Hammered (Iron Druid Chronicles) Mass Market Paperback – July 5, 2011

Book Blurb: Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is worse than a blowhard and a bully--he's ruined countless lives and killed scores of innocents. After centuries, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson is ready to get his vengeance, and he's asked his friend Atticus O'Sullivan, the last of the Druids, to help take down this Norse nightmare. One survival strategy has worked for Atticus for more than two thousand years: stay away from the guy with the lightning bolts. Plus things are heating up in his home base of Tempe, Arizona. There's a vampire turf war brewing, and Russian demon hunters who call themselves the Hammers of God are running rampant. Despite multiple warnings and portents of dire consequences, Atticus and Leif journey to the Norse plane of Asgaard, where they team up with a werewolf, a sorcerer, and an army of frost giants for an epic showdown against vicious Valkyries, angry Norse gods, and the hammer-wielding Thunder Thug himself.SABINA: I blame Laurie for getting me hooked on the Iron Druid Series. Actually, I should thank her, and if my delicious chocolate cookies would make it through customs, she would DEFINITELY get some! ;-)LAURIE: HA! You are such a tease. I keep being promised foodie treats. I'll just have to wait til you come visit me and I'll chain you in the kitchen, supply you with books and groceries and eat the plunder. Sorry, go back to writing your review. Besides, you have nothing to complain about, you love this series as much as I do!SABINA: Hmm, maybe I just have to postpone my trip to the states... :-) Try and explain that in the airport; "reason for visiting?" "Uhmmm, restrained to my friends kitchen to bake, read and...why are you looking at me like that?!"No, seriously, it is no hardship to love this series, believe me. I'll admit it does take me some time to read the books, but that's `course I like them and don't want to misunderstand things - just like I usually don't rush through Suzanne McLeod's books. Sometimes you can devour books - sometimes you just can't let go and you enjoy the story the author has to tell and you really don't want it to end.In Hammered, Atticus is forced to keep a promise he made to Lakasha - to steal an apple. But not just any plain, old apple. No, it HAS to be one of Idunn's golden apples. Idunn is a Nordic goddess - an Asa. So Atticus goes to Asgaard to steal an apple. But his journey is not going to be unnoticed. And what the hell do you do when you're face to face with the All Fader - Odin himself? I'll let a little spoiler go right now: Atticus makes a big mess in Asgaard, but makes it out of there. In one piece.But that's not saying he's safe - or the one he loves and cares about is safe. Atticus is warned - from several deities - he should NOT return to Asgaard with his little hunting party, he should NOT help them go after Thor. But Atticus has given his word, and once given, he doesn't want to break it. Promises are to be kept.But standing in front of not only the thunder god, Thor, but also his father - Odin and other great gods and goddesses and all you have is your wits, your friends and a handful of frost giants, what do you do?I loved "Hounded" with the Tuatha Dé Danann and I adored "Hexed" with the polish witches and the Bacchants. But with "Hammered", I'm sold. I'm home. I grew up with the story and tales of the Nordic gods and goddesses and I love them. And when one of my favorite authors tells a new and different story with the Norse? Oh boy! :-)LAURIE: Not to sound too American, but I hadn't thought about that connection. Of course it would resonate with you, my Viking Sistah! I agree, I thought he did a fantastic job. I, for one however, am still in grieving for the Giant Squirrel. He was a fine fellow. Stupid Norn's. (I hope this isn't too spoilerish but it does happen in like the first 10 pages so it would show up in a sample of the book on Amazon).SABINA: Yes poor Ratatosk!! That wasn't very nice of the Norns! But... Do you think it was the original Ratatosk they killed or a new version?LAURIE: Oh, I definitely think it is the real thing. Hearn has no problem killing off dieties. Norse Gods don't make out well in his books, however it is usually Atticus killing them off!SABINA: True! Anyway...There are SO many good things in this book and I will not tell you everything, but I love Kevin Hearne's humor. I mean honestly - how many do you know that in their first book would write "Look Mom, I've made this! Can we put it on the fridge?" on the VERY first page? In Hammered we see SO much more of Hearne's humor and how he made me laugh. Let me tell you a secret: he NAILS male bonding and the way we all think that guys think, PERFECTLY!!!LAURIE: I think you are right, Sabina. I loved the guys bonding around the campfire and telling stories. I also love the humor in these books. A lot of people compare Atticus to Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden, and being a fan of both series, I see similarities but I think the difference is humor versus snark. I love Dresden, but he is much more snarky as opposed to just straight up funny. Not to say Hearn doesn't know how to write snark, or pathos for that matter as well. Some people very close to Atticus do not make out well in this book, and it was heartbreaking.SABINA: I almost cried in the end. It was so sad! And I have to agree with the dialog that Atticus has with Hal in the end.LAURIE: I thought Atticus's conversations with Jesus and Coyote were wonderful as well. You have to tread very careful if you bring Jesus into a fantasy book, if you know what I mean. People will read about Angels, and Satan, and demons and anything else...but you have to be extremely sensitive to how people react if you bring Jesus into the picture and I thought Hearne did a wonderful job. Also the conversation with Coyote was great. You know what a crush I have on Coyote. Love him as a demigod/archetype.SABINA: Oh I know you do! He's a wonderful character, Coyote!! :-) I love that Kevin Hearne brings the different dieties into the book. He did use Mary in the last one too. It's brilliant!

Start with book 1, but this is excellent. The story is just starting to get crazy now. Can't wait to dive into the next one.

