Hammered (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #3)Hammered by Kevin Hearne

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fantasy – Book 3 of the Iron Druid Chronicles

Atticus, the last living Druid, has made some deals and promises in the past to other magical creatures and now the time has come to pay up. 

Promise number 1 was made to a very powerful witch.  He promised to go to Asgard, the land of the Norse gods, and steal a magical apple.  No problem.  All he has to do is sneak up the World Tree while avoiding a gigantic squirrel, sneak past all the gods, steal an apple, and get back.  What could go wrong?

Promise number 2 was made to his vampire lawyer.  He promised to help him kill Thor.  Oh well, as long as he’s going to Asgard anyway he could call it recon for a second trip to kill Thor.

Atticus knows that as soon as the other gods realize that he is able to move between the planes of existence into their realms that they are going to team up to kill him.  It is probably time for him to finish up his life in Arizona and go back into hiding.  But word as gotten out about what he is planning and despite some friendly advice from both The Morrigan and Jesus (who can’t resist multiplying some fish just to mess with people), he gave his word and he has to go through with it.  They assemble a team of a vampire, a werewolf, a Russian thunder god, a Finnish magician, and a Chinese sage to take on Thor.

This series has a lot of elements that I like.  There is the mythology of multiple pantheons of gods trying to stay out of each other’s way.  There are all kinds of magical creatures.  There is a talking dog – really, what else do you need?  There is action and very cool earth magic.  It is hilarious.

I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.  My only complaint is that this are really quick reads so I get through them too quickly.  Like Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden novels, I may have to move to listening to these on audio so I don’t go through them too quickly.