slowly falling out of love with this story as Atticus falls further into a corny love-struck hole.
Now I love me some strong female characters. I own everything Tamora Pierce has ever written. But Granuaile has yet to have a scene where she doesn't just creep under my skin and drive me insane. To borrow from video games- she is grossly over powered. And Atticus is far too obsessed with her and her supposed perfection. She just doesn't come off as real. ALL of her shape shifted forms are powerful and fast and amazing. She's a fantastic fighter with all sorts of weapons (better than Atticus) after only 12 years. She's wiser, kinder, more bad ass than Atticus-- the druid who is OLDER THAN JESUS. And then, when she finally does make a mistake she wallows in self-pity and philosophic musings. It's driving me up the freaking wall.
Owen isn't a bad character. I like his crotchety nature. However, I'm getting sick of jumping between points of view. Atticus reeled me into this story. He was sarcastic, witty, and confident. He was comfortable walking the path that led to survival, not manly bravado. He was even, at the very beginning, a bit of a classy womanizer (remember his weakness for the-naked-Morrigan?) Now we spend so much time with morose philosophic musings that I sometimes forget what the point was.
In short, I really hope this book addresses a lot of my growing issues with the series. But I'm not hopeful. And I'm really annoyed that I can't just read the book because Kevin Hearne decided that he could make more money by publishing the first few chapters as a novella and not including them in this book.
*UPDATE* This book was, in my opinion, better than the last couple. It starts to address my issues with Granuaile, Atticus, and their relationship. But it still feels too busy. It's kind of a place holder in the overarching Ragnarok plot, with a lot more vampire details (as the title implies), but the quality seems to have nudged back up towards the level of the 3rd book (but not the first). I'm slightly less nervous about the next one. Fingers crossed.
I may revise my stars upwards once I actually get to finish this book. Unfortunately I had to stop reading almost as soon as I started. Why? Because if you haven't read the novella "A Prelude to War" (buried within the Three Slices anthology) you're missing the first 3-4 chapters of the damn story.
I got maybe 10-20 minutes into this book, went back to Shattered (the previous book), and still couldn't figure out why I was SO confused. Then I did some googling and discovered that you have to read the novella to truly understand how we get to the beginning of this book. And this REALLY pissed me off because I've been slowly falling out of love with this story as Atticus falls further into a corny love-struck hole.
Now I love me some strong female characters. I own everything Tamora Pierce has ever written. But Granuaile has yet to have a scene where she doesn't just creep under my skin and drive me insane. To borrow from video games- she is grossly over powered. And Atticus is far too obsessed with her and her supposed perfection. She just doesn't come off as real. ALL of her shape shifted forms are powerful and fast and amazing. She's a fantastic fighter with all sorts of weapons (better than Atticus) after only 12 years. She's wiser, kinder, more bad ass than Atticus-- the druid who is OLDER THAN JESUS. And then, when she finally does make a mistake she wallows in self-pity and philosophic musings. It's driving me up the freaking wall.
Owen isn't a bad character. I like his crotchety nature. However, I'm getting sick of jumping between points of view. Atticus reeled me into this story. He was sarcastic, witty, and confident. He was comfortable walking the path that led to survival, not manly bravado. He was even, at the very beginning, a bit of a classy womanizer (remember his weakness for the-naked-Morrigan?) Now we spend so much time with morose philosophic musings that I sometimes forget what the point was.
In short, I really hope this book addresses a lot of my growing issues with the series. But I'm not hopeful. And I'm really annoyed that I can't just read the book because Kevin Hearne decided that he could make more money by publishing the first few chapters as a novella and not including them in this book.
*UPDATE* This book was, in my opinion, better than the last couple. It starts to address my issues with Granuaile, Atticus, and their relationship. But it still feels too busy. It's kind of a place holder in the overarching Ragnarok plot, with a lot more vampire details (as the title implies), but the quality seems to have nudged back up towards the level of the 3rd book (but not the first). I'm slightly less nervous about the next one. Fingers crossed.
February 4, 2016
Reviewed by: Rabid Reads.
After SHATTERED, I had concerns that THE IRON DRUID CHRONICLES may be taking on water with an excess of POVs, mythologies and threads. STAKED slowed its roll a bit by limiting the amount of chapters from Owen and Granuaile’s perspectives, and I certainly can’t find fault in Kevin Hearne’s comedic writing style, but the female druid continued to annoy me, and when compared to some of this series’ epic stories, I found that the conclusion to the two century-long vampire saga was rather anticlimactic.
Atticus and Oberon have jetted around most of the globe and several planes; however in this installment they visited Canada, and tons of familiar cultural references ensued including a visit to Timmies and the hound discovering his new favourite dish: poutine! Readers also get to discover why one never wants to be “Nigel in Toronto”, and Owen was temporarily put on dog sitting duty which was seriously the funniest thing ever. Listening to Oberon explain to the archdruid how modern tech works was priceless.
Granuaile has to be one of the most irritating characters that I’ve had the misfortune of experiencing; I literally counted the number of scenes from her POV because if I reached ten I was DNF-ing this audiobook. Happily, that didn’t happen, but her personal crusade against her stepfather, and elitist attitude about what a druid’s mission *should* be pushed me to my breaking point. Owen on the other hand is an absolute peach! I like the direction that his tangent has taken, and of course Oberon is still the bestest of sidekicks.
Luke Daniels is THE man for the job with regards to narrating this series. As soon as he starts talking I immediately know which persona he’s assumed whether its the protagonist’s or a secondary that’s not made an appearance for several novels. In this title he dabbled with some French, and even though he botched one word pronunciation, I give him full marks because the rest was on the nose. His rendition of Owen is SO good, and the last scene with Oberon and Orla is as close as humans will ever come to dog speak.
STAKED was an step up from the previous book, but I still pine for the pre-SHATTERED days.
After SHATTERED, I had concerns that THE IRON DRUID CHRONICLES may be taking on water with an excess of POVs, mythologies and threads. STAKED slowed its roll a bit by limiting the amount of chapters from Owen and Granuaile’s perspectives, and I certainly can’t find fault in Kevin Hearne’s comedic writing style, but the female druid continued to annoy me, and when compared to some of this series’ epic stories, I found that the conclusion to the two century-long vampire saga was rather anticlimactic.
