Hammered (Iron Druid Chronicles)

I read this whole series back-to-back-to-back. I can't even honestly say I remember which book contains which events. The story is written with so much overlapping action that there is no good stopping place between reading sessions, not even between books! The quips stay sharp and the action sequences never slow down.

This series is a really fun read. Each book has fun with various mythologies. From the Norse to Coyote and the Skinwalkers witches, vamps, and werewolves oh my! Oberion is most definitely the star if these books! Can't wait for the next book to come out!

Hearne has written a stunning series, with a compelling narrative, an irresistible and charming protagonist, and skillfully drawn characters that we want to spend more time with. As in the other books, Hearne's writing is a delight. This book breaks up the usual relentless pace as several characters tell their stories -- a great part of the book. Not so nice is the drive to exterminate: mythical and legendary creatures are destroyed, lost forever. Somehow the Druid's way got lost here.

This book is a great read. I didn't want to set the book down. The author has set the bar awfully high for himself. The only thing that eats me about this book (without any spoilers), is how quickly it ends. I wish there was more information in the ending. On the other hand, what author wouldn't want to write an abrupt, wanting more ending? Well done.

Besides that, another great read, and clearly I can't wait until April!

Surprisingly terrible decisions and immoral actions for someone that stood against much of that on earlier books. It was as if this plot "had to happen" and the author just made it so. But from what you knew of Atticus prior to this book, this is way over the top for him.

I recognize that the world Atticus lives in is a fictional world, and the author can make anything he wants happen. It still bothered me a great deal to witness the number of deaths that occurred in this book, on both sides of the coin. Some of our "heros" died too easily, it felt like. The battle on the Asgaard planes seemed to do a whole lot more damage than the fictional world Atticus lives in could handle.

It was an ok read, but not a lot of character development to hold it together. The only one I really cared about in this book was Oberon, as always.

That said, I will continue on with the series because the writing is good enough to not make me regret the time I spent with it when I finish the book, and **SPOILER ALERT** because I'm curious how the slaughter that occurred will affect the series.

Book 1 was by far the best of the three.

I so enjoyed the first two books of the series I decided to get the CD version of Hammered and I have enjoyed it immensely. Full of action and great dialogue I can hardly wait for the next installment. The reader seemed to really enjoy the book too as he brought all the characters to life. Buy it in whatever form but just get it!

A quest, a chase, and a paranormal road trip to kill a god. The last druid is working hard to get on the most dangerous bad lists and I loved having Luke Daniels as the narrator telling me how Atticus got through on the skin of his teeth.

Hammered is the third book of the Iron Druid Chronicles that I'm slowly making my way through in audio with the wry, amusing Luke Daniels telling the story. This Urban Fantasy series really must be read/listened to in order because each installment builds on the ones before it. In fact, the pair of adventures in Hammered is a result of Atticus cleaning up his debts to those he asked a favor in the previous book.

Each book, it seems Atticus is engaged with a new mythology and this one was the Norse myths since Atticus ventures to Asgard and tangles with the Norse gods. The first time alone and the second time with Leif the Vampire and Gunnar the werewolf. This was all guy adventures away from Phoenix. There were brief look ins with the Widow, Granuielle and Oberon, and even Coyote.

I enjoyed this one. There were some hilarious moments like Atticus and Oberon discussing the possibility of a bacon cheeseburger latte and Atticus encounter with Jesus.

But that said, I felt it was not as engaging as the first two stories. There is a lot of downtime on the action, but not in a way that kept my focus. In the first part, Atticus is having a mental angel on his shoulder thing with Spock and Kirk the angels then later, there are background stories for why Leif and Gunnar want to go after Thor. It wasn't boring per se, but it didn't move the plot along, either.
The ending definitely had me sharply back in focus and ready for more of this series which I'm glad I can move right into the next on.

On a side note, I did pause to read the freebie on Kevin Hearne's blog: Test of Mettle that takes place during the time when Atticus is off with Leif and Gunnar. It's Granuielle's story and it was a good one.

What makes this series an even better experience for me is definitely getting it in audio with Luke Daniel's narration. He gets the large cast of characters with their accents and personalities oh-so right. At this point, I feel it would lose something for me going back to just print editions for the rest of the series.

All in all, it was good, but not a favorite of the series. It is moving toward bigger things so that I can accept. I highly recommend the series for the fun quips, culture references, paranormal world building and characters.

I think we may have hit the book where Atticus officially bites off more than he can chew.

In the very beginning of Hammered he does admit to occasionally getting too smug for his own good, and it’s good that he knows that, because I’ve got a bad feeling about this…..

Previously, he promised to steal one of Idunn’s golden apples for a witch who helped him out of a jam, and in the process of doing so he not only caused some major mayhem, but used the name of one of the Olympian gods to blame it on. So, now he has two pantheons screaming for his head. On top of that, he gave his word to his lawyer and friend (also vampire) Leif, that he would help him get his vengeance on Thor. Leif has assembled a motley crew of former gods and various others who all have a bone to pick with Thor, and they are counting on Atticus to get them to Asgard and back due to the fact that he can move through the different planes of reality. Even Atticus isn’t too sure about this one, and the fact that more than one deity has tried to warn him off of it gives him even more reason to doubt. But a promise is a promise, and pretty quickly the group is around a campfire in Siberia somewhere, telling their various tales of how Thor wronged them in order to form a bond with each other (a ka-tet, if you will) that will enable Atticus to yank them up into Asgard. I think it’s about to get real, if ya know what I mean.

The Atticus we get in Hammered has a few more layers than we have been shown in previous books. This Atticus is fallible. He doubts, but presses on, on the wings of sheer bravado and testosterone. By the end of the book he acknowledges that he’s made some drastic mistakes. We are told about his former wife, a woman that he was with for several hundred years, which hints at some of that Highlander-level angst that I’ve been waiting for. Finally we are getting to see some evidence of the ancient mind inside the body of the man. This arc is only just getting cranked up, and I’m excited to see where it will go. Atticus is still a little too breezy at points, which is a problem that has persisted throughout these books. But this book has a decidedly darker turn to it that I relished. I had to wonder if all of these pop culture references and the like just a desperate cover for a creature that is truly uncomfortable in the modern age. All in all, I loved the fact that all did not go well, and that there are going to be some far reaching and permanent effects of the actions undertaken in this (ill advised) adventure.

This book was going to be the tie breaker on if I would continue reading this series. I really liked book 1, but had some major issues with book 2. I started reading Hammered and quickly found that my issues had not been resolved.

There's still a major disconnect between Atticus' stated age (2100 years) and how he thinks and acts. He tries to think of himself as this wise good guy, but I see no evidence of either of those traits. In the opening sequence he apparently planned for contingencies A-Q, but none of them accounted for him being discovered as he climbed up the World Tree - even though the only reason he knew there was that path was because of a giant squirrel using the path. Granted, it was one of two paths, and the more likely least used one, but that's still a pretty strong chance of running into giant squirrel. As a result of failing to plan for a fairly likely thing, there are a lot of unneeded deaths, which brings us to Atticus not being a good guy. He moves to killing anyone in his path pretty darned quickly. Which is disturbing as no one killed was a bad guys - they were just people defending their home realm from an intruder. If Atticus thought like a 2100 year old Druid, I'd be more willing to let that go, but shortly after the first of these deaths, as he's running to both achieve his goal and avoid detection he amuses himself by imagining a conversation between Kirk and Spock as he considered his options.

Basically, his actions often seem consistent with the 2100 year old Druid, but his thoughts are consistent with a 21 year old member of the Gamergate community.

Over several books now we've seen Atticus achieve tasks that should be very difficult with relatively little difficulty. Oh, he always thinks of them as major, highly difficult tasks, but that doesn't come across in the action.

At 10% in I started looking at reviewed of Hammered and found that not only does the book not improve, there are several more things that happen that would just piss me off further. So I'm done with this series, which is sad, as I thought it sounded like a great idea.

(Originally rated on Goodreads) **spoilers** Great volume to the Iron Druid Chronicles! This one handling the thunderous battle between Atticus and friends against the Aesir (particularly Thor). The ending was truly climatic, and now I can't wait to see what Atticus does. Will he bunker down in another town or will he inquire about the dangers in Tempe (widow or vampire-related)? Will he check up on the widow's odd behavior? Is she a zombie? Vamp? Golem? Demon-possessed? Oh the suspense!

Solid book, but unfortunately just not as good as the first two in the series. I suppose it had to happen, not every subsequent book can continue to exceed expectations. But this was a *slight* let-down.

Atticus has promised his friends Lief and Gunnar to help kill Thor. Atticus has absolutely no dog in this fight, but has given his word and must keep it. Whereas the first book featured a battle that was completely of Atticus's choosing, and necessary for him, it kind of feels like the plot has gotten away from him. This is expected to a degree, every action (and battle) having repercussions that he has to deal with. But it's still frustrating as the reader to see Atticus get warned off this mission by everyone, and he continues on anyway.

A lot of time was also spent on backstories. This was interesting for Lief, as a recurring character (and Gunnar too although to a lesser degree). But for the other characters that showed up for Thor battle, it wasn't as relevant and felt mostly like filler. It also left a good chunk of the book rather dry, whereas in the first two books there was a lot more witty banter with Oberon or interactions with other characters.

Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoyed this. And I'm already reading the next book in the series. It just wasn't as good as the first two

I picked up this book because I liked the concept and I’m a big fan of Norse mythology. What I immediately enjoyed was the narrative voice employed in the story. I think it worked well with the character of Atticus O’Sullivan. However, my enjoyment of this novel did not last very long. This novel was flawed in many ways, and in the end I was barely able to get through this book.

For one thing, I thought there were too many characters and subplots. This novel could have used some trimming. The novel practically grinds to a halt when each of the characters that are going up against Thor have to give a narrative of why he dissed them. This was backstory overkill in a big way. The character of Atticus O’Sullivan was far too powerful for my liking. He kills the Norns and Sleipner, ancient characters thousands of years old with ease. It shouldn’t come that easily. My biggest complaint about the novel is Hearne’s interpretation of Thor. Thor has consistently been depicted as a noble character and great warrior, but according to Hearne he is a coward and basically an evil bastard. I have read much about Thor, so why should Hearne’s depiction override everything I already know? It doesn’t, and the story doesn’t work. In the end, I was rooting for Thor even though I knew he would lose. Ultimately, this novel didn’t work for me and I would advise skipping it.

Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity

This installment pours on the geeky with its abundant Sci-Fi Fantasy references, and even though a lot of the LORD OF THE RINGS and STAR TREK shout-outs were lost on me, my guy has now taken up reading this series so kudos to Hearne for spanning multiple genres! This author’s wacky sense of humour is also another huge draw for me; between Oberon’s love for b***** and sausages, and Atticus’ questions about vampire poop, it’s impossible to not crack a smile while listening to HAMMERED. And, last but not least, there’s Luke Daniels’ priceless narration of Ratatosk the giant squirrel! If that doesn’t get you laughing, well, you may just be a lost cause.

I’ve come to thoroughly enjoy Kevin Hearne’s personal spin on the various myths he covers in THE IRON DRUID CHRONICLES. This time around, Atticus finds himself sneaking into Asgard to steal a golden apple by riding a giant squirrel up the roots of the world tree. His literal interpretation of an ancient lore seems downright insane at first but he quickly proves his skeptics wrong and thus his outrageous plan to defeat Thor is born. Each of the four characters that team-up with the druid in their quest for vengeance gets a full chapter to tell their vendetta tales which I found to be extremely interesting. I always enjoy a good “how I became a werewolf / vampire” story.

Oberon doesn’t play as large of a role in this book as he has in previous installments which made his doggie moments all the more precious. I wish there’d been more of them but Atticus helped to pick-up the slack by being even more outspoken than usual. Readers also get to learn a bit more about Tahira, O’Sullivan’s long lost love which helped to add some depth to his character. I’ve now come to accept that my favourite druid won’t be pairing up with a lady friend anytime soon but as long as Hearne continues to pepper his stories with goddess sexy times my appetite for romp scenes will remain satisfied.

Luke Daniels’ versatility as the narrator of these audiobooks continues to amaze me; all of his character voices are distinctly identifiable whether he’s reading from a dog’s POV or that of Ratatosk. I have to give this man serious props for not sounding like Alvin the Chipmunk while he narrated the latter’s dialogue! Hearne’s multifaceted writing style can’t be easy to convey but Daniels tackles every nutty curve ball with ease.

HAMMERED’s ending was bittersweet, even though they are successful in reaching their end goal, the price of their success was extremely high. Lots of characters die, including a few secondary ones, and I was left feeling skeptical about how the Mrs McDunnah cliffhanger will play-out in the future. Although, this wasn’t my favourite installment, the hilarious hijinx of Atticus and Oberon are always worth a listen and I took comfort in learning that there’s beer in Irish heaven!

For me….The Druid Chronicles are fun and I have a really good time while I’m reading them but they are more like the Action movie I go see with my husband. Sure I enjoy myself at the movie and it is a good time but I could have probably inserted ½ different action movies into it and felt the same. These are more filler books for me, it is the series I read in-between other books but not the book I put everything else aside for. Honestly I blame it on the lack of Romance. I know totally girly thing to say but I really want the hint of one to happen sometime in this series.

“Wisdom eludes me yet, but foolishness I captured long ago and to this day it is my constant companion, though many people consider me wise.”

Atticus used to run and hide and had done so for a very long time. But when he decided to finally take a stand and quit running he had no idea all the trouble he would bring down upon himself. It seems he gains a new and greater enemy with every choice he makes. Maybe it is time to skip town altogether. But first he must fulfill a promise and help Leif kill Thor.

Again I really enjoy the mythology and lore in this series but I’m waiting for something to really grab a hold of me and make me really invest into all of the characters. This is a series I can still take or leave. I like a few of the characters and I totally enjoy the pop culture references and Shakespearean Duels but still Atticus needs something to really tie me to him and his destiny.

There is one thing that I really love about the series though and that is Oberon, Atticus’s dog. The conversations they have are hilarious and exactly what I think a dog would find interesting.

“ What's silly is paying five bucks for hot milk and flavored syrup! But now I see what's really been going on all this time! They charge you all that money because they need it for the R & D! Somewhere on the outskirts of Seattle, there's a secret facility with higher security than Area 51, and inside there are men with poor eyesight and bad haircuts wearing white coats, and they're trying to make the Holy Grail of all coffee drinks.

The bacon latte?

No, Atticus, I already told you those exist! I'm talking about the prophecy! 'Out of the steam and the foam and the froth, a man in white with poor eyesight will craft a liquid paradox, and it shall be called the Triple Nonfat Double Bacon Five-Cheese Mocha!'

I’ll continue on with the series as I enjoy the UF from a male PoV and I do like the lore utilized but like I said this is a between other things kind of series for me.

