Hounded
ISBN: 9780356501192
Description
Atticus O'Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old - when in actuality, he's twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.
Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he's hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power - plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish - to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.
Reviewed on 5th February 2014
The first book in Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles was recommended to me on the basis of similarities to Jim Butcher's Dresden Files novels which I've recently started reading. I would argue that it's not only similar but better.
The book introduces Atticus O'Sullivan, a druid living in the modern-day USA, where he's hiding from a God with a chip on its shoulder. A variety of fantasy tropes come into play in a surprisingly rich and well-constructed world. The plot flows neatly throughout and the action is kept to a strong pace with plenty of chapter-ending cliffhangers.
Hearne's first-person narrative really helps move the story along, and unlike the aforementioned Dresden Files books it doesn't feel awkward or jolt the reader from the narrative. The book is filled with humorous lines that somehow feel natural and unforced, and I found myself almost giggling out load on the train as I read.
Great plot, great characters, great world-building, and I've already bought the next book in the series.
