Berls
Written on Sep 26, 2020
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.
Don’t miss any of Kevin Hearne’s phenomenal Iron Druid Chronicles novels:
HOUNDED | HEXED | HAMMERED | TRICKED | TRAPPED | HUNTED | SHATTERED | STAKED
- ISBN10 1299080154
- ISBN13 9781299080157
- Publish Date 1 January 2011
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 12 May 2015
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Del Rey Books
- Format eBook
- Language English
Reviews
bookperson
Written on Jul 11, 2018
Would try second book.
Linda
Written on Apr 18, 2018
Hounded was a fantastic story, with really well done mythology, character development, action, and plot!
Story:
I did a buddy listen of Hounded with Carole @ Carole's Random Life. We both agreed that Oberon was our favorite character. The overall story really appealed to me, because it had a druid main character, Atticus. And, as I said to Carole at one point, it was refreshing to have a male protagonist in adult Urban Fantasy. I know there are others, but it's been a while since I've read or listened to one.
Hounded starts off with showing the readers what this universe is like, there are gods - from all pantheons - fae, vampires, shifters, witches, and of course out druid. Plus, it was clear from the very beginning that someone was after Atticus. Or, at least something Atticus had in his possession. And this someone would stop at nothing - scheming, lying, taking too much power from the earth, consorting with demons. And through it all, Atticus and Oberon did the best they could to be alive tomorrow.
Characters:
Atticus is a very old druid, he looks like he's only twenty-one, and he's very strong. One of the things I enjoyed the most about him was his patience. Some of the spells he's worked on to protect himself took over seven hundred years to accomplish.
Oberon is Atticus' Irish wolf hound. And he can speak to Atticus mind to mind. And I just loved how Luke Daniels dealt with Oberon's thoughts and hilarities.
Leif is Atticus' vampire / viking lawyer, and I loved him. He had the stiff way of vampires I expected, and at the same time, he was very funny.
There are several other characters who are important to the story, but the two I think I really have to mention are Mrs. MacDonagh who is Atticus' elderly neighbor, and Granuale, a bartender at Atticus' fave bar.
Writing style :
The flow was really good, and the story unfolds in first person point of view from Atticus' perspective. There are some great dialogues and one-liners, and I was immersed from start to finish.
Narration :
Luke Daniels made this whole universe and all its characters come alive. Oberon sounded like I think my dogs would sound if they could talk. And I found that he did good voices all around. I am ready for book 2. Right now.
Feels :
Hounded was an exciting story to listen to. There's a lot of action, so I almost had to hold my breath at times.
kimbacaffeinate
Written on Nov 29, 2017
I devoured Hounded and loved everything from the paranormal world living in secret side by side with humans to Atticus's dealings with FAE, witches, shifters, vampires, and gods.
I loved Atticus and felt Hearne made him complex, funny, relatable and genuine. He can telepathically communicate with Oberon, his Irish wolfhound, and lord this pup is funny! His obsession with sausage and French Poodles about killed me. From Atticus's sharp wit and cunning battle skills to his posh vampire lawyer, listeners will find themselves laughing, holding their breath and wondering how Atticus will survive.
It looks like each book will have an overall dilemma as Hearne builds on the overall story ARC. In Hounded, a Celtic god wants Atticus's sword and sends mercenaries of the paranormal variety to do his bidding before the big showdown. Atticus must rely on friends, Gods, and his wits if he is to survive. The action scenes and climatic encounter were brilliantly done with attention to detail, twists, and kickassery. The story wraps up nicely and provides a set up for things to come. I cannot wait to dive in. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer
EBookObsessed
Written on Oct 10, 2016
This series introduces us to Atticus O’Sullivan (the current alias of Siodhachan O’Suileabháin which is pronounced Shehan O’Sullivan). While he looks 21 and fits in quite well with the college crowd in Tempe, AZ, Atticus is the last of the Druids and is actually twenty-one centuries old. He lives with his Irish Wolfhound Oberon and spends his time at his bookstore/apothecary shop or helping out the Widow MacDonagh. He has lawyers on retainer: Hallbjörn (Hal) Hauk, a werewolf, who he meets with during the day, and Leif Helgarson, a vampire who keep more to the night hours.
Usually I am not a fan of stories which involve characters fighting Gods since Gods are almighty and powerful and any character fighting them doesn’t normally stand any chance of surviving, let alone winning. But as a Druid with powers and two thousand years to perfect those powers, Atticus can more than hold his own in a fight. So these stories are interesting, the delve into the various pantheons of Gods, and there is plenty of excitement as Atticus takes on fae, witches and even Gods and, most times, comes out a winner.
