Hunted, by Kevin Hearne
Book Review by Joshua Palmatier
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This is the sixth book in Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles, which I absolutely loved at the beginning. While this book was a fun read, I don't feel it was as good as some of the previous books in this series. It had it's moments, but still . . .
The premise picks up right where the 5th book left off: Atticus, Granuaile, and Oberon are running for their lives from the gods Diana and Artemis. The Morrigan has told them they must flee to England, without using the Old Ways (the pathways through the trees), and find Herne the Hunter. It's their only chance of survival. So Atticus is running like hell, with the two enraged gods on his heels. Oh, and Loki has managed to escape and is searching for him as well. The entire hunt is high entertainment for the other pantheons as well, some putting their own fingers into the plot. For there's more than just the hunt going on, as Atticus soon discovers betrayal amongst the Tuatha De Danann as well.
While the story is good, I think the main problem with it is the main plot at the beginning of this book--the running. There isn't much you can do to make "running like hell" exciting, when that's all the characters have time for. Certainly they attempt to slow the two goddesses down, and are interrupted occasionally by others attempting to kill them, or at least aid the goddesses, but it doesn't make for an engaging read for the reader. And the first half of the book is definitely its weakest part. There were one or two moments of sudden interest, but for the most part it's just run, run, run. And it started feeling like one of those montage episodes the TV shows used to use everyone now and then--with characters revisiting past episodes in dream sequences. It felt for a while like every past character that Atticus dealt with was going to make an appearance, if only to check in with him and taunt him or something.
I didn't start becoming engaged in the story until the plot widened to include betrayal among the Tuatha De Danann. Suddenly there was more going on than the hunt. This aspect made the second half of the book much more interesting. In fact, the best part of the book was after Atticus had dealt with the Greek and Roman pantheons and focused exclusively on this aspect of his troubles. The last quarter of the book was the best.
So, a good book, but it lacked some of the engagement of some of the previous books in the series. Even the humor couldn't save it, and there was plenty of humor. Again, the last part of the book is by far the best. This series continues to have ups and downs. This wasn't the lowest point in the series, but it wasn't that high up there either. I'll continue reading, but I don't look forward to it as much as I used to, since I'm not sure what I'll get.
The premise picks up right where the 5th book left off: Atticus, Granuaile, and Oberon are running for their lives from the gods Diana and Artemis. The Morrigan has told them they must flee to England, without using the Old Ways (the pathways through the trees), and find Herne the Hunter. It's their only chance of survival. So Atticus is running like hell, with the two enraged gods on his heels. Oh, and Loki has managed to escape and is searching for him as well. The entire hunt is high entertainment for the other pantheons as well, some putting their own fingers into the plot. For there's more than just the hunt going on, as Atticus soon discovers betrayal amongst the Tuatha De Danann as well.
While the story is good, I think the main problem with it is the main plot at the beginning of this book--the running. There isn't much you can do to make "running like hell" exciting, when that's all the characters have time for. Certainly they attempt to slow the two goddesses down, and are interrupted occasionally by others attempting to kill them, or at least aid the goddesses, but it doesn't make for an engaging read for the reader. And the first half of the book is definitely its weakest part. There were one or two moments of sudden interest, but for the most part it's just run, run, run. And it started feeling like one of those montage episodes the TV shows used to use everyone now and then--with characters revisiting past episodes in dream sequences. It felt for a while like every past character that Atticus dealt with was going to make an appearance, if only to check in with him and taunt him or something.
I didn't start becoming engaged in the story until the plot widened to include betrayal among the Tuatha De Danann. Suddenly there was more going on than the hunt. This aspect made the second half of the book much more interesting. In fact, the best part of the book was after Atticus had dealt with the Greek and Roman pantheons and focused exclusively on this aspect of his troubles. The last quarter of the book was the best.
So, a good book, but it lacked some of the engagement of some of the previous books in the series. Even the humor couldn't save it, and there was plenty of humor. Again, the last part of the book is by far the best. This series continues to have ups and downs. This wasn't the lowest point in the series, but it wasn't that high up there either. I'll continue reading, but I don't look forward to it as much as I used to, since I'm not sure what I'll get.
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