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 […]
Three quarters of the way through I finally “got” why cheese was so prominent in this book
Kill the Farmboy by Delilah S. Dawson, Kevin Hearne
In February 2016 two authors, Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne, were stuck in an airport and decided it was time to kill the proverbial farm boy. Specifically, it was time to make fun of white male power fantasies that typically involve a boy being destined for greater than his humble beginnings because he is somehow special, and all the tropes that often accompany those stories. And so they wrote Kill the Farm Boy. The elements are all familiar; there is a chosen one, a talking animal companion, a warrior, a wizard, a rogue, and a bard. They go on a […]
More Puns, Less Poop Please
Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne
If you like potty humor, read this. You can’t go 2 pages without poop. On rare occasion peeing or farting might be substituted. This novel is basically a parody of the Princess Bride, except that Wesley or rather Worstley (brother of Bestley) gets pancaked by an Amazonian-like warrior who really likes rose gardening named Fia. She falls on him and for once the realistic thing happens even though Worstley may be the Chosen One thanks to Staph the Pixie. But since there is magic in this world, Fia hopes maybe he can be revived. So she takes up the quest […]
It’s the end of the world as we know it
Scourged by Kevin Hearne
Time for the final book in Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles (and obviously not the place to start the series!). This contemporary urban fantasy series has evolved from it’s initial roots as “2000 year old druid who looks like a twenty-something slacker hangs out in Arizona” to “every mythos is true and most of them are out to kill you or at least badly mess up your day”. Following the earlier books we’re now at the point where our protagonist has to face up to his actions and deal with the fact that he has to prevent the end of […]
Between Thor: Ragnarok and Infinity Wars, I Don’t Have Much Patience for Thor as an Evil Villain
Hammered by Kevin Hearne
I know that quite a few urban fantasy series take a few books to truly find their feet, The Dresden Files being one of the most prominent examples of “stick with it for at least three books, and it will get good.” Books 1 and 2 of this series were fine, though some characters were rather weak, and the main character seemed to have some issues with considering consequences intelligently. However, rather than slowly improving as a series, this novel is actually my least favorite so far, and while there was an intriguing comment at the end, I do not […]
So Far So Good
Hexed by Kevin Hearne
I admit, a part of me was a bit concerned when the last novel had evil witches as side kicks to the main villain, and I saw that this novel would have evil witches as the main villains. I thought The Dresden Files overdid it with the evil vampires in the early novels, and I was bit worried that using witches as the villains could easily give the series a slightly sexist undertone if the novels portray women magic users as evil witches while the men are good druids (one female apprentice doesn’t exactly change that balance). Fortunately, while Atticus […]
Wacky Neighbor, Loyal Dog, and Please Make the Potential Love Interest Go Away
Hounded by Kevin Hearne
thewheelbarrow’s review of the last novel of this series reminded me that I had meant to check this out a long time ago when a few people reviewed the first in the series. Atticus Sullivan runs a new age bookstore and tea shop in Tempe, Arizona and looks like he is around 21 years old. In reality, he is a 2,100 year old druid and has been on the run from one man, the Celtic god of love, for about 2,000 of those years. Atticus and a few other supernatural beings (a vampire, a werewolf pack and a witch coven) […]
How much wood would a druid chuck if a druid could chuck wood?
Staked by Kevin Hearne
Since Staked is the 8th book in the Iron Druid Chronicles, don’t start here. High level overview of the story: Atticus O’Sullivan is a Druid who has spent the last 2,000 years laying low from the Celtic gods as well as the vampires who wiped out all the Druids for some unknown reason. By the time the reader reaches Staked, Atticus isn’t the only Druid walking the earth, and he’s also very firmly on the radar of ALL THE GODS EVERYWHERE. (This is what happens when you inadvertently upset Ragnarok against the advice of Jesus. Always listen to Jesus, folks.) […]