Doughty Druid

This book gets a steely 5 gnomes out of 5 gnomes for being a superb sequel, having laugh out loud writing, and characters that the reader can truly care about.

This series has become one of my top 5 series, I just love so much about it.  The characters and story are refreshing because it has characters and themes that are common yet used in unexpected ways.  Take religion, if you read this series you will see and hear about a plethora of gods and goddesses from across many cultures.  I like that there are all these religious figures still out there in the world but some just appear more often than others.

The setting is the same as the previous book and you get to find out even more about the large cast of characters.  I liked seeing more of Atticus’s nighttime lawyer, Leif the vampire and Granuile his new apprentice.  

The side characters in this book are fleshed out really well.  The interactions between Leif and Atticus are great especially when he tries to help him with his word phrasing so he doesn’t sound as old as he actually is.  Granuile (who’s name I can’t for the life of me pronounce) is seen more in this book and shown to be quite savvy to all the weirdness of witches, police problems, and learning all manner of information on what druids can do.  It would be interesting if Atticus and Granuile had a relationship because you can tell he’s interested, on the other hand though Atticus has a well known weakness for pretty women and she is technically his student.

Many of the best lines in the book are said by Oberon, the Irish wolfhound.  Seeing how he and Atticus interact is a lot of fun and also makes me hope that Kevin Hearne never has any plans to kill him off like so many other authors, movies, and TV shows do with beloved pets.  I actually found myself tearing up a bit at the point in the book when you find out how old Oberon is and how much Atticus looks out for him.

If you thought Atticus had problems in in Hounded then you are in for even more carnage when you read Hexed.  There’s gods, goddesses, good witches, bad witches, a tall priest, a short rabbi, and even more magic and fighting.  The book is also chock-full of humor, I actually had to stop reading the book at work because I didn't want people to think I was a weirdo laughing to myself all alone in the library.

The endings of this book and the one before it are great because they both end on a funny note.  Ending at a funny line or situation is to me much more preferable and unexpected then having a cliffhanger that makes you want to throw the book out the window.  Overall I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes fantasy, magic, or really stupendous male main characters.  I for one am very happy that the third book has been released and plan to read it as soon as possible.  I look forward to reading more about Atticus’s world and whatever else Kevin Hearne writes in the future.