Atticus and Oberon have jetted around most of the globe and several planes; however in this installment they visited Canada, and tons of familiar cultural references ensued including a visit to Timmies and the hound discovering his new favourite dish: poutine! Readers also get to discover why one never wants to be “Nigel in Toronto”, and Owen was temporarily put on dog sitting duty which was seriously the funniest thing ever. Listening to Oberon explain to the archdruid how modern tech works was priceless.
Granuaile has to be one of the most irritating characters that I’ve had the misfortune of experiencing; I literally counted the number of scenes from her POV because if I reached ten I was DNF-ing this audiobook. Happily, that didn’t happen, but her personal crusade against her stepfather, and elitist attitude about what a druid’s mission *should* be pushed me to my breaking point. Owen on the other hand is an absolute peach! I like the direction that his tangent has taken, and of course Oberon is still the bestest of sidekicks.
Luke Daniels is THE man for the job with regards to narrating this series. As soon as he starts talking I immediately know which persona he’s assumed whether its the protagonist’s or a secondary that’s not made an appearance for several novels. In this title he dabbled with some French, and even though he botched one word pronunciation, I give him full marks because the rest was on the nose. His rendition of Owen is SO good, and the last scene with Oberon and Orla is as close as humans will ever come to dog speak.
STAKED was an step up from the previous book, but I still pine for the pre-SHATTERED days.
May 18, 2017
The problem with using alternating POVs is that if they are not equally appealing to the reader then the overall book can be spoilt.
As a long term Atticus fan I enjoyed this book despite the fact that Granuaille got far too much air time. She becomes increasingly annoying with her endless lecturing about saving the earth. I actually agree with her philosophy but do not like being lectured in a novel.
Nevertheless I enjoyed the rest of the book extremely. There's an enormous amount of action and a huge number of nasty vampires are turned into puddles of goo. Oberon is as witty as usual and discovers new delicacies to eat in each country they visit.
Then right at the end I thought the best thing was going to happen when . I got quite excited but it did not happen.
Maybe in the next book.........
As a long term Atticus fan I enjoyed this book despite the fact that Granuaille got far too much air time. She becomes increasingly annoying with her endless lecturing about saving the earth. I actually agree with her philosophy but do not like being lectured in a novel.
Nevertheless I enjoyed the rest of the book extremely. There's an enormous amount of action and a huge number of nasty vampires are turned into puddles of goo. Oberon is as witty as usual and discovers new delicacies to eat in each country they visit.
Then right at the end I thought the best thing was going to happen when . I got quite excited but it did not happen.
Maybe in the next book.........
October 21, 2019
Don't worry. This fan will be there to purchase the next installment. It really doesn't matter how long I have to wait between books.(George R. R. Martin this includes you!). And to those that give up because it took too long to publish the next book, you are going to miss out on something great. True lovers of the story don't care that they have to wait. We may grumble impatience but that is only because we thrive on the story! (Jim Butcher, this includes you too!) So take your time Mr. Hearne, we got your back and can't wait to see what shenanigans Atticus gets into!
April 15, 2015
The thing Hearne needs to understand, something many other authors fail to understand (I'm looking at you Butcher!), is that "fans" of a series only have so much patience. Then, they become distracted by other series that are more proliferate in their publishing. When a new book comes out in a series that's popular but hasn't had a new release in a long time (1+ year), fewer readers are going to be passionate about picking it up.
The Jedi-series of books (Hearne's and others) is an established fan base. In addition, they have many other contributing authors to keep that fan base "happy" and interested. The Iron Druid Chronicles has only Hearne to produce stories in it. The longer he diverts his attention from writing/publishing the next story(ies), the more "fans" are going to lose their passion for that next publication: it then goes from a "gotz to have it" situation to one of " Eh, a new Iron Druid. I might pick it up in a month or two after I'm done with ." And, then, completely forget about it when the next book in their current interest appears...
Hearne's personal passion for the Star Wars universe is likely to cost him in his professional endeavors with regards to the popularity of the Iron Druid Chronicles. Oh well, maybe he's losing the passion for the characters or the myriad venues of story-lines he's laid out in the previous stories: that would be a shame. But, as is happening for me with the Dresden Files; once a year goes by without anything new, I've become more involved with new books and series to such an extent that I'm unlikely to buy a book in a series I haven't read in such a long time.
Hearne's choice of course, just as long as he doesn't assume that "fans" are going to be there in the same numbers for the next book: maybe they will, maybe they won't. This "fan" will likely have moved on and be involved with many other series that are producing stories quicker by the time 2016 rolls around....
The Jedi-series of books (Hearne's and others) is an established fan base. In addition, they have many other contributing authors to keep that fan base "happy" and interested. The Iron Druid Chronicles has only Hearne to produce stories in it. The longer he diverts his attention from writing/publishing the next story(ies), the more "fans" are going to lose their passion for that next publication: it then goes from a "gotz to have it" situation to one of " Eh, a new Iron Druid. I might pick it up in a month or two after I'm done with ." And, then, completely forget about it when the next book in their current interest appears...
Hearne's personal passion for the Star Wars universe is likely to cost him in his professional endeavors with regards to the popularity of the Iron Druid Chronicles. Oh well, maybe he's losing the passion for the characters or the myriad venues of story-lines he's laid out in the previous stories: that would be a shame. But, as is happening for me with the Dresden Files; once a year goes by without anything new, I've become more involved with new books and series to such an extent that I'm unlikely to buy a book in a series I haven't read in such a long time.
Hearne's choice of course, just as long as he doesn't assume that "fans" are going to be there in the same numbers for the next book: maybe they will, maybe they won't. This "fan" will likely have moved on and be involved with many other series that are producing stories quicker by the time 2016 rolls around....
February 4, 2016
I didn't have high hopes for this one after being severely disappointed with the previous instalment but it still managed to disappoint me all the same. There was a lot of back and forth, literally travelling back and forth between planes and countries, a whole bunch of characters running all over the place (again) and a hell of a lot of nothing.
Seriously. Nothing happened in 85% of this book, not a damn thing worth mentioning. Then at the end some stuff happened and it read as though this sudden burst of action was the realisation of a bunch of smaller actions but by this point i was beyond caring so all i could feel was "well, yeah, that was going to happen" because there really was only one way for this book to end.
This book was surprisingly saved by Owen getting a slice of his very own life and a brief visit by the much missed (by me) Morrigan.
Much to my bitter disappointment Granuaile is still alive and kicking and continuing to be the super special (totally unnecessary) love interest. Was it too much to ask that Loki finished her off? I mean she and Atticus literally spent 90% of the book apart and it made absolutely no impact on the plot or the characters whatsoever.
