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Hounded (with two bonus short stories): Book One of The Iron Druid Chronicles

Hounded (with two bonus short stories): Book One of The Iron Druid Chronicles

byKevin Hearne
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Top positive review

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Zenda
4.0 out of 5 stars4 stars
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 26, 2023
Althoigh this version does contain the bonus shorts at the end, this review is for the novel itself.

A lot to unpack here for me. This book did not start as a four star read for me. As a matter of fact, I normally finish a book this size in a day, maybe two. This one, however started so slow for me that I set it down multiple times in the first 25% or so, that I took almost three weeks to pass that point. Once I did, however, I kept reading and stopped picking up other books in between.

A few things overall. This is a very male centric book. There are really no really present female characters that aren't a foil to Atticus for most of this novel. There is the elderly neighbor who is a bit sloshed most of the time and then a bunch of morally gray people or bad guys. We have the hint of a more enjoyable female character towards the end, but the reader is more than halfway through by the time that happens. Up until this point, she is also one who flirts with the hero. I wish we would have seen someone, but I habe higher hopes for future books.

The reason it took me so long to get into this, I think, is that in the first 25% of the book, Atticus doesn't react to much. Danger, attacks, subterfuge, he just kind of shrugs it off and walks away. He comes across as fairly apathetic in general and if he doesn't care, then why should the reader? It isn't until he really starts caring about what is going on around him and starts doing more than the bare minimum that I could engage in the story, I finally had a vested interest in the characters.

This druid can be petty AF. The humor here is not always the most mature, and although I know it was probably supposed to be a funny interaction, I didn't really enjoy the part with the EMT who was just trying to keep himself and the others in the ambulance safe.

Enough with the French poodle jokes. We get it. The dog is horny and likes them.

Even with all this, the story is solid and the storyline itself is interesting enough to pursue. There are characters I like, and the folklore portions are interesting. I'm not looking forward to reading about him banging goddesses, and I really hope the relationship with his new apprentice changes and doesn't cross any ick lines due to the power imbalance.
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2 people found this helpful

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Alpha Reader
3.0 out of 5 starsAtticus is a character beautifully blended of modernity and history
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 26, 2013
If you live long enough, you rack up a fair number of enemies. Atticus O'Sullivan is a 2,100-year-old Druid, and he knows this much to be true - especially since he's had an ongoing tiff with the Celtic God of Love, Aenghus Óg, for a few centuries now. It's over a sword. And the fact that Atticus isn't as easy to kill as Óg would like to believe.

Luckily for Atticus; Tempe, Arizona has the least number of gods per capita, and for the most part he's left to run his occult bookshop, Third Eye Books and Herbs, in peace. Sure, he has a vampire and alpha werewolf on retainer as his lawyers. He has a wobbly treaty with the local witch coven. And The Morrigan frequently pops in for a visit and foreboding. But for the most part, Atticus is content to blend into this University town and play up his 21-year-old looks and live a quiet life as the last Druid in the world. He's content with his Irish wolfhound companion, Oberon (whom he shares a telepathic link) and to ogle the local bartender beauty, Granuaile.

Life is good.

And then Aenghus Óg steps up the attempts on his life. Suddenly there's no one Atticus can trust, and his quiet little life is about to come under threat . . .

`Hounded' is the first book in Kevin Hearne's urban fantasy series, `The Iron Druid Chronicles.'

This series started back in 2011, and since then Hearne has kept a steady pace of releases - with six `Iron Druid' books currently out, and at least three more in the works. I actually bought `Hounded' when it first came out, based on little more than snatches of the blurb and that fabulous cover. Hearne went on to release three more books in 2011, and I decided to sit back and amass the series a little bit, enjoy the build-up and anticipation before plunging in. It's 2013 now, and I've managed to collect all six books, so now I think it's high time I leapt in . . .

