Book Cover from Amazon
Hexed (The Iron Druid Chronicles Book 2) by Kevin Hearne
BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON
Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.
With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.
MY REVIEW
I have been hearing about The Iron Druid Chronicles for years and I am pleased to say the book lived up to its promises. I read the second book of the series (Hexed) and it worked well as a stand-alone.
The characters are amusing, entertaining and bad-ass as one would hope for an Urban Fantasy. Action throughout, magic, and friendship. A fun quick read (taking only about 8 hours for me – I started about 8 pm … and ended at 4 am on the nose…er, I am not functioning really well today.)
What I did find that might be a problem for some people, and a benefit for others, is the book really is written like a series of novelettes with one overarching connection. I could totally see this book being put up on Amazon as four or five small $1.39 stories. “The Demon Jog”, “Coyote and the Fallen Angel” (and the best of the stories within the novel – totally funny and in line with the mythology – and the worldbuilding of how magic works is superb), “Bucchant Ball”, “Houseguests” etc.. Between every vignette is a chapter moving the overall big story, and sometimes a little something else to move forward the series plot, or to set up for the next book. Lots of things happen, and the book works as a novel – one strong plot carries through it all. I am just used to the difference between the story right now, the story for the novel and the story for the series being less obvious. This novel felt more like The Ship Who Sang (Helva) by Anne McCaffrey (a series of previously published shorts put into one book) – which isn’t exactly bad company.
I should also mention the book is sexist, with women throwing themselves at the main character, using sex as a weapon or reward or trap or all three. But this is typical of an Urban Fantasy with a male as the main character (sigh). The women are strong, but most are defined in relation to the male. The secondary male characters are also strong, but don’t see any “action”. At least in this book of the series, all the characters are functionally single with no happy, stable relationship in the lot. This may change in later books; most urban fantasy series have one stable relationship that produces children (to be put into danger).
An enjoyable read which could be put down every three or four chapters (even if I didn’t) with cool action at regular intervals. A nice Urban Fantasy (male variety) that lives up to its reputation.