Book Review: The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne

If you’ve just finished the Dresden Files and want to ride that pony again, you’ve simply gotta read The Iron Druid. The premise is simple – Atticus O’Sullivan is the last remaining druid on earth. And he runs a herb shop in Arizona. He consorts with gods from every conceivable pantheon. From the Irish mythology, to Norse with Odin etc, to Jesus and even the far east including Japan and India. Durga, Ganesh, Inari…all of them make noteworthy appearances.

Atticus is also fond of cultural references, so these little Easter eggs will thrill you and remind you that the setting is very much our modern world. The writing and humor is outstanding. He’s complemented by his wolfhound Oberon whose chats are simply hilarious. And he’s thinking of training another Druid.

7 books in the series have been released so far and like the Dresden Files, each is a stand alone work in itself – there are no cliffhangers. I found the last couple of books a bit weak, especially after Granuile makes an entrance. Hearne also experiments with multiple viewpoints in the final two installments and it doesn’t really come off well. The rest of it is awesome – written from the first person PoV of Atticus himself.

The magical system depends on which pantheon we’re talking about. Very few “gods” are truly immortal – the Olympians being notable exceptions. So when they go up against Atticus, he has a chance to take them down.

These are a light, quick read. I’m not a great fan of carefully crafted literature anyway – my reading is an escape. And the Iron Druid provides plenty of that!