Early Review – Staked (Iron Druid Chronicles, Book 8) by Kevin Hearne (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Del Rey
Release Date: January 26, 2016
ISBN-13: 978-0345548511
Stand Alone or Series: 8th book in the Iron Druid Chronicles
Source: ARC from Amazon Vine
Rating: 4/5 stars

I got this book through the Amazon Vine program to review. This is the eighth book in the Iron Druid Chronicles. The ninth book is as yet untitled and is supposed to be the final book in this series. This was a decent continuation of this series; although I haven’t enjoyed the last couple books in this series as much as earlier ones.

Hearne starts out this book with a preface telling you that you need to go pick up the anthology Three Slices and read his Iron Druid novella (A Prelude to War) in there. I did that (with a bit of grumbling). However, after reading Staked I don’t think you have to go and read A Prelude to War in Three Slices. Hearne recaps the events in A Prelude to War just fine within this book. I would only go and pick up Three Slices if you are also a Delilah Dawson and Chuck Wendig fan.

In this book Granuaile and Atticus spend most of their time apart. The story is actually told from three points of view that of Granuaile, Atticus, and Owen. Granuaile is busy trying to figure out how to get Loki’s mark removed and also trying to get a cloak put over her so that no one can divine where she is. As a result of that she ends up going to the witches and doing a quest for them in exchange for the cloaking magic.

Atticus is trying to find the oldest vampire Theopolis and take him out in an effort to stop the war between druids and vampires once and for all. Meanwhile Owen had decided to start a new druidic grove and work on teaching a new generation of druids.

This book was decent and there are a lot of good action scenes as well as some humor (although not nearly as much humor as previous books). The story feels a bit more fractured than earlier books in this series. It’s kind of like three books mashed together; although the characters do come together at the end.

This book wasn’t as entertaining as previous books but read more like it was just a playing out of events that had to happen to tie up some storylines. I just couldn’t engage with the story and really get into it like I have for earlier books in the series.

Probably my favorite part was when the Hammers of God and their tentacular beards get involved in the story; this was pretty awesome. The other characters didn’t show much growth or change. Atticus is still blundering around causing issues. Granualie has definitely come into her own and is making good decisions and planning for the future.

Overall this was a decent addition to this series but not as entertaining as previous books. The story just feels too fractured and wasn’t as much fun to read. I am happy the ninth book is the final book in this series. This series started out absolutely spectacular and the last few books have gotten less and less entertaining. I would still recommend this series to urban fantasy fans out there. It’s a good one and fun to read.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– New Release Challenge