This was my first read in the Iron Druid series. The back cover and a quick skim through the contents made it seem like it would be entertaining. And it was...for about the first third of the book. Then the main character begins to make references to political issues such as immigration, racism, and sexism that really have little context in the plot. I'm not a fan of books lobbing ideological messages just to make a point, but up to this point the author's knowledge of mythology and his creativity kept me going. But once he meets Jesus and battles it out with a bunch of Haredi Kabbalist rabbis, I gave up. I understand that in a fiction novel based in a world with gods and goddesses, magic, vampires, et al, that there will be weird things happening. As long as the milieu is internally consistent, that's fine. In this case, the author's handling of the milieu begins to break down about midway through the book. And I'm a fan of comedy, where it's warranted, but when he has the rabbis attack him with beard tentacles it was too much. I put the book down and will likely not read another Iron Druid novel.

I rated the book two stars, as I did enjoy the author's take on the planes of existence and their attachment to earth, and for his creativity. But other than that, it's not a novel I would recommend unless you are a fan of disjointed politically correct commentary and comedic magic battles.

A third installment that feels like a final installment. One gets the impression reading Hammered that Kevin Hearne wasn’t really sure Del Ray would publish more than three books, so he ties up a number of characterizational and plot threads from Hounded and Hexed in this book, Atticus’ debts to Leif Helgarson and to the witch Laksha being the biggest and most tied to the main action of the book. There is some lip-service mid-book and again at the end towards setting up where Atticus would go from here should the series continue (which it did, with book 7 just recently coming out in hardcover). In the first half of the book, Atticus ties up a lot of his personal loose ends just in case he’s not going to survive the trip to Asgard, and he’s visited by a number of well-meaning supernatural friends who try to warn him off of the course of action he’s undertaking (at least one cameo made me chuckle out loud, and I don’t want to ruin that appearance for anyone).

Atticus’ devotion to being honorable, to keeping his word, gets him into a load of trouble throughout the book and at least once puts him in an untenable situation that doesn’t necessarily resolve satisfactorily for the reader (involving the fate of one of the Norse goddesses); I’ve seen a number of reviews that concur with me on this point but again, giving details would count as a spoiler. I’m hoping this decision of Atticus’ is revisited later in the series, that he realizes just how bad of a call it was (even if it might have turned out okay in the end) even under the guise of “do anything to keep my word.”

In fact, in comparison to the fairly light-hearted, often outright humorous, tone of the first two books, Hammered is almost completely dark. The few funny moments are, as I mentioned, chuckle-out-loud funny, but they are very few. From the start, author and Atticus alike know this is a bad path to walk down: bad choices bring Atticus to even worse choices. Knowing the series has continued, I can only assume the repercussions of this are felt. In my review of Hexed, I complained that unlike Harry Dresden in his first few books, Atticus O’Sullivan is perhaps just too all-powerful. In Hammered, we see that Atticus’ power-level and experience are just as much of a problem as Harry’s early low power and lack of experience, and perhaps even moreso as Atticus is able to do things (like kill gods,plural) that invite much worse things to follow.

If the novel stumbles anywhere, it’s in the third quarter: when the vampire, the werewolf, the forgotten god, the sorcerer and the Asian mystic each recount why they want to kill Thor, the novel plods almost to a halt. I’m not sure there was any better way to info-dump the characters’ motivations, and Hearne at least attempts to couch the storytelling as a necessity for Atticus’ binding spell to move them all to the Asgardian plane, but this reader grew very impatient reading through them.

There is only one way I can do this and thats just to list the good and the bad of this book. I enjoyed the first two books in this series and I intend to keep reading the rest of the series but I do not see them as the perfect books so many others do.

The Good.
1.Atticus is finally acting his age (more or less). He doesn't come across as a self obsessed, vain, pompous, college kid (as much) in this book as he has in others.
2.The stakes are actually there, were in the other books you never really felt like anything bad could happen if this failed.
3. There is an actual climax in this book, unlike the others which had an end but it felt weak and lack luster.
4. There are not nearly as man "stub your toe moments" in this book. SYTM are a term I use to refer to a moment in a book or film that just makes you roll your eyes or question your reasoning.
5. It has an ending that makes you really want to read the next one, that is something the first two severely lacked.

The Bad. * spoilers*
1. There are no consequences for his actions, Atticus is warned about killing Thor and the effect it will have but he doesn't seem to care. Lief gets smashed to a fine paste, but thats ok he lived.
2. The Norse hate is heavy in this book. It has been obvious to me from the beginning that the author didn't like the Norse but in this book he goes at it with both barrels. From easily slaughtering half of the Norse pantheon and playing them up as inept morons to saying Freja wasn't pretty. He spends plenty of time remarking on the Celtic Goddesses beauty and skill in battle but Thor was a pussy.
3. Inconsistent use of mythology. Sometimes the mythology is spot on and other times it goes way out in left field. Take for example the death of Heimdall, the God that can sense foes coming from miles away is quickly ambushed and killed. Celtic magic beats Norse magic somehow.
5. Atticus and his allies are overpowered. Atticus has always been too powerful but that is a result of the author living through him but his companions in this book are also grossly overpowered. Lief goes toe to toe with Thor a God who is known for his strenght and wears a belt that doubles it. Atticus slaughters several Valkyries warrior maidens clad in magic armour. Freyr and Try Gods known for their swordsmanship are easily defeated. Yes some of the companions are Gods but it is remarked upon that the Norse are stronger than them hence why they went in a group.
6. Atticus blames the Norse Gods for the slaughter stating that had Thor been willing to fight them on his own they never would have had to kill them. They never challenged Thor to single combat and they never planned to, they invade Asgard with an army of giants and stomped Heimdall into mush and then set about slaughtering the rest of the Gods.

Conclusion. Norse hate aside the book is the best of the series thus far and I am interested to see how things all play out in the next three definitely worth a read.

The third installment of the Iron Druid series maintains the high quality writing and story telling of the previous two books. Hearne manages to set gods mythologies on their collective ears while telling a very entertaining, witty tale. The interaction between Atticua and Oberon (his dog companion) are worth the time to read this book and the others in the series. The bonus short story is also very good, giving us our first insight into Atticus's apprentice Granuaile. I highly recommend this series of books to anyone looking for a good twist on their fantasy fix.

With Hounded & Hexed, Kevin Hearne has pretty much established himself as one of urban fantasy's best new voices. Not surprisingly, expectations were sky-high for Hammered, the third volume of The Iron Druid Chronicles.

Hammered begins with Atticus O'Sullivan undertaking a reconnaissance mission in Asgard. The plan is to retrieve a golden apple that would cancel his debt with the Indian witch Laksha, while also relieving Thor of his power and godhood. Unfortunately, like many of his past outings, the mission doesn't go as planned and Atticus ends up making things worse. His plan botched, Atticus returns to Arizona to settle some business before dealing with Thor. This involves Atticus' Third Eye bookstore and Granuaile MacTiernan, the latter of which is further explored in the short story, "A Test of Mettle". The book also features the return of the Jewish demon hunters from Hexed as well as the appearance of someone who will surprise many readers. Meanwhile, joining Atticus in his quest against Thor is Lief, Gunnar and three other very powerful individuals, thus setting the stage for Hammered...

Like its predecessors, Hammered features a liberal does of humor, which is one of the most consistently fun factors in The Iron Druid Chronicles, with the Irish wolfhound Oberon once again stealing most of the show with lines like "Anyplace is good so long as there's sausage and bitches", "Oh look it's a dead guy and a wet dog", and "Pai Mei's probably on Facebook right now, look him up." Despite the humor, The Iron Druid Chronicles has progressively become darker with each volume with Hammered the darkest book yet. The author never descends to all-out gore in Hammered, but there is lots of violence and death, tragic histories, depressing futures, and a more overall serious tone. Characterization meanwhile, remains superb as ever with Atticus leading the way. This time however, Magnus & Lief get to share center stage with Atticus, while five chapters from the POVs of five different characters lets readers see what others think about Thor, which was very rewarding. Story-wise, Hammered is the most epic and satisfying volume yet in The Iron Druid Chronicles, but the ending will leave readers salivating for the fourth volume, Tricked.

Negatively, nearly every book possesses some element that will rankle the reader. For me, the issues in Hounded and Hexed were fairly minor, but in Hammered, they are non-existent.

CONCLUSION: The Iron Druid Chronicles has been receiving praise all over the blogosphere. Praise that is richly deserved considering the series's memorable characters, entertaining humor, and surprising, action-packed story. As impressive as the series has been though, Kevin Hearne takes The Iron Druid Chronicles to a whole new level with the excellent Hammered...

BONUS REVIEW - "A Test Of Mettle":

A Test Of Mettle is featured in the e-book version of Hammered. The short story is about 9-10 pages long and occurs side-by-side with the latter half of Hammered. A Test of Mettle is narrated in the first-person by Granuaile MacTiernan, who must perform a task set to her by an elemental, while overcoming the expectations of the pantheon to which her new status is associated with. Accompanying Granuaile on her task is Oberon.

A Test Of Mettle reveals a small, but significant part of Granuaile's past which I believe might factor in future volumes. The pace of the story is rather fast and it was good to see Kevin give Granuaile a narrative voice distinctive from Atticus's. The short story also reveals a bit about a certain pantheon, which happens to establish Atticus's views of that pantheon from the earlier books. Overall, I thought A Test Of Mettle was a nice addition to Hammered, making an already great book even better...

Things take a darker twist in this next installment of the Iron Druid Chronicles. Atticus has made a promise to Leif and even though everyone warns him that consequences would be dire if he were to proceed, he does so to protect his good name. Everything is such a whirlwind affair as Atticus must get to know some new supernatural buddies and discover more about those he thought he new. While Atticus has been quite lucky (to a certain extent) up to this adventure, Thor proves to be a very worthy opponent. Atticus only wants to get back to Oberon and plan the next 2000 years of his life. Things just don't look so good.

This was my favorite installment yet! I was sitting on the edge of my seat, gripping the steering will, all with my mouth wide open almost the entire time. I had gotten accustomed to Atticus' narrow escapes but I learned pretty quickly that this new task wasn't going to be like the others. I love that Hearne can keep me guessing even in book 3. In addition, the reader really gets a look into the background of some of the characters that have shown up in the previous books, giving some of the side characters a spotlight and more depth. There were some sad moments but mostly tons and tons of action. I want to know so many things after finishing this thing. Unfortunately, my library doesn't have Tricked yet. For the first time in my life, I'm considering buying an audiobook. We will see.

On the narrator...
I've come to think of Luke Daniels as a good old friend right about now and I know that he doesn't disappoint. In fact, I continue to be amazed at how many different distinguishable voices he can manage in one book. I wonder how he remembers them all! I love Luke Daniels as I did in the previous installments. He does a fantastic job here as well. I could continue the next book in paper form, but I'm just not ready to give up Mr. Daniels.

The third book really wasn't as great as the first in this series. I didn't particularly care for the storyline. Although, I did enjoy the five tales being told by each warrior wanting to destroy Thor. I didn't like the change of location from Arizona to Asgard. All the things that made the first two excellent stories were missing. The dialogue wasn't as crisp and witty. The lovable characters, such as Oberon and Mrs. McDonagh, were relegated to cameos. And when Jesus showed up to throw back a few shots with Atticus, well...nuf said...lol. I know there is a lack of reverence for just about every relevant religion in each novel. I accept that for what it is. I just didn't find the humor there that other readers may.
I refuse to give up on this otherwise stellar series though.
Mr. Hearne's writing is great. And, I do believe there will be more of lovable and hilarious Irish wolfhound, Oberon, in the next few novels.

So, Thor... other than knowing he's responsible for Thursday being named Thursday in English and donderdag in Dutch and that there was a film about his comic book character last year, I didn't know much about him. I certainly didn't know he was such an unpleasant character, to put it mildly. Needless to say, Hammered relieved me of my ignorance and put me solidly on the 'Let's kill Thor'-train that Atticus is on in the book and where he can't seem to get off, despite looking really hard for the exit.

Hammered is the third book in the Iron Druid Chronicles after Hounded and Hexed. It's far more directly connected to Hexed, than that was to Hounded and it's clear that had there not been more books contracted for, this could have been the end of the tale. Luckily, there are and it wasn't, so we can look forward to Tricked this April. It's also the first book largely set away from Atticus' home town of Tempe, Arizona. It was fun to see Atticus exploring the Asgard plane while going in to fulfil his debt to Laksha, which he incurred in Hexed. It was great to explore different planes of existence, not just Asgard, but also the fae world, where Atticus needs to travel to easily transport himself around the world.

As before, we get more and more new pantheons added to the mythology of the book. Not only do we get a deeper look at the Norse pantheon, we also get to meet Väinämöinen, a Finnish god, Zhang Guo Lao, one of China's Eight Immortals and Perun, the Russian god of Thunder. In addition, after meeting Mary in Hexed, Atticus gets searched out by Jesus in this book. I loved the scenes where Jesus and the Morrigan try to dissuade Atticus from going to Asgard. It showed that sometimes doing what is right - keeping your word of honour to a friend - isn't the same thing as doing what is wise and that what is right and what is wise will differ from person to person. Also the return of the Hammers of God and Jesus' summary dismissal of them was brilliant. In just a few scenes Hearne gives a social commentary on the dangers of religious zealotism without straying into moralising or preaching. I really enjoy how Hearne mixes up the different pantheons and mythologies and at the risk of repeating myself; this is what makes this series so special!

In the end, Atticus can't go back on his given word of honour and he, Leif and four more companions set out for Asgard. On the way there Hearne cleverly gives us the tales of why they want to kill Thor. It's done in a way reminiscent of the Canterbury Tales, with each character getting a chapter to tell their tale. I definitely got my wished for background history for Leif and as a bonus for Gunnar as well! The dynamic of this group worked really well and I really liked the time we spent with them. The battle in Asgard was awesome, very grim, but at times with some humour infused as well. They don't all make it out alive, which I found very realistic, but also kind of sad. There is a lot of loss for Atticus in this book, which while painful also stresses Atticus' humanity and shows that even if he had wanted to he can't freeze his heart from caring about others.

As with Hounded and Hexed there is a lot of humour in the books and the same sense of fun pervades Hearne's writing, despite things taking such a grim turn at the end. The one downside for me was the lack of Oberon in this book. Because Atticus is going into battle, he leaves Oberon safely in Tempe and we get far less of Oberon's funny observations than we did in previous books. I look forward to Tricked to see where Atticus, Oberon and Granuaile end up after leaving Tempe. I'm also curious to see whether Hearne's fun writing tone will darken to accompany the grim turn events have taken and the myriad of troubles that seem to lie in store for Atticus and company. Hammered is a great continuation of a very good urban fantasy series. The time to get on board with the series is now, before we dive in to the next phase of the story!

*Major Spoilers*

Atticus is in the wrong for almost the entire book and every decision compounds his crimes.
I’ve given the book 2 stars only because I’ve read worse. Hammered has mostly positive reviews so I know I’m in the minority here but I REALLY disliked this book to the point where I felt I had to put my 2 cents in.

One of the best aspects of Atticus throughout the previous 2 novels was that by his very nature, he was the perfect person to introduce the reader to the world. As a druid with 2 millennia of knowledge and experience, it’s easy to believe that Atticus knows what’s going on in most situations and how to best deal with them. But here his lack of planning and disregard for the lives of others, show a confusing character when contrasted with the Atticus of the first 2 novels in the series.

