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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
Fun and entertaining read. Plot and characters were great. I love Oberon the dog. Atticus the main character was snarky but not too snarky. The action was well-written and I could follow along easily. I will definitely read the next book in the series amd hopefully I have the will power to space them out correctly and not speed read them.
Put this down for a while because I struggled to get into it and tend to dislike books with hard-to-pronounce character names. I was intrigued by a male character urban fantasy series though. When I picked it back up, I started to appreciate the main character and his awesome dog and then it was a fun read.
Ok, so I know I only gave this book 3 stars, but I loved it. On an entertainment-only scale, I would give this book 5 stars any day of the week. The only reason I felt unable to rate this book higher was its complete lack of depth. I mean, not only does it not even try for any depth, it runs away from depth naked and laughing with its pet talking Irish wolfhound. On the other hand, it made for an amazing escape!
Atticus is a 2000-some-year-old druid living in Tempe, Arizona. There is some great mythology here that I really enjoyed, having read much less about Celtic mythology than many other varieties. The god-like entities in the story (the Tuatha Dé Dannan) were pretty much completely new to me, with the exception of the Morrigan, and I was only really familiar with her name.
The whole story is basically a great adventure romp where everyone wants to kill or manipulate Atticus for one reason or another, but Atticus is actually a huge druidic badass who can draw unlimited power from the ground, has an invincible sword with ridiculous magical powers, and has a pack of massive Icelandic werewolves for lawyers. So... not really sure why everyone thinks they can mess with Atticus.
There's a little bit of sex (but no romance), a fair amount of fighting, fun magical hijinks, a dog who wants to be Genghis Khan, werewolves, a vampire, some nasty Polish witches, and a lot of humor. I will probably read the sequels, because why not when a story's this much fun?
Edit: Ok, I upped it to 4 stars. :)
Atticus is a 2000-some-year-old druid living in Tempe, Arizona. There is some great mythology here that I really enjoyed, having read much less about Celtic mythology than many other varieties. The god-like entities in the story (the Tuatha Dé Dannan) were pretty much completely new to me, with the exception of the Morrigan, and I was only really familiar with her name.
The whole story is basically a great adventure romp where everyone wants to kill or manipulate Atticus for one reason or another, but Atticus is actually a huge druidic badass who can draw unlimited power from the ground, has an invincible sword with ridiculous magical powers, and has a pack of massive Icelandic werewolves for lawyers. So... not really sure why everyone thinks they can mess with Atticus.
There's a little bit of sex (but no romance), a fair amount of fighting, fun magical hijinks, a dog who wants to be Genghis Khan, werewolves, a vampire, some nasty Polish witches, and a lot of humor. I will probably read the sequels, because why not when a story's this much fun?
Edit: Ok, I upped it to 4 stars. :)
I was enjoying this but got distracted. Maybe I’ll finish some other time
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
I really enjoyed this one! You think that I wouldn't have enjoyed it so much, considering how I've complained about the Dresden Files, and I've been not really making much progress on them at all. this is pretty similar, except instead of a wizard in Chicago it's a 2000 year old Irish Druid in Arizona. and he has a wolfhound that he's telepathically linked to. and I swear every woman is trying to get into the main characters pants.
you think that all of that together would mean that this wouldn't be such an enjoyable read for me. Maybe it was because the length is a little bit shorter so it's mainly just the good hard me to the store with no extra fat. it could be the telepathic link with the Wolfhound. It could be that the author just has a really strong sense of action and urgency. maybe it's because we don't really see too much of Druids as main characters, or at least I don't. but the main characters Cockiness was really believable to me and being over 2000 years old.