Remember when it was just Atticus and his faithful hound? I sure as hell do, cause it was awesome.
I don't know if i'll bother continuing with this series, even if it means leaving off without finding out how that whole Ragnarok thing turns out. Sure people will die, shit will happen but am i gonna care? If its anything like this one and the last instalment the answer is a resounding NO.
Seriously. Nothing happened in 85% of this book, not a damn thing worth mentioning. Then at the end some stuff happened and it read as though this sudden burst of action was the realisation of a bunch of smaller actions but by this point i was beyond caring so all i could feel was "well, yeah, that was going to happen" because there really was only one way for this book to end.
This book was surprisingly saved by Owen getting a slice of his very own life and a brief visit by the much missed (by me) Morrigan.
Much to my bitter disappointment Granuaile is still alive and kicking and continuing to be the super special (totally unnecessary) love interest. Was it too much to ask that Loki finished her off? I mean she and Atticus literally spent 90% of the book apart and it made absolutely no impact on the plot or the characters whatsoever.
Remember when it was just Atticus and his faithful hound? I sure as hell do, cause it was awesome.
I don't know if i'll bother continuing with this series, even if it means leaving off without finding out how that whole Ragnarok thing turns out. Sure people will die, shit will happen but am i gonna care? If its anything like this one and the last instalment the answer is a resounding NO.
September 21, 2015
Why does GoodReads let people rate books that aren't even published yet?
October 9, 2023
Re-read October 8th 2023
No doubt there was some laughs, action, and an engaging plot, but I am more sad after finishing than I was the first time through.
A lot of humor is this installment. Oberon and Owen both had me laughing my ass off! Still, there were moments of sadness, and I was worried for our characters more than a few times.
Atticus' doubts at the end made me a little nervous and I hope it isn't an issue in the coming books, but I have a feeling there will be some troubles in their little paradise coming up. I'm wondering why
As usual, Luke Daniels' narration makes this already wonderful series come alive! His comedic timing is amazing. Audiobook is the only way to go!
No doubt there was some laughs, action, and an engaging plot, but I am more sad after finishing than I was the first time through.
A lot of humor is this installment. Oberon and Owen both had me laughing my ass off! Still, there were moments of sadness, and I was worried for our characters more than a few times.
Atticus' doubts at the end made me a little nervous and I hope it isn't an issue in the coming books, but I have a feeling there will be some troubles in their little paradise coming up. I'm wondering why
As usual, Luke Daniels' narration makes this already wonderful series come alive! His comedic timing is amazing. Audiobook is the only way to go!
February 18, 2016
I think this series has jumped the shark. The high point of the Iron Druid Chronicles, for me, was the third book, Hammered, where Atticus helped vampire Leif attack Asgard in order to kill Thor. Tricked was a very good one, because it featured the Coyote character, and Luke Daniels voice on that character was so good. Trapped was pretty exciting, and it introduced a 2nd narrator, Granuaile, which worked in that one because of a certain event there. Atticus' mentor Owen was added as a third narrator last time in Shattered.
For me, that's the big problem - having 2 narrators besides Atticus slows down the plot / pacing. I don't think the stuff that Granuaile and Owen are doing are as interesting as what is happening to Atticus, who is trying to kill hundreds of the oldest vampires on Earth. But even in Atticus' story, there are these diversions / flashbacks / stories of other things - sometimes those are good, sometimes, meh. You have to wait until the last 80 pages or so for good vampire fighting action in Italy.
Granuaile is a very problematic character for me. She has these motivations about getting revenge with step-father which all seem incredibly superficial. He ignored her? He pollutes the land? Sounds like a bad 1970s comic book character. Everything about Granuaile seems pretty thin and plastic. Even her dog is a weak copy of Oberon. The Morrigan seemed like a more realized character and she is mythological! Also, really, everything is too easy to these super-Druids, they all have healing abilities to rival Wolverine. Have they ever lost a big fight? No. C'mon, even Harry Dresden has had bigger losses.
I give the story 2 stars but for fans of Luke Daniels, it could be as much as 3 stars because he does his usual stellar job of narrating the story and doing all the accents.
For me, that's the big problem - having 2 narrators besides Atticus slows down the plot / pacing. I don't think the stuff that Granuaile and Owen are doing are as interesting as what is happening to Atticus, who is trying to kill hundreds of the oldest vampires on Earth. But even in Atticus' story, there are these diversions / flashbacks / stories of other things - sometimes those are good, sometimes, meh. You have to wait until the last 80 pages or so for good vampire fighting action in Italy.
Granuaile is a very problematic character for me. She has these motivations about getting revenge with step-father which all seem incredibly superficial. He ignored her? He pollutes the land? Sounds like a bad 1970s comic book character. Everything about Granuaile seems pretty thin and plastic. Even her dog is a weak copy of Oberon. The Morrigan seemed like a more realized character and she is mythological! Also, really, everything is too easy to these super-Druids, they all have healing abilities to rival Wolverine. Have they ever lost a big fight? No. C'mon, even Harry Dresden has had bigger losses.
I give the story 2 stars but for fans of Luke Daniels, it could be as much as 3 stars because he does his usual stellar job of narrating the story and doing all the accents.
October 10, 2016
Iron Druid Atticus O'Sullivan has a vampire problem and he has decided to once and for all take care of that by staking the ancient and power crazy Theophilus. And, he will need some allies to help him to that. But, both Owen Kennedy and Granuaile have their own problems. Owen skipped packing custom to a troll many years ago and now he learns that a troll has a very, very long memory. Granuaile is trying to rid herself of the mark that Loki has put on her, but with the help of Odin will she perhaps finally be free of it.
I was a bit worried that I would have a hard time getting into this book since I've only read the first book in this series. But, I was lucky. Before the story started, was it a short examination of the books before this one and that made it a lot easier to read Staked because that way I got the gist from all the books before this one. What I like about this book is the mix of humor, adventure, and mythology. I love that the books are using so many different Gods from different beliefs. It's quite cool to have Odin showing up one minute and then Jupiter.
