Hammered

The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book 3

By: Kevin Hearne

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins

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)

The saga continues

Atticus O'Sullivan is a funny druid..and I like the communication he has with his dog..but this book relied a bit too much on they telepathic link and it got to be too much for me..or it could be that I listened to all 3 books in a week, one after another.

I might have OD'd on druids..or maybe Hearne listened to all the reviewers who demanded more more more of dog and master by play. I felt Hearne tried too hard with this novel...the plot wasn't as strong.

Character development was as good as the first two books though-and thats important to a series.

Maybe I need to take a druid break...

BUT-still worth the listen and also a second listen next winter I think.

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.

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!

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 :)

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.

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.

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.

So glad I discovered this series

If you've been keeping up with the series you'll know that our favorite Iron Druid is somewhere in his 21st century of life, and what a century he's having so far!

Living in arid Arizona to avoid the fae hasn't really worked out for Atticus O'Sullivan in terms of peace and quite since he has encountered, so far, gods, witches and demons, as well as faeries, who would like to kill him and in some cases also eat him. It's a good thing he's got a werewolf biker gang, a vampire, a death goddess, his dog Oberon and Jesus on his side!

After tangoing with Thor in this book, Atticus is going to have hell to pay! It ends with a cliffhanger and some upcoming big changes in the life of the Iron Druid.

Kevin Hearne is a fabulous writer with a rich imagination. I can only wonder who, or what, we'll meet next in Book 4. I can't wait!

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!!!

3.5 Stars

Hammered is book 3 of The Iron Druid Chronicles. It was not my favorite of the series but I still enjoyed it. There wasn't a whole lot happening for a lot of the book and most of the book was spent without Oberon, Atticus' dog. Oberon has become such an important character in the series that his absence was like a gaping hole.

I really liked that we got to hear everyone's stories and find out why Gunnar and Leif hated Thor sop much. And after hearing all the stories, I hated Thor too!

Just like with the prior books, the narrator was fantastic. He has great voices and really brings the story to life.

I am interested in continuing the series but will take a bit of a break first and read/listen to some other books. I accidentally saw a massive spoiler and I'm not so sure that I was to see that happen so maybe if I wait a bit, it won't be as upsetting.

amazing

some series i lose interest in but the iron druid series just keeps coming at you making you crave more its a must buy

Amazing book

Highly recomened, this book is a brillant squel i would urge to buy the other books of this chronicles.

Fantastic story

A story full of bad ass characters what more do you need, I recommend you pick the Luke Daniels versions (narration)