Atticus has managed to stay alive a lot longer then his brethren because he is always on the move and he stays away from areas that it is easier for the fae to get around. Centuries ago, Atticus was fighting on the battlefield alongside Aenghus Óg, the Celtic God of Love, who was given a magical sword, Fragarach, which can cleave through any metal. Aenghus lost hold of his sword during battle which ended up at the feet on our favorite Druid. Being no dummy, Atticus cloaked himself and his prize and took off with it. He has been hiding from Aenghus Óg ever since but Aenghus has been sending out flunkies in the hopes of one of them retrieving the sword for him. Although he has been unsuccessful for decades upon decades it is only now that Atticus has settled in one place long enough that Aenghus is going to personally come take back his sword.
Centuries ago, Atticus received a promise from the Morrigan (Celtic Goddess of Death) that she would not come for Atticus. As Aenghus Óg gets closer, Atticus gets visits from several of the Tuatha Dé Danann from Tír na nÓg, including the Morrigan, Flidais and Brighid, all warning of Aenghus’s upcoming attack but as with all Gods their actions are not easily trusted as there is a lot of posturing and back-stabbing between them.
As you can see, this is definitely a story you want narrated to you rather than trying to trip through all these different names of Gods, Goddesses and pantheons, and Luke Daniels does a wonderful job.
Although Atticus gives proper worship to the Tuatha Dé Danann, he can and has interacted with all the various pantheons which opens us up to various storylines. And it is not just Gods and Goddesses who will cause Atticus problems. Mortals can be a pain in the butt as well. Running around town with a sword strapped to your back brings you to the attention of local police as do fights with the fae on your front lawn when you have a nosy neighbor who doesn’t like you.
I enjoyed this so much I immediately jumped on Book 2 and 3 as soon as I finished.
Melanie
Written on Apr 6, 2016
My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.
I know so many people who have been reading (or well, listening) to this series for a while now. I know that they love it and I’ve yet to try it. That is until now. After finally knocking out a few series (my goal for this year was to finish up some new series before starting new ones), I decided that I was ready to tackle a new series. How to review this series? Most people have already read it. If you haven’t I highly recommend that you start. I can’t believe I waited this long.
Atticus O’Sullivan is a druid. The last druid to be precise. He is quite old, but tries mostly to live a peaceful life. He owns and runs a bookstore and apothecary in Tempe Arizona. That is until an old god that he has a past grief with comes calling. Next thing you know, Atticus has trouble at every turn.
I won’t go into great detail, as there are so many reviews out there about this series. I will just say, that this is a great Urban Fantasy series, that is nicely told from a male’s POV, which we don’t have enough of in this genre (don’t get me wrong, I love a good female heroine, but I also like a little diversity too). This series has vampires, werewolves, gods, witches (boy, does Atticus hate witches), ghouls and more. It is hard to know who to trust and who is out for their own gain.
There are a ton of great pop culture references in this book, which adds a great amount of humor to this book.
“You’re not going to be in the hospital for weeks? Because that looks like a bullet hole in your shirt.”
“As the Black Knight famously said, that’s just a fleshwound.”
“The Black Knight always triumphs!” Perry beamed. Monty Python is like catnip for nerds. Once you get them started quoting it, they are constitutionally incapable of feeling depressed.
“You will respect my authori-tah!” Oberon said, in a passable imitation of Eric Cartman. I reminded him that I needed to concentrate. Sometimes dogs forget; they just get too excited.
My favorite part of this first book in the Iron Druid Chronicles, Oberon, Atticus’ Irish wolfhound. Atticus is bonded to Oberon, so that they can talk mind to mind. So while Oberon can’t talk out loud, Atticus can have conversations with him that we can hear. Oberon is very much a dog though, so everything you think about a dog holds true. He has no sense of time. He gets overly excited when he sees Atticus, no matter how long Atticus was gone. He has the attention span of a two-year-old on a caffeine bender. All he thinks about is meat, different kinds of meat. He seems to be partial to sausages (I’m a little disappointed that at no point does he ask for bacon. What kind of talking dog doesn’t want bacon. I always want bacon).
