Staked

The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book 8

By: Kevin Hearne

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In the eighth book in The Iron Druid Chronicles, two-thousand-year-old Druid Atticus O’Sullivan faces the clan of vampires who have been bent on destroying him—including Leif, his former best friend turned enemy.

When a Druid lives as long as Atticus does, he’s bound to run afoul of a few vampires—make that legions of them. Even his former friend and legal counsel turned out to be a bloodsucking backstabber. Now the toothy troublemakers—led by power-mad pain-in-the-neck Theophilus—are no longer content to live undead and let live. Atticus needs to make a point—and drive it into a vampire’s heart.

As always, Atticus wouldn’t mind a little backup. But his allies have problems of their own. Ornery archdruid Owen Kennedy is having a wee bit of troll trouble: Turns out when you stiff a troll, it’s not water under the bridge. Meanwhile, Granuaile is desperate to free herself of the Norse god Loki’s mark and elude his powers of divination—a quest that will bring her face-to-face with several Slavic nightmares.

As Atticus globe-trots to stop his vampire nemesis, the journey leads to Rome. What better place to end an immortal than the Eternal City? But poetic justice won’t come without a price: In order to defeat Theophilus, Atticus may have to lose an old friend.

Don’t miss any of The Iron Druid Chronicles:
HOUNDED | HEXED | HAMMERED | TRICKED | TRAPPED | HUNTED | SHATTERED | STAKED | SCOURGED | BESIEGED

©2016 Kevin Hearne (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“[Kevin] Hearne is a terrific storyteller with a great snarky wit. . . . Neil Gaiman’s American Gods meets Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden.”—SFFWorld

“[The Iron Druid books] are clever, fast-paced and a good escape.”—Boing Boing

“Hearne understands the two main necessities of good fantasy stories: for all the wisecracks and action, he never loses sight of delivering a sense of wonder to his readers, and he understands that magic use always comes with a price. Highly recommended.”—The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

Disappointed...But There's Some Hope.

First off, this is probably my favorite book series. But this is probably my least favorite of the bunch.

The good:
We get to hear more from Owen (I'd read a whole series on him!) and a certain Icelandic vampire. Much of their treatment is done well.

The missing:
There seems to be a significant lack of the banter that made many of the earlier books hilarious, especially with Atticus and Oberon, but often with Atticus and anyone. The conversations with Oberon, Leif, Hal, The Morrigan, Coyote, etc... really make the earlier books enjoyable.

The bad: (spoilers!)
Granuaile has gone from bland to really annoying. Her focus on global warming and daddy issues is not only tedious, but also ridiculous. The portrayal of her stepfather as some sort of frothing monster because he's in the oil business is downright silly. The scene in the office was despicable and makes me dislike her.
Then there are the questionable choices. I'm used to Atticus making stupid choices such as not killing Verner at the first encounter, but siding with evil in the battle along with Brighid comes off as a betrayal.

Overall, if you're a fan of the series, you should read it as it does offer some closure on things. But let's hope the final installment is better.

Another epic from my favorite bard!

Kevin Hearne has created an amazingly detailed and enthralling world. Staked was a fabulous addition!

good but stupidness and loose ends

good but they don't explain how the vamps found out about the Kodiak finance guy and where he was. Also Atticus has money troubles due to Kodiak being found, there are so many problems with this it's insane. first Atticus keeps his capital in many places top avoid this and negates that by having this one guy pretty much have all his accounts? really? also, hello, this ring a bell? "I have a genuine treasure map" in the first book he talks about knowing where an insane about of gold treasure is, on top of that he can easily ask an elemental to help him by bringing gold to him like he did for coyote. or hell, he could ask an elemental where a good place to find gold would be. So Atticus having money trouble is entirely absurd.

started to get too political for my taste

this will be the last one in the series
I love nature and do believe that we need to take care of the environment but cartoonish view of oil industry turns me off.

Right Through the Heart

I found the previous book pretty jarring with two new character narrators. This book definitely worked out better for me and I enjoyed the three storylines and the transitions were easily understood. My only complaint is that it wasn't longer cause I blew through it! :)

Loved it. Hearne and Daniels definitely had a good time with this one and so did I.

Kevin hearne and Luke Daniels make a great pair.

Luke Daniels Oberon is still great and gives this story a undeniable charm. the writing is great too.

Staked

i enjoyed the series.. the first 2 or 3 were good fun .
the novellas as well.
Thanx Kevin Hearn.
hope you start a new character .
in this story Granuell has lost some of her druid thang.

Love this series!

Trainer showed it to me while I was driving and holy crap is it good. I'm not much of a reading type so this series happened to a must for my long drives. Don't know if its as good without the narrator thought. Get past the weird odd cursing here and their is my only real complaint. Not against cursing just feels out of place sometimes. I am working on getting the hole series legally but I have heard all of it. Bit on the experience side for me but worth it. Give them a try you won't regret it.

Another great one by Kevin Hearne!

Loved it! it had the right amount of ups and downs expected from this series!

Outstanding!

Do vampires poop? Your answer awaits in this novel! I loved this book from start to finish! I am never disappointed by the thrills, humor, and magic this series holds!