Book Review: Trapped (ARC)

Trapped (Iron Druid Chronicles #5)
by Kevin Hearne
Expected publication: November 27th 2012 by Del Rey
Source: Edelweiss (Random House)
Pre-order the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

From Goodreads:

After twelve years of secret training, Atticus O’Sullivan is finally ready to bind his apprentice, Granuaile, to the earth and double the number of Druids in the world. But on the eve of the ritual, the world that thought he was dead abruptly discovers that he’s still alive, and they would much rather he return to the grave.

Having no other choice, Atticus, his trusted Irish wolfhound, Oberon, and Granuaile travel to the base of Mount Olympus, where the Roman god Bacchus is anxious to take his sworn revenge—but he’ll have to get in line behind an ancient vampire, a band of dark elves, and an old god of mischief, who all seem to have KILL THE DRUID at the top of their to-do lists.

Review:

I loved the first four books in the Iron Druid Chronicles and book four, Tricked, is my most favorite so far so it hurts me to say that after the best book in the series comes my least favorite, Trapped. I loved the humor and the action-packed scenes in the previous books and while those aspects are still present in Trapped, they all suddenly felt tedious to me and they fell far too short for my liking.

Whenever I read a new book from this series, I always look forward to meeting new mythological creatures and the books haven't failed me to date. In Trapped, we are introduced to a few more of them strange beings and we also see the gods and goddesses we met from the previous books. I guess what disappointed me here is the addition of romance. While Trapped is not really all about romance, what little of it involved here stood stark against all the action-packed scenes and it made the reading experience slightly awkward and forced. I think that ever since book one, the tension between Atticus and Granuaile was already palpable. This never really bothered me, to be honest. I thought Atticus also had the right to flirt with girls, but what I never expected is the later escalation of this to real romance. I've always been the romance type of person and I rarely read YA that don't have romance in it. This series is an exception. But now that I'm beginning to see bits of "real love" here and there... instead of loving it more, I'm feeling the opposite.

Also, I'm beginning to see Atticus's bad traits that I failed to see in the former books. In Trapped, I realized just how selfish he is. This selfishness caused so much damage in all the pantheons as well as death to so many innocents that now, even though his life is in more danger than ever, I can't bring myself to sympathize with him. All the troubles he encountered, he brought upon himself and what's worse is that there are innocent people who are forcibly pulled into his fights.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy Trapped as much as I enjoyed the previous IDC books but I’m still as excited as ever to read the last book in the series, Hunted.

Rating: 2.5/5

Disclosure: This book was received from the publisher (Del Rey via Edelweiss) in exchange for an honest review

Book Review: Tricked

Tricked (Iron Druid Chronicles #4)
by Kevin Hearne
Paperback, 338 pages
Published April 24th 2012 by Random House Publishing Group
Source: Bought
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble

Summary:

Druid Atticus O’Sullivan hasn’t stayed alive for more than two millennia without a fair bit of Celtic cunning. So when vengeful thunder gods come Norse by Southwest looking for payback, Atticus, with a little help from the Navajo trickster god Coyote, lets them think that they’ve chopped up his body in the Arizona desert.

But the mischievous Coyote is not above a little sleight of paw, and Atticus soon finds that he’s been duped into battling bloodthirsty desert shapeshifters called skinwalkers. Just when the Druid thinks he’s got a handle on all the duplicity, betrayal comes from an unlikely source. If Atticus survives this time, he vows he won’t be fooled again. Famous last words.

This is a spoilery review. Read at your own risk!

Review:

Tricked picks up a little while after Hammered. In Hammered, when Atticus helped Leif and the rest of the gang to go to Asgard to kill Thor, they also managed to injure other gods and wreak havoc to all of Asgard. This caused thunder gods from different pantheons to hunt Atticus and silence him permanently. But with the help of Coyote and the Morrigan, Atticus managed to fake his own death, hoping to get them off his back, if  temporarily, to have enough time to train his apprentice, Granuaile.

For me, the fourth book in the Iron Druid Chronicles, Tricked, has been the best installment in the series so far! In a way, this was the most different as well. Atticus, Granuaile and Oberon left Arizona for Colorado for two reasons: one, because Atticus was supposed to be dead; and two, to keep the end of his bargain to Coyote. Coyote was a character I liked in book 2, and even though he managed to stage a cruel trick to Atticus again in this book, I couldn't bring myself to dislike him. If anything, I was more amused by him in this book. Coyote was a trickster god and it was second nature for him to trick people. It was also something Atticus had prepared himself for. What he didn't prepare himself for, though, was the betrayal of someone he considered as friend. I felt really bad for Atticus because it was only in this book that I realized how he was always used by the people whom he cared for.