The book is following Atticus, Owen, and Granuaile separately before they join force towards the end. I remember Granuaile from the first book, and she has come a long way from the wanna-be-druid to the fully trained druid she is now. I found her story quite good, apparently, she has a big problem with Loki and last time she saw him she tried to kill him and he has put a mark on her that she will do anything to get rid of. Also, now that she is a druid will she finally be able to confront her step-father which is the reason she asked Atticus to train her in the first place. Owen is a fellow druid that Atticus knew a long time ago. For me was he a totally new character, but I instantly liked him and his, well let's say problems with adjusting to the modern world. He has agreed to tutor new druids, but vampires and trolls are getting in the way. Atticus meanwhile has finally decided enough is enough when it comes to the vampires and now he will find Theophilus and put and end to all the nasty vampire business. He does have to deal with some stuff before, like for instance stopping a war, rob a bank and deal with a lovesick ghost.
I enjoyed this book from start to finish. The thing with this book is that it's so easygoing to read. It's a lot of fun banter, puns, and a lot of action. And, since I love mythology is it really fun to have all these Gods show up here and there.
I'm now quite eager to go back and start off where I left the series. I feel that knowing what happens here in book 8 doesn't take away the fun of reading the previous books. Quite contrary, reading the short summary of the previous books just made me more excited about the prospect of reading books two and buying the books I don't have.
I recommend this series to those that like to read well-written and funny urban fantasy books with Gods, druids, witches werewolves etc.
I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review!
Read this review and others on A Bookaholic Swede
I was a bit worried that I would have a hard time getting into this book since I've only read the first book in this series. But, I was lucky. Before the story started, was it a short examination of the books before this one and that made it a lot easier to read Staked because that way I got the gist from all the books before this one. What I like about this book is the mix of humor, adventure, and mythology. I love that the books are using so many different Gods from different beliefs. It's quite cool to have Odin showing up one minute and then Jupiter.
The book is following Atticus, Owen, and Granuaile separately before they join force towards the end. I remember Granuaile from the first book, and she has come a long way from the wanna-be-druid to the fully trained druid she is now. I found her story quite good, apparently, she has a big problem with Loki and last time she saw him she tried to kill him and he has put a mark on her that she will do anything to get rid of. Also, now that she is a druid will she finally be able to confront her step-father which is the reason she asked Atticus to train her in the first place. Owen is a fellow druid that Atticus knew a long time ago. For me was he a totally new character, but I instantly liked him and his, well let's say problems with adjusting to the modern world. He has agreed to tutor new druids, but vampires and trolls are getting in the way. Atticus meanwhile has finally decided enough is enough when it comes to the vampires and now he will find Theophilus and put and end to all the nasty vampire business. He does have to deal with some stuff before, like for instance stopping a war, rob a bank and deal with a lovesick ghost.
I enjoyed this book from start to finish. The thing with this book is that it's so easygoing to read. It's a lot of fun banter, puns, and a lot of action. And, since I love mythology is it really fun to have all these Gods show up here and there.
I'm now quite eager to go back and start off where I left the series. I feel that knowing what happens here in book 8 doesn't take away the fun of reading the previous books. Quite contrary, reading the short summary of the previous books just made me more excited about the prospect of reading books two and buying the books I don't have.
I recommend this series to those that like to read well-written and funny urban fantasy books with Gods, druids, witches werewolves etc.
I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review!
Read this review and others on A Bookaholic Swede
February 1, 2016
One of the charming things about the Iron Druids books is that thin line Hearne walked with Atticus between hipster doushebag and endearing character. It worked because the hipster stuff was mostly just the external stuff, while he was actually an unapologetic and joyful, arcane warrior most of the time. While that's still true, he seems to be tipping more and more towards the doushebag side of the line.
Owen is... fine, but his POV needs to be used very sparingly, and it needs to be used properly. Owen is at his most interesting when he's doing his detective thing and least interesting when he's fighting or doing romance stuff. Unfortunately, this book has much more of the later and barely any of the former.
Granuaile... I've never liked her very much to be honest. Where Atticus is discuised as a hipster doushebag with an interesting character underneath, Granuaile is just a hipster doushebag that sometimes hit's things with a stick. I cringe every time they switch to her POV because she's just so obnoxious and self righteous. This is made worse in this book especially where he adds a little interlude where she takes personal revenge on her Captain Planet Villain of a step father (He's literally described as laughing when animals die in oil spills). She's now determined to destroy every oil and coal company in the world. My guess is Hearne is simply going to hand wave away the absolute economic catastrophe and massive loss in human life doing that would have. It's now a race, who will destroy the world first, Loki or Granuaile?
The story it's self was just meh and kind of unfocused. I guess the main plot is about vampires, but it jumps all over the place. About 2/3rds of the way through the book I found myself wondering what the story was supposed to be about as it didn't really follow a single coherent narrative and was more like a collection of short stories. I get that he's setting up future books, but it was just so clunky.
3/5 stars for story
-1 star for Granuaile
Owen is... fine, but his POV needs to be used very sparingly, and it needs to be used properly. Owen is at his most interesting when he's doing his detective thing and least interesting when he's fighting or doing romance stuff. Unfortunately, this book has much more of the later and barely any of the former.
Granuaile... I've never liked her very much to be honest. Where Atticus is discuised as a hipster doushebag with an interesting character underneath, Granuaile is just a hipster doushebag that sometimes hit's things with a stick. I cringe every time they switch to her POV because she's just so obnoxious and self righteous. This is made worse in this book especially where he adds a little interlude where she takes personal revenge on her Captain Planet Villain of a step father (He's literally described as laughing when animals die in oil spills). She's now determined to destroy every oil and coal company in the world. My guess is Hearne is simply going to hand wave away the absolute economic catastrophe and massive loss in human life doing that would have. It's now a race, who will destroy the world first, Loki or Granuaile?
The story it's self was just meh and kind of unfocused. I guess the main plot is about vampires, but it jumps all over the place. About 2/3rds of the way through the book I found myself wondering what the story was supposed to be about as it didn't really follow a single coherent narrative and was more like a collection of short stories. I get that he's setting up future books, but it was just so clunky.
3/5 stars for story
-1 star for Granuaile
February 25, 2018
That’s it. I’m caught up with everything published in the Iron Druid Chronicles so far. And I’m sad that I have to wait for the next book, but at least I only have to wait until April! Honestly, how this book ended could’ve been the end of the series. Unlike most of its predecessors, there was a legitimate ending here, one that didn’t in some way set up for the next installment.
However, this is the first book in the series that made me feel a bit lost. I know there are short stories between many of the full novels, but I tend to always skip these. I think a lot of readers do, because it’s hard enough to make sure you’re reading the books in the right order, much less trying to make sure you read the short stories in the right order between the appropriate installments. Usually, this isn’t a problem. But with this book, I missed a good chunk of relevant plot by not reading the short story that came between it and the novel before it. I was able to follow what was going on, but I knew I was missing a decent chuck of background. That made the book less enjoyable.