On one hand it can be argued that Atticus’ failings in this book are a good thing. The main character should have flaws! But did his defeat of Aenghus Og in Hounded cause him to abandon much of the caution that kept him alive for so long? With Granuaile now his apprentice, the stakes have never been higher for him but this doesn’t seem to factor into any of his decision making throughout the story. To me, this feels like a break in character rather than a character flaw. Atticus has too much experience to be making these colossal blunders. It made the story less believable (within the context of this being a supernatural fantasy novel).

Here’s where it all goes wrong. Atticus mentions that he made several plans as he climbs the World Tree but his Plan A relies completely upon not encountering Ratatosk. As soon as that plan fails, he has no contingency. Really? Rather than retreat and rethink his plan of attack, he lies to and manipulates Ratatosk and leads him to his death. He then proceeds to murder the Norns with barely any consideration of the ramifications of killing the fates. I’m placing equal value here on the lives of the Aesir and humans. That’s a necessity. Otherwise the lives of Oberon, Hal, Lief, etc. are similarly less valuable by virtue of them also not being human.

Atticus does feel bad about what he did to Ratatosk and he should! But really he mourns over the squirrel’s death no more than Gunnar’s so at least he is consistent with his apparent lack of compassion. But he also MURDERED the Norns who only attacked him in defense of their home. His concern then seemed to be only for the repercussions if they manage to warn the other Aesir. What about fate itself? How about that “they draw water from the well and take sand that lies around it, which they pour over Yggdrasill so that its branches will not rot”? Is the entire world now doomed to death and chaos? Eh, who knows. At least I got my apple, right?

So if that wasn’t bad enough, his next plan is so unbelievably bad that 2 separate Gods show up to tell him he should reconsider his actions. But does that deter the wise and ancient Druid? Nope. While his companions seem to have a legitimate gripe with Thor, that doesn’t excuse rushing into Asgard and slaughtering anyone and everyone they come across between them and their target. I know they are all bent on revenge and that can lead to some rash decisions. But there’s nothing rash about this ill-conceived so called plan. Atticus has DAYS while they’re camping and swapping stories to think “Hmm, we’re all immortal, maybe we have time to think up a better plan to get at Thor without bum rushing his HQ. Prayer brought Mary to Earth. Maybe something similar would work for Thor and we can lure him into a trap. This is worth more consideration.” But of course that thought never occurs to the wise Druid, only this lowly reader. The disaster unfolds and more innocents die.

The real kicker comes at the end when the battle is finished,. Atticus speaks with Tyr in a condescending manner, explaining WHY everyone around him is now dead. Atticus explains, “We came for Thor and Thor only…his casual slaughters have brought this day of reckoning on you all.” You’re kidding, right? Do you really think the Aesir are going to just think, “Yeah, Thor was a jerk so I guess we all deserved to die for it.” How can you not see what a hypocrite those words make you?

The SFFWorld review that equates Atticus to Harry Dresden misses a huge difference between the characters. Harry starts out as a mortal with relatively limited experience but gains in wisdom and strength throughout the series as he follows his convictions and makes the best choices of those available to him. Atticus has 2000 years of experience and supposed wisdom to guide his actions but after his initial disastrous intrusion to procure a golden apple, uses none of that knowledge to plan the downfall of Thor and ultimately causes the death of numerous innocents and potentially dooms the world.

I would believe that 2000 years of life have resulted in Atticus losing touch with normal human emotions and becoming detached. In that light I can understand his lack of compassion. But the problem with Hammered compared to the first 2 novels is that Atticus’ character either fundamentally changes, or is revealed through his actions. Were I to continue the series, I could no longer trust in him to reveal Hearne’s world objectively. Hammered ends with Atticus having become a short-sighted murdering thief with a questionable moral code and I have no interest in reading more stories about such a person.

This book was going to be the tie breaker on if I would continue reading this series. I really liked book 1, but had some major issues with book 2. I started reading Hammered and quickly found that my issues had not been resolved.

There's still a major disconnect between Atticus' stated age (2100 years) and how he thinks and acts. He tries to think of himself as this wise good guy, but I see no evidence of either of those traits. In the opening sequence he apparently planned for contingencies A-Q, but none of them accounted for him being discovered as he climbed up the World Tree - even though the only reason he knew there was that path was because of a giant squirrel using the path. Granted, it was one of two paths, and the more likely least used one, but that's still a pretty strong chance of running into giant squirrel. As a result of failing to plan for a fairly likely thing, there are a lot of unneeded deaths, which brings us to Atticus not being a good guy. He moves to killing anyone in his path pretty darned quickly. Which is disturbing as no one killed was a bad guys - they were just people defending their home realm from an intruder. If Atticus thought like a 2100 year old Druid, I'd be more willing to let that go, but shortly after the first of these deaths, as he's running to both achieve his goal and avoid detection he amuses himself by imagining a conversation between Kirk and Spock as he considered his options.

Basically, his actions often seem consistent with the 2100 year old Druid, but his thoughts are consistent with a 21 year old member of the Gamergate community.

Over several books now we've seen Atticus achieve tasks that should be very difficult with relatively little difficulty. Oh, he always thinks of them as major, highly difficult tasks, but that doesn't come across in the action.

At 10% in I started looking at reviewed of Hammered and found that not only does the book not improve, there are several more things that happen that would just piss me off further. So I'm done with this series, which is sad, as I thought it sounded like a great idea.

Solid book, but unfortunately just not as good as the first two in the series. I suppose it had to happen, not every subsequent book can continue to exceed expectations. But this was a *slight* let-down.

Atticus has promised his friends Lief and Gunnar to help kill Thor. Atticus has absolutely no dog in this fight, but has given his word and must keep it. Whereas the first book featured a battle that was completely of Atticus's choosing, and necessary for him, it kind of feels like the plot has gotten away from him. This is expected to a degree, every action (and battle) having repercussions that he has to deal with. But it's still frustrating as the reader to see Atticus get warned off this mission by everyone, and he continues on anyway.

A lot of time was also spent on backstories. This was interesting for Lief, as a recurring character (and Gunnar too although to a lesser degree). But for the other characters that showed up for Thor battle, it wasn't as relevant and felt mostly like filler. It also left a good chunk of the book rather dry, whereas in the first two books there was a lot more witty banter with Oberon or interactions with other characters.

Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoyed this. And I'm already reading the next book in the series. It just wasn't as good as the first two

I picked up this book because I liked the concept and I’m a big fan of Norse mythology. What I immediately enjoyed was the narrative voice employed in the story. I think it worked well with the character of Atticus O’Sullivan. However, my enjoyment of this novel did not last very long. This novel was flawed in many ways, and in the end I was barely able to get through this book.

For one thing, I thought there were too many characters and subplots. This novel could have used some trimming. The novel practically grinds to a halt when each of the characters that are going up against Thor have to give a narrative of why he dissed them. This was backstory overkill in a big way. The character of Atticus O’Sullivan was far too powerful for my liking. He kills the Norns and Sleipner, ancient characters thousands of years old with ease. It shouldn’t come that easily. My biggest complaint about the novel is Hearne’s interpretation of Thor. Thor has consistently been depicted as a noble character and great warrior, but according to Hearne he is a coward and basically an evil bastard. I have read much about Thor, so why should Hearne’s depiction override everything I already know? It doesn’t, and the story doesn’t work. In the end, I was rooting for Thor even though I knew he would lose. Ultimately, this novel didn’t work for me and I would advise skipping it.

Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity

This installment pours on the geeky with its abundant Sci-Fi Fantasy references, and even though a lot of the LORD OF THE RINGS and STAR TREK shout-outs were lost on me, my guy has now taken up reading this series so kudos to Hearne for spanning multiple genres! This author’s wacky sense of humour is also another huge draw for me; between Oberon’s love for b***** and sausages, and Atticus’ questions about vampire poop, it’s impossible to not crack a smile while listening to HAMMERED. And, last but not least, there’s Luke Daniels’ priceless narration of Ratatosk the giant squirrel! If that doesn’t get you laughing, well, you may just be a lost cause.

I’ve come to thoroughly enjoy Kevin Hearne’s personal spin on the various myths he covers in THE IRON DRUID CHRONICLES. This time around, Atticus finds himself sneaking into Asgard to steal a golden apple by riding a giant squirrel up the roots of the world tree. His literal interpretation of an ancient lore seems downright insane at first but he quickly proves his skeptics wrong and thus his outrageous plan to defeat Thor is born. Each of the four characters that team-up with the druid in their quest for vengeance gets a full chapter to tell their vendetta tales which I found to be extremely interesting. I always enjoy a good “how I became a werewolf / vampire” story.

Oberon doesn’t play as large of a role in this book as he has in previous installments which made his doggie moments all the more precious. I wish there’d been more of them but Atticus helped to pick-up the slack by being even more outspoken than usual. Readers also get to learn a bit more about Tahira, O’Sullivan’s long lost love which helped to add some depth to his character. I’ve now come to accept that my favourite druid won’t be pairing up with a lady friend anytime soon but as long as Hearne continues to pepper his stories with goddess sexy times my appetite for romp scenes will remain satisfied.

Luke Daniels’ versatility as the narrator of these audiobooks continues to amaze me; all of his character voices are distinctly identifiable whether he’s reading from a dog’s POV or that of Ratatosk. I have to give this man serious props for not sounding like Alvin the Chipmunk while he narrated the latter’s dialogue! Hearne’s multifaceted writing style can’t be easy to convey but Daniels tackles every nutty curve ball with ease.

HAMMERED’s ending was bittersweet, even though they are successful in reaching their end goal, the price of their success was extremely high. Lots of characters die, including a few secondary ones, and I was left feeling skeptical about how the Mrs McDunnah cliffhanger will play-out in the future. Although, this wasn’t my favourite installment, the hilarious hijinx of Atticus and Oberon are always worth a listen and I took comfort in learning that there’s beer in Irish heaven!

For me….The Druid Chronicles are fun and I have a really good time while I’m reading them but they are more like the Action movie I go see with my husband. Sure I enjoy myself at the movie and it is a good time but I could have probably inserted ½ different action movies into it and felt the same. These are more filler books for me, it is the series I read in-between other books but not the book I put everything else aside for. Honestly I blame it on the lack of Romance. I know totally girly thing to say but I really want the hint of one to happen sometime in this series.

“Wisdom eludes me yet, but foolishness I captured long ago and to this day it is my constant companion, though many people consider me wise.”

Atticus used to run and hide and had done so for a very long time. But when he decided to finally take a stand and quit running he had no idea all the trouble he would bring down upon himself. It seems he gains a new and greater enemy with every choice he makes. Maybe it is time to skip town altogether. But first he must fulfill a promise and help Leif kill Thor.

Again I really enjoy the mythology and lore in this series but I’m waiting for something to really grab a hold of me and make me really invest into all of the characters. This is a series I can still take or leave. I like a few of the characters and I totally enjoy the pop culture references and Shakespearean Duels but still Atticus needs something to really tie me to him and his destiny.

There is one thing that I really love about the series though and that is Oberon, Atticus’s dog. The conversations they have are hilarious and exactly what I think a dog would find interesting.

“ What's silly is paying five bucks for hot milk and flavored syrup! But now I see what's really been going on all this time! They charge you all that money because they need it for the R & D! Somewhere on the outskirts of Seattle, there's a secret facility with higher security than Area 51, and inside there are men with poor eyesight and bad haircuts wearing white coats, and they're trying to make the Holy Grail of all coffee drinks.

The bacon latte?

No, Atticus, I already told you those exist! I'm talking about the prophecy! 'Out of the steam and the foam and the froth, a man in white with poor eyesight will craft a liquid paradox, and it shall be called the Triple Nonfat Double Bacon Five-Cheese Mocha!'

I’ll continue on with the series as I enjoy the UF from a male PoV and I do like the lore utilized but like I said this is a between other things kind of series for me.

This was my first read in the Iron Druid series. The back cover and a quick skim through the contents made it seem like it would be entertaining. And it was...for about the first third of the book. Then the main character begins to make references to political issues such as immigration, racism, and sexism that really have little context in the plot. I'm not a fan of books lobbing ideological messages just to make a point, but up to this point the author's knowledge of mythology and his creativity kept me going. But once he meets Jesus and battles it out with a bunch of Haredi Kabbalist rabbis, I gave up. I understand that in a fiction novel based in a world with gods and goddesses, magic, vampires, et al, that there will be weird things happening. As long as the milieu is internally consistent, that's fine. In this case, the author's handling of the milieu begins to break down about midway through the book. And I'm a fan of comedy, where it's warranted, but when he has the rabbis attack him with beard tentacles it was too much. I put the book down and will likely not read another Iron Druid novel.

I rated the book two stars, as I did enjoy the author's take on the planes of existence and their attachment to earth, and for his creativity. But other than that, it's not a novel I would recommend unless you are a fan of disjointed politically correct commentary and comedic magic battles.

A third installment that feels like a final installment. One gets the impression reading Hammered that Kevin Hearne wasn’t really sure Del Ray would publish more than three books, so he ties up a number of characterizational and plot threads from Hounded and Hexed in this book, Atticus’ debts to Leif Helgarson and to the witch Laksha being the biggest and most tied to the main action of the book. There is some lip-service mid-book and again at the end towards setting up where Atticus would go from here should the series continue (which it did, with book 7 just recently coming out in hardcover). In the first half of the book, Atticus ties up a lot of his personal loose ends just in case he’s not going to survive the trip to Asgard, and he’s visited by a number of well-meaning supernatural friends who try to warn him off of the course of action he’s undertaking (at least one cameo made me chuckle out loud, and I don’t want to ruin that appearance for anyone).

Atticus’ devotion to being honorable, to keeping his word, gets him into a load of trouble throughout the book and at least once puts him in an untenable situation that doesn’t necessarily resolve satisfactorily for the reader (involving the fate of one of the Norse goddesses); I’ve seen a number of reviews that concur with me on this point but again, giving details would count as a spoiler. I’m hoping this decision of Atticus’ is revisited later in the series, that he realizes just how bad of a call it was (even if it might have turned out okay in the end) even under the guise of “do anything to keep my word.”

In fact, in comparison to the fairly light-hearted, often outright humorous, tone of the first two books, Hammered is almost completely dark. The few funny moments are, as I mentioned, chuckle-out-loud funny, but they are very few. From the start, author and Atticus alike know this is a bad path to walk down: bad choices bring Atticus to even worse choices. Knowing the series has continued, I can only assume the repercussions of this are felt. In my review of Hexed, I complained that unlike Harry Dresden in his first few books, Atticus O’Sullivan is perhaps just too all-powerful. In Hammered, we see that Atticus’ power-level and experience are just as much of a problem as Harry’s early low power and lack of experience, and perhaps even moreso as Atticus is able to do things (like kill gods,plural) that invite much worse things to follow.

If the novel stumbles anywhere, it’s in the third quarter: when the vampire, the werewolf, the forgotten god, the sorcerer and the Asian mystic each recount why they want to kill Thor, the novel plods almost to a halt. I’m not sure there was any better way to info-dump the characters’ motivations, and Hearne at least attempts to couch the storytelling as a necessity for Atticus’ binding spell to move them all to the Asgardian plane, but this reader grew very impatient reading through them.

