Review: TRAPPED

Trapped by Kevin Hearne
Read by Christopher Ragland
Book 5 of The Iron Druid series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: paperback & audiobook

About Trapped:

After twelve years of secret training, Atticus O’Sullivan is finally ready to bind his apprentice, Granuaile, to the earth and double the number of Druids in the world. But on the eve of the ritual, the world that thought he was dead abruptly discovers that he’s still alive, and they would much rather he return to the grave.

Having no other choice, Atticus, his trusted Irish wolfhound, Oberon, and Granuaile travel to the base of Mount Olympus, where the Roman god Bacchus is anxious to take his sworn revenge—but he’ll have to get in line behind an ancient vampire, a band of dark elves, and an old god of mischief, who all seem to have KILL THE DRUID at the top of their to-do lists.

Source: Info in the About Trapped was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13536649-trapped on 11/05/2013.

Review:

I was a bit disappointed with Tricked (Book 4) but in the end the book redeemed itself. So when I started reading this book and I was having a hard time getting into the story, I thought it would be the same as Tricked but the good stuff would eventually arrive or is just around the corner. Unfortunately, that was not true with this book. I guess it will happen to an author one day. And for Kevin Hearne this is it. I don't know what happened to him but his story telling quality took a nose dive. It took me two months of struggle to get through this book. Yeah, it was that bad. But get through it, I did, so it was not totally hopeless... Yet... However, that was not the worst of it. This book just meandered around with no clear plot. WTF?!? As far as I could tell, this book centers around two themes. One, is that the main protagonists keep getting trapped repeatedly. Second is Granuaile's tale. It's like a history lesson. A mere retelling of an event with no concern about plot or structure. Some authors can pull it off. But Hearne didn't quite manage it in this book. I could see a pattern of decline in Hearne's writing since Tricked (Book 4). There is a marked and gradual decline which by this book, screwed the series for me. Hearne used to be an auto-buy/pre-order kind of author, but since this fiasco of a book, I don't think I would be buying anymore books in this series. Unfortunately I already have Hunted in my TBR (to be read) shelf. So I would probably be reading that book at some point in time. But seeing that there are so many books in my TBR shelf, that may take a while. And the fact that there are so many books which are coming out that looks really good... that "a while" bit might take even longer. I still like the world building in this series though. That has been established since Book 1 and continues to be wonderful! Plus, I like Oberon, the bestest best irishwolfhound ever! So there is a probability that I would continue reading with this series. But if ever, I would probably be borrowing from the library rather than waste my money on another Trapped fiasco.

Empirical Evaluation:
Character Development = 4
World Building = 4.5
Plot = 1
Story = 2
Pace = 1.5
Ending = 2
Story Telling Quality = 2.5

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Iron Druid Series:

Review: TRICKED

Tricked by Kevin Hearne
Narrated by Christopher Ragland
Book 4 of The Iron Druid series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: paperback & audiobook

About Tricked:

Druid Atticus O’Sullivan hasn’t stayed alive for more than two millennia without a fair bit of Celtic cunning. So when vengeful thunder gods come Norse by Southwest looking for payback, Atticus, with a little help from the Navajo trickster god Coyote, lets them think that they’ve chopped up his body in the Arizona desert.

But the mischievous Coyote is not above a little sleight of paw, and Atticus soon finds that he’s been duped into battling bloodthirsty desert shapeshifters called skinwalkers. Just when the Druid thinks he’s got a handle on all the duplicity, betrayal comes from an unlikely source. If Atticus survives this time, he vows he won’t be fooled again. Famous last words.

Source: Info in the About Tricked was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12700306-tricked on 24/06/2012.

Review:

The openning gambit ushers the reader with Coyote in the central stage. Pairing "Coyote" and the title "Tricked" gave me a pretty good idea of what this story is gonna be... and I was right, giving an element of predictability in the book which I did not notice in previous books. Another thing new about this book is that I struggled to get through the first few chapters. I've had this book since it was published but I couldn't seem to get through it! I keep putting it down. Which is surprising because Kevin Hearne's story telling quality has always been compelling to me... except the first half of this book. So in the end I bought the audiobook version and I finally finished the book. However I found that once past the halfway mark, the story flowed in an even tempo and it was easy going until the end. It was just the first half that was hard work, but I persevered because I know that this author delivers. And, because I am an old fan of this series and I wanted to read the rest of the The Iron Druid books, and to understand the rest of the books I must read this book too. So that contributed to my persistence. Which paid off because Kevin Hearne did deliver in the end!

Empirical Evaluation:
Character Development = 4
World Building = 4.5
Plot = 3
Story = 3
Pace = (10hrs & 34mins listening time)
Ending = 4
Story Telling Quality = 4
Narration = 4

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Iron Druid Series: