Hammered by Kevin Hearne

Hammered
Kevin Hearne
Iron Druid Chronicles #3

Bite-sized Review
This book has all the humour and action I've come to expect from the Iron Druid Chronicles. Hearne does a stellar job with characters and incorporation of many different mythologies. This is definitely a series you should try.

King-sized Review
Hammered continues the Iron Druid Chronicles' humorous adventures as Atticus prepares to kill Thor, Norse god of thunder, to fulfill his bargain with Leif. Despite dire warnings from various powerful parties against it, Atticus and company proceed with their plan while Atticus deals with the other fallout from events of the previous two books.

Hammered is a bit darker than the previous books, but still filled with comic relief. This series is just so much fun to read. At parts I had a stitch in my side from laughing so hard. (From Shakespeare to lolcats. I'll leave the rest to your imagination.) I did wish there was more Oberon in this book, because he's my favorite character, but there was plenty of humor as it was.

I love the way these books incorporate all sorts of myths and legends into one cohesive world. With such a complex backstory, there's obviously more to learn in every book, and meeting new immortals is always entertaining. I really liked the addition of Perun, the Russian thunder god, in particular – I could hear his accent when I was reading, which was extremely entertaining. It's especially fun to see Atticus, who keeps up with popular culture despite his age, chat with people who haven't really paid attention to such things in hundreds of years.

On the downside, sometimes I thought Hearne was trying just a little too hard to get his message across in such conversations. There's a passage where Atticus drinks beer with Jesus that's a little sacrilegious. Okay, it's a whole lot of sacrilegious. That was fine with me; it was hilarious. The part of the passage I took exception to was when Jesus talked outright about how annoyed he was with people who misused his name. Now, I'm in complete agreement with that sentiment. However, I prefer that the Underlying Message make at least a cursory attempt to seduce me rather than hitting me over the head and dragging me off to its cave. Theme should be implicit; if you have to insert an otherwise superfluous conversation in order to convey it, you're doing it wrong. In this, actions speak, and words are just more noise in an already deafening windstorm.

But that's a minor point in the scheme of things. Overall, I really enjoy reading these books. The characters are vivid and Hearne does a great job making me love or hate them as appropriate. I can't wait to read Tricked, especially after that ending! I hope to see more of Oberon and Granuaile in that one, not to mention find out what happens to Atticus next.

Quality: Acceptable
Enjoyability: Outstanding

GARS Score: 2.33 (2/5/2/1)
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Hammered is similar to:
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews