• Hammered

  • The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book 3
  • By: Kevin Hearne
  • Narrated by: Luke Daniels
  • Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (19,422 ratings)

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Hammered  By  cover art

Hammered

By: Kevin Hearne
Narrated by: Luke Daniels
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Publisher's summary

BOOK 3 IN THE IRON DRUID CHRONICLES

Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is worse than a blowhard and a bully - he’s ruined countless lives and killed scores of innocents. After centuries, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson is ready to get his vengeance, and he’s asked his friend Atticus O’Sullivan, the last of the Druids, to help take down this Norse nightmare.

One survival strategy has worked for Atticus for more than two thousand years: stay away from the guy with the lightning bolts. But things are heating up in Atticus’s home base of Tempe, Arizona. There’s a vampire turf war brewing, and Russian demon hunters who call themselves the Hammers of God are running rampant. Despite multiple warnings and portents of dire consequences, Atticus and Leif journey to the Norse plain of Asgard, where they team up with a werewolf, a sorcerer, and an army of frost giants for an epic showdown against vicious Valkyries, angry gods, and the hammer-wielding Thunder Thug himself.

Don’t miss any of Kevin Hearne’s phenomenal Iron Druid Chronicles novels:

HOUNDED | HEXED | HAMMERED | TRICKED | TRAPPED | HUNTED | SHATTERED | STAKED

Listen to more Iron Druid Chronicles.
©2011 by Kevin Hearne. (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Kevin Hearne breathes new life into old myths, creating a world both eerily familiar and startlingly original.”(Nicole Peeler, author of Tempest Rising)

What listeners say about Hammered

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

An unexpected disappointment

I really enjoyed the first two books in the series (and the narrator is excellent) with their mix of mythology, humor, and high-stakes paranormal adventure. Sadly, this installment was a let-down for me--it was oddly-paced, with lots of starts and stops, and it turned Atticus into a bloodthirsty jerk with a serious case of hubris.

There were some brilliantly funny parts (Atticus's conversation with Jesus, and Oberon's bacon latte riff), but the book just didn't work for me as a whole. For example, the story comes to screeching halt for three or four chapters as a several characters we've just met sit around a campfire and tell stories about how Thor done 'em wrong. I didn't know these guys, so that section really dragged, and it killed the forward momentum of the plot.

Also, Atticus is visited by several deities in advance of his ill-advised hunting party, and warned that killing Thor is a Really Bad Idea. But he shrugs off the warnings, and goes his merry way--and the predicted doom never materializes.

But the major problem I had with this book was that there wasn't anything real at stake for Atticus. He's made a promise to help his lawyers Gunnar and Leif in their attempts to assassinate Thor. Atticus himself has zero personal stake in the outcome--to quote a friend, he's like a guy who's promised to give his buddies a ride so they can rob a bank.

For being the one person in the "hunting party" without a personal grudge against Thor, Atticus causes an awful lot of collateral damage during his visits to Asgard, killing and maiming beings who never did him any harm and who were just trying to protect their turf. I finished listening to the book thinking that Atticus richly deserved whatever vengeance the surviving gods were going to wreak upon him.

I'm going to listen to the next volume in the series, in hopes that the author will regain his mojo, but I was pretty disappointed with this installment.

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37 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Too much mythology, not enough Oberon

I've read the three books in this series back to back. This was my least favorite of the three because it didn't really advance the story of Atticus, and didn't have much of Oberon in it. I like Atticus and want to read about him - I'm not particularly interested in the pantheon of various gods, what they look like, or what their 'super powers' are. And without Oberon, a huge component of the story's humor is missing.

I was not particularly smitten with the way the story was told around the halfway mark, after Atticus took his "friends" to go after Thor... it remained quite educational, but the story changed from a story of Atticus to a "storytime" with other characters - characters we don't know and don't really care about. This gave the author a chance to share some more mythological information, but it also made the story turn into some sort of "Bard's Tale" a la Canterbury Tales style. While this isn't necessarily bad in itself, I picked up this book because I wanted to follow Atticus' story, and for at least 1/3 of the book, the story has little to do with him.

The next book in the series is due out soon... I will pick it up because I want to know how things turn out (there are some big loose threads left dangling at the end of this book), I just hope it returns to focusing on Atticus and Oberon and doesn't continue detailing various mythological worlds and their inhabitants.

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28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Just great fun

I am going through this series really quickly. It is just that fun and easy to read.
In this volume our druid is going to have that fight we were all waiting for. I just saw Thor in the theaters so it felt weird reading about ice giants, Thor, Odin and Asgaard.

From the beginning he is warned by the friendly deities including Jesus warn him of going to Asgard to kill Thor. It's Leif's revenge but he wants to keep his word.

As with the previous novels Atticus wrecks havoc all over. Some places it made me wince but overall it was enjoyable. We finally get to find out just WHY Thor is so hated everywhere.

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the author's continuous pop culture references in the book. If you are not familiar with them, you might get lost. I especially enjoyed, being a trekkie, the part about having Spock angel and Kirk devil on Atticus' shoulder giving advice!! Since I listened to the audio book version, the narrator does his best to create the distinct characteristic of them and it was fun to listen to!

Just can't wait to read more to see what happens to Atticus and Co.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Too many Gods

The third book in this series was a bit of a disappointment. The performance is just as good as the other episodes but the story weaker in a crucial way. The reason the first two books work as well as they do is the contrast between the druid magic and the modern age. It’s funny and clever and quite compelling. However most of this book is set in mythical realms of Asgard where our hero and his Demi-God buddies do battle with an obnoxious bunch of Norse monsters and their sidekicks. The problem is that in a world where everything is completely imaginary and there is no context and apparently no meaningful rules it all ends up a bit like a dungeons and dragons tournament in somebody’s parents’ basement. You can almost hear the dice rolling and cries of “my ice giants have greater killing power over magical cats than your spooky ravens…even though they may be the eyes of Odin.” My hope is that the forth book in the saga will get back to 'earth based' action.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gods Galore

I love this series, the main character is humble and witty. Oberon the dog is hilarious, although, I don't see how Bacon Lattes would be tasty!!! I find my self researching some of the gods mentioned and have learned a little bit about mythology. Great series, light and fun all around!!!

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Love this series!

I really love this series. These books are great for my short attention span. They're full of action, comedy and more than a little bit of danger. I'll keep listening as long as Kevin Hearne keeps writing. The ending was a wee bit irksome but I'll patiently wait for the next book and an explanation :)

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Didn't live up to the last two.

What would have made Hammered better?

I don't think I've ever said this about a book before, but it should have been shorter. The story started to drag, I really really don't care how much of a dick Thor was, for hours, I want to hear what Oberon has been up to.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Oberon!

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Unexpectedly Disappointing

Wow, was I disappointed with this book. I loved books 1 and 2 and was looking forward to this one. The last thing I expected was to be bored.

The first major problem with this book for me was that it was heavily plot driven but there was no through line to that plot. It was a set of sequences that didn't feel like they tied together. The sequence where Atticus stole the apple. {A sequence that I found completely uninteresting. I began to wonder if all my favorite characters (Oberon and Mrs. MacDonagh in particular) were going to appear at all.} The sequence where Atticus prepared to abandon Tempe. {My favorite sequence because of time spent with the above mentioned favorite characters.} And finally the sequence where Atticus led a bunch of people to attack and try to kill Thor.

The second major problem was that there weren't any real stakes for Atticus. This section should have been heavily character driven...we were told that Gunner and Lief had very strong personal reasons to try and kill Thor and we should have felt it. But the story was told first person by the one character that had zero personal stakes in the outcome.

Atticus was like the only guy in the group with a car that promised to give his buddies a ride so they could rob a bank. He promised to 'give them a ride' (so to speak) and that's what he did. He never really seemed to care about what he was walking into, so why should I?

Jesus and The Morrigan both said....killing Thor is a bad idea, but there weren't any immediate consequences set forth for Atticus himself. The warnings didn't matter to Atticus enough for him to try to *do* anything to change the outcome. There was a lame discussion discussion with Lief, but that was it. "Hey, lets not do this. " "No, I have to" "Okay, fine we'll do this." Then the author stopped the story. He literally parked all the characters by a fire so he could introduce us to three brand new characters we'd met a page or two previously. At a point where the story should have been steam rolling in to a battle that had me on the edge of my seat and unwilling to put the book down I got several chapters, told in an emotionally detached way, telling us why these guys were there. It killed the momentum of the story and killed what little emotional connection I had begun to build with the story. Sadly the biggest joy to listening to this book in audio format was the fact that I could hit the fast forward button.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Highly entertaining.

A fun read (listen) with action, humor and a romance waiting to happen. Luke Daniels plays the roles well and the story line gives a decent lesson on cultural mythologies. Oberon, (the dog) gives the comic relief....and is easily believable. I often look at my own dog and give her Oberon's attitude and light heartedness. Recommended.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Good, but not as good as the first two

As a bona fide Norwegian I was very excited to hear that the next book in a series I???ve come to enjoy would feature elements from Norse mythology. Mythology and stories I???ve hear since I was a little kid, stories I???ve come to love almost as much our old folktales of many-headed mountain trolls.

And I must admit, despite the strange American pronunciations I was suitably impressed with how Hearne melds our mythology with his universe. Maybe it???s not a huge endorsement when I say that he did in fact not butcher my cultural inheritance, but that???s honestly the impression I was left with.

Now for the book itself, I was not a huge fan. It was worth the credit, but I think the author should be thankful that this is not the first book in his series. I???ll leave it at that.

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9 people found this helpful