Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Random House Publishing Group
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Thriller. HTML:The ancient gods are alive and well in the modern world in this hilarious, action-packed collection of original short stories featuring Atticus O'Sullivan, the two-thousand-year-old Irishman from Kevin Hearne's New York Times bestselling Iron Druid Chronicles. In ancient Egypt, Atticus agrees to raid a secret chamber underneath the library of Alexandria, dodging deadly traps, only to learn that on-site security includes two members of the Egyptian pantheon. At a Kansas carnival, fun and games turns to murder and mayhem, thanks to soul-snatching demons and flesh-craving ghouls luring visitors into an all-too-real house of horrors. Verily, in olde England, striking up a friendship with William Shakespeare lands both Atticus and the Bard in boiling hot water with a trio of infamous witches. During the Gold Rush, the avatar of greed himself turns the streets of San Francisco red with blood and upsets the elemental Sequoia. Atticus may have to fight fire with fire if he's going to restore balance. More, you say? Indeed there is�??including bogeymen, vampire hordes, wrathful wraiths, and even a journey to the realm of the dead. Prepare to be besieged with nine tantalizing tales�??not to be missed, never to be forgotten. Praise for Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles "Clever, fast paced and a good escape."�??Jason Weisberger, Boing Boing "Celtic mythology and an ancient Druid with modern attitude mix it up in the Arizona desert in this witty new fantasy series."�??Kelly Meding, author of Chimera "Outrageously fun."�??The Plain Dealer, on Hounded "Superb . . . plenty of quips and zap-pow-bang fighting."�??Publishers Weekly (starred review), on Hounded "An exciting mix of comedy, action, and mythology . . . [Atticus] is one of the best main characters currently present in the urban fantasy genre."�??Fantasy Book Critic, on Tricked "Funny, razor-sharp . . . plenty of action, humor, and mythology."�??Booklist (starred review), on Shatt… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Unkletom
Story collections are usually like baseball games. Sometimes they hit it out of the park and other times they don’t even make it to first base. Some are the result of really good ideas that provide enough material for a great story but not enough for a book. Others are used to fill in minor holes
My favorites in this collection are The Goddess at the Crossroads (I’m a sucker for Shakespeare) and Gold Dust Druid. I loved the idea of your typical western sheriff having to come to terms with the existence of demons. I also have to give a nod to The Demon Barker of Wheat Street, as it is by far the scariest material that Kevin Hearne has ever written.
1. The Eye of Horus - A god sends Atticus on a quest to the Great Library of Alexandria. It’s a rowdy tale with a dungeons and dragons air to it.
2. Goddess at the Crossroads - Atticus relates how he helped William Shakespeare add a supernatural element to the Scottish play.
3. The Demon Barker of Wheat Street -Atticus and Granuaile pay a visit to the freak show from Hell, literally.
4. Gold Dust Druid - Atticus chase the demon of greed through the streets of San Francisco during the gold rush.
5. The Bogeyman of Boora Bog – Archdruid Owen describes the events leading up to his first meeting Atticus, with his future apprentice.
6. Cuddle Dungeon - Perun tells of an adventure that takes place in an establishment that has lots of leather.
7. Blood Puddings: Granuaile, hiding out and working as a waitress in Portland after the events in Staked, has a messy encounter with a vampire leading to a trip to Poland.
8. Haunted Devils - Archdruid Owen travels to Tasmania to investigate an apparent cancer epidemic among Tasmanian devils.
9. The End of Idylls – Atticus tells Oberon about his previous companion, Faolan, a wolverine.
* The review was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review.
FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
*4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.
*3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.
*2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
*1 Star – The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire.
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in a book series. Others are nothing more than the literary equivalent of doodling. The nine stories that make up Besieged take place at different times throughout the Iron Druid series and readers who haven’t finished the entire series may encounter characters that they are not familiar with. My advice is to relax and roll with it, It will still be entertaining. My favorites in this collection are The Goddess at the Crossroads (I’m a sucker for Shakespeare) and Gold Dust Druid. I loved the idea of your typical western sheriff having to come to terms with the existence of demons. I also have to give a nod to The Demon Barker of Wheat Street, as it is by far the scariest material that Kevin Hearne has ever written.
1. The Eye of Horus - A god sends Atticus on a quest to the Great Library of Alexandria. It’s a rowdy tale with a dungeons and dragons air to it.
2. Goddess at the Crossroads - Atticus relates how he helped William Shakespeare add a supernatural element to the Scottish play.
3. The Demon Barker of Wheat Street -Atticus and Granuaile pay a visit to the freak show from Hell, literally.
4. Gold Dust Druid - Atticus chase the demon of greed through the streets of San Francisco during the gold rush.
5. The Bogeyman of Boora Bog – Archdruid Owen describes the events leading up to his first meeting Atticus, with his future apprentice.
6. Cuddle Dungeon - Perun tells of an adventure that takes place in an establishment that has lots of leather.
7. Blood Puddings: Granuaile, hiding out and working as a waitress in Portland after the events in Staked, has a messy encounter with a vampire leading to a trip to Poland.
8. Haunted Devils - Archdruid Owen travels to Tasmania to investigate an apparent cancer epidemic among Tasmanian devils.
9. The End of Idylls – Atticus tells Oberon about his previous companion, Faolan, a wolverine.
* The review was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review.
FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
*4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.
*3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.
*2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
*1 Star – The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire.
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LibraryThing member jamespurcell
Good connector for the series. And, we have one more druid. May Gaia be served.
