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Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #1)

Kevin Hearne

Start date: September 1, 2011

Finish date: September 30, 2011

Discussion: Book of the Month

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What Members Thought

Aug 11, 2011 Lisa Kay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-in-2012-group-challenge, m-library-sj-audio-oda, genre-shapeshifters, authors-k, authors-h, animal-dog-in-story, zzcover-brown, reviewed-by-me, character-fae-fairies, its-magic

Oberon
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★★★★½ (This is a review of the audiobook.) I’ve never read anything by Kevin Hearne before, and I’ve never listened to Luke Daniels narrate, either. But I definitely will again! So glad I chose to listen to this one, as the pronunciation of Druid and other ancient dialects would have totally tongue-tied my mind. Even with the nicely provided “Irish Pronunciation Guide” in the front to the eBook. I couldn’t begin to attempt saying Aenghus Óg or Tuatha Dé Danann in my head, Oberon
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★★★★½ (This is a review of the audiobook.) I’ve never read anything by Kevin Hearne before, and I’ve never listened to Luke Daniels narrate, either. But I definitely will again! So glad I chose to listen to this one, as the pronunciation of Druid and other ancient dialects would have totally tongue-tied my mind. Even with the nicely provided “Irish Pronunciation Guide” in the front to the eBook. I couldn’t begin to attempt saying Aenghus Óg or Tuatha Dé Danann in my head, let alone out loud.

Mr. Daniels does an excellent job of them all, as well as differentiating the characters; subsequently, I was completely drawn into Mr. Hearne’s world, where I think I would have been distracted with the correct pronunciation, otherwise. He even does a good job on the female voices; no small feat for a male reader. This one is in first person POV and Mr. Daniels coveys the cleverness, wit, cynicism, charm, and just plan sassiness of Atticus O’Sullivan, the tattooed proprietor of an occult bookshop – and part-time apothecary – in Tempe, Arizona. And his voice for Oberon is a hoot! He sounds like the lovable doofus he is; which is fine, since he is an Irish Wolfhound. (view spoiler)

There are tons of supernatural beings (Fae, witches, lupines, gods, goddesses, vampires, demons, angels, ghouls, etc.) in the first installment of The Iron Druid Chronicles, and almost all of them want Atticus’ magic sword “Fragarach, the Answerer.” The most significant of these is one pissed-off dark god named Aenghus Óg. Atticus, himself, is a shape-shifter and gets his power from the earth. I loved the description of how his energy travels though his tattoos.

Hounded is rich in details without being weighed down by too much world building, like so many first in series novels. Just the right amount of time spent on Celtic mythology – and other pantheons – mixed with mystery, action-adventure, and character-interactions to keep it wondrously interesting. It is a little more violent that I like my books, but I knew that going in. This is a fast-paced read with a witty narrative that I had to re-wind to catch some things, saying to myself, “Did he say what I think he did?”

However, most of all it is fun!

I’ll certainly have to read the prequel short-stories (free on the author’s website) and track down the novella.

...more

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Jun 24, 2011 Sherri rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, fae, part-of-a-series, werewolves, urban-fantasy, first-in-series, witches

4.5 out of 5 Stars
What is the oldest living druid to do in the modern world? Open a book and tea shop to serve the elderly of Tempe, Arizona, that’s what. Atticus O’Sullivan is a 2100 year old druid, who looks about 21. During that time, he has been on the run from a Celtic god who has sworn to kill him due to a disagreement about a magical sword all those years ago.

I don’t read much UF with male lead characters, but this series has changed my mind. I loved this book and I can’t wait to read the ...more

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Aug 20, 2011 Susan Jackson rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nookbooks

I liked this book. It's urban fantasy and I admit to liking some of the geek references (Star Wars, Monty Python) It was interesting to read about the Druid, the Fae and all of the other characters in this story. I really liked Oberon the dog and his relationship with the protaganist Atticus. I liked it enough to continue reading the second in the series. We'll see what happens after that. ...more

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