Hounded: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book One Mass Market Paperback Author: Visit Amazon's Kevin Hearne Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0345522478 | Format: PDF, EPUB
Hounded: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book One Mass Market Epub FreeDirect download links available Hounded: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book One Mass Market Paperback Epub Free from with Mediafire Link Download Link
Review
"Hearne, a self-professed comic-book nerd, has turned his love of awesome dudes whacking mightily at evil villains into a superb urban fantasy debut. Staying alive for 2,000 years takes a great deal of cunning, and sexy super-druid Atticus O'Sullivan, currently holed up in the Arizona desert, has vexed a few VIPs along the way. High up on that list is Aenghus Óg, the Celtic god of love. It's not just that Aenghus wants his sword back—though it is a very nice magical sword—but that Atticus didn't exactly ask permission to take it. Atticus and his trusty sidekick, Irish wolfhound Oberon, make an eminently readable daring duo as they dodge Aenghus's minions and thwart his schemes with plenty of quips and zap-pow-bang fighting." --
Publisher's Weekly, starred review“A page-turning and often laugh-out-loud funny caper through a mix of the modern and the mythic.”—Ari Marmell, author of
The Warlord’s Legacy
“Celtic mythology and an ancient Druid with modern attitude mix it up in the Arizona desert in this witty new fantasy series.”—Kelly Meding, author of
Three Days to Dead
“Kevin Hearne breathes new life into old myths, creating a world both eerily familiar and startlingly original.”—Nicole Peeler, author of
Tempest RisingAbout the Author
Kevin Hearne is a middle-aged nerd who still enjoys his comic books and old-school heavy metal. He cooks tasty omelets, hugs trees, and paints miniature army dudes. He lives with his wife, daughter, and doggies in a wee cottage.
Direct download links available for Hounded: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book One Mass Market Paperback Epub Free
- Series: The Iron Druid Chronicles (Book 1)
- Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Del Rey; 4.3.2011 edition (May 3, 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345522478
- ISBN-13: 978-0345522474
- Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
I don't usually get overly effusive in my book reviews, but d*mn, this was a fun book! I'm an urban fantasy junkie and have logged a lot of reading hours in that genre, and with every writer and his/her brother jumping into the field to take advantage of its current popularity, I've thrown a lot of books at the wall because they're not worth the paper they are printed on. "Hounded" is definitely one of those books that you place down carefully, and remember where you stored it in your bookcase because you know that you'll be re-reading it sooner or later. It's definitely a keeper!
Quick synopsis: Atticus O'Sullivan is a 2100-year old Druid, supposedly the last of his kind. His appearance is that of a 21 year old, good-looking Irish guy. He lives in Tempe AZ, and runs a New Age-y herbal and book store. He's got an enemy who is the Celtic god of love who wants a mystical sword that Atticus took from him in a battle centuries ago, and who also wants Atticus dead. Periodically, as the god has located Atticus, he sends minions after him to kill him. In this story, he has located Atticus again, and decides to kill him personally.
The usual urban fantasy suspects exist: the Tuatha De Danann, werewolves, vampires, witches, ghouls, gods, goddesses, demons, etc., though they are not "out" to the general human population. So far, this doesn't sound like anything special, does it? The key differences between this book and most of the others in this genre is that it is extremely well-written (and even though I was reading the Advance Reader's Edition, it didn't have the spelling errors that are so common now in books), the characters are fleshed-out and interesting, and most of all, there is a sense of humor and fun in this book.
Two things made me crave this book in my hands before its release in late April/early May--first the protagonist, Atticus, sounds like my kind of guy. He's brash, he's sensible and he taunts gods and goddesses like their nothing more than playground bullies. His tactful, but not truly, reverent attitude towards those beings is part of his charm. The second is that the excerpts I've read have made me eager to read more. Normally excerpts from authors I don't know make me interested, but not eagerly anticipating. They tend to be too short so I don't get a good feel for the character.
Not so with Atticus!
Admittedly my other reason was I was eager to see how all the pantheons of deities interacted and most especially the Celtic lore. I was happily ready to read, spot a deity I only cursorily know, look them up and then go back. Hearne didn't make me need those encyclopedias though, he gives a very good accounting of these deities without having Atticus run around playing Exposition Man.
In truth I appreciated the fact that Atticus was neither too modern nor too archaic in his speech and mannerisms. He balanced the line well; he managed to adapt many of the customs he grew up with to modern day and picked up the speech patterns of the modern world well. He was practical where others expected him to be foolish (given his words) or reckless (given his actions). It never got tiring to see when it dawned on people that hey Atticus is a clever one.
On occasion descriptions got to be a bit tedious or redundant--Hearne doesn't need to tell us, every single time, what's going on with Atticus' tattoos. Or that he has to be barefoot to channel his power. I understood--Atticus is on land, thus he's barefoot'ed, thus he's very powerful.
Book Preview
Hounded: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book One Mass Market Download
Please Wait...