There was also more sadness in this installment. Yes, there was still the humor that I’ve come to love, but it was missing some of the lightheartedness that made the series special for me. I’m still enjoying the three divergent plot lines, but there is one character I loved earlier on in the series who has become stale for me.
Regardless of the problems I had with the book, I still really enjoyed it. I love the characters, and the humor, and the mingled mythologies. I love the magic systems. I love Atticus, and I love Oberon most of all. I’ll be a loyal fan of the series until it comes to a close.
However, this is the first book in the series that made me feel a bit lost. I know there are short stories between many of the full novels, but I tend to always skip these. I think a lot of readers do, because it’s hard enough to make sure you’re reading the books in the right order, much less trying to make sure you read the short stories in the right order between the appropriate installments. Usually, this isn’t a problem. But with this book, I missed a good chunk of relevant plot by not reading the short story that came between it and the novel before it. I was able to follow what was going on, but I knew I was missing a decent chuck of background. That made the book less enjoyable.
There was also more sadness in this installment. Yes, there was still the humor that I’ve come to love, but it was missing some of the lightheartedness that made the series special for me. I’m still enjoying the three divergent plot lines, but there is one character I loved earlier on in the series who has become stale for me.
Regardless of the problems I had with the book, I still really enjoyed it. I love the characters, and the humor, and the mingled mythologies. I love the magic systems. I love Atticus, and I love Oberon most of all. I’ll be a loyal fan of the series until it comes to a close.
March 9, 2016
3.75 stakes.
This one is focused on Atticus solving his vampire problem once and for all, Granuaile figuring out what to do about her Loki problem as well as confronting her past, and Owen finding his place in modern times.
Kevin Hearne delivers pretty much what you’d expect from this series if you have read the previous books. Fun urban fantasy with paranormal & mythological flavors mixed in. I am still not a fan of him switching to multiple POV’s a few books back, but at least there were hints in this one that he might be scaling it down on that front. And these books are fast at only about 300 pages each.
Recommended.
This one is focused on Atticus solving his vampire problem once and for all, Granuaile figuring out what to do about her Loki problem as well as confronting her past, and Owen finding his place in modern times.
Kevin Hearne delivers pretty much what you’d expect from this series if you have read the previous books. Fun urban fantasy with paranormal & mythological flavors mixed in. I am still not a fan of him switching to multiple POV’s a few books back, but at least there were hints in this one that he might be scaling it down on that front. And these books are fast at only about 300 pages each.
Recommended.
March 2, 2024
*** 3.85 ***
Owen, Perun and Oberon make everything better 👍😊
Owen, Perun and Oberon make everything better 👍😊
September 28, 2023
Once again we a treated to three POVs and three storylines but unlike Shattered these work seamlessly.
Atticus has issues with the vampires and their leader Theophilus. Enough is enough and its time to take a stand. To do this, he will face danger, severe ties, suffer loss and will end up carrying guilt but with a price on the druid's heads, Atticus is determined to be the victor. This thread has him reconnecting with characters from previous books as he does quite a bit of traveling in his quest. The Hammers of God was an interesting thread and I loved how Hearne brought them back in and feed my quest for knowledge regarding them. The Dark Elves also made an appearance and continue to fascinate me.
After Granuaile 's experiences in India, she is determined to be free of the mark, the Norse God Loki set upon her. To do this she enlists the help of the gods and the witches in Poland. This was an intense thread that has her facing several Slavic nightmares. She also continued her quest regarding her stepfather. I like Granuaile but I would be lying if I didn't say that her POV sometimes grates on my nerves. She is passionate but also youthful in her reactions.
The third POV is Owen, who has decided to teach again and is spending time with a certain werewolf and her clan. In Staked, Owen has a wee bit of trouble with trolls. This thread was intense, heartbreaking and tied to the overall series ARC as Owen makes a startling discovery concerning an enemy.
Oberon and Orliath were present and added humor, emotion, and talks of food to the story. While I enjoy Orilath, but Oberon continues to steal the show. One of my favorite side stories in Staked had to do with a ghost and I enjoyed how Hearne both shared events from Atticus's past and addressed ghostly entities.
The stories eventually wove together when Atticus and the other druids join him in Rome as he takes on Theophilus. These final scenes were intense and had me sitting up straight and listening intensely.
Luke Daniels continues to narrate the series and I think he will be as sad as I will be when the final novel releases. Thankfully, he narrates Hearne's new series and many other titles.
Update: Relisten for Iron Druid Read Along. I loved getting alternate POVs. Loved the witches and talks of stew. It was interesting looking back at each characters actions the second time listening.
This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer
Atticus has issues with the vampires and their leader Theophilus. Enough is enough and its time to take a stand. To do this, he will face danger, severe ties, suffer loss and will end up carrying guilt but with a price on the druid's heads, Atticus is determined to be the victor. This thread has him reconnecting with characters from previous books as he does quite a bit of traveling in his quest. The Hammers of God was an interesting thread and I loved how Hearne brought them back in and feed my quest for knowledge regarding them. The Dark Elves also made an appearance and continue to fascinate me.
After Granuaile 's experiences in India, she is determined to be free of the mark, the Norse God Loki set upon her. To do this she enlists the help of the gods and the witches in Poland. This was an intense thread that has her facing several Slavic nightmares. She also continued her quest regarding her stepfather. I like Granuaile but I would be lying if I didn't say that her POV sometimes grates on my nerves. She is passionate but also youthful in her reactions.
The third POV is Owen, who has decided to teach again and is spending time with a certain werewolf and her clan. In Staked, Owen has a wee bit of trouble with trolls. This thread was intense, heartbreaking and tied to the overall series ARC as Owen makes a startling discovery concerning an enemy.
Oberon and Orliath were present and added humor, emotion, and talks of food to the story. While I enjoy Orilath, but Oberon continues to steal the show. One of my favorite side stories in Staked had to do with a ghost and I enjoyed how Hearne both shared events from Atticus's past and addressed ghostly entities.
The stories eventually wove together when Atticus and the other druids join him in Rome as he takes on Theophilus. These final scenes were intense and had me sitting up straight and listening intensely.
Luke Daniels continues to narrate the series and I think he will be as sad as I will be when the final novel releases. Thankfully, he narrates Hearne's new series and many other titles.
