by Jesus Ibarra
Info on how to enter to win a copy of Trapped at the end of this review.
If you are an avid reader of Urban Fantasy, there comes a point when you have read pretty much everything that’s really good, and you have to work to find the next series you can get addicted to. And it gets even harder when every book seems to be derivative of the same sort of stories: fairies, witches, vampires, shape shifters, etc. That’s precisely why Kevin Hearne’s The Iron Druid Chronicles is freaking amazing. Besides being good in the sense of the writing and storytelling, it is completely original (at least to me, because I rarely see anything dealing with druids of the Celts). Here Hearne weaved an awesome world, built on the premise that all the pantheons of gods and goddess exist. Atticus the main character and the last druid, who happens to be two thousand years old, has made enemies in the last four books so he had to fake his death; not only for his safety but to be able to train his Druid apprentice Granuaile in peace.
This book picks up twelve years after the last one, and has his enemies find out he is alive just as he is about to complete the training for Granuaile. To make matters worse, the planes are abruptly closed to him only allowing him to shift right to the base of mount Olympus where the roman god Bacchus lays waiting to kill the funny druid. To make matters worse, Loki is free, the Dark elves of Asgard legend are out for blood, and an old vampire who single handedly destroyed all druids sets his sights on Atticus. 
The quick action and pacing that have become standard for Kevin Hearne is in top form in this book. Everything just jells, and the twelve-year gap isn’t really a huge issue aside from missing the relationship growth between Atticus and Granuaile. We also get to see all kinds of gods and goddesses, especially those of the Celtic religion. And more is done to advance the plot of the coming apocalypse, that Atticus was warned about.
Atticus the character is very much the same since the last book: sarcastic, witty, and incredibly smart. The thing I loved to see though, is throughout the book we see Atticus become increasingly more brutal and lethal because he finally has something to care about, Granuaile and making more druids. This is such a fun read that it really is in my opinion just standard reading for any urban fantasy fan. Hearne even manages to make some incredibly deep observations on religion and gods, which makes me love this series more. So definitely check this book out, and the rest before it, because if you aren’t reading this series you are missing out on an incredibly fun and satisfying read.
To enter to win a copy of Trapped, simply email KRL at life@kingsriverlife[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, with the subject line “Trapped”, or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen January 26, 2013. U.S. residents only.
Can’t wait to read this one. Still catching up on the series – only ran into it recently, and burned my way through the first three in about a week. 🙂
Nice to see the character grow.
We have a winner
Lorie Ham, KRL Publisher