Hello, fellow bookworms it’s time for another audiobook review. Today I’d like to share my thoughts about Besieged by Kevin Hearne. A collection of short stories and novellas in his bestselling urban fantasy series, The Iron Druid Chronicles.
What’s Besieged about?
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My Rating: Title: Besieged: Stories from the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne
Series: The Iron Druid Chronicles #4.1, #4.2, #4.6, #4.7, #8.1, #8.2, #8.6, #8.7, #8.8
Published by Hachette Audio UK on 5 April, 2018
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Narrator: Christopher Ragland
Length: 8 hours 38 minutes
No. of Pages: 257
Over a million copies of the Iron Druid books sold.
Discover this action-packed collection of short stories featuring Atticus O'Sullivan - the two-thousand-year-old tattooed Irishman with extraordinary powers from Kevin Hearne's New York Times best-selling Iron Druid Chronicles.
- In ancient Egypt, Atticus raids a secret chamber underneath the library of Alexandria, dodging deadly traps, only to learn that on-site security includes two members of the Egyptian pantheon...
- During the Gold Rush, the avatar of greed himself turns the streets of San Francisco red with blood and upsets the elemental Sequoia. Atticus may have to fight fire with fire if he's going to restore balance...
- In olde England, striking up a friendship with William Shakespeare lands both Atticus and the Bard in boiling hot water with a trio of infamous witches...
Prepare to be besieged by these and other tantalising tales of magic and adventure featuring bogeymen, vampire hordes, wrathful wraiths, and even a journey to the realm of the dead.
Source: Bought
Review Format: Audiobook, eBook
Purchase Links: Books2Read - Universal eBook Link ¦ Audible* ¦ Audiobooks.com*
Read: 4th – 8th January 2021
I understand that the stories in this collection have previously been published in various anthologies and other publications over the years. But as a relative newcomer to the series, I think it’s wonderful that they’re all now together in this one. Thank you Kevin Hearne!
What did I think about Besieged?
A Fabulous Collection of Short Stories – Now in One Place!
Damn, I love The Iron Druid Chronicles. Kevin Hearne’s writing style is fantastic and his stories keep me hooked. His tales are intelligent, obviously well researched while still being easy to read. They’re full of threads that weave in and out of the whole series but never leave me feeling confused. Kevin keeps me entertained from the first page to the last; the humour and satire putting a wry smile on my face.
I loved this audiobook. Christopher Ragland’s performance was once again outstanding.
Christopher transported me into each and every adventure. The pace at which he read each of the stories and the emotions he portrayed were perfect. I loved the different accents and voices he gave each character – his performance brought them all to life. I knew straight away whose head we were in and didn’t get lost in any of the conversational dialogue.
While I’m talking about the characters, I must say how much I love them all in this series.
Atticus, Granuaile and Owen all get their own stories in this collection. I’ve read all the novels now and enjoyed going back to the various times and situations that these stories were set in. Oberon, Atticus’ faithful Irish Wolfhound is still my favourite character. He just lights up my heart in every scene he’s in and I LOVE the voice that Christopher created for him in his narrations.
Obviously, Kevin assumes that the readers of Besieged are not new to the Iron Druid Chronicles. That we already have a relationship with Atticus, Granuaile and Owen so don’t need huge amounts of explanations. However, each story has a prelude telling us where in the series timeline it sits. You don’t need to read this collection or any of the other novellas. However, I feel that these short stories gave me a further depth of understanding of our main protagonists as well as adding extra nuggets of information about the main series story arc.
I now want to listen to all the other novellas and short stories in this incredible series!
Keep reading to find out more about Kevin Hearne and this fabulous urban fantasy series.
The Iron Druid Chronicles
The Iron Druid Chronicles is a series of urban fantasy novels, written by Kevin Hearne and published by Del Rey Books. All the books including short stories have recorded Audiobooks narrated by Luke Daniels (for the US) and Christopher Ragland (for the UK market).
The series is set in our world (the first couple of books are set in Tempe, Arizona) where supernatural creatures exist, such as witches, vampires, werewolves, as well as various gods and goddesses from the world’s mythologies. The series is told in the first-person point-of-view of Atticus O’Sullivan (aka. Siodhachan O Suileabhain), a Druid who owns and runs an occult bookshop, Third Eye Books and Herbs, as he gets embroiled in the day-to-day struggle of Gods and Goddesses and other supernatural creatures.
Books in the Series
It’s never too late to start your adventure. There are nine novels and a growing number of short stories and novellas in this series. I’ve only listed the novels here. Click below to read my reviews or buy a copy for yourself.
- Hounded (Iron Druid Chronicles #1) (2011)
- Hexed (Iron Druid Chronicles #2) (2011)
- Hammered (Iron Druid Chronicles #3) (2011)
- Tricked (Iron Druid Chronicles #4) (2012)
- Trapped (Iron Druid Chronicles #5) (2012)
- Hunted (Iron Druid Chronicles #6) (2013)
- Shattered (Iron Druid Chronicles #7) (2014)
- Staked (Iron Druid Chronicles #8) (2016)
- Scourged (Iron Druid Chronicles #9) (2018)
Buy THE IRON DRUID CHRONICLES in print, audio and eBook formats through the usual sources including:
Audible ¦ Book Depository ¦ Waterstones ¦ Foyles
Keep reading to find out more about Kevin Hearne.
About Kevin Hearne
Kevin is the NYT bestselling author of the Iron Druid Chronicles, as well as The Seven Kennings, an epic fantasy trilogy, and the Tales of Pell, a humorous fantasy series co-authored with Delilah S. Dawson. INK & SIGIL, a new urban fantasy series set in the Iron Druid universe, will be out in 2020.
Kevin hugs the heck out of trees and loves doggies and pretending that he knows stuff about hockey. (“There are goalies!” he noted. “And frozen water!”) He is also fond of comic books, tacos, fresh air, clean energy, fountain pens, and friendly people.
and because I love the narration so much, here’s Christopher’s bio too. 😉
About Christopher Ragland
Christopher Ragland is a British-based American actor and voice actor. He has provided voices for numerous video games including Driver: San Francisco. He also starred in the documentary series, I Shouldn't Be Alive, as Travis Wright.
He joined the voice cast of Thomas & Friends in 2015. He voices Percy in the US dub taking over from Martin T. Sherman and the Troublesome Trucks in both the UK and US taking over from Ben Small. He also voices Trevor in the US.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read my thoughts about Besieged.
If you’ve read any of the books in this captivating urban fantasy series, I’d love to hear from you. If not, why the hell not! 😉 Click on the above links and add it to your towering TBR piles. Lol! 😉
Bye for now,
Flora x
