Hounded, Hexed, Hammered - The Iron Druid Chronicles Volume 1

4.5* rounded down. This was a thoroughly enjoyable action-packed romp through a world where all the gods and magical beings of every faith and belief system exist and are able to interact with each other. This is urban fantasy, a subgenre I typically steer away from but the humour and the world it builds just hits the sweet spot that I'm already a bit of a fan.

At the center of our story in this crazy world is Atticus O'Sullivan, an ancient Druid more than two millennia old but who retains the use of his 21 year old biological body via his magic powers. He has been spending the past two thousand years evading an ancient enemy, the Celtic god of love, Aenghus Og, who may now just be catching up to him at last. At Atticus's side but no less of a star attraction of the story is Oberon, an Irish wolfhound that is able to communicate with Atticus telepathically.

Now I'm not usually a fan of talking or sentient animals in stories (outside of children's stories and fairytales) so I was a little skeptical about Oberon at first. Hearne writes Oberon convincingly and non-cringily so now I think he's the most precious, goodest boy ever and really hope he'll stay at Atticus's side for the rest of this very long series.

Atticus himself is also written fairly convincingly. He's clearly powerful and has shored up two millennia's worth of magical knowledge and it shows. At the same time, he also has the tone of someone who's seen so much shit in the world that he's long gotten past confrontation and just wants to live life as peacefully as possible while not taking things too seriously, which is a perspective absolutely up my alley.

The world is rich in this one and we are paraded with all kinds of gods and goddesses and magical beings from various cultures and belief systems. The Celtic Tuatha de Denann take center stage in the plot and have the most participants here, but we also have a more than 800 year old Indian witch, some Icelandic vampires, and a pack of werewolves. There're also brief mentions of Thor, Christianity, and Hindu gods as well

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable read that I'd recommend to just about anyone looking for something light hearted and easy to get through, especially if you're a fan of gods-centric fantasy and action. Or if you're a dog lover. Or better yet, both at once.