Thanks to the recommendation of QSB‘s “Undulations” columnist, I just read the first three books in a fantastic urban fantasy series: The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne.  Hounded, Hexed, & Hammered are out now.  Tricked is coming on April 24th which is good because of the many directions the story could take after Hammered–cannot wait!

Definitely irreverent what with all the gods of all mythologies running around and real.  The Iron Druid is Atticus O’Sullivan (aka Siodhachan Ó Suleabháin) who’s been around for a good 21 centuries.  He’s just looking to “chill” in Tempe, Arizona but the Fae and some gods just don’t like that idea.  There are references to Monty Python, Star Wars, Hitchhiker’s Guide, the Princess Bride, and other pop culture…how can you go wrong?!   Plus witches, werewolves, vampires, and anything else you can think of that might appear in the speculative fiction vein.  More literate than other current fiction (the author’s a high school english teacher).  And the wolfhound sidekick, Oberon, is hilarious but believable.

In other book notes, the Armand Gamache books I raved about in this post continued to live up to my expectations.  I devoured all seven of the current titles.  The 8th book–The Beautiful Mystery–will be out on August 28 of this year so mark your calendars if you’ve become a fan.