These books are funny. That has to be said first of all because when other elements weren't quite working for me, it was Hearne's wit and Atticus's humour that kept me going and ensured I'd be back for more. Atticus was really the saving grace for me in this book, because if his first-person narrative hadn't been so entertaining I'm not sure I'd have been as sold on the world-building promises. But Atticus is a fine hero to go on a journey with (good to know, when I've got six books to spend with him!). He's 2000-years-old, and seen things. He lets little bits of his history show, but as this is the first book Hearne & Atticus are keeping the cards close to their chests - so you'll get a little aside about the Crusades being what turned Atticus off violence, or that his father threw him in a tar pit to teach him to `man up' - but he doesn't dwell on his past and lets very little slip. Sometimes this didn't work for me, but I also loved that Atticus is a character beautifully blended of modernity and history. So occasionally you'll get one-liner gems like his one (discussing Thor);

+++

. . . in the parlance of our times, he was a douche bag.

+++

Brilliant. Also adding to the humour in the book is Atticus's trusty Irish wolfhound, Oberon, with whom he shares a telepathic link. Oberon was marvellous, and probably my favourite character ever (someone tell me he's won a sidekick award!). Oberon is poodle-obsessed and very impressionable; one bath-time tale about Genghis Khan and he starts begging Atticus to start a land war in Asia. I also relied on Oberon to bring me back to this series, because he's the one aspect of Atticus's life that hinted a bit at the dearth of his loneliness and revealed his true heart.

And that was the thing; Atticus was funny and wise, but throughout the book I felt a disconnect. Here he is, the last Druid. Two thousand years old, the very last of his kind. But I felt like at the end of the book, I didn't really know Atticus all that much and besides thinking he had a good sense of humour, I wasn't entirely sure I had learnt a whole hell of a lot about him. Now, like I said, this is the first book in a long series so I'd hate for Hearne to lay all his cards on the table. But I wanted to get a sense that we (as readers) were meeting Atticus at the start of this series, at a time when he's ready to reconnect. And I felt there was plenty of opportunity for Hearne to highlight Atticus's loneliness - there's a pack of werewolves, a coven of witches and the gods all seem to be in cahoots . . . but Atticus is on his lonesome. Except he didn't seem all that fussed. Sure, Oberon has clearly filled some of that love and affection for him (because, make no mistake, these two have got `buddy-cop' written all over them) I guess I wanted more evidence that Atticus was ready for more human connections.

He is friends with a widowed Irishwoman neighbour, Mrs. MacDonagh, but their bizarre friendship was often used as comic relief as opposed to genuine connection. Then there's barmaid Granuaile, a beautiful red-headed twenty-two-year-old who Atticus can't quite figure out. She's woefully under-cooked in this first book, but looking at the cover for `Trapped', I can guess she becomes a bigger player (drats that it's five books down the queue though).

The world-building was pretty good in this book, though I did feel like Hearne was chucking everything in for good measure. In this world, all gods are real - from Allah to Jesus and Buddha. They all exist right now, in some form or other, and for the most part they piss off the little supernatural's with their godly behaviour.

This world premise is quite fun, and I can now see why the series has a nine-book trajectory. When no gods are off-limits; every religion, myth and magic could potentially crop up in the books, no wonder Hearne has yet to tap the bottom of the `Iron Druid Chronicles'. Though in this first book he brings out a lot of minor Celtic gods that were hard to keep track of; on top of a brewing witch war, mentions of werewolf pack hierarchy, some Native American tales . . . he put a lot in this first book and at times it was overwhelming, bordering on confusing.

I will say that the `Iron Druid Chronicles' are shaping up to be a very manly fare. Maybe when/if Granuaile comes to mean more this will change; but in `Hounded' at least there's no romance, apart from a running joke that three female minor gods fawn over Atticus and there's minor bedroom hijinx that's referenced, not described. The lovey-dovey stuff is minimal and brushed aside quite quickly, which is actually a nice change when paranormal romance has been creeping in and blurring the lines of urban fantasy more and more. But I do hope that, further along in the series, Atticus does look for more in his life and someone to share it with - I think that will go a long way to addressing my initial concerns that Atticus seems to be a very unemotional man.

