I should have read the Iron Druid Chronicles sooner. Duh. My review of the first book.

Hounded by Kevin Hearne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I used to have a prejudice against stories told in first person. They took me out of the story too much. Sometimes the narrator is like a new acquaintance talking through the movie you're trying to watch; I want them to leave me alone to let me enjoy the story with them yapping in my ear through the whole thing. Other times, the narrator is too chatty, like a tedious neighbor standing in your yard that you can't escape from; or too introspective and moody, like a Holden Caulfield-type going through some serious shit, and you're trying to care, but it's killing you.

Not here, thankfully. None of that stuff.

The narrator here--Atticus O'Sullivan, a very old druid who looks 21 or so--is active and witty with a clear voice, and he is very likable as a protagonist. Atticus escorts us through the story with a briskness that makes it read like one long action sequence, although there are quieter and calmer moments with helpful exposition and at least passing reflection. The narrator smooths out the highs (a little) and amuses us through the lows like a tour guide, contributing to the energetic flow of the novel. This made the book fun for me to read in a few quick chunks. (Technically, I suppose, the author is doing all of those things with a tight plot a sure hand, but you know what I mean.)

The setting is a plus here. The story is nicely grounded in a real place and time, with real-enough characters (like local ASU students and restaurant employees) which has the effect of making the supernatural features (figures from Irish myth, witches, demons, werewolves, fancy swords, other fun stuff) both more believable and more distinct. This might be truer for those of us who live in Arizona and know Tempe and the Superstition Mountains; perhaps we can picture it all more completely. I dunno. I suspect the result is not too different for folks in other places, because it's well done.

Kevin Hearne is a local (for me) author, and has been at Comicon, though I have not had the pleasure of meeting him IRL. Now I am motivated to get his other novels and see if I can't track him down (in a celebrity-friendly way) at the next event and get some signatures and a handshake. :)

RIYL: fun things

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