Atticus, Granuaile, and the hounds are back in action, now with Atticus' old archdruid in tow. How can this not be awesome? The story is told from all three of their points of view, which gives SHATTERED a greater scope than previous novels. I was worried it would be a bit muddled with all of these different POVs but Hearne has done a wonderful job of giving each character a distinct voice. It's so clear which character is telling each part of the story, even without the helpful images at the start of each chapter.
The year is 2022 now (remember that training period time jump?). In the grand scheme, though not that much has changed: after all, a mysterious foe is still after Atticus. And in SHATTERED we find out just who this foe is. This is one of the great things about Hearne's writing: he doesn't draw anything out. Well, this one's a little drawn out since it's spanned a couple novels but The Iron Druid Chronicles never lets things hang for too long. We get a resolution to this particular mystery and it's one that will have reverberations through the rest of the series. Obviously, this isn't something I would write about at length since naming the culprit would really spoil things but I can tell you that it makes a lot of sense even though I didn't have a single suspicion!
One of the most entertaining parts of SHATTERED is Atticus' relationship with Owen, his archdruid and mentor. There's some serious role reversal since Atticus has to teach Owen what has happened in the past 2,000 years and the dynamic is prickly at best. Owen was a tough and rough teacher, which is not how Atticus has trained Granuaile, and it was really interesting to watch the two of them deal with their new roles, particularly Owen who has a lot to deal with. He's been frozen in time and the world has come a long way since the Morrigan slipped him onto that island.
Of course, that's not to say that Granuaile doesn't have an amazing storyline. In fact, I think hers is going to have some very interesting implications in future novels. She meets up with Laksha (remember her?) and they try to defeat rakshasas in India. It's a whole new landscape for us as readers and I welcomed Laksha's return because I find her so very intriguing. She's had a cool story arc and we get even more development this time around. It was great to see that she's stuck to the less dark path she set for herself when we previously knew her. It's also really interesting to see how the supernatural are treated in India since it's a part of the world that we haven't visited in the series before this.
As ever, Kevin Hearne has delivered an amazing story. There's action, there are new mythological beings, and there are some hilarious one-liners (mostly courtesy of Oberon). This is a must-read series for any self-respecting urban fantasy fan!
Oh nice review! I still need to read this one myself, but I have come to really enjoy this series! It's fun and there's lots of adventure! Plus Oberon is too funny to miss! Glad to hear that this one continues with the excitement!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Oberon is hilarious! Looking forward to your thoughts. Thanks for commenting!
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