All in all, `Hounded' didn't WOW me like I had hoped it would . . . but I'll be sticking around because (detached as he is) Atticus was a great hero, Oberon is my favourite new side-kick and I'm hoping that future book-covers hint at deeper human connections in store for this lonesome Druid.

3.5/5
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From the United States

Zenda
4.0 out of 5 stars 4 stars
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 26, 2023
Verified Purchase
Althoigh this version does contain the bonus shorts at the end, this review is for the novel itself.

A lot to unpack here for me. This book did not start as a four star read for me. As a matter of fact, I normally finish a book this size in a day, maybe two. This one, however started so slow for me that I set it down multiple times in the first 25% or so, that I took almost three weeks to pass that point. Once I did, however, I kept reading and stopped picking up other books in between.

A few things overall. This is a very male centric book. There are really no really present female characters that aren't a foil to Atticus for most of this novel. There is the elderly neighbor who is a bit sloshed most of the time and then a bunch of morally gray people or bad guys. We have the hint of a more enjoyable female character towards the end, but the reader is more than halfway through by the time that happens. Up until this point, she is also one who flirts with the hero. I wish we would have seen someone, but I habe higher hopes for future books.

The reason it took me so long to get into this, I think, is that in the first 25% of the book, Atticus doesn't react to much. Danger, attacks, subterfuge, he just kind of shrugs it off and walks away. He comes across as fairly apathetic in general and if he doesn't care, then why should the reader? It isn't until he really starts caring about what is going on around him and starts doing more than the bare minimum that I could engage in the story, I finally had a vested interest in the characters.

This druid can be petty AF. The humor here is not always the most mature, and although I know it was probably supposed to be a funny interaction, I didn't really enjoy the part with the EMT who was just trying to keep himself and the others in the ambulance safe.

Enough with the French poodle jokes. We get it. The dog is horny and likes them.

Even with all this, the story is solid and the storyline itself is interesting enough to pursue. There are characters I like, and the folklore portions are interesting. I'm not looking forward to reading about him banging goddesses, and I really hope the relationship with his new apprentice changes and doesn't cross any ick lines due to the power imbalance.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 8, 2023
Verified Purchase
So glad to be started on this amazing series. So sorry it took this long. Highly recommend. Don't hesitate. It's good.
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LeslieO
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed the read very much!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 29, 2023
Verified Purchase
Great read plus 2 bonus stories! The personalities depicted are right on. I especially like Oberon!! The comparisons, ie Disney woodland creatures vs situation directed by Poe - so visual!!
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Alpha Reader
3.0 out of 5 stars Atticus is a character beautifully blended of modernity and history
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 26, 2013
Verified Purchase
If you live long enough, you rack up a fair number of enemies. Atticus O'Sullivan is a 2,100-year-old Druid, and he knows this much to be true - especially since he's had an ongoing tiff with the Celtic God of Love, Aenghus Óg, for a few centuries now. It's over a sword. And the fact that Atticus isn't as easy to kill as Óg would like to believe.

Luckily for Atticus; Tempe, Arizona has the least number of gods per capita, and for the most part he's left to run his occult bookshop, Third Eye Books and Herbs, in peace. Sure, he has a vampire and alpha werewolf on retainer as his lawyers. He has a wobbly treaty with the local witch coven. And The Morrigan frequently pops in for a visit and foreboding. But for the most part, Atticus is content to blend into this University town and play up his 21-year-old looks and live a quiet life as the last Druid in the world. He's content with his Irish wolfhound companion, Oberon (whom he shares a telepathic link) and to ogle the local bartender beauty, Granuaile.

Life is good.

And then Aenghus Óg steps up the attempts on his life. Suddenly there's no one Atticus can trust, and his quiet little life is about to come under threat . . .

`Hounded' is the first book in Kevin Hearne's urban fantasy series, `The Iron Druid Chronicles.'

This series started back in 2011, and since then Hearne has kept a steady pace of releases - with six `Iron Druid' books currently out, and at least three more in the works. I actually bought `Hounded' when it first came out, based on little more than snatches of the blurb and that fabulous cover. Hearne went on to release three more books in 2011, and I decided to sit back and amass the series a little bit, enjoy the build-up and anticipation before plunging in. It's 2013 now, and I've managed to collect all six books, so now I think it's high time I leapt in . . .