There is only one way I can do this and thats just to list the good and the bad of this book. I enjoyed the first two books in this series and I intend to keep reading the rest of the series but I do not see them as the perfect books so many others do.

The Good.
1.Atticus is finally acting his age (more or less). He doesn't come across as a self obsessed, vain, pompous, college kid (as much) in this book as he has in others.
2.The stakes are actually there, were in the other books you never really felt like anything bad could happen if this failed.
3. There is an actual climax in this book, unlike the others which had an end but it felt weak and lack luster.
4. There are not nearly as man "stub your toe moments" in this book. SYTM are a term I use to refer to a moment in a book or film that just makes you roll your eyes or question your reasoning.
5. It has an ending that makes you really want to read the next one, that is something the first two severely lacked.

The Bad. * spoilers*
1. There are no consequences for his actions, Atticus is warned about killing Thor and the effect it will have but he doesn't seem to care. Lief gets smashed to a fine paste, but thats ok he lived.
2. The Norse hate is heavy in this book. It has been obvious to me from the beginning that the author didn't like the Norse but in this book he goes at it with both barrels. From easily slaughtering half of the Norse pantheon and playing them up as inept morons to saying Freja wasn't pretty. He spends plenty of time remarking on the Celtic Goddesses beauty and skill in battle but Thor was a pussy.
3. Inconsistent use of mythology. Sometimes the mythology is spot on and other times it goes way out in left field. Take for example the death of Heimdall, the God that can sense foes coming from miles away is quickly ambushed and killed. Celtic magic beats Norse magic somehow.
5. Atticus and his allies are overpowered. Atticus has always been too powerful but that is a result of the author living through him but his companions in this book are also grossly overpowered. Lief goes toe to toe with Thor a God who is known for his strenght and wears a belt that doubles it. Atticus slaughters several Valkyries warrior maidens clad in magic armour. Freyr and Try Gods known for their swordsmanship are easily defeated. Yes some of the companions are Gods but it is remarked upon that the Norse are stronger than them hence why they went in a group.
6. Atticus blames the Norse Gods for the slaughter stating that had Thor been willing to fight them on his own they never would have had to kill them. They never challenged Thor to single combat and they never planned to, they invade Asgard with an army of giants and stomped Heimdall into mush and then set about slaughtering the rest of the Gods.

Conclusion. Norse hate aside the book is the best of the series thus far and I am interested to see how things all play out in the next three definitely worth a read.

The third installment of the Iron Druid series maintains the high quality writing and story telling of the previous two books. Hearne manages to set gods mythologies on their collective ears while telling a very entertaining, witty tale. The interaction between Atticua and Oberon (his dog companion) are worth the time to read this book and the others in the series. The bonus short story is also very good, giving us our first insight into Atticus's apprentice Granuaile. I highly recommend this series of books to anyone looking for a good twist on their fantasy fix.

With Hounded & Hexed, Kevin Hearne has pretty much established himself as one of urban fantasy's best new voices. Not surprisingly, expectations were sky-high for Hammered, the third volume of The Iron Druid Chronicles.

Hammered begins with Atticus O'Sullivan undertaking a reconnaissance mission in Asgard. The plan is to retrieve a golden apple that would cancel his debt with the Indian witch Laksha, while also relieving Thor of his power and godhood. Unfortunately, like many of his past outings, the mission doesn't go as planned and Atticus ends up making things worse. His plan botched, Atticus returns to Arizona to settle some business before dealing with Thor. This involves Atticus' Third Eye bookstore and Granuaile MacTiernan, the latter of which is further explored in the short story, "A Test of Mettle". The book also features the return of the Jewish demon hunters from Hexed as well as the appearance of someone who will surprise many readers. Meanwhile, joining Atticus in his quest against Thor is Lief, Gunnar and three other very powerful individuals, thus setting the stage for Hammered...

Like its predecessors, Hammered features a liberal does of humor, which is one of the most consistently fun factors in The Iron Druid Chronicles, with the Irish wolfhound Oberon once again stealing most of the show with lines like "Anyplace is good so long as there's sausage and bitches", "Oh look it's a dead guy and a wet dog", and "Pai Mei's probably on Facebook right now, look him up." Despite the humor, The Iron Druid Chronicles has progressively become darker with each volume with Hammered the darkest book yet. The author never descends to all-out gore in Hammered, but there is lots of violence and death, tragic histories, depressing futures, and a more overall serious tone. Characterization meanwhile, remains superb as ever with Atticus leading the way. This time however, Magnus & Lief get to share center stage with Atticus, while five chapters from the POVs of five different characters lets readers see what others think about Thor, which was very rewarding. Story-wise, Hammered is the most epic and satisfying volume yet in The Iron Druid Chronicles, but the ending will leave readers salivating for the fourth volume, Tricked.

Negatively, nearly every book possesses some element that will rankle the reader. For me, the issues in Hounded and Hexed were fairly minor, but in Hammered, they are non-existent.

CONCLUSION: The Iron Druid Chronicles has been receiving praise all over the blogosphere. Praise that is richly deserved considering the series's memorable characters, entertaining humor, and surprising, action-packed story. As impressive as the series has been though, Kevin Hearne takes The Iron Druid Chronicles to a whole new level with the excellent Hammered...

BONUS REVIEW - "A Test Of Mettle":

A Test Of Mettle is featured in the e-book version of Hammered. The short story is about 9-10 pages long and occurs side-by-side with the latter half of Hammered. A Test of Mettle is narrated in the first-person by Granuaile MacTiernan, who must perform a task set to her by an elemental, while overcoming the expectations of the pantheon to which her new status is associated with. Accompanying Granuaile on her task is Oberon.

A Test Of Mettle reveals a small, but significant part of Granuaile's past which I believe might factor in future volumes. The pace of the story is rather fast and it was good to see Kevin give Granuaile a narrative voice distinctive from Atticus's. The short story also reveals a bit about a certain pantheon, which happens to establish Atticus's views of that pantheon from the earlier books. Overall, I thought A Test Of Mettle was a nice addition to Hammered, making an already great book even better...

Things take a darker twist in this next installment of the Iron Druid Chronicles. Atticus has made a promise to Leif and even though everyone warns him that consequences would be dire if he were to proceed, he does so to protect his good name. Everything is such a whirlwind affair as Atticus must get to know some new supernatural buddies and discover more about those he thought he new. While Atticus has been quite lucky (to a certain extent) up to this adventure, Thor proves to be a very worthy opponent. Atticus only wants to get back to Oberon and plan the next 2000 years of his life. Things just don't look so good.

This was my favorite installment yet! I was sitting on the edge of my seat, gripping the steering will, all with my mouth wide open almost the entire time. I had gotten accustomed to Atticus' narrow escapes but I learned pretty quickly that this new task wasn't going to be like the others. I love that Hearne can keep me guessing even in book 3. In addition, the reader really gets a look into the background of some of the characters that have shown up in the previous books, giving some of the side characters a spotlight and more depth. There were some sad moments but mostly tons and tons of action. I want to know so many things after finishing this thing. Unfortunately, my library doesn't have Tricked yet. For the first time in my life, I'm considering buying an audiobook. We will see.

On the narrator...
I've come to think of Luke Daniels as a good old friend right about now and I know that he doesn't disappoint. In fact, I continue to be amazed at how many different distinguishable voices he can manage in one book. I wonder how he remembers them all! I love Luke Daniels as I did in the previous installments. He does a fantastic job here as well. I could continue the next book in paper form, but I'm just not ready to give up Mr. Daniels.

The third book really wasn't as great as the first in this series. I didn't particularly care for the storyline. Although, I did enjoy the five tales being told by each warrior wanting to destroy Thor. I didn't like the change of location from Arizona to Asgard. All the things that made the first two excellent stories were missing. The dialogue wasn't as crisp and witty. The lovable characters, such as Oberon and Mrs. McDonagh, were relegated to cameos. And when Jesus showed up to throw back a few shots with Atticus, well...nuf said...lol. I know there is a lack of reverence for just about every relevant religion in each novel. I accept that for what it is. I just didn't find the humor there that other readers may.
I refuse to give up on this otherwise stellar series though.
Mr. Hearne's writing is great. And, I do believe there will be more of lovable and hilarious Irish wolfhound, Oberon, in the next few novels.

So, Thor... other than knowing he's responsible for Thursday being named Thursday in English and donderdag in Dutch and that there was a film about his comic book character last year, I didn't know much about him. I certainly didn't know he was such an unpleasant character, to put it mildly. Needless to say, Hammered relieved me of my ignorance and put me solidly on the 'Let's kill Thor'-train that Atticus is on in the book and where he can't seem to get off, despite looking really hard for the exit.

Hammered is the third book in the Iron Druid Chronicles after Hounded and Hexed. It's far more directly connected to Hexed, than that was to Hounded and it's clear that had there not been more books contracted for, this could have been the end of the tale. Luckily, there are and it wasn't, so we can look forward to Tricked this April. It's also the first book largely set away from Atticus' home town of Tempe, Arizona. It was fun to see Atticus exploring the Asgard plane while going in to fulfil his debt to Laksha, which he incurred in Hexed. It was great to explore different planes of existence, not just Asgard, but also the fae world, where Atticus needs to travel to easily transport himself around the world.

As before, we get more and more new pantheons added to the mythology of the book. Not only do we get a deeper look at the Norse pantheon, we also get to meet Väinämöinen, a Finnish god, Zhang Guo Lao, one of China's Eight Immortals and Perun, the Russian god of Thunder. In addition, after meeting Mary in Hexed, Atticus gets searched out by Jesus in this book. I loved the scenes where Jesus and the Morrigan try to dissuade Atticus from going to Asgard. It showed that sometimes doing what is right - keeping your word of honour to a friend - isn't the same thing as doing what is wise and that what is right and what is wise will differ from person to person. Also the return of the Hammers of God and Jesus' summary dismissal of them was brilliant. In just a few scenes Hearne gives a social commentary on the dangers of religious zealotism without straying into moralising or preaching. I really enjoy how Hearne mixes up the different pantheons and mythologies and at the risk of repeating myself; this is what makes this series so special!

In the end, Atticus can't go back on his given word of honour and he, Leif and four more companions set out for Asgard. On the way there Hearne cleverly gives us the tales of why they want to kill Thor. It's done in a way reminiscent of the Canterbury Tales, with each character getting a chapter to tell their tale. I definitely got my wished for background history for Leif and as a bonus for Gunnar as well! The dynamic of this group worked really well and I really liked the time we spent with them. The battle in Asgard was awesome, very grim, but at times with some humour infused as well. They don't all make it out alive, which I found very realistic, but also kind of sad. There is a lot of loss for Atticus in this book, which while painful also stresses Atticus' humanity and shows that even if he had wanted to he can't freeze his heart from caring about others.

As with Hounded and Hexed there is a lot of humour in the books and the same sense of fun pervades Hearne's writing, despite things taking such a grim turn at the end. The one downside for me was the lack of Oberon in this book. Because Atticus is going into battle, he leaves Oberon safely in Tempe and we get far less of Oberon's funny observations than we did in previous books. I look forward to Tricked to see where Atticus, Oberon and Granuaile end up after leaving Tempe. I'm also curious to see whether Hearne's fun writing tone will darken to accompany the grim turn events have taken and the myriad of troubles that seem to lie in store for Atticus and company. Hammered is a great continuation of a very good urban fantasy series. The time to get on board with the series is now, before we dive in to the next phase of the story!

Atikus might have gone over his head last time, making promises he doesn't wish to fulfill, but is honored bound too. He promised the Hindu witch Laksha and his vampire attorney Lief to go to Asgard; for the first to get a golden apple that will grant her a really long life, for the second a fight in hopes of getting rid of the big bad bully that is Thor.
But before he can go and fight Thor he has to deal with with stuff he has left unfinished, like the hammers of God and beware of the bacchus, you know the typical trying to get revenge sorta thing.

Kevin Hearne does it again, he plays with the rounds of mythology, supernatural, legends, religion and more; to create a great story that feels like a new sense of those things you thought you knew. It's not a formal book, but it threats every one of the implied genres with a respect it deserves, it messes around with gods, goddesses and religious icons that instead of thinking "oh no he didn't" you go for a "moooore moooore I want to know more about X character".
Story wise Kevin knows how to wrap you in this story where you get a great dose of action, geekiness, laughs and maybe a few cries or that awkward knot in your throat that warns you about the high probability of rain in your eyes. Even thought we wont be getting all the Oberon magic we are used to, he shows us that Oberon isn't the only one that can make us crack a smile or a good laugh.
It seems like Kevin Hearne has fallen sense of comfort with the world he has created and the characters that live in it, but you must beware for sometimes as when he gives you a really good laugh or a monumental moment he finds a way to scar you a little making average things never the same, if you don't know what I'm talking about, it will all become clear the moment you stumble into it in this book.
This book was really hard to read, why? Because I didn't want it to end, I made stupid excuses and made long long pauses between reads because if it would last just a little longer, the less time I had to wait before the next book comes out,

Summary: Atticus O'Sullivan has a tough road ahead of him. In the previous book in the series, Atticus had to make a few deals in order to save his own skin. Now the time has come for him to make good on his promises, and this means travelling into other realms and challenging powerful gods and creatures.

One of Atticus's closest friends, vampire Leif Helgarson, has been waiting for a chance to avenge the death of his family for a thousand years. His enemy is Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Thor has made many enemies over the years because of his cruelty and the pleasure he finds in taking and ruining lives. Regardless of the risk, Leif is determined to face Thor. Atticus promised to take him into Thor's realm for the battle, and he has every intention of keeping that promise. But more than that, he wants to bring his friend back home alive.

Thankfully, Leif and Atticus don't have to make their journey alone. Arizona's werewolf alpha, as well as a small army of supernatural characters, join Atticus and Leif. As the story unfolds, we learn exactly what Thor has done to hurt each of these characters. The more Atticus hears, the more he accepts that Thor must be destroyed - that is, IF he can be destroyed.

Review: This book is just as smartly written as the previous books in the series. Atticus is as brilliant and clever as always, and we definitely get a strong sense of why he has survived for two thousand years. The action and battle scenes are fantastic - full of energy, courage, and strategy.

Once again, we are introduced to a wide array of new characters. I have to admit that it can be tough to keep them all straight at times. If you are up on your historical mythology characters, you'll be ahead of the game. I've grown used to this element of the series by now. Each of the books has brought about new relationships and dynamics.

During one section of the book, each of the members of Atticus's team gets an entire chapter to tell his story for why he wants to kill Thor. These stories were dragged out a little too much for my taste. I got the picture after the first couple stories and I really wished they would get back to the storyline.

Other than this, the only thing that bothered me about this book was the lack of Oberon. Oberon is Atticus's faithful Irish Wolfhound. They communicate through a telepathic connection with each other, and he is one of the funniest characters in the series. His perception of the world from a dog's point of view is always hilarious. But even though he was a primary character in the first two books, he has a very small role in this book. I missed him! I hope he's back in the next book, Tricked, which will be released in April 2012.

