Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles #1) by Kevin Hearne Summary: The first novel in the Iron Druid Chronicles--introducing a cool, new, funny urban fantasy hero.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 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.
Source: I purchased a paperback
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Review:
Hounded was awesome. It was full of action, humor, fantasy, and mythology that was insanely fun to read. I devoured it in a short amount of time, raving about it to others the entire time. It was such a cool mixture of old mythology and lore with modern times. Atticus, a 2100 year old Druid, had such a good grip on today’s world. His sense of humor was awesome and his narration kept me turning the pages.
Hounded had all sorts of mythological elements. Atticus was a Druid, lived in a town with witches, had a Viking vampire for a lawyer, and was friendly with a werewolf pack. He was visited by the Morrigan, an old Celtic goddess (but the sort of goddess who would NOT appreciate being called old!) and just about every other legend, god, or creature existed in this world. Demons, faeries (the terrifying kind), even Mary. I loved how the author created such a universe. It never would have occurred to me to have a world where every religion was true to some degree.
Atticus definitely made the story. He could communicate with his Irish wolfhound, which was hilarious because his dog was awesome. He fit in with college kids, but his insight and narration had me cracking up. He made the best references ever. “These are not the Druids you’re looking for” came out of his mouth at one point, which is basically awesome. As Atticus fought a powerful Celtic god, his dog was commenting on the action and made South Park references that had me laughing.
Overall, Hounded was one of the most fun books I’ve read all year. It’s definitely a must read for any geek and any lover of a fun fantasy book.
