Besieged by Kevin Hearne
Narrator: Luke Daniels
Series: Iron Druid Chronicles #9
Published by Penguin Audio on July 11, 2017
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Length: 8 hours, 47 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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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 handsome, tattooed, 2,000-year-old Irishman with extraordinary magic powers from Kevin Hearne's New York Times best-selling Iron Druid Chronicles.
Besieged is a large collection and after Staked I wasn’t quite ready to leave this world or wait for the next audiobook, so I decided to download this collection. Brilliant, funny, sad, and interesting, I delighted in these tales shared around a campfire.
Atticus, Granuaile, and Oberon are enjoying a quiet evening around the campfire at their Colorado cabin when Oberon and Granuaile beseech Atticus to tell them a story. I loved the setup and clear indicators Hearne shared with us where each story falls in the Iron Druid Chronicles timeline. This book encompassed the following novellas #4.1, 4.2, 4.6, 4.7, 8.1, 8.2, 8.6, 8.7, 8.9.
- THE EYE OF HORUS- This short story predates the Druid Chronicles stories and takes place before Atticus was the last Druid. Atticus is speaking with an old English dialogue and I had fun listening to Luke Daniels’ interpretation of his accent. This tale takes us to ancient Egypt, where Atticus agrees to steal an artifact for a god in exchange for a favor. For fans of the series, this story offered a rare treat and answers how Atticus came to learn of things that allowed him to in essence to become the Iron Druid. Eep! Feral cats, angry gods and more await you in this most excellent tale. 5 cups
- GODDESS AT THE CROSSROADS- Shakespeare fans will love this tale, as Atticus shares his encounter with the great playwright and explains his distrust of witches. I loved how Hearne weaved Atticus’s influence and regarding the play, Macbeth. Humor, demons and more await you in this tale. 5 cups
- THE DEMON BARKER OF WHEAT STREET – I was glad to see this tale originally published in the Carniepunk anthology. This takes place during Granuaile’s training and shares a trip the trio took to Kansas so that she could check on her mother. They end up at a carnival and the story quickly turns dark. Demons, ghouls and an angry elemental offered an engaging, if not gory, tale. Oberon, of course, stole the show on more than one occasion. 4 cups
- GOLD DUST DRUID- This was such a fun tale that takes place during the gold rush in this western short. An elemental seeks Atticus’s help with a demon and soon he is carrying a cane and posing as an English detective of sorts and joins forces with the local sheriff. Suspense, greed and Oberon’s interruptions with star ratings of the tale had me giggling aloud. A clever tale that showcased Atticus’s skills. 4.5 cups
- THE BOGEYMAN OF BOORA BOG- We are treated to the story of how Owen came to be Atticus’s teacher. He is relating the tale to Greta during pillow talk. I really like Owen and enjoyed hearing about his past. Someone or something is kidnapping children along the bog’s borders, and what Owen discovers shakes him. During this time, he has a chat with the Morrigan and we see some foreshadowing. 4 cups
- CUDDLE DUNGEON – Perun, the Slavic God of Thunder and Flidais, visits a sex club where Flidais assumes the role of Dom. This was an interesting tale delivered from Perun’s perspective. While Perun assumes they are having fun to spice up their love life, it appears Flidais has other plans and it will cost her. 4.5 cups
- BLOOD PUDDING- We are in Poland with Granuaile as she trains with the witches and tends bar. An encounter with a stranger soon has her working with Leif to eradicate a vampire nest. While Granuaile sometimes annoys me, I give the girl credit for her dating criteria. 4 cups
- HAUNTED DEVILS- I loved this story. This story takes place after, Staked but before Scourged the final book. The elementals ask Owen for help to save a species and he takes his apprentices along with him where they bump into Atticus and Oberon. Greta is none too pleased, but the tale itself was fascinating and involved a virus and ghostly spirits. I loved the growth Owen made in this story regarding Atticus and shed a tear at his words. 4.5 cups
- THE END OF IDYLLS- The Morrigan warns Atticus that Ragnorak has begun. This prompts Atticus to send Oberon home, but before he does, he shares the story of his first companion. I love how Hearne ties stories together and this one references Big Foot. The conversation between Oberon and Atticus was touching and the story a sad one. 5 cups
I devoured Besieged and appreciated what each tale brought to the Iron Druid world and its characters. It also made my pockets a little lighter. I went and bought all the audio novellas ranging in length from one and a half hours to four.