These books are funny. That has to be said first of all because when other elements weren't quite working for me, it was Hearne's wit and Atticus's humour that kept me going and ensured I'd be back for more. Atticus was really the saving grace for me in this book, because if his first-person narrative hadn't been so entertaining I'm not sure I'd have been as sold on the world-building promises. But Atticus is a fine hero to go on a journey with (good to know, when I've got six books to spend with him!). He's 2000-years-old, and seen things. He lets little bits of his history show, but as this is the first book Hearne & Atticus are keeping the cards close to their chests - so you'll get a little aside about the Crusades being what turned Atticus off violence, or that his father threw him in a tar pit to teach him to `man up' - but he doesn't dwell on his past and lets very little slip. Sometimes this didn't work for me, but I also loved that Atticus is a character beautifully blended of modernity and history. So occasionally you'll get one-liner gems like his one (discussing Thor);

+++

. . . in the parlance of our times, he was a douche bag.

+++

Brilliant. Also adding to the humour in the book is Atticus's trusty Irish wolfhound, Oberon, with whom he shares a telepathic link. Oberon was marvellous, and probably my favourite character ever (someone tell me he's won a sidekick award!). Oberon is poodle-obsessed and very impressionable; one bath-time tale about Genghis Khan and he starts begging Atticus to start a land war in Asia. I also relied on Oberon to bring me back to this series, because he's the one aspect of Atticus's life that hinted a bit at the dearth of his loneliness and revealed his true heart.

And that was the thing; Atticus was funny and wise, but throughout the book I felt a disconnect. Here he is, the last Druid. Two thousand years old, the very last of his kind. But I felt like at the end of the book, I didn't really know Atticus all that much and besides thinking he had a good sense of humour, I wasn't entirely sure I had learnt a whole hell of a lot about him. Now, like I said, this is the first book in a long series so I'd hate for Hearne to lay all his cards on the table. But I wanted to get a sense that we (as readers) were meeting Atticus at the start of this series, at a time when he's ready to reconnect. And I felt there was plenty of opportunity for Hearne to highlight Atticus's loneliness - there's a pack of werewolves, a coven of witches and the gods all seem to be in cahoots . . . but Atticus is on his lonesome. Except he didn't seem all that fussed. Sure, Oberon has clearly filled some of that love and affection for him (because, make no mistake, these two have got `buddy-cop' written all over them) I guess I wanted more evidence that Atticus was ready for more human connections.

He is friends with a widowed Irishwoman neighbour, Mrs. MacDonagh, but their bizarre friendship was often used as comic relief as opposed to genuine connection. Then there's barmaid Granuaile, a beautiful red-headed twenty-two-year-old who Atticus can't quite figure out. She's woefully under-cooked in this first book, but looking at the cover for `Trapped', I can guess she becomes a bigger player (drats that it's five books down the queue though).

The world-building was pretty good in this book, though I did feel like Hearne was chucking everything in for good measure. In this world, all gods are real - from Allah to Jesus and Buddha. They all exist right now, in some form or other, and for the most part they piss off the little supernatural's with their godly behaviour.

This world premise is quite fun, and I can now see why the series has a nine-book trajectory. When no gods are off-limits; every religion, myth and magic could potentially crop up in the books, no wonder Hearne has yet to tap the bottom of the `Iron Druid Chronicles'. Though in this first book he brings out a lot of minor Celtic gods that were hard to keep track of; on top of a brewing witch war, mentions of werewolf pack hierarchy, some Native American tales . . . he put a lot in this first book and at times it was overwhelming, bordering on confusing.

I will say that the `Iron Druid Chronicles' are shaping up to be a very manly fare. Maybe when/if Granuaile comes to mean more this will change; but in `Hounded' at least there's no romance, apart from a running joke that three female minor gods fawn over Atticus and there's minor bedroom hijinx that's referenced, not described. The lovey-dovey stuff is minimal and brushed aside quite quickly, which is actually a nice change when paranormal romance has been creeping in and blurring the lines of urban fantasy more and more. But I do hope that, further along in the series, Atticus does look for more in his life and someone to share it with - I think that will go a long way to addressing my initial concerns that Atticus seems to be a very unemotional man.