This book was very different in that the Gods were targeted. Usually in books gods are inviolate. I am giving 5 stars bcoz of the Granuale story, otherwise it w/b 4.

Overall, this is a pretty fun series. This volume marked a definite turning point in the series (Atticus will have to leave Arizona -- not really a spoiler since he's planning this from nearly the beginning of the book), and it appears that there are more transitions to come. A couple of loose ends from the previous book were wrapped up (although some enemies from the previous book returned, as well).A couple of things stood out to me in this book, in particular, with reference to the rest of the series. First, there was a LOT of mental dialogue between the POV character (Atticus) and his dog, Oberon. This has been a feature of this series in the past. I think most of this mental dialogue was funnier in this volume (actually made me giggle a bit) but it also served to further the story, especially towards the end.Second, there was a lot of discussion of male bonding and manliness. I could take this or leave it. Some of Atticus's mental commentary on what men will do in order to appear "manly" in front of other men was funny. Some of it was a little tiresome (mostly later on, after I felt like I'd read the same jokes multiple times).There is a scene where the characters who are on a quest together in this book give their reasons for hating the Norse thunder god Thor. This is supposed to help them bond (which is needed for the magical aspects of a phase of the journey they're on). And we learn lots of interesting information about their backgrounds -- including the backgrounds of several recurring characters in the series. But I don't really feel like I connected with any of them. I guess because the reasons they hated Thor were kind of predictable. Or perhaps because each story was told in just a few pages, whereas we've had several books to get to know Atticus. While this maybe didn't contribute to character development as much as I would have liked, it *did* contribute a great deal to worldbuilding. We learn more about other pantheons and mythologies besides the Irish, we learn about the origins of vampires and werewolves and their politics in the world of this series, etc.The pace in this one is excellent. There aren't really any slow moments. Even a visit to a bar with an old friend turns into a big scene. And while Atticus has his triumphant moments, he can't keep himself safe all the time and he can't save all his allies. He is less of a male Mary Sue in this book than in the first (and perhaps at a similar level as in the second).I'm not sure how I felt about the ending. It was sort of bittersweet. And there was something of a cliffhanger that I really hope gets resolved. (I'm glad multiple other volumes are already out and that Mr. Hearne writes quickly with little lag between books.)I wasn't enthralled with every aspect of this book, but I did find it to be an entertaining read. The pace was great, the worldbuilding was nice (both the part I've mentioned above and some parts relating to elementals that I haven't yet discussed), and I found the jokes to be funnier than in previous books. I'm pretty sure I've already bought #4 in the series (or if I haven't, I'll be doing that soon). If you are already into this series, you'll already have a good idea of what to expect with this book. If you're new to the series, go back and start with "Hounded" (#1).

Book three moves is I in a different direction than the first two. I feel as if we're in for a long and utterly fantastic story after this one. Old characters leave and be ones arise. Overall a great read.

I really like the Iron Druid books, featuring Atticus, an ancient druid who looks about nineteen and runs a bookstore in Tempe Arizona. He has a quirky Irish Wolfhound called Oberon, with whom he has a telepathic link, and an apprentice Druid called Granuaile.Anyhow, this time Atticus is in trouble after making a couple of promises in exchange for help in the previous book. Both involve trips to Asgard. The first, to retrieve a golden apple, is bad enough, and leads to unintended fatalities. The second promise, to his vampire lawyer friend, Leif, is a game changer. He's promised that he will help Leif kill the Norse god Thor. Thor, apparently is a dangerous and destructive arse, and could do with a good killing, so Atticus Leif and Gunnar the werewolf end up with a team, a Russian thunder god, a Finnish magician and a Chinese immortal, all with good reasons to want Thor dead. But you can't go up against one Norse god without going up against the whole pantheon. There's a lot of collateral damage to the denizens of Asgard and Atticus is warned twice that killing Thor will have extremely bad repercussions, but unfortunately the team members are determined to finish the jobI confess I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first two, and I was trying to work out why. Less Oberon, maybe? In places the pacing seems a little slow, and I didn't particularly connect with the new characters in the god-killing team, especially when there's a long break while everyone tells their own story. In previous books Atticus has been defending himself against beings who want him dead, maybe that's why it didn't feel quite right that this time he was going after someone (a god, no less) without a personal grudge. He knows it's not right, but he's made a promise to a friend and he's going to keep it. I presume the next book will deal with the fallout from Atticus and company's trip to Asgard.

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.

Kevin Hearne is a brilliant story teller. I read the series a few years ago and have bought the first three for my youngest 30yr old son to read. I loved the ongoing magical saga based loosely on Norse mythology. Great entertainment with loads of humour interspersed too. Highly recommended.

Bit of a dogs breakfast of a story this one. The author seems determined to have every possible god appear in this tale and so you end up with a mish-mash of the numerous superstitions available. Once again we get the ideology of the American Irish being displayed with all its lack of cultural awareness. Try asking for an Irish Car Bomb in the Falls Road and see how amused the natives are at your wit. While Oberon the dog continues to work well as comic relief this is not enough to make me want to continue with the series.

I am absolutely loving this series. Loaded with surprises and you never quite know what's going to happen next. The main characters are continuing to develop really well and there were some great new characters in this book (Russian thunder God - awesome!). The story was bold and well written. The humour of the previous novels is still very much there despite some more serious undertones. Can't wait to read the next one.