In Tricked, we also find out what really happened to the widow, Ms. MacDonagh, in the end of Hammered. I have to say that whatever it was, it totally spooked me. We also meet a new character, Hel, the daughter of Loki, who was the creepiest being I've encountered in this series. I'm pretty sure she's going to be a major villain in the upcoming books. We also get to learn more about Tahirah, Atticus' wife of 200 years, and what happened to the children he fathered. It was one of the saddest scenes in all the books for me; another one was when both Oberon and Atticus got injured close to death, and still, Atticus could only think about Oberon's safety. I might have shed some tears on that scene.

Like all the books in the Iron Druid Chronicles, Tricked was full of action-packed scenes, gore, hilarious dialogues and character deaths. Although Tricked wasn't as fast-paced as the other Iron Druid books, I found it strangely refreshing. Atticus and Oberon were as hilarious and badass as ever, and Granuaile became even more amusing. There's also a teaser of Trapped, the fifth book, on the back of Tricked and oh my god, what a tease it was! I absolutely cannot wait for Trapped!

Rating: 5/5 stars

Book Review: Hammered

Hammered (Iron Druid Chronicles #3)
by Kevin Hearne
Paperback, 310 pages
Published July 5th 2011 by Random House Publishing Group
Source: Bought
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble

Summary:

Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is worse than a blowhard and a bully—he’s ruined countless lives and killed scores of innocents. After centuries, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson is ready to get his vengeance, and he’s asked his friend Atticus O’Sullivan, the last of the Druids, to help take down this Norse nightmare.

One survival strategy has worked for Atticus for more than two thousand years: stay away from the guy with the lightning bolts. But things are heating up in Atticus’s home base of Tempe, Arizona. There’s a vampire turf war brewing, and Russian demon hunters who call themselves the Hammers of God are running rampant. Despite multiple warnings and portents of dire consequences, Atticus and Leif journey to the Norse plain of Asgard, where they team up with a werewolf, a sorcerer, and an army of frost giants for an epic showdown against vicious Valkyries, angry gods, and the hammer-wielding Thunder Thug himself.

Review:

Can Atticus and Oberon get anymore awesome? Yes, yes they can. Hammered, the third book in the Iron Druid Chronicles, is a proof to that. Although, there was less exposure for Oberon in this book compared to the first two, the hound still managed to show off his intelligence to the readers. He had proven that he could stand his ground on a debate whether bacon lattes exist or not, and had even managed to come up with his own theory about them. He could also use a 5-syllable-word in a sentence, how about that?

Hammered picks up three weeks after Hexed. The third book in the Iron Druid Chronicles is basically all about keeping one's end of the bargainS. Yes, it's plural. On the first half of the book, the bargain Atticus had to keep was of  Laksha's, an Indian witch who helped him kill the bacchants who had been terrorizing Arizona in book 2. On the second half was of the vampire, Leif's. After Leif assisted Atticus on his battle against the German witches on the previous book, Atticus now had to fulfill his deal to Leif which was, to help him get to Asgard to kill the Norse thunder god, Thor.

There were new characters introduced in Hammered. All of them had grudge on Thor and wanted him dead. Aside from Leif, the werewolf alpha from Arizona, Gunnar, who was also a friend of Atticus joined the team. I have a feeling that the events in this book are going to have so much impact on the succeeding books. Before his battle against the god of love, Aengus Óg, in Hounded, Atticus was pretty much contented in hiding from him. But when he managed to kill him, all the enemies started coming after him one after the other. However, I feel like that after this book, the enemies are going to be even more all out. The premonitions by the Morrigan and Jesus (he's a very nice guy and he even had beer with Atticus) made the whole story even more nerve-wracking and hilarious (of course!) for me.

Like the other books in the series, Hammered overflowed with mesmerizing fight scenes and hilarious characters. Really, if you've read Hounded and Hexed and found them hilarious, brace yourselves because Hammered is twice as fun as the first two books. However, Hammered was also twice as sad as the first two. A character I liked (but you might not) died so I was a bit down when I finished this. But other than that, well, you just have to meet Atticus. The humor was much more memorable here because I could absolutely connect with his dry sense humor. Some of my favorite Atticus moments? (1) That time when he was having a pee pun party with a thousand year old vampire; (2) That time when he showed off his talent of switching language from Shakespeare to LOLcatz; (3) That moment when he sang It's A Small World After All with a vampire, a werewolf, a thunder god, an alchemist and a wizard while being surrounded by Norse giants; and of course, (4) that time when he "squeed" and danced around when he met "Neil F****** Gaiman"! Gods, this series is awesome!