LibraryThing member BillieBook
Just an FYI: I got my audio version from libro.fm, not Audible
The stories aren't going to be interesting to anyone who hasn't read the series and I had read a couple of them before, but it's always good to spend time with Atticus and Oberon and Granuaille. Unfortunately, while the narrator did a
The stories aren't going to be interesting to anyone who hasn't read the series and I had read a couple of them before, but it's always good to spend time with Atticus and Oberon and Granuaille. Unfortunately, while the narrator did a
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great job with most of the characters, his choice of voice for Oberon was just...wrong. He made Oberon sound dumb and the voice wasn't big enough for an Irish Wolfhound. Since Oberon plays a large part in almost all the stories, this was really frustrating and annoying and even distracting, which affected my enjoyment of the book as a whole. Show Less
LibraryThing member PardaMustang
Besieged by Kevin Hearne is a collection of nine short stories set in the world of the Iron Druid series. These tales focus on various recurring characters from the series, from Atticus, to Archdruid Owen, to Perun, a god of thunder. Each story is prefaced by a notation placing it in the Iron Druid
Written with Hearne's customary wit and humour, Besieged follows Atticus to ancient Egypt, the Western US Gold Rush, and even the depths of Xibalba itself. There are a few stories focusing on Granuaile, Owen, and even an immensely amusing one about Perun. That one, 'Cuddle Dungeon’, finds the thunder god being introduced to the BDSM world. 'The Bogeyman of Boora Bog’ was probably the creepiest and darkest of the stories. Here Owen tells of a time in his distant past, after he was assigned to a village near can expanding bog. His job was to heal the land and to teach the villagers about better planning to not damage the land further. However, the villagers inform him that there's a monster in the boglands, stealing livestock and even children. One had been taken only days previous. Owen goes into the bog, but what he finds is no fae monster, but one of the far more human variety.
I loved the (not so) subtle chastisement in 'Gold Dust Druid’ towards people who post reviews on a book before it's even released. Proper ARC reviews obviously don't count, but so many times I see reviews posted before the book is released by people who didn't read an ARC, or who read one and ignore that it's an ARC and subject to change, and that it will go through more edits to fix grammar. Those aren't final copy. In the same story is a reference to a fellow urban fantasy writer. I spit my tea when I read that part!
Highly recommended, especially for urban fantasy or Kevin Hearne fans!
***Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. This book was reviewed for the San Francisco Book review.
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Chronicles timeline. Written with Hearne's customary wit and humour, Besieged follows Atticus to ancient Egypt, the Western US Gold Rush, and even the depths of Xibalba itself. There are a few stories focusing on Granuaile, Owen, and even an immensely amusing one about Perun. That one, 'Cuddle Dungeon’, finds the thunder god being introduced to the BDSM world. 'The Bogeyman of Boora Bog’ was probably the creepiest and darkest of the stories. Here Owen tells of a time in his distant past, after he was assigned to a village near can expanding bog. His job was to heal the land and to teach the villagers about better planning to not damage the land further. However, the villagers inform him that there's a monster in the boglands, stealing livestock and even children. One had been taken only days previous. Owen goes into the bog, but what he finds is no fae monster, but one of the far more human variety.
I loved the (not so) subtle chastisement in 'Gold Dust Druid’ towards people who post reviews on a book before it's even released. Proper ARC reviews obviously don't count, but so many times I see reviews posted before the book is released by people who didn't read an ARC, or who read one and ignore that it's an ARC and subject to change, and that it will go through more edits to fix grammar. Those aren't final copy. In the same story is a reference to a fellow urban fantasy writer. I spit my tea when I read that part!
Highly recommended, especially for urban fantasy or Kevin Hearne fans!
***Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. This book was reviewed for the San Francisco Book review.
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LibraryThing member whybehave2002
A great mix of short stories to add depth to the series. I sped through it. Lots of fun!
LibraryThing member Glennis.LeBlanc
This is a short story collection that has some new stuff and some old stuff. Half of this can be read without having finished everything that is out so far but the last half does spoil Staked and there are warnings. This is not all of the short fiction set in this world but most of it. The POV
This is a great book to read while waiting for Scourged to come out. And tracking down the other stories that were not added to this collection will make the time go faster.
Digital review copy from the publisher through NetGalley
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characters do change with some of the stories and the Owen one is really good. The first half fills in time before the start of the first book and some of the time that Atticus was training Granuaile. I like that not all the stories are all Atticus and that other people do not see him the way he sees himself. This is a great book to read while waiting for Scourged to come out. And tracking down the other stories that were not added to this collection will make the time go faster.
Digital review copy from the publisher through NetGalley
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LibraryThing member Karlstar
This is a collection of Iron Druid stories that fit in various places in the story line, though it is best if you read it just before reading the final book, or just skip it all together. These stories really don't add much to the plot or the characters. There's some Atticus vs. demon stories,
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Atticus back in the old days stories, some Granuaile stories and some others that just don't fit well. The Granuaile stories were probably the best and most interesting. Show Less
LibraryThing member jennybeast
It's nice to spend time with Atticus at al. while awaiting the next installment. Some of the stories are stronger than others, and I'm not in love with the ones narrated by the Archdruid and Perun -- specifically because their accents are so thickly written that their voices are almost parodies. I
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understand why the choice was made, but I find that choice more palatable in short bursts than over a multi-page story. Does fill in the gaps nicely, though, and leaves me eager for Scourged (and also concerned that Atticus will not survive it. NOOOOOOOO! Nicely played, Hearne, nicely played.) Show Less
Original publication date
2017-07-11
Local notes
Iron Druid, ss
DDC/MDS
| Fic SF Hearne |