All in all, `Hounded' didn't WOW me like I had hoped it would . . . but I'll be sticking around because (detached as he is) Atticus was a great hero, Oberon is my favourite new side-kick and I'm hoping that future book-covers hint at deeper human connections in store for this lonesome Druid.

3.5/5
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omnireader
5.0 out of 5 stars Everlasting Druid
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 11, 2023
Verified Purchase
I read this book on the advice of my cousin. Interesting premise and interesting story, though it’s a little more bloodthirsty than my usual style. If I didn’t have so many other threads to follow, I might take up this series.
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Sandra Iler Kirkland
VINE VOICE
4.0 out of 5 stars The First In The Iron Druid Series
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 27, 2022
Verified Purchase
Atticus O'Sullivan appears to be a twenty-one year old man who owns and runs a New Age bookshop in Tempe, Arizona. But looks can often be deceiving. Atticus is actually over two thousand years old and he is the last Iron Druid. He was involved in the battles of yore and has been on the run for centuries from his enemies. Tempe has been a refuge but there are signs that his enemies have finally tracked him down.
This time Atticus decides to stay and fight rather than run. He has some help. He has an Irish wolfhound who is his closest companion. He has the help, usually, of The Morrigan, a crow in form who is the Irish Chooser Of The Slain although her support is always questionable as she can change in the blink of an eye. The first of the Fae is on Atticus' side but only because they share a common enemy. He has a tentative relationship with a local coven of witches but Atticus doesn't trust them at all. He does trust his lawyers, a werewolf who does the day work and a vampire who takes the night shift.

But his enemies are powerful. The Irish God of Love has hated Atticus for centuries and has chased him across the world. He wants to become the ruler of the Faes and knows he will have a better chance of that if he can eliminate Atticus first. He also has entry to the demons of hell and can call on them in a fight as well as his own witches. Can Atticus survive this latest challenge?

Kevin Hearne has created a memorable character in Atticus. He is a native of Arizona so he gets the locale perfectly. His writing style is light and humorous and the reader will fall in love with Atticus and his wolfhound. This is the perfect first novel in a series; it can be read as a stand-alone tale without cliffhangers but it's so delightful that the reader will be interested in reading more of Atticus' adventures. This book is recommended for fantasy readers.
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LocoCoyote
4.0 out of 5 stars quite entertaining
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 12, 2023
Verified Purchase
I approached this book with mixed expectations. I was pleasantly surprised with the easy writing and sly humor. Story was interesting and well told. Looking forward tot he next one.
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Wendell
4.0 out of 5 stars REALLY GOOD URBAN FANTASY
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 5, 2014
Verified Purchase
Let me establish up front: I’m not an urban fantasy expert. Sure, I’d heard of the genre and some of its more famous names like Harry Dresden, but I’d never actually read any of the books, so I really didn’t know what to expect when I picked up Hounded. After finishing this one though, I have now learned two things: talking dogs can be cool – even if you aren’t a kid anymore – and UF is pretty fun.

As fans of The Iron Druid Chronicles already know, our star Atticus O’Sullivan seems to be a normal twenty-something guy living peacefully in Arizona. He runs his own occult bookshop, sells some coffee and herbs, and has to constantly tell people he doesn’t sell marijuana at his shop. In his spare time, he keeps up the yard for his elderly next-door neighbor and acts like any other handsome, tattooed, Irish guy: hanging out with his friends, picking up interesting ladies, and taking his Irish Wolfhound Oberon out for hikes in the spectacular wilderness. But actually, our normal dude is much more than he seems!

In fact, he is the last of the druids, which makes him about twenty-one “centuries” old. Not only that, but those friends of his are actually werewolves and vampires; those hot ladies he keeps having sex with are Celtic goddesses; and when he and Oberon go hiking, Atticus generally shape-shifts into animal forms so he can keep up with the werewolf pack. All of which means he has a really good thing going on in Arizona. One of the happiest, most settled times in his long life. Naturally though, something is happening to screw it up.

