Hexed: Book Two of The Iron Druid Chronicles

This is book two in the series and continues on where 

Similar to Bucher's Dresden files but set in the West with a slightly different twist on the magic. It's an enjoyable read, especially the relationship between Atticus and his dog. The books tend to focus on the Fae: the mythologically recorded Tuatha de Denann. As such they always fall short of the gravitas that could be leant to such subject matter. While the narrative can be entertaining, there's a lack of mystery or uncertainty. The Tuatha seem less like the ancient gods of Ireland and more like a bunch of delinquent bullies. (Pfft for all I know there could be a message in there). The whole new world/ancient Irish thing is interesting but the books felt a little too light hearted.

A good series with an interesting hero. Like many Americans who drink green beer on St Patricks day they are trying to be more Oirish than the Irish themselves and this appears to be the case with the author. Atticus has not said "begorrah" yet but I suspect it is only a matter of time. That said, it is a good mix of mythology and contemporary memes with a lot of humorous and erudite writing although a hero who has wild sex with goddesses should not be blushing and farting at the sight of his apprentice in her scanties. For a hero with a healthy sense of self-preservation Atticus appears to have little difficulty in dispatching gods, demons, fallen angels and witches so is a testament to 2,000 odd years of healthy food. The comic relief of Oberon is good and I like the idea of an actual blood-sucking lawyer rather than a merely metaphorical one.

I thought there was a lot of potential in the first book of this series, and I am happy to see it is expanded on in Hexed. Here, a coven of evil witches makes a move on Malina’s territory, which also happens to be Atticus’. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the followers of Bacchus have also dropped into town to unleash chaos via uninhibited orgies, there’s a fallen angel killing high schoolers and everyone wants Atticus to kill Thor. Just another day in the life of a druid. The first book dis appointed me because everything came to Atticus; someone would conveniently tell him what he needed to know so he never had to be proactive. Thankfully, that is not the case here. The book is very fast paced since there are so many fires for Atticus to put out. This means he has to plan, negotiate and work out how to tackle each crisis. There was a lot of planning involved, with Malina’s coven and Leif, plus the return of Laksha. There’s also a lto of humor here, specifically from Atticus’ knowledge and appreciation of pop culture. I love that he’s trying to teach Leif how not to sound like a stuffy vampire! I did have a couple of issues with the book. The Morrigan and Brighid both make appearances that go on too long and serve no purpose to the current plot. And, a noticeable amount of the book is taken up with setting up the next book, which will no doubt deal with Thor (and everyone wanting him dead). I don’t mind some build-up for the next book; but it should come near the end, and not at the expense of the story currently being told. However, it didn’t stop me from enjoying the story and I do look forward to the next installment. Overall, a nice improvement over the first book with some character growth and expanded cast. Recommended to fans of urban fantasy.

I'm not an especially big fan of urban fantasy, but the premise of the first book in this series was interesting enough to draw me in and I liked it enough to give this second book a try. I didn't like it quite as much as book one, but I'll probably try at least one more book in the series. I think the part I liked the most was the dialog between Atticus and Oberon, his pooch. The part I didn't like was that Atticus, who has lived hundreds of years by keeping in the shadows, suddenly seems to want to shine brightly. That seems odd to me and not in character, unless there's an explanation for this that I somehow missed.