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ravencrantz 's review for:
Hounded
by Kevin Hearne
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.