Listen to a clip: HERE
Share your review/ thoughts on Staked:
I thought it might be fun to link up reviews so we can find them all easily. It can be a link to Goodreads or a blog, or wherever you have a review (short or long).
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The chat will be Sunday, November 5th
Don’t forget the time change if your region has one.
COYER Challenge is adopting our Read-along. You can read about COYER and join that challenge or just the Facebook community chat HERE. On the Sunday after the review posts, they will host a FB room (like we do for COYER book club) at 12 PT, 2 CT, 3 ET and 9pm Europe, for a one hour chat. You do not have to join the COYER challenge to participate, only the Facebook group.
Here’s your to-do list:
- Find your copies of these books, borrow them from a friend, get them at the library or buy them.
- Read book 9, Scourged by December 1.
- Read 9.1 The Waters, 9.2 Friendly Emily. These are in First Dangle and Other Stories. (The Naughtiest Cherub is also there but we read that already in Besieged. It was in the Besieged ebook but not the audio. It is chapter 3-4 in First Dangle. ) It is available in ebook for $2.99 and also in audio (Audible only). They were not available at my libraries.
- Read 9.4 BuzzKill in an anthology Death & Honey. It is one of 3 stories, the other 2 by Chuck Wendig and Delilah Dawson. This story is also at the end of the ebook version of Scourged and probably the new paperback version also. Death & Honey is available in ebook for $5.99 and also in audio (Audible only). It was not available at my libraries.
- Read 9.5 Fire Hazards which is in the anthology of Heroic Hearts. There are many short stories in this by many authors. Fire Hazards is ~25 pages and has the hounds including Starbuck! It is available in ebook and audio, both available at my library.
- Don’t forget to enter questions for the Q&A with Kevin into the rafflecopter! LAST CHANCE!!!
- Make note of a favorite quote or two as you read the book.
- If you haven’t read the books before, make a list of questions you have for the discussion. If you have read them, please don’t spoil new readers.
- Enter the giveaways!
Interviews with Kevin:
2017- Oct 12: Orbit books Youtube
Games:
Who said (enter the answer in the Rafflecopter, don’t put in the comments)
Who said “Yes no play squirrel happy gravy food!”
There are other options in the rafflecopter for you to enter discussion questions and quotes to share.
he quote for Who said ““I suppose what I want is fair warning if something horrible is going to happen here. You and horrible go together like pickle spears and sandwiches . ” in Staked is Rabbi Yosef Bialik.
The villain was the vampires Theopolis, Werner and Leif.
Observations and questions you shared from Staked:
(Thank you so much for sharing!) If you can answer any of these questions, you can do so in a comment.
- I am happy that Atticus has found some peace, at last, though I’m sure it will be temporary!
- What wonderful tidings for Oberon and Orlaith!
- I’m going to miss Hal!
- I’m mad at how everyone blames Atticus for everything when Leif, Fand and Loki are on the blame side just as much or more.
Quotes you readers shared from Staked:
“Didn’t you say you wanted bacon? I answered him mentally since I didn’t want Ed or his friend to worry about my sanity if they saw me talking out loud to my hound.”
“What I should be doing was the same thing everyone should be doing: enjoying the blessings I have while I have them, instead of worrying that one day they will be gone.”
“All right, we’re heading back in time to the 17th-century France, at the court of Louis the Fourteenth.” “What?” “I don’t think he was embarrassed about it. He was the king.”
“I knew from the moment I first sniffed your ass that we would get along!”
“Sometimes you simply need to say thank you to someone, to be grateful for the road behind and the road ahead and the place you’re at, and gods are very good at accepting those feelings. And for all that humanity asks them for intercession with this crisis or that, it’s important when things go well to be thankful or at least conscious of your good fortune, whether the gods deserve the gratitude or not. We strive so much to achieve these small slivers of balance that it would be a shame not to look around and appreciate them when they happen.”
“I gave him whiskey and Girl Scout cookies. We’re practically…bros..”
“People do that—cling to their past because it’s the only thing they consider safe. Trying something new or just accepting it turns their livers into jelly.”
Be sure to enter the giveaways!!!
Giveaway:
For US Audible audio version of Scourged, and for Intl a paperback from Better World Books. The giveaway is international, as long as Better World Books ships there free of charge (find that out here!)
Grand-Prize Giveaway:
For a US / Canadian winner, this will be a full set of SIGNED trade paperbacks by Kevin Hearne.
For an Intl winner, it will be $50 at Better World Books. The giveaway is international, as long as Better World Books ships there free of charge (find that out here!)
Time to start reading Scourged by Kevin Hearne for the 2023 Read-along! #giveaways #giveaway @BooksofMyHeart Share on X
Schedule:
We are doing one book every 4-5 weeks, posting on Fridays. We will have a review with the team here at Books of My Heart plus some of our friends.
Mar 3: Hounded – Stephanie @ Once Upon A Chapter
Mar 31 Hexed – Lillian @ Mom with a Reading Problem
May 5: Hammered – Jen @ That’s What I’m Talking About
Jun 2: Tricked – Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
Jul 7: Trapped – Rachel @ Waves of Fiction
Aug 4: Hunted – KC @ Books of My Heart
Sep 8: Shattered – Berls @ Because Reading
Oct 6: Staked – Sophia @ Books of My Heart
Nov 3: Besieged – Kimberly @Caffeinated Reviewer
Dec 1: Scourged – Anne @ Books of My Heart
Dec 17: Q & A with Kevin Hearne
Nice review, Kimberly. I did a re-listen of the audiobook for the read-along, but ended up not writing a review. While I enjoyed each story, I found myself just wanting to get through the ones that took place in the past. I enjoyed the “current to the series” stories more because they progressed the entire story arc forward to the last book. That said, the older stories (some I’d read/listened to a few times) are all well written and entertaining. I just would have preferred them in the chronologic order.
yes I’d agree with that. If I read again I might read the #4.x ones after Tricked. It just seemed too complicated to break things up anymore for the Read-along.
Totally get that, but so many of favorite series never get the novellas to audio, so I appreciate them being in one audiobook.
Thank you so much Kimberly! You did a great review. I appreciate your thoughts on the stories.
Happy to share Anne.
Just finished listening to The Squirrel on the Train ( I guess I hadn’t read it before!) and it was hilarious! I will be starting Besieged after I take care of a few things. Hopefully, I’ll be done tomorrow at some point because even though I read it before I can’t remember a lot of it.
You did a wonderful job breaking down all the stories, Kimberly! Thank you! 🙂
I love the Meaty mysteries so much. Sophia’s review breaks down the stories nicely also. I did not do a breakdown.
I finished! I think Haunted Devils and Blood Pudding were my favorites. See you at the chat!
I adored the Meaty Mysteries. These were such fun. I think he has a new one coming!
yes he does have a new one coming! So excited. From his Facebook page:
CANINES & COCKTAILS, a themed suite of novellas from myself, Delilah S. Dawson, and Chuck Wendig! My novella will be an Oberon’s Meaty Mystery called THE CHARTREUSE CHANTEUSE, which is being recorded for audio by Luke Daniels right now! It is set immediately after the events of PAPER & BLOOD and gives us a happy-ever-after for Atticus, Oberon, and Starbuck. The golden retriever you see at the top is Gumball, who was introduced in Chuck’s novel WAYWARD, and his novella will be called WHISKEY SOUR. The pit bull at the bottom is Peach Pit, and she will be featured in Delilah’s novella, THE BARTENDER & THE BEAST. This will be available in ebook and audio in early 2024!
Yep, that’s it. I couldn’t remember the title but new it was on my list.
I should probably read Paper & Blood first. I’m so happy Atticus will have a HEA!
So happy to hear there’s another one coming!
I had a good time delving into this short story collection, too, Kimberly. Nice minis on each story.
These were enjoyable but mostly didn’t change the overall story arc. You did an excellent breakdown in your review also.
I am off to check out your thoughts.
This was a fun, and I enjoyed the shorts. I am glad I did the read a long,.
Thank you so much for joining us. I created the Read-along to tackle new series but also to revisit favorites and it’s been over 10 years since this series started releasing. Plus if you read them a year apart, it can be nice to enjoy them all together in a shorter time period.
Yes, I like all of them, both paper and audio.
While not easy, I have been able to gather everything on audio so far because I love Luke Daniels’ narration. I try to note where to find everything in multiple formats on my post because the shorts can be confusing to find if they were originally published in an anthology.
I’m glad this worked out! 😀
They are enjoyable stories.
I really enjoyed it!
yes. I enjoyed them and didn’t think they connected too much to the overall story arc but they do a bit more than I suspected.