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Book Review: Hexed

Hexed (Iron Druid Chronicles #2)
by Kevin Hearne
Paperback, 320 pages
Published June 7th 2011 by Del Rey
Source: Bought
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble

Summary:

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.

With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.

Review:

Hexed was just as fun as Hounded! Atticus and Oberon were as hilarious as ever. I have to say though, my respect for the hound shot up way higher than Atticus in this book. In Hounded, I thought Oberon thought like a 5-year-old kid. He still did in Hexed sometimes, still demanding sausages and bacon. But most of the time, his intelligence beat that of Atticus. He could handle complex conversations with Atticus and could even come up with jokes that would surely crack you up.

In the first half of Hexed, a character we only heard about from Hounded was introduced. A trickster god, Coyote, tricked Atticus into helping him kill a fallen angel who had been causing havoc on a school where one of Coyote's people was studying. In the second half, Atticus was forced to form an agreement with a coven of Polish witches to help annihilate another coven who had become a threat to both the Polish witches and Atticus, as well as to the very few people who were close to him.

Just like Hounded, Hexed was also filled with heart-stopping action-packed scenes that would surely challenge your imagination. One of the things I so loved in this series is the abundance of mythologies. In book 1, we met lots of awesome gods and goddesses and strange creatures from different pantheons and here in book 2, we are introduced to more of them. There was also a lot of running and fighting around naked and the gore leveled up as well.

The characters were just as hilarious and more clever, and the story itself was both enjoyable and nerve-wracking at the same time. But just like Hounded, one of the drawbacks of Hexed for me was that Atticus seemed to always get his way. There were also the rare times when I felt the tediousness of the plot. Although the events were unpredictable, the results were not. But even though I knew how the fights were going to end, I can't deny that this brought me to the edge of my seat for almost the entire duration of the book. If you're looking for a read that exudes with exhilarating fight scenes and one that would also make you double over with so much laughter, you must pick up this series NOW.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Book Review: Hounded

Hounded (Iron Druid Chronicles #1)
by Kevin Hearne
Paperback, 289 pages
Published May 3rd 2011 by Del Rey
Source: Bought
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Summary:

The first novel in the original, six-book 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 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.

Review:

Atticus O'Sullivan is not your average 21-year-old-looking Irish boy. Aside from he runs a bookstore with a wide selection of ancient occult and religion books with an apothecary on the side, Atticus is also the last living Druid on earth. Oh, and he's also 2100 years old.

Hounded is one of the reasons why I love fantasy so much. This is where faeries, vampires, werewolves, demons and witches co-exist. Where Jesus and Mary are real (Atticus met them and thought they were nice people). Where Thor is an arrogant bastard and everyone wants to kill him. This is where all mythologies are real; Celtic, Norse, Greek... name it, they're all real! I didn't know about Druids before I read this book. (Yes, I'm guilty of not reading the summary first before buying it.) Thought they were an original concept by the author, so it was a nice surprise to know that Druids were part of the Celtic mythology. Add to that nice surprise is that the Druid in this book was such a fun, likable and admirable character.

Despite his age, Atticus acts like a normal 21 year old boy. He likes to flirt with redheaded bartenders and spooky goddesses. He also speaks the modern vernacular with ease, which is funny when you compare him to the other characters that are less than half his age and still speaks like the ancient. He reminded me of Master Roshi from Dragonball Z. Good thing Atticus looks like a 21-year-old because if not, that would be very amusing - but not a very nice sight.

Another fun character in the book was Oberon, Atticus' Irish wolfhound. I love books with protags who have adorable pets, so Hounded immediately earned a plus star for that. Atticus doesn't treat Oberon as merely a pet dog, rather, he treats him like one would treat a best friend. Oberon sometimes thought like a 5-year-old kid and Atticus indulges him a lot. He told him stories about people from the past and Oberon always felt the need of imitating them. Like when Atticus told him about Gengis Khan and after, Oberon wanted him to be called as Oberon Khan, demanding a horde of French poodles like Gengis Khan had a horde of women.

Hounded is an action-packed novel with lots of magic, fangs, claws and swords involved. I have to say that the action scenes really challenged my imagination. The only drawback of this book for me was the fact that Atticus always gets his way. He always beats his enemies. With some difficulty, yes, but he always wins in the end. But nonetheless, Hounded was an honest to goodness enjoyable read. Even without romance, the friendship between Oberon and Atticus and the breathtaking fight scenes, as well as the magic of this book kept me glued and entertained from the beginning till end.

Rating: 4/5 stars