Review - Hounded by Kevin Hearne

Right now I am bouncing between various authors within my preferred genre.  I'm reading series by Rob Thurman, Rob Cornell, Devon Monk and Jim Butcher.  So it's beyond me as to why I picked up another Urban Fantasy series.  But I do have another author/stalker on Twitter now!!  WOOT!

Kevin Hearne is the author of the Iron Druid Chronicles.  The first book in this series, Hounded, was a fun read with different fantasy characters.  Oh, there were still vampires and werewolves but there were also fir bolgs and ancient Celtic gods, not to mention a hot druid hero with cool tattoos and a kick-ass magical sword.  It might help that I'm obsessed with Celtic lore but a different kind of magic and a sound foundation in actual Irish/Welsh mythology was refreshing.

The writing was solid even if it didn't have depth. There wasn't much thinking involved to keep up with the plot.  Still, the writing was smooth and the action moved well.  The characters were sometimes shallow and it was hard to keep up with all the werewolf names but the storyline was highly entertaining.  And this book had laugh out loud moments.  It's not drop on the floor laughing but it did deliver several good one liners.

My hope is that there will be more character development in the next few installments.  That said, I'm definitely hooked regardless.  I finished Hounded this afternoon and went to B&N this evening to pick up Hexed and Hammered, the next two books in the series.  I'm pretty stoked that Thor might be a main player in the Hammered title.

Hearne & Hounded get a solid A- on the Brewed scale.  An easy read that is extremely entertaining, it's a must read for Urban Fantasy readers.