Kevin Hearne is a man on a roll knocking out a third spectacular novel in the Iron Druid Chronicles. Hammered kicked butt and had me roaring with laughter. Once again Atticus plunges into trouble with the gods. This time it's with the Norse pantheon.

One of the most awesome aspects of Hammered was the Dirty Dozen vibe it had going. Leif, the ancient Norse vampire, talks Atticus into helping him settle an old grudge with Thor. They form an elite hit squad for the job. Aside from having a vampire and a druid, they have a Finnish wizard, a werewolf, an immortal Chinese warrior-monk, a Slavic thunder god, and a squad of frost giants. Together they have to do the impossible: infiltrate Asgard, face off against the Norse gods and the Valkyries, take out Thor, and get out alive. To complete the vibe, the characters each get a chance to explain why they want Thor dead. In the process, this gives the reader a great chance to bond with each character. The more you get to know them, the more you want to see them succeed. But like the Dirty Dozen, not everyone gets out alive, and all those bonding moments come back to get you.

Believe it or not though, the whole Thor plot is only half the book. The first half involves Atticus' escapade to get a golden apple for Laksha. Breaking into Asgard opens up the story to Norse mythology. There's the Life Tree, the Bifrost Bridge, and of course the Norse gods. There's also a giant squirrel named Ratatosk who I really enjoyed. As Atticus put it, any squirrel whose treated as an equal by a giant eagle and a monstrous worm must be the most badass squirrel ever.

As with the other books, there's a ton of humor in this story. Even in death, laughs aren't far away. The vastness of the setting lets Kevin Hearne do things I've never seen any other story do, and every daring, insane turn is just sheer entertainment. From brawling with Jesus, to a deathmatch with the thunder gods, it's crazy fun. While there are serious moments, overall it's an upbeat tale. Hammered proved to be just as strong storytelling wise as the rest in the series, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Hammered is the 3rd book in Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles. While we get some of the same humor that I love from Hearne, Hammered was just a bit slower than the last two books. Why? Most of the book reminded me of the LONG journey in Lord of the Rings. You have a group of guys traveling to find Thor, the Thunder God. Why do they want to find Thor? To kill him. Atticus promised Leif that he would help him. And after hearing all of the guys in the group stories (male bonding around the camp fire) about Thor. Atticus gets a clear picture about what a douche bag Thor is.

Two of my favorite scenes in Hammered was of course the speech that Oberon gives about Triple Nonfat Double Bacon Five-Cheese Mocha and Atticus having a pint and fish-n-chips with Jesus.

While Hammered is not my favorite in the series so far it’s still a must read/listen for fans of the series. Just know that it’s very heavy in mythology and geekery. (Seriously, Atticus does a lot of Star Trek talking to himself LOL)

I'm so sad that we now have a long wait for more books in the series. I'm going to go through serious withdrawals because I'm in love with Atticus. There, I admit it. I'm in love. He's not the perfect guy in every way. I mean, he can really be kind of childish (like giving wedgies, and other ridiculous boy things like that) but he's lived for so long that whatever makes him happy, I can live with a little weird humor. And he's so kick ass! I mean, he can kick ass and have his humor at the same time. Seriously, I'm pretty certain I don't know another guy in the world that's as funny as Atticus.

I started this book shortly before my husband came home from work and when he saw I was reading another Iron Druid book he rolled his eyes. Because the whole time I'm reading these books I'm very expressive. I laugh a lot and I make a lot of noises. When I'm disappointed I groan, or when it's intense I click my nails and make weird noises. You know, stuff like that. I can't keep it in! I need everyone around me to know that the book is very very good and I'll read bits and pieces to anyone who's around if they'll stick around long enough to listen. There are just so many parts that are so amazing I can't hardly handle keeping the awesome feeling inside. I want to read it to the world! Unfortunately the world is usually just my husband who really wishes I would shut up and stop reading the book to him. I just don't get how it's not interesting to him! It's just one of those series' that I want to get the whole world to read. So if you haven't yet, DO IT!

Now, a bit more about this book in particular...
This book didn't disappoint. It had everything I could have asked for and more. It starts off with some pretty intense action (with some very funny parts) and then slows down just a little for a bit of HILARIOUSNESS. I spent a lot of time laughing before it moved on to the part where we got some backstories. They weren't boring at all and were actually quite fascinating. Then there was some serious ass kicking and then, well, I can't tell you the result of that but the book left off with some quite open threads and cliffhangers. So... now we wait... and wait... and wait.... for the next one.

Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A plot that is dark, bloody and humorous, Hammered is an enjoyable read.

Opening Sentence: According to popular imagination, squirrels are supposed to be adorable.

Review:

Kevin Hearne has created an amazing world where gods and monsters are real. Vampires, Werewolves, Immortals, Heaven and Hell exist and Atticus O'Sullivan has seen it all. Hammered finds Atticus sneaking into Asgard, preparing for the war against Thor.

Atticus is a two thousand year old Druid. He hasn't been alive that long by making idiotic choices. He tries as hard as he can to avoid the anger of the gods, but by just being alive he suffers the wrath of some god or other immortal. Thor is one god that has mostly ignored him, but has made other people's lives hell.

One of the really good qualities of Atticus is that he is a man of his word, and in a time of need he makes an idiotic pact with Liam, a vampire, that needs Atticus' help to go after Thor for revenge. It is a pact that he will uphold even though he is sure that he will not survive.

Always a loner, Atticus now has two companions that he knows will suffer if he is dead. Oberon an Irish wolfhound is Atticus' pet dog; they have a telepathic connection to each other. Oberon is hilarious, he often had me laughing out loud, read this book for the dog, although sadly he is missing during a huge chunk while Atticus is in Asgard. Atticus' other companion is Granuaile, a beautiful young bartender that has begun an apprenticeship in Druidism. After Atticus returns from his first run into Asgard, he begins to make preparations in the event he doesn't come back or even worse makes it back with angry gods chasing him for revenge.

"Every man for himself" and "There is no I in team" are two expressions that don't belong together, yet they are two big themes in Hammered. Atticus teams up with misfit monsters and low level gods, each of whom have a beef with Thor. All of the men are loners, except for Gunner, the Alpha of the werewolf pack in Tempe, Arizona where Atticus currently lives. All of these men do not rely on anyone else, they only rely on themselves to get through life but in order to go up against Thor they must rely on each other and work together.

Not only is the battle with Thor looming on the horizon but there are the stirrings of a turf war in Arizona. Vampires believe the area to be fair game since Liam had been hurt in a previous battle. They want to destroy the peace that the werewolves and witches have gained. Atticus, Liam and Gunner have more than one battle they must contend with, and Atticus is burdened with making sure he can bring them back home alive.

I love mythology and this series is full of it. Kevin Hearne has done an amazing job mixing Druid, Norse, Greek, Finnish folklore and so much more into his story. Major and minor deities, anyone who may have been worshipped at one time or another in any culture could be represented in this series. The gods are real people and they live and interact with the people on Earth. My favorite chapters from Hammered are when the men are about to go into battle and they each tell their stories. Their stories are rich with history, mythology and Thor bashing.

Atticus is written with a wry sense of humor. He often speaks his mind and for such an old man he is most definitely a modern geek at heart.

Overall, Hammered is heartbreakingly good. The action flows seamlessly between Asgard and Earth. The world building sets a gritty and dark atmosphere for the events in this book. The consequences of the actions in Asgard are going to weigh heavily on Atticus and his future. Tricked is the next book in the series.

The Iron Druid Chronicles Series:

1. Hounded

2. Hexed

3. Hammered

4. Tricked

5. Trapped

FTC Advisory: Random House/Del Ray provided me with a copy of Hammered. No goody bags, sponsorships, "material connections," or bribes were exchanged for my review.

I can't believe I had to give it one star. I enjoyed the first two books of the Iron Druid series, but this one was difficult to wade through. Right up front (no spoiler), you should realize that this novel lacks the humor of the first two....it lacks Oberon, Atticus' dog and comic foil. Add to this the fact that in the middle of the novel, where Mr. Hearne must have gotten "bogged down" in what to do for the plot, he merely adds in the background stories of the companion characters. These must have been the background essays he wrote for the characters before commencing the series. It's like a school project that needed padding in the middle, so the student tosses in what is at hand. I also found the "fresh" attempt at the Jesus character just came off oddly cliched in tone....unappealing, as was this entire book. I want to try the fourth book, but I haven't been able to bring myself to do it yet. Too bad, I want to enjoy them...

Hammered
Iron Druid Chronicles Book Three
By Kevin Hearne

The best thing that anyone has ever heard about Thor, the Norse God of Thunder, is that he is a douche. Not only is Thor a complete jerk to put it mildly, he is a bully and takes pleasure at other peoples pain. Now after centuries of this, it is about to bite him in the butt. Atticus, the last remaining druid, along with a werewolf, a vampire, a sorcerer, another thunder God, and a team of frost giants they will travel to Asgard and exact revenge on Thor.

One of the best things about this series is how outrageously funny it is, such as having a beer with Jesus as he makes fish and chips appear on everyone's plates. This book goes into more details into some of the side characters that have been in and out of the other two novels and if you find yourself on team Thor at the beginning when you hear each of their stories you are ready for the biggest butt kicking you will ever come across. This novel is much more emotional than the others, I did not cry thank goodness but came very close. But this quick witted man's man is definitely becoming one of my favorite characters.

In Tempe, Arizona Atticus O'Sullivan enjoys life to the fullest except when the Irish Gods locate him as they want to execute him for some affront or two or more he made over his twenty-one centuries of life. The last known Druid would like just drink beer or whiskey and eat fish and chips with friends like Jesus, but he muses some enemies never forgive.

He currently wants to kick his naked butt for promising Lakasha that he would stealthy visit Asgard to steal an apple. That would be enough problems, but his pal Viking vampire Leif Helgarson asks for his help in assassinating the abusive Thor. Jesus and Morrigan warn Atticus to stick to suds rather than mess with a raging god who shoots bolts, but his promise means he must act at the same the Russian demon hunters Hammers of God are making Arizona a dangerous place to be.

The Third iron Druid Chronicles (see Hexed and Hounded) continues the fun escapades of the antihero who just wants to drink beer and dine on Jesus' fish and chips, but lands in one predicament after another because his word is golden. The satirical urban fantasy lampoons testosterone heroes as they get into a penis contest to determine who the female amongst them is; the "loser" washes the dishes and serves the drinks. Atticus keeps the plot focused as he ignores the warnings of his deity friends and his canine buddy to fulfill a promise that could end his two millennia plus existence. This is a great series as no god walks away unscathed in Kevin Hearne's vision of Arizona, home for a lot of illegal deities and other unlawful paranormal immigrants.

Harriet Klausner

The Adventures of Atticus continues! Man are these books entertaining. We get to know more about Gunnar and Lief in this one and oh! oh! OH! And get to know more about Atticus's past love life. Once again filled with witty fun dialogue, it really had me guessing how things were going to go down! Even by the end of this book, I have no idea where this series is really trying to go. But whatever way, I'm in for the long haul!

This third book is called Hammered because the main goal is to off Thor, the supposedly loved God of Lightning who is really a jackass. Atticus, Gunnar and Lief plus 3 new characters get together for this mission. Atticus to lead them there, and the rest of the crew, we find out why they have a hatred for Thor and the cause of their revenge.

Not a must read before you die, but you will be entertained, you will laugh, and you will have a good time doing it.

Don't know how to hide spoilers on an the store review, so see my profile's website link for spoilers.

Atticus O'Sullivan knows some of the most interesting ... 'people'. Which is kind of surprising for a twenty something slacker who owns an herb shop (probably living off a trust fund or something). Less surprising though when you consider that his slacker persona is only a cover for the world's oldest (and only) living Druid. After all after surviving for a couple of thousand years he would naturally know some 'people' - like the local werewolf pack, a vampire, some witches, and elementals, a few Gods....the usual. One acquaintance that Atticus would really rather not have made was that of Thor, the Norse God of Thunder. Atticus's continued existence seemed to irritate Thor, while Atticus would just as soon keep some distance between them. It did seem to Atticus though that many of those around him seemed quite eager for Atticus and Thor to have it out, leaving Atticus to wonder if there might be more going on than he knew. All Atticus wanted to do was run his shop, train his apprentice and hang out with Oberon, his Irish Wolfhound. Sadly though his responsibilities to his friends were drawing him elsewhere much against his own better judgement and advice from some interesting acquaintances.

This is the third in the IRON DRUID series (HOUNDED, HEXED) of urban fantasies. Fans of the DRESDEN FILES will undoubtedly be drawn to Atticus' wry sense of humor as he deals with life's odd turns. The series is well written, full of interesting well imagined characters and great plots. The overall story arc is quite strong here, so definitely read this series in order.

The author writes well and I have been enjoying this series. I am currently on book 4 but had to take a bit of a break after reading book 3. I agree with other reviewers that this story is weak. Atticus is compelled to participate in this misadventure and in the course reveals that he is, at best, morally neutral. His moral compass revolves around keeping himself alive, understandable, and maintaining his honor even to the point of killing "innocents." I am reminded of the ill fated game of dice in the Mahabharata. The pandavas, in their zeal to honor their word, forget that their primary duty (dharma) is to maintain order and protect the vulnerable. So it is with Atticus. His need to maintain his honor is so dysfunctional that he forgets that his primary responsibility is to protect the earth. (Also, the author seems to forget that Atticus is supposed to be a hero. This book reveals that he really isn't any better than the rest of the immortals. It is probably a good thing that he is the last druid, at least as druids are portrayed by this author.)

The story bogs down quite a bit in the middle as we have to get up to speed with all the new characters. Essentially the middle is filled with a bunch of short stories. I wasn't really invested in the new characters but did miss the recurring characters from the previous books.

Personally I would like Atticus to actually have a little more initiative. He is always reacting or trapped into action in insanely stupid deals with other immortals. Apparently to be an immortal you have to forgo friendship. Every relationship that Atticus has with an immortal is contractual, a quip pro quo. No one really helps out just because it is the right thing to do. Oberon is an exception. Humans, who are not immortal, also tend to do the right things for the right reasons. Go mortals!

Book four is better and I am enjoying the read, so please don't give up on the series. It is really hard to find good urban fantasy and Kevin Hearne definitely has potential.

Hammered, the 3rd volume in the Iron Druid series, steps up the level in all things; humor, intensity, quality of writing, depth of thought, characterization and breadth of mythology covered. Hammered takes up where Hexed left off. Atticus visits Asgard ( see the map on p 82 ) to steal one of the golden apples of Idunn for the witch Laksha. See Hexed for the whys and wherefores. In the process he irritates the Norse pantheon and Bacchus. He meets Ratatosk, the squirrel the size of a semi-truck which is an eye opener in and of itself. After succeeding in that quest, he agrees to return with Leif the vampire lawyer ( appropriate punning there - think about it ) and allies to kill Thor. In the process we find out why Leif and the allies all wish to kill Thor. In the process we also meet Jesus. Don't miss the Miracle of Fish and Chips or the bemoaning of someone from Scottsdale about the fate of a leather jacket in the midst of a fight. The last few pages make it clear that there will be another in the series.

All in all, this book is great fun. It is written with joy and zest in living. And on another level, it is written with thought on the meaning of revenge, of living ones life for revenge and the consequences of that.

