If you're hoping for something in the vein of Harry Dresden, this book seems to have all the right pieces; quippy magic user in modern times, supernatural threats. But this is no Harry Dresden. The stories are wildly different and the quality, too, doesn't quite match even the debut efforts of Jim Butcher.

This tale lagged at the start but zipped to the end. I have some quibbled with characterization (why does a 2,100 year old druid have the sense of a turnip, for one thing?) and especially with the treatment of women and sex (dude taps two Goddesses, smooches a third, and they're all "Victoria Secret Sexy", despite one is the God of a hunt and the other is the God of Death and War (Brighid at least gets to be a god of crafts, beauty and creation-- oh, and fire, so you can justify that she's conventionally attractive to the extreme).

Honestly, it was just sort of juvenile. Definitely for the 20-30 heterosexual male set, needing some power fantasy. While we have the next four books at home I doubt I'll bother with any of them at this point. I keep being told the next one is better, but the bar's set pretty low for that.

I know this is supposed to be a rollicking, almost bardic tale, but in the end I got basically Gary Stu fantasy with some occasionally clever bits. The writing is decent in some places, but pacing suffers, characterization makes little sense, and while the mythology is well represented it simply wasn't enough to carry the story of Angry God Wants Shiny MacGuffin. ( )

Light, fun urban fantasy. What's not to like? Hot guy with an appreciation for strong women does battle with supernatural evil. Runs a bookshop, quotes Shakespeare when's he's ticked off, and keeps company with a charming wolfhound named Oberon who's a sucker for sausages and French poodles. I like that the southwestern US setting isn't just window-dressing; Atticus lives there for specific reasons and it's well tied in to the plot.

( )

This book made me laugh out loud in sheer delight more than once. A kick-ass Druid, his sidekick wolfhound, witches, werewolves, gods, demons and a retiree sounds like a huge mess, but Mr. Hearne manages to turn it into a fast-paced, very clever series opener.

Although I knew that everything would turn out alright-there's none of the soul-wrenching darkness in some UF, I still loved the ride that it took to get there. The magic worked for me and to anyone who might complain that Atticus had too much power, I'd point out that he's been around for 2000 years, he'd be incompetent if he had less.

The world that Atticus lives in is big enough to handle any number of sequels as well as a spin-off or two for a couple of characters. All in all, it reminded me just how fun UF can be when done right. Not everything has to be doom, gloom and angst.

I loved Atticus O'Sullivan. He has the right amount of snark, cheerfulness and the arrogance of being around for a couple of millennia. I wondered if I could introduce him to Kate Daniels; I think they'd end up great friends.

I enjoyed this book enough to put the writer on my instabuy list, and can't wait for books two and three which will be coming out later this year.

Favorite line: Did she think I was some sort of lame-assed neo-Druid mucking about with holly branches and mistletoe?

How much did I like it? I pre-ordered the next two. ( )

Quite funny. ( )

Two things made me crave this book in my hands before its release in late April/early May--first the protagonist, Atticus, sounds like my kind of guy. He's brash, he's sensible and he taunts gods and goddesses like their nothing more than playground bullies. His tactful, but not truly, reverent attitude towards those beings is part of his charm. The second is that the excerpts I've read have made me eager to read more. Normally excerpts from authors I don't know make me interested, but not eagerly anticipating. They tend to be too short so I don't get a good feel for the character.

Not so with Atticus!

Admittedly my other reason was I was eager to see how all the pantheons of deities interacted and most especially the Celtic lore. I was happily ready to read, spot a deity I only cursorily know, look them up and then go back. Hearne didn't make me need those encyclopedias though, he gives a very good accounting of these deities without having Atticus run around playing Exposition Man.

In truth I appreciated the fact that Atticus was neither too modern nor too archaic in his speech and mannerisms. He balanced the line well; he managed to adapt many of the customs he grew up with to modern day and picked up the speech patterns of the modern world well. He was practical where others expected him to be foolish (given his words) or reckless (given his actions). It never got tiring to see when it dawned on people that hey Atticus is a clever one.

On occasion descriptions got to be a bit tedious or redundant--Hearne doesn't need to tell us, every single time, what's going on with Atticus' tattoos. Or that he has to be barefoot to channel his power. I understood--Atticus is on land, thus he's barefoot'ed, thus he's very powerful. I did find the descriptions of his charms, as well as the fact that he bound Iron to his aura, to be fascinating. It took him centuries, of a magical practice of his own devising, which makes me wonder how some of the trial and error steps went.

Other than Atticus I had a definite love for Morrigan--so sly and blunt and arrogant. Oberon, Atticus' faithful irish deerhound companion was a hoot. At one point he wants to be just like Ghengis Khan and demands a horde of french poodles.

Hounded was a joyride. The fight scenes were thrilling, Atticus was a charmer and lest I forget all the mythology...its like mythologist dream come true. The acknowledgment of the various Pantheons have for each other, but also the snide comments they have, had me grinning. ( )