knocked off a star because urban fantasy isn't most groundbreaking thing ever. also the last little bit where the main character rewards his Wolfhound with five French poodles that are in heat. that seem to bring up some weird rape culture connotations. your mileage may vary. I guess it really depends on how you see dog breeding. but with the telepathic will found that is clearly extremely sentient, so since you Aunt that he likes to watch Genghis Khan documentaries, where is the element of consent? hard to say. I found it squicky. others may as well. It's like the very last paragraph, so if you skip that you may find nothing to complain about at all
you think that all of that together would mean that this wouldn't be such an enjoyable read for me. Maybe it was because the length is a little bit shorter so it's mainly just the good hard me to the store with no extra fat. it could be the telepathic link with the Wolfhound. It could be that the author just has a really strong sense of action and urgency. maybe it's because we don't really see too much of Druids as main characters, or at least I don't. but the main characters Cockiness was really believable to me and being over 2000 years old.
knocked off a star because urban fantasy isn't most groundbreaking thing ever. also the last little bit where the main character rewards his Wolfhound with five French poodles that are in heat. that seem to bring up some weird rape culture connotations. your mileage may vary. I guess it really depends on how you see dog breeding. but with the telepathic will found that is clearly extremely sentient, so since you Aunt that he likes to watch Genghis Khan documentaries, where is the element of consent? hard to say. I found it squicky. others may as well. It's like the very last paragraph, so if you skip that you may find nothing to complain about at all
Well it’s been a while since I’ve gotten through a book this quickly. It’s a refreshing mix of old and new with some pretty funny parts thrown in for good measure. Think [b:American Gods|4407|American Gods (American Gods, #1)|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1258417001s/4407.jpg|1970226] meets [b:The Dark Thorn|13489349|The Dark Thorn (Annwn Cycle #1)|Shawn Speakman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1329507313s/13489349.jpg|19027915] but less grim. Go pick this up you won’t be disappointed.
Oh man, what an adventure. Some flirting, but no real romance, lots of fighting and bloodshed, and a talking dog, this book was a heck of a lot of fun. It had a wide cast of characters, from a lonely whiskey drinking widow with a grudge against the British, to a solitary vampire who hunts carpenters because he hates Thor, this book was witty and full of action. I never felt bored while reading, and when I had to put the book down, I couldn't wait to have some free time to continue with the story. My biggest complaint is I don't have book two on hand.
The beginning dumps you right into the action, very little exposition, just a lot of "kill these fae before they kill me" from our protagonist. There was very little down time, and had a similar witty feel to what I've read of The Dresden Files. When Atticus takes down one enemy, another one shows up almost immediately, so the plot moves along very quickly. There's nothing really to figure out, but there were a few surprises! Breaking it down, it's pretty simple. It's mostly bad guys show up, Atticus is inconvenienced, and then he defeats them by the skin of his teeth. It's pretty predictable, but the way it was presented was entertaining and enjoyable.
I have so many favorite characters. Oberon, for one, our lovely Irish wolfhound who can communicate with Atticus. I felt at times he had some thoughts that were Too Human, but mostly he was a lot of fun and part of the comic relief of this book. And I'm happy to report, he not only survives this novel, but it seems like he survives the series. This is not one of those Books Where The Dog Dies, and for that I am extremely grateful. Next is Granuaile. While we don't see much of her here, it looks like she might be a series regular? She shows a lot of promise and it looks like she's going to kick lot of butt in the future. All she wants to do is learn about the Earth and its magics, and I can relate to that. Honorable mention goes to the widow MacDonagh. I respect a person who can see her neighbor behead a man seemingly unprovoked and go "you can bury him in my backyard." I'll admit I was suspicious of her the entire time, but I'd love her either way. She's so much fun and I hope to see more of her in future books. Finally, Atticus, our lovely protagonist. It's hard not to love him, to be honest. Most of what he does is for his own self preservation, but he still manages to put a select few above himself. Mostly the Earth and his dog. Extremely relatable. He's snarky, but he's also smart. He's managed to live this long by being smart and paranoid, but he still makes mistakes when heated. He's a pretty believable character, considering he's a druid.