Buy it, read it and enjoy it on whatever level you care to. You will be well repaid for the money and the reading.

The first two books in this series were action-packed roller coaster rides with good story lines and witty, likeable characters. It was also a plus for me that the Iron Druid Chronicles take place in Tempe, Arizona since (long ago) I attended Arizona State University (the fish and chips at Rula Bula really are the best).

Then, I got Hammered (pun intended).

Everything was moving along just fine until I got to page 87 (mass market paperback). I don’t usually mind authors giving a personal wink to their readers from the pages of their work--as long as it is a brief Hitchcockian style walk through. When Hearne had Atticus utter the word “squee” and slobber all over Neil Gaiman like a fanboy at his first comic-con, I was done. Book closed. Back on the shelf. Unfinished.

Slobber and fawn if you must Kevin Hearne, but don’t reduce your characters by having them think and act as you would. Especially if the character is a bad-ass, 2001-year-old, god-killing Druid. You did Atticus a great disservice in those few paragraphs. Too bad.

The third in Mr Hearne's enjoyable druid series. Atticus is the last remaining druid, 2000 years old and he looks like he is in his twenties. In an urban fantasy scenario, he deals with Gods of various types and religions and traditional creatures of the night such as witches, vampires and werewolves.

You should read the series in order (and it's worth it) but here Atticus fulfils a promise to help his vampire and Werewolf chums kill the legendary Thor. The author has a light and entertaining touch with many modern references (including Star Trek and Neil Gaiman) but the research and thought is also obvious here. Those with strong religious beliefs may be offended (Atticus has lunch with Jesus) but Hearne is very careful not to mock with his take on a world where religions and Gods co-exist and their strength is based on the level of worship (building on Gaiman's American Gods theme).

There are things unresolved here which will make you eagerly anticipate the next in the series.

I've read both the positive and negative reviews on here and I can see both sides. It's true, this chapter of the Iron Druid Chronicles was not so much driven by Atticus himself, but merely an adventure that he participated in because he gave his word to do so. Overall, the whole theme of the book was about an adventure he participated in rather than his own story. Having said that,the whole thing was a fun and enjoyable read just the same. As much as I love Atticus and Oberon and the supporting cast, this book introduced a lot of new characters with interesting backstories. It also gave some interesting views of the Norse gods, their relationship to other pantheons and to "our world". While the Greek, Roman and Celtic gods get some love and/or respect in this series,more often than not the Norse gods come across as obnoxious bullies who trip over there own feet. Okay, except for Bacchus, he also came across as an obnoxious bully who trips over his own feet.
As some reviews said there was very little in the way of a stake in the situation for Atticus and the deaths that did occur weren't really jaw droppers. To a point, I agree but there was a death or two at the end that have a huge potential for future storylines. And the main the thing about this series to me is that while other series treat major developments a with a little more impact, this series balances out everything from battles to death with a sense of humor and fun. It is lighter reading, but in the best way.
This book set the way so well for future stories but I won't put any spoilers here. I will just say that after finishing the last page of the story I jumped to the back hoping for a preview of the next story and was disappointed to find excerpts from the first two books. Great! Now I have to wait for the next book, but I sure do look forward to it.

Atticus and a band of mystical beings set off on a mission to take down Thor, The God of Lightning. Thor has been terrorizing innocents for centuries and all of his misdeeds are about to come to an end. While Atticus helps the group travel through realms the avengers all tell their stories of how they were wronged by Thor. A great adventure with both new and returning characters. Atticus knows that upon the completion of this trip he will have to move on out of Arizona, not only because this is the life of a timeless Druid, but he also feels that a dark force is coming. He, his apprentice and his magical dog are off to a new place and a new beginning. I am definitely looking forward to joining them in the next book. This series never disappoints and the narration is so good it is like a character itself.

This is the third installment of Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid series.
Once again Atticus seems to have put himself in danger and a terrible fix all because he is loyal to his friends and fails to break his word once it is given.This time we Atticus, having to move after gaining the attention of certain gods.
The ensuing story is compelling and interesting mixed with the right balance of humor along with action.

The story is not only page turning, it shows Kevin has done his research concerning druidism along with the various religions. This is the first book I have read I think that refers Christianity and Jesus as just another Pantheon, but it is done in away I think not to upset the believers to much.

I enjoyed this book and intend to make sure to follow Atticus and his friends in their further adventures. These books can be read as stand alone stories or read as a series.

Thor, the god of thunder, is a bully. The real Thor is not the pretty boy we se from the movies. Somebody has to do something, he has ruined countless lives. AH, but the cost might be too high. Lives will be lost, the future will change, Gods will be angered.
The mission to end Thor is all about vengeance.Viking vampire Leif Helgarson, is one of the men that want him dead no matter the cost. Gunnar the Werewolf Alpha is another along with some very colorful 'others'. This strange group bonds with stories and plan their winning fight in Asgard. But, as with many big plans things go wrong, plans change. The ending ? Well it does not really end.
I was laughing out loud in one chapter grabbing the tissues in another and twisting in my seat through most of it. Funny- Star Trek jokes, drinking beer with Jesus.... Sad- death, and pain. A mood roller-coaster ride. One of the best books I've read in a long time.

3.5stars -- Apply here for membership in the I Hate Thor Club today!

Hmmm....I loved everything about the first book. The second book was ok, I decided I wasn't the target audience, which must have been teen boys but I found some things to like. This time out, I'm disappointed again. Quite a bit feels like filler although the action scenes are interesting and lively. To my taste there were too many homages - I wanted the originality and freshness that was promised in earlier books. There's also a bit of corn and cheese as we trudge thru the reasons the "I hate Thor" Club exists. I didn't have nearly enough Oberon; Granuaile has grown on me too - her absence was felt and I was sorry to leave widow MacDonagh (I hope to see her again), but glad to spend more time with both Leif & Gunnar. I was torn about continuing the series and then I got to the ending which of course changed my mind.

Poor Atticus. All he wants is a nice quiet life, a few close friends, and and world peace. Really, is that too much to ask? I suppose it is given that he is also the embodiment of trouble. The cycle seems to go like this: To save the world, he has to ask favors; to get favors, he has to make promises; to honor promises, he has to create chaos... followed closely by fighting, taunting, death, and more taunting. It is actually quite funny to see how much trouble this philosophical Druid can get into in just one outing. As Atticus notes to himself, he keeps trading one set of problems for a bigger set of problems. And there is nothing to do but forge ahead because doing otherwise means abandoning everything he cares about. Hard choices, but they make for a good story.

Hammered was my favorite book in this series so far. It's the third installment and I wasn't sure when I started it if I wanted to continue with them. This is the first one that left me wanting to know what was going to happen next, RIGHT NOW! Oddly, main character Atticus isn't the one I love best in this series. So far I've stuck it out for news of Oberon, his Irish Wolfhound. Ha! Good news though, I'm finally starting to attach to the man behind the dog too ;0). It didn't hurt that after finishing the first two I finally felt like I had a handle on who the players are. There are a significant number of characters and it took the entirety of the first two books for me to start getting them all sorted out!

Hubby got this for me for Christmas as a single hard back book, Iron Druid Chronicles Volume 1.

The darkest of the three books, Hammered picks up where Hexed leaves off. The themes of honor, trust, and the value of keeping one's word play a major role in this story. There is further world-building, primarily the back story of Hal Magnusson, the vampire, and Gunnar Hauk, the werewolf. We also get a picture of the Norse gods that isn't as pretty as we'd like.

I thoroughly enjoyed this entire set and can hardly wait to move on to book four of Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid series.

Truly a fun, sometimes ridiculous story that is told (for a change) in the male POV which was, surprisingly refreshing. I can see this series getting better as it goes with lovable and unique characters and mythology that isn't over done or over used.

Hearne's 3rd entry to the Iron Druid chroncles is a departure from the typical style of storytelling that made Hounded and Hexed so abso-freaking awesome. Hammered opens with Atticus O'Sullivan sneaking into Asgard to steal the golden apple he promised to Puren in Hexed as payment for her magical assistance. Hijinks ensue.

The larger story plot focuses on O'Sullivan's second trip to Asgard -- after he already stirred up a hornet's nest among the Norse gods. Divine predictions, which include clever scenes featuring Jesus and the Morrigan respectively, confirm O'Sullivan's 2nd trip to Asgard will be a sucide mission. As usual, Atticus disregards well-meant advice to do right by his friends and keep his word to Leif.

Though I still love this series, my disappointment with Hammered is in the various points-of-view shifts from Atticus to Leif to their companions -- strangers new to this book -- with whom reader have no connection. Instead of O'Sullivan's witty commentary we get flashback chapters told by different characters describing why they all hate Thor.

I wasn't very interested in stopping the present action to read separate flashback chapters told by unknown characters. I REALLY missed the interaction between O'Sullivan and the usual crew of characters, especially Oberon, whom I adore. Most of the book focused on O'Sullivan's new comrades-in-arms.

With such an amazing cast of well-developed characters, I felt this book suffered from branching out into new avenues. I still look forward to the next book in the series. Here's hoping it returns to form.

Found this gem of a series last year. Kevin Hearne has a great imagination and how he ties into our favorite folklore and religions is genius. This is a such a great series our whole family enjoys and spends hours laughing about Oberon, Atticus' faithful wolfhound. I give Hammered 5 stars because I couldn't get enough of Atticus' shenanigans in Asgard. Before reading I thought, how can anyone hate Thor? Now I know and you should read Hammered to find out.

Atticus Sullivan is back and this time he's taking a ragtag band of warriors into Asgard. Their mission is to destroy Thor. Another thrilling adventure with the characters that we've met and grown to like in the course of the first two books. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and think that anyone with an interest in Norse mythology or good urban fantasy would have a good time reading this book. You do not have to have read the first two books to appreciate this entry into the series.

I love a good fight scene. Thor is one of my favorite characters from Marvel and I loved the way he was written in this book. He was a complete toolbag and did what he wanted regardless of who he hurt. He was the fratboy of the Norse gods. Gods, a werewolf, a vampire and a druiid taking him down felt so good. And knowing that it was going to cause even more heartache and grief down the road...just sets up more awesomeness.

Another great book in the Iron Druid series. Need to read the first books in order so that you understand everything that is happening. Love the humor, along with the action and the various characters and their personalities. Very entertaining.

I do Audible.com with the Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Series - Luke Daniels is the Narrator and does a FABULOUS JOB with Kevin's stories!!! I have listened or read ALL of these books and recommend them to EVERYONE!!!
They have MAGIC, Vamps, Were's, Witches, "the gods", Jesus and just about every race in them!!! It is exciting and sad and FUNNY!!! a PERFECT mix !!! This series is One of my top three Urban Fantasy Series EVER!!!!

Darker, funnier, more action - heart-stopping, stay up til 3 in the morning reading because I can't put it down action. Hearne pulls no punches and he took this adventure down a very dark alley indeed. No character is safe, no ox will not be gored.

This series has catapulted to my favorite. I read all three books in three days and I will probably turn around and read them again. Yes, they are that good.

I hate to wish my life away ... but I can't wait for the next one.

Mr. Hearne, I am officially a Fangirl.

I had high hopes after the first two books. This book was just stupid. One of the professional reviews of the first book thought he might be the next Dresden. I could agree with the first couple but it seems the writer, Hearne, didn't have faith in his characters to be interesting so he sent his druid up a tree without a paddle. Too bad, a great series wasted.

Mike

This was an interesting third book in the series. It started like the first two with a limit conflict that the main character had to overcome. The overall conflict could have ramifications throughout the rest of the series.

Okay, this series is great. It's facinating to hear this 2,100 year old dude talk about things that happened centuries ago like it was yesterday. And it's cool whenever he communicates with the Earth and everything.

What really offended me and immediatley knocked off two stars was his encounter with Jesus. You know, he met Mary in the last book, and that was awesome. She was dressed like a modern woman, but she was walking around blessing people and being all motherly. So, when Jesus showed up, I expected him to be similar. But he was dressed like a hippie and acted like a regular dude.

That wasn't the offensive part, though. While I read the exchange between Atticus and Jesus, I was thinking, "This is pretty darn cool!"

And then they went to Rula Bula, the bar, and had a few drinks. Jesus drank in moderation, so that was good, but he did so whil saying, "This is one of those instances where I must ask myself, what would I do?" That was a bit wierd, but I shrugged and kept going.

And then Jesus said something that made me what to hurl the book out the window. He was talking about the "preists" that decided it was their job to kill people they thought were evil. I was agreeing with him until he said he kept people in files, and the files the preists were in was called (and I'm using the nice words here), "Buttholes who do Evil Crap in My Name."

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?! JESUS DOES NOT CUSS!! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO HIS CHARACTER?!

OMG. I really enjoyed the first two books but this one was just tedious. Long long long discussions/dissertations about Norse mythology (never my favorite) and pages and pages spent on frustrating tangents. Additionally, ominous foreshadowing distracted me into fruitless speculation. I liked the included short story more than the novel. Since I'm getting these from the library I'll chance one more.

Have you ever wanted to kill a major prick who has killed more people than live on Oahu? O'Sullivan the Druid returns in this book to do just that!

Teaming up with his supernatural lawyers again, he rides the Giant Squirrel up the World Tree to do battle with the entire Norse pantheon. You learn about the Werewolf's and Vampire's secret histories, and you cheer them on as they battle the likes of Valkyries!

This was such a disappointment. It didn't have any of the fun and humor of the first two. The lack of Oberon hurt. After I finished it I felt like it was just a convenient way to get rid of a few extra characters and the way it ended with the hanging plot of running away from the not dead but dead widow was just weird. If that little plot point isn't explained in the next book it will make the ending of Hammered just that much more disappointing.

I still found Atticus and his dog very interesting in this book, and I like his relationship with his Irish, hard-drinking neighbor, an 80-something widow. There is a lot of humor through wittiness in this book. The battles are intense, and anyone who likes fighting will be satisfied.

I know some people will really like hearing first-person narrations from the team that Leif has assembled to go after Thor, but for me personally, it dragged down the action. I didn't get particularly attached to any of these people. They were just passing through Atticus's life, and when we hear Leif's whole story, I found it sad what was revealed about his relationship with Atticus, who remains someone who lives a very isolated life as the last Druid on earth.

There are lots of interesting magical powers used in the big fight scene that I hadn't personally seen before, and the theme of all kinds of different gods from different cultures coming after Atticus is very original.

Wow Kevin I did not see that ending. I was expecting Atticus to still be able to live in Tempe, I was wrong. So are you going to be moving with Atticus? Colorado a beautiful state, but we do have a lot of trees.

Great book; great story line, crazy cliff hanger ending, a few laugh out loud moments, and a talking dog with a cool personality.

100% chase book 4 will be purchased and read shortly after the 24th of April, 2012.

Well. This is a much more edge-of-your-seat ending than I've come to expect from this series. In spite of that, I have to say I wasn't as invested in this book as I was in the last two. It's still a great read, and I'll continue the series, but the whole tone of this entry seems very different to me. Almost enough that one might think Hearne had a coauthor with this one.

Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Series is a really fun read. It places ancient Mythological creatures and beliefs into a modern environment in a way that both supports a story and also stays largely true to the source material of these Mythologies. I'm a big fan of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher and these novels are very similar to Jim Butcher's Novels about Harry Dresden.

Atticus O'Sullivan, though similar in many ways to Harry Dresden, is definitely a much more freewheeling and less conflicted main character. Although i still think the Dresden Files are better, these stories have their own specific charm. Instead of Harry's constant guilt and moral confliction, Atticus is much more free wheeling and self assured.

This particular story about Atticus and his vampire ally Leif's assault on Asgard was very well done. A lot of research was obviously done about Norse Mythology and the narrative never falters despite being a little light on action during the middle.

Long story short, if you enjoy modern day fantasy in any form, read these books.

I like the series, but the guy who reads them has no idea how to pronounce anything Norse. He does a good job with the Irish Mythology, but he doesn't know how to pronounce anything Norse and it's very distracting to the story every time he mispronounces a name.

Atticus and Oberon have quickly become some of my favorite fictional characters. Reading this story I often found myself forgetting that the characters aren't real when I'm making mental notes to read up on Perun so he'll become stronger and won't fade away. While the story was excellently entertaining, I'd read the books just to see what Oberon has to say next.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in the series, as well as the fourth. Don't judge the series by this one, the fourth returns to form and is very good. I don't think you'd miss much if you skipped this book and simply jumped from 2 to 4.

Knocked another one out of the park. Great book. Can't wait for the next in the series to come out. And truly, in the audio version, the narrator is exceptional. You know exactly which of the many characters is speaking instantly from the voice the narrator uses for each one. How he keeps them each so precise in their own way I do not know. I am impressed! Wonderful. Love Kevin Hearne's sense of humor!

After reading HOUNDED and completely falling in love with this series, I read the synopses for the next two books - HEXED and HAMMERED. I thought HEXED sounded great - who doesn't want to see Atticus mix it up with some more witches and fight an honest-to-goodness fallen angel? I wasn't disappointed, and Hearne exceeded my every expectation with the book - it was even better than HOUNDED with more action, a continued development of the world and the relationships among characters, and more Leif (the guy I want backing me up in a fight!). But the synopsis of HAMMERED left me a little cold [no pun intended ;-)]. I loved the Celtic mythology at the heart of the series so far, and I really liked the Southwest as a setting for urban fantasy. Heading to Asgard and focusing on the Norse gods...I was a little apprehensive.

I was wrong. I can admit it. HAMMERED blew me away! It was the best of the series, hands down. The series has always been entertaining - lots of action, plenty of humor, and great characters. These are all present in HAMMERED, but this book offers more. It packs an emotional wallop, and poses some interesting questions. What is the price of revenge? How much are you willing to sacrifice, both for yourself and for your friends? How do the events in our lives shape who we are, what we become, and the choices we make?

One thing I really liked about the book was the handful of chapters written from the POV of a different character. Each of these chapters has a very different feel, rhythm, language, etc. It really shows Hearne's skill as a writer that he can make each narrator feel so unique and real.

I'm not going to give a plot summary here, since the synopsis is given on the back of the book and in many other reviews. All I can say is that this is the most emotionally satisfying book of the series. If you liked the first two books, this one won't disappoint.

The more I think about this book, the more it bothers me. Don't take this the wrong
way - The Iron Druid books have been wonderful so far and this one is probably the
best of the lot. Certainly in terms of the action - there was some righteous
smiting, butt kickin' and neck stompin'. Why and to what effect, however, is an
entirely different matter.

Storywise its pretty much as expected - as long prophesied, we have our dirty
half-a-dozen who have gathered to settle their score with Thor, god of lightning and
asswipenine jerkoffisness. Big fight ensues, whole bunch a people are killed, both
sides run home to lick their wounds and mourn their dead. Nothing that different
from your everyday pub brawl but with the added benefit of inciting a riot in the
godly neighborhood and possibly leading to the end of the world as we know it. But
hey, rainbow(*) happens, and a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, right?

Still, it bugs me. Not so much in general but specifically the way Hearne handled
the whole thing. I have this thing where I really don't like moral ambiguity in my
massacres. When I read a book about the good guys finally "handling" the bad guy I
really don't like to see that alongside with the baddie they also "handle" two dozen
members of the baddie's family as well. Blurs the line a bit, ya know? Gets to be a
little Kaizer Soze-ish. You kill them, kill their family, kill their goldfish, burn
their lawn and salt the land and piss on their grave. Yeaaaah, that'll teach them.
That'll teach'em right and proper.

I don't know, could be that I'm overcomplicating things but the whole thing just
felt kinda forced to me. It tells you something about the events in the book when
the "good guys" end up scurrying like rats for cover with every living thing in the
universe wanting their heads on a stick. Incidentally, I don't think that ambiguity
was incidental. Hearne, himself, is the one to point out on a number of occasions
that "that rainbow is whack" long before the reader has had the opportunity to witness
him/herself said whackiness firsthand. Its a curious situation since the lack of
moral ambiguity would make the characters' actions much more simplistic and the book
as a whole much less layered but at the same time they would be much easier to
relate. Generally, thinking about stuff tends the suck all the fun out of it, that's
the rule. It's a no-win situation for the author as people will bitch about it no
matter what happens, but there you have it.

Hammered was an intensely enjoyable book to read, I had a lot of fun with it, but I
never felt quite comfortable with the characters' actions or motivation. That left
me largely unable to identify myself with any of the characters or indeed empathize
with any of them (with the possible exception of a squirrel and some of the Aesir.
Yeah, the bad guys) Not to mention that the book feels quite abrupt. Its basically
an expansive battle scene with pronouncements of doom raining from all sides but no
real resolution or direction. Imagine a very rainbowy cliffhanger but make it more
abrupt. No, abrupter. Still a bit more. Yup, that's about right.

Still, definitely read it and the series as a whole, its certainly worth the time
and effort.

*NOTE* Due to a disagreement between me and the store staff regarding the proper use of street slang a certain word in the above message is substituted with the word "rainbow". Read accordingly.

I bought books 1 and 2 in hard copy and did not get the "bonus short stories" included in the Kindle versions. I really enjoyed the bonus and am now reading book 4 "Tricked". I am trying to figure out if I need the short stories on 1 and 2 to round out the series.

The series has been very interesting interweaving multiple religions and has some great interactions between Atticus and his dog.

Don't want to blow any secrets, but the stories stay on focus and lead you into the next one just enough.

Kevin Hearne breathes life into his characters of myths and legends and when they're gone you mourn they're loss.

I recommend the readers to read the series in order to fully enjoy the series. Hounded, Hexed then Hammered. All three are worth your time for hours of entertainment. Thanks for the adventure!

Karen Michelle Nutt, author of The Warriors for the Light series (Fallen Angels)

Another entertaining tale about Atticus and his friends.
I think it has one of my favorite parts out of a book in Chapter 3, and I will say this much, it involves Atticus, Kirk, Spock and Chuck Norris.

It has been a while since I've been able to really wrap myself up in a book series, especially with all the characters I have grown to love. It is always exciting to read about the Gods and new ways they are perceived. This is a fantastic series for all ages, and hope everyone loves it as much as I have.

Really enjoy this series - as a fan of scifi, magic and mythology it's fun to see what Kevin does with the "traditional" myths.
In his logical (?) treatment of the nitty gritty of magic, he sorta reminds me of Robert Heinlein's Gay Deceiver (the sentinent ship).
I tell you 3 times, read this series!

The first couple of books in this series were silly nonsensical fun albeit brutal but HAMMERED kicked it up a notch in brutality and seriousness. I expect I'll keep reading. I'd rate it higher because it's so fun but I'm still wrapping my head around the humor vs. the brutality.

Kevin's fun approach that every God ever worshiped by humans was/is real, really blooms here. It starts out a bit slow, but when I say "bit" that's it. After that, strap in! Ever been on one of those amusement park rides conceived in Utah based on air? It slowly pulls you up, then DROPS... Oh yeah.

This one cracked me up to no end! Their countless jabs at Thor are hilarious. There is a lot going on in this book so you really won't want to put it down. Even some real struggles from some main characters. Also, a lot of ass kicking from good guys and bad. You won't want to miss this one.

There are a lot of books that people feel 'obligated' to give a five star rating to (I'm sure I've split an infinitive, and someone else can feel free to correct me). I wish there were something that were 5+ stars or 5 with a bullet ... The story/stories are that well written and crafted. He raises storytelling and adventures to a whole new level.

My husband "hounded" me (get it?) for a year to read this series. This genre is just not my favorite to read--I'm more of a historical buff. Anyway, I finally read a chapter just to get him off my back and, of course, as much as I hate to have him tell me he was right, I loved it and blazed through the series. I'm desperately waiting for the next book to be released.

I absolutely loved the first two books in this series, giving them rare five star ratings. This one was tedious and depressing. I have been assured that the series reverts to its prior humor in Book Four.

I bought books 1 and 2 in hard copy and did not get the "bonus short stories" included in the Kindle versions. I really enjoyed the bonus and am now reading book 4 "Tricked". I am trying to figure out if I need the short stories on 1 and 2 to round out the series.

The series has been very interesting interweaving multiple religions and has some great interactions between Atticus and his dog.

Don't want to blow any secrets, but the stories stay on focus and lead you into the next one just enough.

Kevin Hearne breathes life into his characters of myths and legends and when they're gone you mourn they're loss.

I recommend the readers to read the series in order to fully enjoy the series. Hounded, Hexed then Hammered. All three are worth your time for hours of entertainment. Thanks for the adventure!

Karen Michelle Nutt, author of The Warriors for the Light series (Fallen Angels)

Another entertaining tale about Atticus and his friends.
I think it has one of my favorite parts out of a book in Chapter 3, and I will say this much, it involves Atticus, Kirk, Spock and Chuck Norris.

It has been a while since I've been able to really wrap myself up in a book series, especially with all the characters I have grown to love. It is always exciting to read about the Gods and new ways they are perceived. This is a fantastic series for all ages, and hope everyone loves it as much as I have.

Really enjoy this series - as a fan of scifi, magic and mythology it's fun to see what Kevin does with the "traditional" myths.
In his logical (?) treatment of the nitty gritty of magic, he sorta reminds me of Robert Heinlein's Gay Deceiver (the sentinent ship).
I tell you 3 times, read this series!

The first couple of books in this series were silly nonsensical fun albeit brutal but HAMMERED kicked it up a notch in brutality and seriousness. I expect I'll keep reading. I'd rate it higher because it's so fun but I'm still wrapping my head around the humor vs. the brutality.

Kevin's fun approach that every God ever worshiped by humans was/is real, really blooms here. It starts out a bit slow, but when I say "bit" that's it. After that, strap in! Ever been on one of those amusement park rides conceived in Utah based on air? It slowly pulls you up, then DROPS... Oh yeah.

This one cracked me up to no end! Their countless jabs at Thor are hilarious. There is a lot going on in this book so you really won't want to put it down. Even some real struggles from some main characters. Also, a lot of ass kicking from good guys and bad. You won't want to miss this one.

There are a lot of books that people feel 'obligated' to give a five star rating to (I'm sure I've split an infinitive, and someone else can feel free to correct me). I wish there were something that were 5+ stars or 5 with a bullet ... The story/stories are that well written and crafted. He raises storytelling and adventures to a whole new level.

My husband "hounded" me (get it?) for a year to read this series. This genre is just not my favorite to read--I'm more of a historical buff. Anyway, I finally read a chapter just to get him off my back and, of course, as much as I hate to have him tell me he was right, I loved it and blazed through the series. I'm desperately waiting for the next book to be released.

I absolutely loved the first two books in this series, giving them rare five star ratings. This one was tedious and depressing. I have been assured that the series reverts to its prior humor in Book Four.

The frist two books were so good. I had high hopes for this one. My main problem with the story is that he didn't really care if Freya was kidnapped and raped, just so a bunch of guys could get revenge. Left a sour taste in my mouth. I won't be reading the next one. what kind of Druid would behave this way?

I wasn't sure Kevin Hearne could keep up the awesomeness of of the Iron druid chronicles all the way through three novels, but boy oh boy did he deliver!
I am deeply depressed that I now have to wait at least a year for the next book! Noooo, how oh how shall I endure?
I am one of those strange beasts who loves a good cliffhanger but my friends, the end of Hammered is pure torture, I must find out what happens next. I must!

Hammered is more epic than the last two installments, the stakes have never been higher and Atticus is in for a hella wild ride. I love that the world that our favourite druid lives in isn't static, there are far reaching consequences for everything that he has done and Atticus and his peoples have to adjust and change to deal with everthing. I don't want this to be a spoilery review, so I will just say, that if you enjoyed the previous two iron druid chronicles, then this one will BLOW YOUR MIND!
If you are new to Kevin Hearne's books, I implore you to start with the first Hounded: The Iron Druid Chronicles It'll be too hard to follow if you don't start from the beginning.

I am in awe of the sheer breadth of mythology and characters and craziness that Kevin Hearne perfectly weaves into a gripping, fast-paced adventure. I read Hammered in one sitting, I simple couldn't put it down... I couldn't. I'm going to have to lie to my brother and tell him that I havent finished it yet, so I can do an immediate re-read before he gets his grubby mits on my favourite Urban Fantasy series of the year.

Read this book. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.

I have read all three of these books, and I have to say that they were some of the most enjoyable reads I have had in a long time. For the first two books, the interaction with Oberon was great fun, especially after his baths. I was disappointed to see that Hearne didn't continue that in the third book, but book three has one of the funnier scenes in fiction.... Long live the Salad Spinner! Not a scene to read in public if people staring makes you uncomfortable. Uncontrollable laughing out loud is a real possibility.

Wow, was I disappointed with this book. I loved books 1 and 2 and was looking forward to this one. The last thing I expected was to be bored.

The first major problem with this book for me was that it was heavily plot driven but there was no through line to that plot. It was a set of sequences that didn't feel like they tied together. The sequence where Atticus stole the apple. {A sequence that I found completely uninteresting. I began to wonder if all my favorite characters (Oberon and Mrs. MacDonagh in particular) were going to appear at all.} The sequence where Atticus prepared to abandon Tempe. {My favorite sequence because of time spent with the above mentioned favorite characters.} And finally the sequence where Atticus led a bunch of people to attack and try to kill Thor.

The second major problem was that there weren't any real stakes for Atticus. This section should have been heavily character driven...we were told that Gunner and Lief had very strong personal reasons to try and kill Thor that we should have felt it. But the story was told first person by the one character that had zero personal stakes in the outcome. Atticus was like the only guy in the group with a car that promised to give his buddies a ride so they could rob a bank. He promised to 'give them a ride' (so to speak) and that's what he did. He never really seemed to care about what he was walking into, so why should I?

