This was a re-read for me, and I still liked it! I probably would have been okay just going into book two without a re-read and forcing my brain to delve buried memories from chasms deep or whatever, but this was a fast read and I think it was worth it. Lots of little details I know I wouldn’t have remembered, like people’s names, and entire plots . . . I mean, it’s been over four and a half years since I read it the first time. That is literally hundreds and hundreds of books ago for me.
What strikes me the most now is how sure of itself for a first novel this is. There’s one little section near the beginning that was an awkward bit of info-dumping (and this is a crime to me, because when done well, I actually really like info-dumps), but that’s pretty much my only complaint! Atticus is a fun main character, a 2,100 year old Druid whose superpower is basically adaptability (he’s disguised himself as a twenty-one year old living in Tempe near ASU). Other than that, the book just feels easy, like it’s saying, I’ve got this.
I liked all the secondary characters, especially Granuaile (a bartender who wants to become a druid, and whoops she has a witch living in her head also) and Oberon (an Irish Wolfhound Atticus has magically taught to speak telepathically), and the Irish pantheon of gods was a refreshing change from the usual spate of Greek and Roman (and occasional Norse) ones I’m used to in this kind of fantasy book. (Except, they do mention Thor, and how everyone hates him because he’s a dick.)
The plan for now is to read a book from this series, which I own in its entirety already, every other month in 2019. I hope the rest of them are as fun and easy as this one.
The audiobook, by the way, is great, because it’s Luke Daniels, and that’s what he does.
I liked the first few books of this series. I’m not sure why I stopped reading them. I should figure out where I left off. Oberon is always the best part.
I’m not sure why I stopped, either! I guess there are just too many books for us to read out there.
I also liked the first few books, but after book three, I just got lost in what was going on. (And I didn’t love him hooking up with Granuaile, even though you could see that coming from a mile away.) There was a plot with the Greek deities and the vampires and… it lost a bit of the shine.
Ahhh, spoilers! JK I knew that was going to happen also. I’m not going to pass judgment yet. I liked their relationship in this book, and if Hearne grows it organically, I can see myself liking an added romantic dimension.
I get weary of the requisite romantic pairings in books like this. In part because I feel like the fantasy writers so often flub it. Some writers are fun and skilled at the fantasy part, but really ought to get out of the business of romance because they don’t do it well.
It’s a personal pet peeve, though.