The only thing I didn't enjoy as much, and ultimately what knocked it down to four stars, was how painfully heterosexual it was. I can deal with the flirting, but it even rubbed off on the dog. I'm not saying make the dog gay, but I mean why make the dog obsess over women the same way Atticus does? When Attticus gets distracted by a pretty woman, it's funny, but when Oberon gets distracted or goes on a rant about how he wants a harem of girly poodles it's....Weird. Then there was the bit at the end where the Morrigan suddenly got very horny for Atticus and it came out of nowhere. None of their previous interactions suggested anything like that would ever happen, and I don't see the point to the scene. It didn't bring anything to the narrative, and Atticus was already doing what she wanted so she didn't have to seduce him. Sure she tried in the very beginning, but that was to prove a point to him. It made sense in context. The end scene didn't.
I can ignore all of that, though. This really was a lot of fun and I can't wait to pick up the rest of the series. The lore is mostly new to me, too, so it's a nice change of pace. I'd definitely recommend this for fans of The Dresden Files, especially if you love mythology.
The beginning dumps you right into the action, very little exposition, just a lot of "kill these fae before they kill me" from our protagonist. There was very little down time, and had a similar witty feel to what I've read of The Dresden Files. When Atticus takes down one enemy, another one shows up almost immediately, so the plot moves along very quickly. There's nothing really to figure out, but there were a few surprises! Breaking it down, it's pretty simple. It's mostly bad guys show up, Atticus is inconvenienced, and then he defeats them by the skin of his teeth. It's pretty predictable, but the way it was presented was entertaining and enjoyable.
I have so many favorite characters. Oberon, for one, our lovely Irish wolfhound who can communicate with Atticus. I felt at times he had some thoughts that were Too Human, but mostly he was a lot of fun and part of the comic relief of this book. And I'm happy to report, he not only survives this novel, but it seems like he survives the series. This is not one of those Books Where The Dog Dies, and for that I am extremely grateful. Next is Granuaile. While we don't see much of her here, it looks like she might be a series regular? She shows a lot of promise and it looks like she's going to kick lot of butt in the future. All she wants to do is learn about the Earth and its magics, and I can relate to that. Honorable mention goes to the widow MacDonagh. I respect a person who can see her neighbor behead a man seemingly unprovoked and go "you can bury him in my backyard." I'll admit I was suspicious of her the entire time, but I'd love her either way. She's so much fun and I hope to see more of her in future books. Finally, Atticus, our lovely protagonist. It's hard not to love him, to be honest. Most of what he does is for his own self preservation, but he still manages to put a select few above himself. Mostly the Earth and his dog. Extremely relatable. He's snarky, but he's also smart. He's managed to live this long by being smart and paranoid, but he still makes mistakes when heated. He's a pretty believable character, considering he's a druid.
The only thing I didn't enjoy as much, and ultimately what knocked it down to four stars, was how painfully heterosexual it was. I can deal with the flirting, but it even rubbed off on the dog. I'm not saying make the dog gay, but I mean why make the dog obsess over women the same way Atticus does? When Attticus gets distracted by a pretty woman, it's funny, but when Oberon gets distracted or goes on a rant about how he wants a harem of girly poodles it's....Weird. Then there was the bit at the end where the Morrigan suddenly got very horny for Atticus and it came out of nowhere. None of their previous interactions suggested anything like that would ever happen, and I don't see the point to the scene. It didn't bring anything to the narrative, and Atticus was already doing what she wanted so she didn't have to seduce him. Sure she tried in the very beginning, but that was to prove a point to him. It made sense in context. The end scene didn't.
I can ignore all of that, though. This really was a lot of fun and I can't wait to pick up the rest of the series. The lore is mostly new to me, too, so it's a nice change of pace. I'd definitely recommend this for fans of The Dresden Files, especially if you love mythology.
Iron Druid has pacing, mythology, character development, foreshadowing, evocative yet focused storytelling, intrigue, relationship dynamics, and offscreen sex.
I would recommend this to anyone wishing for Dresden files if it was good.
I would recommend this to anyone wishing for Dresden files if it was good.