Endless Blue By: Kevin Hearne
Hounded is a funny story about an immortal Irish druid, who goes by the name of Atticus O'Sullivan, in the American Southwest. The story has gods, monsters, talking dogs, and special herbal elixirs. I found this book hard to put down in part because of the wit of the main character. The other part is that the story is awesome. You are not only introduced to the immortal irishman but an entire community of supernatural beings that he exists within. He may be the last of the old line of druids still alive, but he has plenty of company when it comes to magical power. The best way to describe this book is funny, and exciting.
There were a few things that bothered me about the story at first but they ended up being plot points. Basically it was a bit unnerving the casual way that he treated most of the Celtic gods in the story, and the way they treated him in return. The book makes it clear however that the Iron Druid, as Atticus is known, has powers that they respect. In the story the gods and Atticus see themselves as more equals than deity and worshiper though he does keep his original faith. Overall this is one of the best modern fantasy books that I have read recently, and I think most people would enjoy it.
Atticus O'Sullivan appears to be a nice tattooed Irish man who is about 21 years old. He has made a life running an occult bookstore and herb shop in Arizona, and nobody there knows that he is more than 2100 years old, and is a fully trained druid of the old line. His life there is going pretty good until he runs into a fae sent to find him. You see there is a reason that a druid is holed up in the middle of the desert, and that reason has found him once again. It seems that in his youth he pissed off the Celtic god of love by stealing a certain magical sword at the behest of the Morrigan, and the god has been hunting him ever since. He has been found many times in his long life, and has even developed a way to work magic with iron in his efforts to defend himself, but this time something is different for Atticus. For some reason he is tired of running. Atticus decides that it is time to face Aengus Og, The god who has hounded him for centuries. This is a fight that only one of them can walk away from. Atticus will have to use all the power and wiles that he has amassed in 2000 years, and get the help of his current community if he hopes to survive, much less win, against a god.
Throughout this story Atticus maintains his sense of humor, and that turns the story from your standard adventure tale into the funny story that keeps your interest by the plot and keeps you laughing from your viewpoint in Atticus's head. Anyone who enjoys a good modern fantasy, or even a straight up adventure will probably love this book. Some practitioners of Celtic religions may or may not be offended by the portrayal of their gods, but that is always a touchy point when you make gods characters.
This book can be found at www.amazon.com in print or e-book from.
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