Hunted, book 6 of Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles

Hunted, Book 6 

of Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles, 

Falls Short of the Series' Standards 

(But Still Rocks)

          The Iron Druid Chronicles is an urban fantasy series by Kevin Hearne featuring Atticus O’Sullivan, a 2,100 year old Irish Druid who has outlived the influence of the Irish pantheon, the Tuatha de Danann. At the end of Trapped, the fifth book in the series, Atticus had finally managed to bind his apprentice, Granuaile MacTiernan, to the Earth, thus earning her the status of Druid... but not before massively pissing off the Olympians first. 

          Hunted: It seems like everyone in the world, and even the gods from several different planes of existence, are out for the two Druids’ blood. Hel and Loki want the Druids out of the way before they begin Ragnarok. Artemis and Diana want revenge on Atticus for taking Bacchus and several dryads hostage. The vampires want the Druids dead because of the unique power they have to unbind vampires into particulate goo. Odin and the Norse pantheon want Atticus’s help to fight Ragnarok, but they would be just as satisfied to sit back and watch him get taken out for previously killing Thor. And worst of all, the Druids are also being targeted by an unknown entity from within the Tuatha de Danann! 

          The majority of this book’s plot revolves around the flight of Granuaile, Atticus, and Oberon across Europe as they flee the assorted forces seeking their demise. The Druids are prevented from shifting planes by Pan and Faunus’s intervention, so they must flee across the European continent to seek aid. The flight scenes in Hunted can get a little bit tedious and repetitive, but the battle scenes more than make up for it. The fight scenes are quick and well written, with amusing cameos from gods and monsters from several different mythologies.

          One of the things that have made the Iron Druid Chronicles so addictive up until this point has been how funny the books are. Each book is inundated with jokes, topical cultural references, and awesome turns of phrase. Occasionally jokes have fallen flat in past books, but while reading Hunted, I was shocked with just how contrived the humor in this book was compared to the past five books.  Frankly, the majority of the humor in this book just was not up to the high standard Hearne has set for this series, which is really disappointing.

          While Hearne has successfully used a bizarre mixture of words to express unique feelings in a comical way in the past (an example of this is Hearne’s concept of being riddled by “guilt ferrets”, the sensation of feeling so guilty that it seems like ferrets are crawling all over your body), the author has some notable failed turns of phrase in Hunted. Hearne has even earned the dubious honor of committing one of the worst linguistic transgressions I have come across: “cockfident waffle dolphin”. Yeah, you read that right. This stupid portmanteau-nonsense-garble… there isn’t even an explanation for what Hearne could have been thinking when he wrote this phrase. 

          There are many moments when Hearne returns to form, though, such as with his portrayal of the Greek god of lightning, Zeus. I won’t spoil anything about the Zeus scenes, except for the fact that they’re hilarious. Too bad there isn’t more of him! Equally funny are the dialogue scenes between Atticus and his wisecracking hound, Oberon. As per usual, Oberon steals every scene he’s in. Despite the series’ humorous nature, Hunted is a much darker book than any of the previous novels, so be prepared for a few sad moments.

          Hunted also suffers from a few structural issues; after the main plot is resolved, Atticus goes on a solo adventure that, while one of the most interesting and best-written sections of the book, feels very disconnected from the novel as a whole. Even after this point, the story malingers while the author tries to set up a transition to the next novel. This set-up is clunky at best and lazy writing at worst, although I must say that the ending comes with a great cliffhanger!

Bonus features:

          Hunted has a handy pronunciation guide for all of the tricky names for readers who want to know the “correct” pronunciation. This was especially important because the main character Atticus has a traditional Irish name, Siodhachan, that I would have no idea how to pronounce without the guide (it’s SHE yah han).

          Another bonus feature of Hunted is the addition of the short story, “Two Ravens and One Crow”, at the end of the book. This short story is considered book 4.5, and shares important details of what happens between books four and five, Tricked and Trapped.

          So would I recommend Hunted? Yes. While Hunted is not Kevin Hearne’s best work, the book still has its great moments, and surprisingly, a lot of these moments come when Atticus and the team are at their lowest. It seems only natural that this book would delve into the darker aspects of the characters’ psyche; after encountering some serious setbacks and traumatic events, the book wouldn’t have had as much of an impact if it employed all levity all the time.

          I’m definitely excited for the next book in the series, Shattered, especially to see how two revelations at the end of the book pan out!