Hounded (Iron Druid Chronicles, Bk 1) by Kevin Hearne

Review by reacherfan1909

Urban fantasy is a particular favorite of mine, ranking up there with mysteries and action thrillers as my most frequently read books.  The three genres have a lot in common.  The best urban fantasy has action, humor – often dry and self deprecating, and frequently a mystery involved – though not necessarily a murder.  The absolute best of urban fantasy being written today would have to be Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden series.  Complex, detailed, rich in plot and character, his books are perhaps the best example of an archetype of urban fantasy genre – or UF to fans.

One of the most appealing parts of UF is the fact that it blends the familiar with paranormal and/or  legendary characters. This gives the reader a frame of reference that is then overlaid with paranormal elements.  Like mysteries, UF ranges from dark gritty noir to frothy light romantic suspense, though purists would dismiss the lighter work as not true UF, but lines blur.  Walk down the aisles of a book store and even they are uncertain where certain books should be shelved.  Some are in Science Fiction, some in romance, some in mystery.  Go to Amazon, you’ll find Changes (The Dresden Files, bk 12) by Jim Butcher under Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic and Wizards.  On PBS it’s  Science Fiction, Fantasy, General.  Neither has a class called ‘Urban Fantasy’.   Users of both sites tag it UF.  Spider’s Revenge by Jennifer Estep, same thing – tagged UF on both sites by users.  Makes shopping for books in this category hard.

Wizards, witches, and paranormal in general was declared on life support in the 90’s, then in 1997 along came a bespectacled young man named Harry Potter and hundreds of imitators were born.  Then it was declared dead again – it’s not selling, the market is saturated – No more vamps, werewolves, shifters, and then came Twilight in 2005.  I’m sure J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyers are laughing all the way to the bank. 

Such success is rare for authors, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of excellent reads out there for the finding.  It takes a lot of weeding through the average, generic, and mundane, but you find gems along the way.  Kelly Gay‘s Charlie Madigan series, Linda Robertson‘s Persephone Alcmedi series, Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neill, and Diana Rowland‘s Kara Gillian’s series, Jennifer Estep‘s Elemental assassin series was a surprise for me, and and so on. In 2011 – one of my favorite finds was the Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne.  An engaging and personable lead character/narrator, Celtic gods, and his side kick is an Irish wolfhound with a movie fixation.

Atticus O’Sullivan looks like your typical barely drinking age Save the Earth type from his red hair and pale skin, to his Birkenstocks.  A modern day hippie, or maybe a better muscled Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, he looks harmless  and acts that way too, at least when the police are around. He and his wolfhound Oedipus, even run together – except he runs as a wolfhound.  He can also change into an owl.  Atticus is a Druid – the last druid – and over 2,000 years old.  In his long life, he’s lived all over the world and knows the ancient gods, and he has a magic sword that one of the Irish gods is trying to get back at any cost.   He also has a very odd ally of sorts in the Morrighan, the Celtic goddess of war, death, and fertility.  

The day starts like any other with breakfast and a mental chat about sausages and movies with Oedipus, then off to Third Eye Books and Herbs to make tea and sell useless books on various types of magic, but none on the very real magic Atticus wields.  At lunch the day goes to hell when he’s jumped by some fae sent to kill him by his moral enemy, Aenghus Og, Celtic god of love to most humans, but anything but to Atticus.  The fae are little better than cannon fodder and he easily dispatches them.  But the Morrighan comes to the shop as a crow to tell him of a vision she’s had of his death.  The Morrighan is rather fond of visions of his death.  But Atticus is tired of running from Aenghus.  He likes his life in the American Southwest.  Let him come.  It was time to end this.

Hearne proceeds to write a very entertaining narrative that weaves some well worn mythical characters from Celtic lore, with Norse gods, vampires, werewolves, and the southwest’s own Coyote – the sly but dangerous joker of many Native American myths. The attacks keep coming and a local coven of Polish witches gets involved – but are they friend or foe?  Atticus even strikes a bargain with a witch spirit, Laksha, that possess his favorite barmaid, Granuaile – who wants to become his apprentice Druid.  Going up against a Celtic god, especially one that is striking bargains with witches, demons, and other creatures in his mad quest to become the ruler, is no small matter, but he has more than the pack and Laksha on his side, Flidais, Celtic goddess of the hunt, is there too.  Maybe.  At least a bit.  He hopes.  For once, the denouement actually holds up and works.

I haven’t read many UF books that I enjoyed so completely.  I also read Hammered (Iron Druid, Bk 2) and Hexed (Iron Druid, Bk 3) and both were as well done as Hounded.  It has everything, hidden agendas, twists, deception, humor, excitement, even death.  The 290 pages flew by.  The mental exchanges between Atticus and Oberon were a highlight of the book and had me laughing out loud.  His current obsession is Genghis Khan and, naturally, well, female French poodles.  And the Widow MacDonaugh, Atticus’ elderly Irish neighbor, is a delightful character. 

If you’re look for the next Cat and Bones, World of the Lupi, or Guild Hunters, this isn’t it.  No romance, though there is sex.  Hounded and the next 2 books in the Iron Druid Chronicals get a very rare A- (4.3*) and a Recommended Read from me and they are damn good reads.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Review by Rebecca (rocky1)

The Secret History was author Donna Tartt’s first novel. Nearly two decades later, it remains a superb, cautionary coming-of-age tale.

Set in the 1980s, college student Richard Papen is disillusioned with his life, which seems to go nowhere. A former pre-med student who falls in love with the Greek language, Richard leaves his unhappy existence in central California to transfer to prestigious Hampden College in Vermont.

Once there, he becomes enamored with a group of students studying the Classics. Their air of superiority and mysteriousness to everyone else at the school intrigues him. Richard manages to weasel himself into their group, and come under the tutelage of their equally mystifying teacher, Julian Morrow.

Now, as one of the students, Richard is privy to an event they partake in that changes their lives-forever. And try as much as he would, he finds he cannot turn back the clock and escape to the lazy college days they once shared together.

Tartt does an excellent job of capturing Richard’s feelings: his distaste for his hometown of Plano, California, his broken relationship with his father (and thus likewise desire for Julian to act as his father figure), his friendships with his classmates, desire of love and acceptance of Camilla that is sadly, never returned, and the scenery and life of rural Vermont.

The characters of his professor and classmates Henry, Bunny, Francis, and twins Charles and Camilla, are fleshed out and they thoroughly have their own personalities. One comes to regard them as real flesh and blood beings, which furthered my own appreciation of the story. They are wealthy, educated and disdainful of almost everyone else at the school. Consequently, some individuals may complain that Richard is too bland, not an interesting or exciting enough character, but here I disagree: I think of his classmates as the interesting people we (himself included) all wish we could be, but I think of Richard as the wonderfully realistic everyman (what most of us really are).

The Secret History may seem like a daunting read because it discusses ancient Greek and the Classics. However, I personally found the stories and information given in the book as interesting and piqued my interest in all things Greek. No prior knowledge is needed to enjoy the setting in which Richard and his classmates develop their well-thought out (and often pretentious) plans.

The climax of the story occurs in the middle-at this point Book I ends and Book II begins. This may seem rather long and drawn out, but slowly we see the sad downfall of our remaining group of scholars-and how it creates a long lasting effect on Richard’s life that he will never forget.