Narration
This is actually my first audiobook with Luke Daniels. I’ve heard for a long time about how great Luke Daniels was with narrations. I’m so glad I can now add him to my list of favorite narrators. He did a great job with this series. While being told from Atticus’ POV, it still has plenty of female characters and Daniels nails them all. Once again, I have to give him kudos for nailing Oberon’s voice. He really brought out the excitement that a talking dog would have about pretty much everything. He even brought the sorrow about things when Oberon had to do things he didn’t want or when he thought he was a bad dog. I’m really excited to continue this series with his narration. I will also be on the lookout for other books with his narration.
celinenyx
Written on Sep 4, 2014
Atticus tells people he's 21 - which is technically not a lie, since he is 21 centuries old. He is the last Druid, and he is hiding from his immortal enemy. Atticus has a sword that the Celtic god of love wants back, and Atticus won't be able to hide from him forever.
Where Storm Front was serious and grim, Hounded is just plain old fun. All gods and goddesses walk the earth (yes, all of them) and they all have their alliances and feuds. Atticus is caught in the middle and forced to fight, but he does so with good humour and style. Nothing fazes him much, so when some lower fey come to kill him, he kicks their butts.
The world Mr Hearne has created is intriguing. In a true Supernatural romp fashion all gods exist - from Thor to The Morrigan, they are all somewhere. They are powerful, more powerful than mortals, but not truly immortal. Atticus, an Irish Druid himself, mainly deals with Celtic gods and goddesses. I'm quite fuzzy on my Celtic lore so I just kinda went with it, and it was a very enjoyable experience. I'm hoping to see more of the pantheon in the next few books; the possibilities are practically endless with the open world of Hounded.
Atticus draws power from the earth, which means that he spends a lot of time going around bare-footed or sleeping underneath trees to replenish his strength. The magic system isn't very intricate but it holds its purpose well and it makes for pretty fun action scenes.
Hounded is filled with quirky side characters like Atticus' talking dog Oberon, his vampire and werewolf lawyers, the sexy barmaid Granuaile who carries a secret, and the old Brit-hating and scotch-loving Irish widow. Together with a witty narration and fast pace, Hounded was a pleasure to read.
littleread1
Written on Jan 19, 2014
Hounded introduces us to Atticus. An ancient Druid living in Arizona and doing a darn good job of blending in with us average joes. That is until his gods start messing with his life. Silly gods. If only they would read Urban Fantasy books they would know their meddling really puts us in a tough spot. But they have to entertain themselves somehow ...
Atticus is a very believable character. His morality is a little skewed from ours, but what would you expect after having lived as long as he has? His thought process constantly cracked me up, and it is pretty much what I imagine the inside of a guys head is like.
And his dog Oberon. I want Oberon. And I want to be able to communicate with him as well. That has to be one of the best perks ever. He is a great side-kick and side character. And Atticus so obviously adores him. It is pretty cute.
Since this is the first book in a series, there is some world building but it isn't overwhelming. The one thing I did have trouble with was the language. There are a lot of Gaelic (I am assuming) words used and while I appreciate the authenticity, and there is even a glossary in the front to help with pronunciation, I still ended up making up words in my head as I read. Don't let that scare you off from a great book though, it's just a pet peeve of my own :-).
Overall, anyone who likes a good solid UF without all the messiness of a romance will love Hounded!
Hixxup
Written on Jul 19, 2012
Amanda
Written on Mar 25, 2012
It took only a few pages before I was hooked on Hounded, which has what my mother would probably term “smart humor” — the kind of humor that is subtle and witty, and though it might make you laugh out loud, you are more likely to spend the entire book with a wry smirk on your face. I would recommend Hounded based on its humor alone, but there are so many other aspects of Hounded that make it worth your while. The vast majority of urban fantasy that I have read thus far has been written by women and features a female main character. Hounded is not, and this difference makes it such a refreshing read. Between that and the inclusion of a Druid as the main character (which I have yet to see elsewhere), Kevin Hearne has managed to set himself apart in the UF genre.
Atticus is as cool as he is old. His character embodies the “I look 21 but am really 2,100″ vibe; Atticus has managed to adapt and blend into modern society while still retaining the wisdom that 2,100 years can bring. The remaining cast of characters are as charming as Atticus, albeit in their own way. As a dog lover, you know I loved Oberon (who wouldn’t want a dog you could communicate telepathically with?). Everyone else was superbly written, right down to the widow MacDonagh and Atticus’s employee Perry.
Hounded is light-hearted, witty, and full of action that should appeal to a wide range of readers. I am already looking forward to getting my hands on the next book in the series.
Originally read 9/6/2011 - 9/7/2011; reread in March 2012 for the Kiss Me, I'm Irish Read-Along