Update: Relisten for Iron Druid Read Along. I loved getting alternate POVs. Loved the witches and talks of stew. It was interesting looking back at each characters actions the second time listening.
This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer
November 26, 2017
I'm glad that the vampire problem is finally dealt with in this book. It needed to be tied up and resolved. Especially as Ragnarok has to be getting closer than ever. There are lots of good things here to deal with, but I admit that I got more than a little irritated with some of the characters in this book. For the most part they aren't main characters, only secondary ones, but the irritation is coloring my view of the book some.
I know not everyone loves it, but I'm greatly enjoying the multi-POV perspectives in the books lately. I think it adds a bit of depth and conscience to the series that it was missing previously. Not that Atticus doesn't have a conscience, but he can't always see past his own history to possibilities. Owen and Granuaile give back some of those possibilities and let us expand a bit more into the world.
I love that we get to catch up with the Polish coven, and a little bit more that we get to catch up with Laksha - more on her later. The Polish coven is one that's always fascinated me. Ever since Atticus entered into that mutual non-aggression treaty with them I've wanted to be able to spend more time with them. I feel like they are the best of what witches can be. Their absolute joy while talking with Granuaile is infectious as well.
Now Laksha. When last we saw her, Granuaile was telling her to enter the one body she was able to find. She had a lot of work to do to heal the pathways in the brain to make the woman's body function again. Now, she's functioning and back with the girl's family. Who are abusive as fuck. Controlling and assholes the entire lot of them. Laksha is a powerful witch, able to leave at any time she wishes, but she chooses to stay. Why? Because she thinks she deserves it. Fuck that. Whatever her karma is, no one deserves that. And everything in that moment and scene felt wrong. When Granuaile confronts her and asks her why she doesn't just leave, Laksha admonishes her about speaking from a place of privilege. That it's not so easy for someone that can't do the things Granuaile can do.
While I agree with that sentiment in life - abusive relationships maintain themselves precisely because they are so hard to get out of. First you have to believe that you deserve to be out of it. Then you have to find the way, practically, to actually survive. However, it felt forced, because while Laksha does believe she deserves it, she's not staying because it's hard to leave. She could leave at any time - she has similar advantages as Granuaile does. So talking about "privilege" in this scene felt like something that was shoe-horned in. It's not Laksha's lack of ability that keeps her there. It's her own guilt.
I hope she recognizes soon that no one deserves what she's allowing to happen currently, and gets the hell out of there. Because with the series winding up in the next book, I'm going to be pissed if an incredibly strong woman ends up remaining in that situation.
Let's talk about Granuaile for a second. I like her ideals. I love how strong and independent she is. What I don't like is that she admonishes people for choosing their own paths - paths that don't hurt anyone else. I actually agree with her that it would be awesome if she and Atticus took a more active role in protecting the earth from pollution and fracking and all sorts of other shit that normal humans do to it. But the way she stands on her pedestal and rages about Atticus' lack of interest in that - at the moment - infuriates me. Atticus has spent the last 2,000 years with one thing on his mind. Surviving.
While surviving, he's done everything to protect the elementals from magic users, protecting Gaia and ensuring that the earth is tethered and loved. All while being a pawn in the gods' games. He didn't have the luxury of trying to do more, consistently. And honestly he still doesn't. Ragnarok may seem like a part-time gig to Granuaile (and Owen for that matter), but Atticus has been charged to find the best way forward. Directed by nine powerful gods and goddesses, with little instruction in how to achieve the ends everyone wants to see come about.
So Granuaile's insistence that he commit to doing something long-term to protect the earth from regular humans, when he's honestly not sure he's going to survive the next little while, is quite infuriating. The fact that she gets mad because he hasn't taken the time to think about it is ridiculous. Should he think about it? Yes. Absolutely. But that he hasn't shouldn't be so surprising. And I don't know how she can't understand that about him.
Granuaile's been a druid for about 10 minutes compared to Atticus. And I love that she speaks freely and passionately about what she believes. But I learned long ago that you don't open people's eyes by yelling. And she could learn that, too.
Owen. I like him. I do. But if he continues to pound on Atticus and his zero-choice-decisions, making him feel more guilty than he already does, I'm not going to continue liking him. Atticus' choice in this book is to take the fight to Theophilus or to let the druids be killed off. This won't just be Atticus' death, but Granuaile's and Owen's as well. So he takes the fight to Theophilus. Which doesn't mean that he's then responsible for every action taken from that point forward by all parties involved. The blame should be placed squarely where it belongs - the vampires.
I'm sick to death of Greta and don't buy for a second the "love" that she and Owen share. It happened overnight? Give me a break. It's just one more way for Atticus to be hit with guilt and anger every time he tries to protect everything he cares about. Including Owen and his friends. OH! And Greta trying to interject herself into how druids are trained - Grrrr....
Anyway, I get that pain makes us say and do all sorts of hateful things. Things that we wouldn't likely be pushed to without it. But the fact is that Atticus is NOT responsible for everyone and the shit that happens to them. He's just not. Stop freaking blaming him for all your pain. Y'all made bad choices too, and you had full knowledge of what might be happening. So the fact that you didn't properly prepare is not his fault.
Got a little side-tracked there. Sorry about that.
Other than those few character moments - which don't detract from the story, just characters making me angry - I really enjoyed this story. I liked all the different things that happened in this book. From small things meant to lessen Loki's advantage in the coming Ragnarok; or Granuaile's growth and introspection. I liked where Owen's heading - for the most part. And I really enjoyed the battle against the vampires.
There were some bath-time stories that I got to read in this book that, while interesting, I'm not sure really added a lot to the story. They weren't long though, so they didn't detract or feel excessive. However, usually when stuff like that is included, it's because it becomes important later. I just didn't see where it was necessary in this book. Still, fun to read them. I think I probably enjoy them as much as Oberon.
The next book is supposed to be the last. Scourged, coming out in April 2018. I have plenty of worries and speculations to keep me busy until then. Though my speculations never really amount to terribly much, as Kevin Hearne continuously manages to add more and more depth to the world and bring about resolutions that I don't quite see coming. It's been one hell of a ride, and I can't wait to see how everything is resolved.
More reviews at The Alliterates
I know not everyone loves it, but I'm greatly enjoying the multi-POV perspectives in the books lately. I think it adds a bit of depth and conscience to the series that it was missing previously. Not that Atticus doesn't have a conscience, but he can't always see past his own history to possibilities. Owen and Granuaile give back some of those possibilities and let us expand a bit more into the world.
I love that we get to catch up with the Polish coven, and a little bit more that we get to catch up with Laksha - more on her later. The Polish coven is one that's always fascinated me. Ever since Atticus entered into that mutual non-aggression treaty with them I've wanted to be able to spend more time with them. I feel like they are the best of what witches can be. Their absolute joy while talking with Granuaile is infectious as well.
Now Laksha. When last we saw her, Granuaile was telling her to enter the one body she was able to find. She had a lot of work to do to heal the pathways in the brain to make the woman's body function again. Now, she's functioning and back with the girl's family. Who are abusive as fuck. Controlling and assholes the entire lot of them. Laksha is a powerful witch, able to leave at any time she wishes, but she chooses to stay. Why? Because she thinks she deserves it. Fuck that. Whatever her karma is, no one deserves that. And everything in that moment and scene felt wrong. When Granuaile confronts her and asks her why she doesn't just leave, Laksha admonishes her about speaking from a place of privilege. That it's not so easy for someone that can't do the things Granuaile can do.
While I agree with that sentiment in life - abusive relationships maintain themselves precisely because they are so hard to get out of. First you have to believe that you deserve to be out of it. Then you have to find the way, practically, to actually survive. However, it felt forced, because while Laksha does believe she deserves it, she's not staying because it's hard to leave. She could leave at any time - she has similar advantages as Granuaile does. So talking about "privilege" in this scene felt like something that was shoe-horned in. It's not Laksha's lack of ability that keeps her there. It's her own guilt.
I hope she recognizes soon that no one deserves what she's allowing to happen currently, and gets the hell out of there. Because with the series winding up in the next book, I'm going to be pissed if an incredibly strong woman ends up remaining in that situation.
Let's talk about Granuaile for a second. I like her ideals. I love how strong and independent she is. What I don't like is that she admonishes people for choosing their own paths - paths that don't hurt anyone else. I actually agree with her that it would be awesome if she and Atticus took a more active role in protecting the earth from pollution and fracking and all sorts of other shit that normal humans do to it. But the way she stands on her pedestal and rages about Atticus' lack of interest in that - at the moment - infuriates me. Atticus has spent the last 2,000 years with one thing on his mind. Surviving.
While surviving, he's done everything to protect the elementals from magic users, protecting Gaia and ensuring that the earth is tethered and loved. All while being a pawn in the gods' games. He didn't have the luxury of trying to do more, consistently. And honestly he still doesn't. Ragnarok may seem like a part-time gig to Granuaile (and Owen for that matter), but Atticus has been charged to find the best way forward. Directed by nine powerful gods and goddesses, with little instruction in how to achieve the ends everyone wants to see come about.
So Granuaile's insistence that he commit to doing something long-term to protect the earth from regular humans, when he's honestly not sure he's going to survive the next little while, is quite infuriating. The fact that she gets mad because he hasn't taken the time to think about it is ridiculous. Should he think about it? Yes. Absolutely. But that he hasn't shouldn't be so surprising. And I don't know how she can't understand that about him.
Granuaile's been a druid for about 10 minutes compared to Atticus. And I love that she speaks freely and passionately about what she believes. But I learned long ago that you don't open people's eyes by yelling. And she could learn that, too.
Owen. I like him. I do. But if he continues to pound on Atticus and his zero-choice-decisions, making him feel more guilty than he already does, I'm not going to continue liking him. Atticus' choice in this book is to take the fight to Theophilus or to let the druids be killed off. This won't just be Atticus' death, but Granuaile's and Owen's as well. So he takes the fight to Theophilus. Which doesn't mean that he's then responsible for every action taken from that point forward by all parties involved. The blame should be placed squarely where it belongs - the vampires.
I'm sick to death of Greta and don't buy for a second the "love" that she and Owen share. It happened overnight? Give me a break. It's just one more way for Atticus to be hit with guilt and anger every time he tries to protect everything he cares about. Including Owen and his friends. OH! And Greta trying to interject herself into how druids are trained - Grrrr....
Anyway, I get that pain makes us say and do all sorts of hateful things. Things that we wouldn't likely be pushed to without it. But the fact is that Atticus is NOT responsible for everyone and the shit that happens to them. He's just not. Stop freaking blaming him for all your pain. Y'all made bad choices too, and you had full knowledge of what might be happening. So the fact that you didn't properly prepare is not his fault.
Got a little side-tracked there. Sorry about that.
Other than those few character moments - which don't detract from the story, just characters making me angry - I really enjoyed this story. I liked all the different things that happened in this book. From small things meant to lessen Loki's advantage in the coming Ragnarok; or Granuaile's growth and introspection. I liked where Owen's heading - for the most part. And I really enjoyed the battle against the vampires.
There were some bath-time stories that I got to read in this book that, while interesting, I'm not sure really added a lot to the story. They weren't long though, so they didn't detract or feel excessive. However, usually when stuff like that is included, it's because it becomes important later. I just didn't see where it was necessary in this book. Still, fun to read them. I think I probably enjoy them as much as Oberon.
The next book is supposed to be the last. Scourged, coming out in April 2018. I have plenty of worries and speculations to keep me busy until then. Though my speculations never really amount to terribly much, as Kevin Hearne continuously manages to add more and more depth to the world and bring about resolutions that I don't quite see coming. It's been one hell of a ride, and I can't wait to see how everything is resolved.
More reviews at The Alliterates
July 24, 2018
Another well-written story in this fantasy series. 8 of 10 stars
March 28, 2016
CAUTION: minor spoiler ahead.
Overall, a good read, even with the three concurrent POV's and story threads. One aspect DID bother me, though, and managed to pull me out of the story, crashing me back into the "real" world: More than once Granuaile lectured the reader about climate change. To have her mention the subject and how she'd like to do her part to help Gaia out, fine. To have her rant on about it at length smacked of author intrusion and crashed my head-space. Not fine. I did not let this color my rating of the book, though, and I'd gladly recommend it to all.
Overall, a good read, even with the three concurrent POV's and story threads. One aspect DID bother me, though, and managed to pull me out of the story, crashing me back into the "real" world: More than once Granuaile lectured the reader about climate change. To have her mention the subject and how she'd like to do her part to help Gaia out, fine. To have her rant on about it at length smacked of author intrusion and crashed my head-space. Not fine. I did not let this color my rating of the book, though, and I'd gladly recommend it to all.
October 22, 2018
I read this to fill the Dead Lands square of my 2018 Halloween Bingo card.
There’s plenty of vampire action in this installment of the Iron Druid chronicles to qualify it for my Dead Lands entry for Bingo. Plus it was a great choice for a Friday evening after a long week’s work!
I think this is one of the best books in this series—for once, I was perfectly content with the ending, even though at least one of my favourite characters was lost along the way. Granuaile and Archdruid Owen both get their own chapters and concerns. Owen’s troll troubles were highly amusing and his new Druid school was encouraging. I’m not sure exactly how I feel about Granuaile’s campaign against her step-father, beyond finding it quite realistic that it would take up more time and energy that she had anticipated.
Atticus seems to have finally have got things settled down, at least until the opening of the next (and last) book. A good choice on the author’s part, I think, to finish up before the ideas get feeling to repetitive. There’s only so much fleeing & smiting that he can do before he’s fought & fled from everything and everybody.
I think it’s a toss-up between the first book and this one for my favourite Atticus tale.
There’s plenty of vampire action in this installment of the Iron Druid chronicles to qualify it for my Dead Lands entry for Bingo. Plus it was a great choice for a Friday evening after a long week’s work!
I think this is one of the best books in this series—for once, I was perfectly content with the ending, even though at least one of my favourite characters was lost along the way. Granuaile and Archdruid Owen both get their own chapters and concerns. Owen’s troll troubles were highly amusing and his new Druid school was encouraging. I’m not sure exactly how I feel about Granuaile’s campaign against her step-father, beyond finding it quite realistic that it would take up more time and energy that she had anticipated.
Atticus seems to have finally have got things settled down, at least until the opening of the next (and last) book. A good choice on the author’s part, I think, to finish up before the ideas get feeling to repetitive. There’s only so much fleeing & smiting that he can do before he’s fought & fled from everything and everybody.
I think it’s a toss-up between the first book and this one for my favourite Atticus tale.
March 9, 2017
Three Druids against thousands of vampires. Of course the good guy wins, but the battle to get there is what keeps it interesting. Hearne never loses the unique voice of each of the Druids in his writing. Atticus has been around for thousands of years. He's world weary and realistic. Granuaile is young and full of passion for her causes. She thinks she can change the world. Owen has been asleep for thousands of years. He is older and wiser, in his own ways. Owen wants to pick up where he left off as a teacher of Druids while having as little contact with the outside world as possible. Great, great book!!
March 9, 2016
I loved the parts narrated by Owen, tolerated the Atticus story (mostly because I'm not sure I agree with all of his actions/decisions), and I did NOT like the later parts narrated by Granuaile So 4 stars for the first POV, 3 for the second, and 2 for the third, which averages to a 3 - plus a .5 for Oberon because he continues to be awesome.
September 7, 2018
A few books ago, Hearne started to add in extra POVs and the series kind of lost it's way a bit for me. The start of this book I felt the same as we had not only 3 POVs, but also 3 different storylines and it felt like I was reading some novellas a chapter at a time! Once everyone came together at the end I felt this was back to it's usual fun self and I enjoyed it overall more than I expected.
It is also possible that the audio narration impacts my enjoyment of these multiple POVs because although the narrator does a great job, his voice really doesn't change between Atticus and Granuaile. This means if I stop through a chapter and pick it up later I would often forget who was talking. I think they would be better using a female narrator for her chapters.
It is also possible that the audio narration impacts my enjoyment of these multiple POVs because although the narrator does a great job, his voice really doesn't change between Atticus and Granuaile. This means if I stop through a chapter and pick it up later I would often forget who was talking. I think they would be better using a female narrator for her chapters.
February 9, 2016
The book was going so well, then it changes to a Granuaile chapter.
I may read other books and forget, but whenever I pick up an Iron Druid book, and Granuaile starts to narrate, an overwhelming rush of hatred and disgust comes over me.
Knowing that I have to endure another book filled with her(in my opinion) pretentious "modern gal, but aspiring for a past era prose" narrative makes me nuts.
It's frustrating that she tries to fill her narrative with such flowery poetic prose.
"I'm going to be in pain and yell a bit, but don't get upset, I need this" Ha ha.(saw what you did there)
The overall book was "okay", Atticus learnt that he must make friends with the enemies that he knows, than face off against ones that he doesn't.
There were some unanswered questions, and I didn't truly enjoy this as previous installments, but that could possibly be the multiple POVs, Owen is okay, but Granuaile just pisses in my ceral, and tells me to eat... well I'm sorry, but I am not eating your piss.
I am somewhat glad to return to the world, and the book didn't end on a cliffhanger(in my opinion) so thanks for that.
3/5 Stars
I may read other books and forget, but whenever I pick up an Iron Druid book, and Granuaile starts to narrate, an overwhelming rush of hatred and disgust comes over me.
Knowing that I have to endure another book filled with her(in my opinion) pretentious "modern gal, but aspiring for a past era prose" narrative makes me nuts.
It's frustrating that she tries to fill her narrative with such flowery poetic prose.
"I'm going to be in pain and yell a bit, but don't get upset, I need this" Ha ha.(saw what you did there)
The overall book was "okay", Atticus learnt that he must make friends with the enemies that he knows, than face off against ones that he doesn't.
There were some unanswered questions, and I didn't truly enjoy this as previous installments, but that could possibly be the multiple POVs, Owen is okay, but Granuaile just pisses in my ceral, and tells me to eat... well I'm sorry, but I am not eating your piss.
I am somewhat glad to return to the world, and the book didn't end on a cliffhanger(in my opinion) so thanks for that.
3/5 Stars
March 22, 2016
This eighth volume in what will be a nine book series continued where Shattered left off, tying up loose plot threads and propelling the characters towards the promised Ragnarok event. I enjoyed this entry's focus on vampires, especially Leif Helgarson, as well as the Hammers of Gods, and, separately, meeting Granuaile's step-father. I'm looking forward to seeing how Kevin Hearne wraps up this long running series.
March 7, 2016
This series continues to entertain with it's mix of action, adventure, and humor.
I really enjoy Atticus as a narrator but have been pretty cold on the multiple narrator front for this series since it started. I'm still not a huge fan but I liked it more in this one than in others.
But, when it comes right down to it, these books are extremely fun and I never feel my time is wasted reading them
I really enjoy Atticus as a narrator but have been pretty cold on the multiple narrator front for this series since it started. I'm still not a huge fan but I liked it more in this one than in others.
But, when it comes right down to it, these books are extremely fun and I never feel my time is wasted reading them
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