You see, our druid has a magic sword that he took off a Celtic god’s champion centuries ago. This god is still pissed after all this time and wants it back. (Guess divine beings have long memories or something?) Unfortunately, after hounding (Yeah, I went there) our druid for centuries, this god has finally tracked him down, and Atticus is going to need all his druidic power and tricks (plus a little help from old and new friends alike) to save his ass from this very deadly situation, because even if death won’t take his soul hell still might!

Overall, I thought Hounded was a fun read. Was it as good as other urban fantasy books? I have no idea, because this is my first, so it will be the measure upon which I judge all those that come after. Sort of like my first . . . uh, real girlfriend. But like I was saying, this story had some really cool Celtic gods and goddess, interesting witches, and a couple of great werewolf and vampire characters. Naturally, Atticus was the star of the show; his sarcastic, funny remarks kept the laughs coming, and his very interesting relationship with Oberon the wolfhound was a source of numerous smiles. Truthfully, these two friend’s constant banter was the best thing about the whole story to me.

I really have only two complaints this book.

One, Atticus didn’t seem like a twenty-one CENTURIES old druid. I understand that he’d want to fit into the time period he was living in, dress normal, talk with the local language and slang, and not draw attention to himself, but there did not seem to be much history with this guy. He sounded and acted like a hormonal, twenty-one-year-old frat boy, not like someone who had lived, loved and lost countless people in such a long life. Surviving that long and experiencing so much of human history would have to affect you in some way. There would be moments when you sat around and reflected on something you saw or did or someone important you had lost. Since there were none of these moments in Hounded, it added to the impression that Atticus was a normal, twenty-first century, American man.

Two, the whole book built up to this epic confrontation between Atticus and this kickass Celtic god. After this big buildup though, things wrapped up a little quickly and too perfectly for me.

Like I said earlier, however, I really enjoyed Hounded; it was a fun introduction to urban fantasy and sold me on continuing to read the genre.
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js14
4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely Worth Reading!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 27, 2011
Verified Purchase
***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***

Atticus O'Sullivan or Sidohachan O' Suileahain as he was once known, is a 2000 year old druid in a 21 year old's body. Chased by Celtic Gods and the Tuatha De Dannann because he has in his possession a magical sword called Fragarach which can cut through anything, he faces many adversaries in this tale of adventure set in the Arizona desert.

His main adversary is Aenghus Og the Celtic god of love who's hellbent on having the sword, but as the story progress you begin to wonder if he can trust anyone other than Oberon the dog with whom has a mental bond. Og isn't cupid by any means and is downright nasty is his pursuit of Atticus and Fragnarach. The story encompasses all sorts of supernatural entities from the fae to werewolves, vampires and witches and reader is often left wondering which is the most dangerous and who will turn on Atticus next as they turn from page to page in this exciting story.

I debated between a three and four stars on this one because while the ending did tie things up nice and neat, there was something about it that didn't leave me feeling fulfilled. However that could have just been me having to stop every three paragraphs and yell at my sons who'd just gotten home from school and weren't behaving. I decided to give Hearne the benefit of the doubt and blame my not being pleased with the ending on the fact that I was angry at my boys and went with a four stars.

The story is written in the first person in Atticus's voice and for some reason reminded me of the old television show Saved By The Bell. Obviously the two aren't similar in plot, but if you were a fan of the show you'll remember the times when Zack who was a likable troublemaker would speak to the audience in monologues about what was occurring. Atticus's voice and attitude was very similar to that of the lead character in that long forgotten television show. He's a likeable smarta## who doesn't have to go looking for trouble because it's always banging on his door.

You can tell the Hearne put a lot of research into his debut novel, however the need to make sure his readers understand Celtic mythology and history slow his pacing down a bit in the beginning of his novel. He info-dumps quite a bit in the beginning and while I appreciate that he didn't walk into writing about this blind, I think there could have been a better way to import the information to the reader than putting it in long drawn out paragraphs. It's mostly only done in the beginning and after you get further into the story you quickly forget about the small text book like portions you suffered through in the beginning to get to the real story. If you're a reader like me who's put off by sections of fiction like that I advise you to keep reading because I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed.

While my favorite character was his dog Oberon that in this story can talk in Atticus's head and therefore served as wonderful comic relief, I loved the way Hearne created the characters in this tale of adventure. You could never tell for sure which side any of his allies were on, his main humanish friends are his werewolf and vampire lawyers that charge him for their time and this wacky Irish widow down the road, that mellows out her Sunday church sermons by drinking so much whiskey before she goes that she doesn't remember what's been said. Each character was well fleshed out with unclear motives that left you guessing and little quirks that enamored you to them.

Overall the story is a must read for fans of urban and paranormal fantasy. It is for the most part faced paced and once you get past the shaky parts I warned you about in the beginning you won't want to put it down until you read its conclusion.
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Charra Hammett
3.0 out of 5 stars Good story, writing is Subpar
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 26, 2019
Verified Purchase
I thought the storyline was decent and had a lot of potential but the writing showed the writer was new with the cadence of the conversations and lack of character development.

Atticus is a Druid with powers of the earth and a dog named Oberon who has lived in hiding for 2000+ years ever since he took a magical sword from a God of Love named Aenghus Óg and Aenghus Og wants it back. That’s the basic story. *SPOILER ALERT*

1. Holes in the story - Oberon kills a human Park Ranger after going on a short hunt with Atticus and a different God, Flidais, because said God bewitches him(Oberon) into killing the man for startling her, but she was supposed to be there to warn Atticus about Aenghus Og being on his way. This sets off a chain of events where the police are trying to find Oberon because somehow the police have figured out the dog DNA on the body belonged to an Irish Wolfhound even though its said/written that it’s not possible to determine dog breed by dog DNA. How would Aenghus even know about the hunt to be able to set up Atticus and Oberon when Flidais and Atticus were in bed when they discussed going on a hunt and she never left so she couldn’t have told Aenghus to set a trap. It doesn’t say the Gods can talk mind to mind. It’s just too nicely set up without explanation. And Flidais is supposed to be helping him but then she’s not but then later she is and again not and again is.

2. The switching back and forth of the loyalties of the 3 different Gods (Flidais, The Morrigan & Brighet) and then also The Witches was just confusing. Not only was there back and forth by Flidais above but also The Morrigan and The Witches and the God Brighid. It was too much confusion to make sense of. One unexpected person or group who betrays the main character would have been enough but it was like the writer tried to add too much into the story and didn’t do a good enough job explaining it or letting the main character cast doubt on them so you never felt like oh they are good guys or bad guys. One second you believed that person/group was good. The next it was like huh? And in the end it was explained offhandedly like we should have known the gods are tricky and witches can’t be trusted. But maybe one witch. And her couple of sisters. *ugh*

3. The sex - is this book supposed to have sex in it or not? Because there are little hints of it that seem like there would be some sex scenes with Atticus and then lamely left EVERYTHING to the imagination. Either do it or don’t. And what’s with Granuaile? Hot redhead that Atticus has been lusting after for an undetermined amount of time comes off as a bit of an airhead who might be smart but it never really goes anywhere or makes you feel like she may or may not be a real love interest. Instead Atticus ends up with meaningless sex and getting hit on constantly by the female Gods and you’re confused as to where this is all leading. Does he need a love interest? Prolly not but then why Granuaile?

4. Character development. None of the side characters are built enough into the story to make you want to love them and continue on. The dog is kinda funny at times but even he lacks something. The widow is pretty cool but again there just isn’t a connection there. I read so many books and when you pick up a book and just love the characters and want more by the end of the book - then you know the writer did something right. Maybe after reading a few books I might feel this way about Atticus and Oberon but I just didn’t get that feeling in this book. Good potential but not enough.

Overall it lacks the depth needed for a good novel series. Hopefully the writer gets better throughout the series. I most likely won’t read any more in this series.
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