Blurb: For a two-thousand-year-old Druid, Atticus O’Sullivan is a pretty fast runner. Good thing, because he’s being chased by not one but two goddesses of the hunt—Artemis and Diana—for messing with one of their own. Dodging their slings and arrows, Atticus, Granuaile, and his wolfhound Oberon are making a mad dash across modern-day Europe to seek help from a friend of the Tuatha Dé Danann. His usual magical option of shifting planes is blocked, so instead of playing hide-and-seek, the game plan is . . . run like hell.
Crashing the pantheon marathon is the Norse god Loki. Killing Atticus is the only loose end he needs to tie up before unleashing Ragnarok—AKA the Apocalypse. Atticus and Granuaile have to outfox the Olympians and contain the god of mischief if they want to go on living—and still have a world to live in.
Stars: all of them
If this were a movie, it would be a chase movie – a mad, headlong chase across Europe, with bonus supernatural shenanningans, gods and magic thrown it. It’d be awesome, I think.
The next best thing though – for me – would be the audiobook, which is how I “read” this book in Atticus’ adventures. Yes, this was a thrilling addition to the Iron Druid collection, but it’d be the second movie in a (rather long) trilogy – setting things up for the finale, establishing alliances, while the main character goes through a crisis? No, an event that shakes him to his core, and changes things for him.
And no, I’m not going to say what changes, but suffice to say the balance of things has changed for Atticus in his determination to stop Ragnarok.
But, really, who cares about the story – let’s talk Atticus and Granuaile. What I thoroughly enjoyed about this edition is that I was able to “hear” Granuaile’s voice. Luke Daniels, the narrator, does a marvellous job through this book, but I would be lying if I said it didn’t take some getting used to. At first, Granuaile was too delicate… fragile sounding compared to what I had imagined her to be when she first appeared in this series. But, “Fierce Druid’s” actions, as she’s dubbed in the book, provided a wonderful contrast to the delicate sound the narration gave her. She’s as important as Atticus in this book, and goes through a fundamental change I welcomed, even if Atticus did not.
Granuaile, like many things once thought constant in Atticus’ life, changes and through her Atticus realises (again, for what must be the 1000th time) that he has to accept change and move on. You’d think that a druid, over 2000 years old would have realised that by now, but I liked that he needs to be reminded that things change. It means, like the rest of us, he’s grown comfortable with his life and like the rest of us, change takes some getting used to.
Their relationship is as strong as ever, and Atticus’ boyish delight in her and loving her was another part of the narration I enjoyed. Atticus is a quick-witted character, always on hand with the smart, snarky reply for his enemies, with some pop-culture references thrown in. But I never would have imagined this sort of boyish delight in his love for Granuaile and his relationship with her. It’s another welcome facet to his character, one that I would have assumed is more lust-filled on the page.
But hands down, the star of this book series has got to be Oberon, Atticus’ wolfhound. The narration gives him a boyish, almost childlike quality – as if he were still a puppy and had never grown up. Which let’s face it, Oberon is forever a big kid. But, listening to him demand sausage or wheedle his way into play time was hands down the most delightful part of this narration.
So there you have it – if Hunted were a movie, it’d be my favourite of all time simply because Hearne has moved his narrative to some of the best and most beautiful parts of Europe. Can I be your research assistant on your next one, please?
Have you read or listened to (any) the Iron Druid series? What do you think of it?