Jesus and The Morrigan both said....killing Thor is a bad idea, but there weren't any immediate consequences set forth for Atticus himself. The warnings didn't matter to Atticus enough for him to try to *do* anything to change the outcome. There was a lame discussion discussion with Lief, but that was it. "Hey, lets not do this. " "No, I have to" "Okay, fine we'll do this." Then the author stopped the story. He literally parked all the characters by a fire so he could introduce us to three brand new characters we'd met a page or two previously. At a point where the story should have been steam rolling in to a battle that had me on the edge of my seat and unwilling to put the book down I got several chapters, told in an emotionally detached way, telling us why these guys were there. It killed the momentum of the story and killed what little emotional connection I had begun to build with the story. Sadly the biggest joy to listening to this book in audio format was the fact that I could hit the fast forward button.

Hammered is the third book in the Iron Druid Chronicles. It's just as awesome as the first two, but it ends more than it concludes anything. I still love the mixing of mythologies. I mean, Atticus ends up in a bar fight with Jesus and then goes off to fight the Norse lightning good with the Russian lightning god (and some others). I can't wait for the fourth book to come out next spring.

To make this short and sweet, this guy is somewhat similar to Jim Butcher (Dresden files is one of my all time favorite series) in content and style, but, a MUCH MUCH better writer. This series is extremely enjoyable and easy to read. I just cannot say enough as to the level of continuity and flow, best I've read in a really really long time. I highly recommend all 3.

This was my favorite of the three. I wish K.H. would write another 10 books about Atticus and his adventures...................

It is consistent and logical, and very well written. I thoroughly enjoyed all the books more than once. I have read through number 5,and am impatiently waiting for 6to be released. Mr. Hearne, please keep them coming!

Obviously there are a fights in the book, but the Character is built up so much there is no chance that he will ever lose. I see the author as a dungeons and dragons player who always cheats. e.g. Its a god that resists fire: well my character has SUPER fire from Antarctica...I WIN. I also totally disagree with reviews that say there is great character development. The characters are thrown at you with a sentence of back story and then they add another detail about once a chapter.

The major problem is that there is no conflict in the story it just bumps along with minor doings and lots of jokes and puns. I'd say its written for 11 yr old's but there are ton's of cuss words (which I'm not against, they just prevent the book from actually being for 11 yr old's) For great "four star" fantasy you should check out Brent Weeks, Robert Jordan, Peter Brett or JRR Martin. If your looking for a punny funy story check out Douglas Adams. I grabbed this because of its stellar rating...which I obviously disagree with.

Let me state from the beginning that I understand that these books are not meant to have deep wells of emotion that engage you on a higher level of intellect, they're just easy and fun entertainment. That said, I was able to forgive Kevin Hearne for some rather obnoxious writing habits that detracted from the story telling. Instead of allowing a reader to mull over something or come to his or her own conclusions about one thing or another we have practically everything explained or told to us almost immediately after having the problem presented. This isn't a HUGE issue, but it can be annoying. My largest issue is that he'd go into explaining something, which I think most people would find to be common sense or at the very least could come to the conclusion without having it explained to them in detail, in the MIDDLE of an action sequence. This habit of his really sucks away the intensity, the tension, the adrenaline, and, most importantly, the flow of the sequence. One prime example is right at the beginning of the final battle he goes into this long diatribe of how you don't have time to really THINK in a battle and then it's like he realizes that's what he's doing and says OH IT'S TIME TO MOVE! But, as I said, I can forgive this obnoxious writing habit as it doesn't happen ALL the time.

Unfortunately, this installment just didn't have what the others did. I felt like the plot wasn't really thought out and because of that it all just flows in a disjointed manner. I really couldn't get INTO the narrative. Atticus was doing what he had promised his friends he'd do, the author felt the need to beat us over the head with the character's reasoning behind being a man of his word, and every scene just felt flat. We aren't really given the time to sink our teeth in before another is thrown at us. Before we know it Atticus and the party of assassins is already in Asgard. The action is entertaining, finally meeting Thor and understanding why his is a douche is a lot of fun, but because of the poor handling of the story when characters die you just can't bring yourself to CARE, even about characters you cared about in the first two books. To top it all off it all came to an anticlimactic end and before you know it you're reading the prologue. It felt like the end was just terminates with no reason and you're left to stumble and catch yourself and wonder what just happened.

There was really no redeeming quality to this entry, it was just a hodgepodge of poorly thought out scenes thrown together and shoved down your throat. I will be reading the next installment, Tricked, but with far less anticipation.

There were moments in this book where I had to just put it down, go somewhere private, and laugh my buttocks off. I just recently discovered this series and I sure will be bringing my friends into it because they are missing out.

As I've said in a previous review, this is not my typical type book to read, however, I just love the series. Refreshingly different and exciting. I can't wait for the next book and I hope the series goes on for a long time! I'm not writing on what the story is about because most other reviewers will do that. I recommend this new series.

It is consistent and logical, and very well written. I thoroughly enjoyed all the books more than once. I have read through number 5,and am impatiently waiting for 6to be released. Mr. Hearne, please keep them coming!

Obviously there are a fights in the book, but the Character is built up so much there is no chance that he will ever lose. I see the author as a dungeons and dragons player who always cheats. e.g. Its a god that resists fire: well my character has SUPER fire from Antarctica...I WIN. I also totally disagree with reviews that say there is great character development. The characters are thrown at you with a sentence of back story and then they add another detail about once a chapter.

The major problem is that there is no conflict in the story it just bumps along with minor doings and lots of jokes and puns. I'd say its written for 11 yr old's but there are ton's of cuss words (which I'm not against, they just prevent the book from actually being for 11 yr old's) For great "four star" fantasy you should check out Brent Weeks, Robert Jordan, Peter Brett or JRR Martin. If your looking for a punny funy story check out Douglas Adams. I grabbed this because of its stellar rating...which I obviously disagree with.

Let me state from the beginning that I understand that these books are not meant to have deep wells of emotion that engage you on a higher level of intellect, they're just easy and fun entertainment. That said, I was able to forgive Kevin Hearne for some rather obnoxious writing habits that detracted from the story telling. Instead of allowing a reader to mull over something or come to his or her own conclusions about one thing or another we have practically everything explained or told to us almost immediately after having the problem presented. This isn't a HUGE issue, but it can be annoying. My largest issue is that he'd go into explaining something, which I think most people would find to be common sense or at the very least could come to the conclusion without having it explained to them in detail, in the MIDDLE of an action sequence. This habit of his really sucks away the intensity, the tension, the adrenaline, and, most importantly, the flow of the sequence. One prime example is right at the beginning of the final battle he goes into this long diatribe of how you don't have time to really THINK in a battle and then it's like he realizes that's what he's doing and says OH IT'S TIME TO MOVE! But, as I said, I can forgive this obnoxious writing habit as it doesn't happen ALL the time.

Unfortunately, this installment just didn't have what the others did. I felt like the plot wasn't really thought out and because of that it all just flows in a disjointed manner. I really couldn't get INTO the narrative. Atticus was doing what he had promised his friends he'd do, the author felt the need to beat us over the head with the character's reasoning behind being a man of his word, and every scene just felt flat. We aren't really given the time to sink our teeth in before another is thrown at us. Before we know it Atticus and the party of assassins is already in Asgard. The action is entertaining, finally meeting Thor and understanding why his is a douche is a lot of fun, but because of the poor handling of the story when characters die you just can't bring yourself to CARE, even about characters you cared about in the first two books. To top it all off it all came to an anticlimactic end and before you know it you're reading the prologue. It felt like the end was just terminates with no reason and you're left to stumble and catch yourself and wonder what just happened.

There was really no redeeming quality to this entry, it was just a hodgepodge of poorly thought out scenes thrown together and shoved down your throat. I will be reading the next installment, Tricked, but with far less anticipation.

There were moments in this book where I had to just put it down, go somewhere private, and laugh my buttocks off. I just recently discovered this series and I sure will be bringing my friends into it because they are missing out.

As I've said in a previous review, this is not my typical type book to read, however, I just love the series. Refreshingly different and exciting. I can't wait for the next book and I hope the series goes on for a long time! I'm not writing on what the story is about because most other reviewers will do that. I recommend this new series.

My husband and I have started listening to this series on long road trips. We both love the geek-friendly pop-culture references and Oberon provides levity at the right moments. This series has been my first experience with the genre and provides a great distraction on long road trips.

No spoilers. Just my general annoyances with the book as a whole. Now, I enjoyed the other two books in this series because I thought Kevin Hearne did a good job of portraying what a 2100+ year old would act like. Instead of being broody or emo, he was light heartened and really tried to fit in with humanity. However, this book seemed to take that too far. Atticus is supposed to be this bad-arse Druid who can slay gods left and right yet he complains about every little "ouchie" he gets.

I expect my leading men to be studs; if they get hurt, they walk it off. They don't complain and grumble about how unfair life is. There also would be times where he is making commentary of his motley crew and I would be annoyed. Like how he was trying to separate himself from the group saying how he didn't feel the need to assert his "manliness" and win "macho points". Really? Why is he keeping score of these man points? He didn't do this once or twice; he seemed to do it every time he was in the company of the other men, specifically Gunnar and Leif. Kevin made them seem like at any second they'd whip 'em out and measure. It was just ridiculous. Plus the continuous back and forth Shakespeare battles began to wear on me. Once or twice it is fine, but to use this conversational device in all three books more than once bugged me like no other. Plus the lolcat speak drove me up a wall. No one, I repeat no one, should ever put that in their books. I agreed with Leif that if that's how you fit in with humans, I don't want to fit in.

Also there was something that didn't make sense to me. This whole book is essentially about Atticus's journey to Asgard to defeat Thor, but the book starts out with him going to Asgard to fetch the golden apple. I remember him making the promise to get one, that's not what flummoxed me. What didn't make sense is why he would be making two trips. The first trip alerted the Norse Gods to who he was and essentially made him have to alter his whole life because of it. He ends up packing all his stuff and planning to move in fear of the Norse Gods finding out where he lives and going after who he loves. I don't get why he couldn't have done a two for one deal and get this all over with. Why drag it out? To me, it just seems to create weak filler.

I will say there were moments of laughter on my part. The line "it was like watching Santa gun down Rudolph" made me chuckle. Also Atticus's interactions between Oberon and Puren where vastly entertaining. As a whole though, I just couldn't really get into it. It felt like a chore, and reading shouldn't ever be a chore. I honestly don't know if I will read anymore from this author. The first two books were good, but this one disappointed me so much, I don't know if Kevin Hearne is redeemable to me.

I haven't finished Hammered yet, but I love it! Very difficult to put it down and not continue reading all day. The characters are just as wonderful, funny, mean, and wicked as the first two books, and you can't help but love Atticus - can't wait to read on!

Kevin Hearne brings the long dead past to the present in such an entertaining and fast paced way. I love his Irish wolfhound, Oberon. Wise cracking, fun loving and loyal Oberon will make you laugh out loud. Well written and brings in gods and creatures from all the various mythologies. I mean who wouldn't love a main character who has a werewolf as an attorney and can out trick the trickster Coyote?

I'll start by saying that both of the previous books in this series were, for me, 5 star books. I prefer my fantasy urban and my protagonists light and fluffy. In the first books, we were invited into a familiar world and introduced to a bunch of fantastic characters who didn't take themselves too seriously. This book is a 3 1/2 star offering, so I rounded up based on the fact that the previous books were so fabulous.

However, that being said, I must say that changing genre (and I'm sure hard core fantasy lovers will vote me down in a huff) in a 3rd book in a series is a little inconvenient. Hard core fantasy lovers who also read urban fantasy will likely not see the issue, but in my opinion, this wasn't really urban fantasy. If you love true fantasy, you'll likely love this book. If you prefer urban fantasy like I do, you may prefer to skip this one and hope Atticus returns to a more familiar world in the next book.

Atticus spends most of this book traveling in a world full of characters I can't picture and the mood among all of the characters is rather depressing. They're angry over wrongs they endured hundreds of years ago, which stretches my willingness to believe they'd still be willing to die just to have their revenge. I honestly just wanted to say, "get over it already!" The author spends much of his time just testing how many completely unpronounceable nouns that all sound alike can possibly fit into one book. I really prefer not to need a glossary to enjoy a book.

I had to wonder why Atticus wasn't able to find a way to stand up for what he thought was right and fix it before it went really wrong. Everything we know of his character would suggest blind revenge isn't in his worldview and he certainly had enough information to press the issue. I do hope that the mess the characters created in this book can be cleaned up quickly and without the need to travel back to fantasyland in the next book. Maybe we can have a book where Atticus does something else besides kill other magical beings -- there are probably a lot of creative ways that his powers could be used.

Basically, this book was standard fantasy fare, minus the urban. I have no doubt that fans of fantasy will enjoy it very much. I hope Atticus gets a new home in the next book -- one that does not require a map that resembles the type seen in a role playing game for 17 year old boys. ;)

Primus: I would have given 3.5, if that had been possible. But...
Secundus: Thor really is the nicest of the Norse gods. (Not the bravest, that is Tyr. Certainly not the cleverest, that is Loke. Who is not evil, if you read the myths carefully, he helps the AEsir 9 times out of 10. Often at his own cost. His bad reputaition is probably due to the f*****g Christians. He is actually Thors best friend. If you want evil, look no further than Oden. Killing him off would be a mercy to everyone. No-one would miss him.
Tertius: I really worry about the sheer pace you set in killing gods. Are you, perchance, a closet christian ? Ugh. I do realise that you USAians are so "politically correct" that you cast "black" people in historical roles were the just do not fit, but seriously; Jesus? Come on! He reminded me of Judas in the film version of Superstar. And believe me, I have lived in Africa, afroamericans would have a hard time getting accepted there.
Quartus: Killing Leif? Shame on you!

I have to admit, I have been hooked since the first chapter of the first book. I love the characters. The dog is brilliant. He alone would have brought me back, but I actually really love all the characters! Looking forward to the next book in the list.

this one was a little more serious and drawn out then the other two. I was so sad Atticus had to move from his beloved home and bookstore, Leif and Gunnar, werewolf buddy are going to kick Thors rear.
They meet up with Giant Squirrels and Ice Gods, that have a Thing for Freya..
Each friend along the way has a Big Grudge for Thor, he destroyed something in thier lives and they are seriously pissed..
The scenes in the book are sometimes sad, sometimes funny to the max..like Jesus showing up and giving some sage advice and enjoying a Great Brew.. I was so damned sad to see the widow MacDonagh pass away and turned into (?) something??? I almost threw the book away..
At the end of the book it shows Atticus, the beautiful Granuaile, and Oberon on the run...I will buy the next one for certain..Gotta find out what happens to Leif...is he going to be OK???

This story has one of the funniest scenes I have encountered in years. When Atticus encounters a major Christian figure, you wouldn't at first see the potential for comedy. But Hearne saw it. It was a literal ROFL. My wife's tastes lie elsewhere in literature but she suffered to listen to my reading of that scene. I could hardly see the words as my eyes teared with laughter. And, my dear wife got it! She, too, laughed till it hurt.

Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles is one of my favorite series for his combination of imagination, action, insight, and droll humor. With every book I've been delighted with the characters he finds in widely different mythologies. I've read 'em all and, as they say, it's all good.

I felt that this one was almost more like a collection of shorter stories, rather than a well thought out book. While I appreciated more character development for a few of the main people, I didn't feel that some of it was necessary. But, as always, the author made me laugh, and I look forward to devouring the next book tomorrow