The Chronicle of the Iron Druid
The Chronicle of the Iron Druid ( Original title: The Iron Druid Chronicles ) is a nine-volume urban fantasy novel series by the American author Kevin Hearne . In the United States it was published by Del Rey Books , the German-language editions appeared in the Hobbit Press , translated by Alexander Wagner and Friedrich Mader. All German-language volumes were also set to music as audio books. The protagonist, who tells the story from a first-person perspective, is the roughly two thousand and one hundred year old Irish druid Siodhachan Ó Suileabháin, known as Atticus O'Sullivan. As the last living druid, he goes on numerous adventures in which he meets characters from various mythologies, including the Greek , Nordic and Celtic .
The books
Rushed
| Original title | Hounded |
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| translator | Alexander Wagner |
Irishman Atticus O'Sullivan has lived in Arizona for ten years and runs a bookstore with a pharmaceutical counter there. But in reality he is an ancient druid who has lived for over 2000 years. Through Airmed's herbalism , his body remains that of a 21-year-old and allows him to hide his actual age of two thousand and one hundred years. Since the Romans killed all druids except him, Atticus has been the last druid to hide from his numerous enemies from the world of gods and fairies. Aenghus Óg in particular , the Celtic god of love, hates him greatly. Centuries ago, Atticus captured the Fragarach sword at the battle of Conn Cétchathach and refused to return it to Aenghus as the alleged rightful owner. After being able to hide for a long time, Aenghus finally found him in Arizona. After two attempts to assassinate him fail, in which, among other things, Bres is killed by Atticus, his wife Brighid goes to see him. The goddess explains to him that Aenghus not only wants revenge, but wants to turn Fragarach against her and oust her as head of the Túatha Dé Danann . Since she sees her husband as a traitor and does not support her brother Aenghus either, she helps Atticus instead. She warns him that Aenghus manipulated the human police against him and made pacts with a Polish coven of witches, the Fomori and a few other creatures. In fact, shortly afterwards, he is shot by an Aenghus-controlled police officer, leading him to go on the offensive. However, he is confronted with a new problem when an old Indian witch named Laksha, whose spirit resides in the pretty bartender Granuaile, calls for his services. She promises him to turn off the coven if he gets her an amulet that is in the possession of the witches and strengthens their own powers. At the same time, the real Granuaile, who learned about the magical world through Laksha, wants to become Atticus' apprentice. Atticus agrees on the condition that Laksha, when she has got her amulet back and has found a new body, remains outside his territory. As soon as the deal is made, Atticus learns that his dog Oberon and his werewolf lawyer Hal Hauk have been kidnapped by the witches' coven. They demand that Atticus should return the sword to Aenghus Óg if his friends are to live on. With the help of the pack of Hal and Laksha, he goes to a remote desert where the coven and aenghus are waiting. God has opened a gate to hell, through which dozens of demons come to earth. In the ensuing fight, Laksha can kill the witch leader Randomila, the rest are killed by the werewolf pack. Atticus manages to slay Aenghus Óg and most of the demons with him. However, some werewolves are injured and one killed by the attack, while Atticus must accept the strength of his allies, Morrígan , in order to win. Shortly afterwards, Flidais reveals to him that she kidnapped Hal and Oberon on behalf of Brighid in order to give Atticus a reason to face the fight and not to flee. Atticus returns home with Aenghus' sword Moralltach as a trophy to recover from the fight.
Bewitched
| Original title | Hexed |
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| Published |
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| translator | Alexander Wagner |
By killing Aenghus Óg and Bres, Atticus has increased the attention paid to him many times over. Several gods want to win him over as a mercenary for their own campaigns, but most of them just don't want to be haunted by him themselves. While his vampire solicitor Leif Helgarson tried it a vendetta against the Nordic god of thunder Thor to move, gets Atticus' residence in the crosshairs of some Bacchantinnen that are no longer held the obliterated by him witches at bay. The witches left over from Atticus' campaign, now under the leadership of Malina Sokolowski, have joined him, but are not strong enough to defend their territory. Since Atticus' magic is powerless against these creatures, he again has to resort to the help of Laksha, who has since found a new body. In return, she demands that he bring her one of Idun's golden apples from Asgard , which are supposed to keep her body young. However, since Malina had given him the wrong number of Bacchantes, Laksha only kills the agreed number and then disappears. Atticus succeeds in killing two of the remaining Bacchantes, but one escapes to report to her master Bacchus . Meanwhile, Atticus is already facing new dangers. A circle of German witches, with whom he already had to deal with during World War II , is about to attack the defeated Polish witches of Malina and to confiscate their territory. At the same time, two mysterious Kabbalists appear who see a danger in Atticus, as he associates with dark creatures such as werewolves, vampires and witches. After several assassination attempts by the German witches fail, Atticus tries to protect his pupil Granuaile, his dog Oberon and his widow MacDonagh, who is close to him. Ultimately, however, he finds himself compelled to seek help from Leif while promising to help him hunt Thor. Together with the other Polish witches, they succeed in destroying the German circle and the demons associated with them, whereby one of Malina's witches dies when one of the Kabbalists interferes. He mistakenly thinks Atticus and his allies are the dark forces, which they try to prove to him after the battle. They let him go in spite of the murder, otherwise they will have to reckon with a much larger number of his kind. After the battle is over, Atticus believes the time has come to deal with the devastated land that Aenghus Óg left behind when the gates of Hell were opened.
Hammered
| Original title | Hammered |
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| Published |
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| translator |
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Atticus now has to compensate Laksha for her help in destroying the Bacchantes. He travels to Asgard to steal one of Idun's golden apples. However, he is discovered by the Norns , who he has to kill in self-defense. Although he manages to steal an apple, he is now pursued by Odin and the Valkyries . However, by bringing down Odin's horse Sleipnir, he manages to escape. Back home, a group of Kabbalists confront him again. Just the appearance of Jesus Christ himself prevents them from murdering him by trying to teach them that Atticus is not a devotee of demons. Since Atticus also has a debt to settle with Leif Helgarson, he has to go back to Asgard and help the vampire to kill Thor shortly afterwards. Since the god has several enemies, Leif gathers even more allies; Gunnar Magnusson, Leif's lawyer partner, the Slavic thunder god Perun , the immortal Zhang Guo Lao and the Finnish hero Väinämöinen . Atticus, who as a druid can change the mythical realms, is supposed to bring the group to Asgard. To do this, however, he has to get an insight into the life of the strangers, as he does not know any of the group except Gunnar and Leif. So they tell each other the stories why they want Thor dead. After the group's mental connection is strong enough, Atticus manages to get everyone to Jötunheim . There, they succeed in the frost-Jötunnen to win as allies to the Asen attack. In fact, when they reach Asgard, they succeed in killing the god Heimdall and luring Thor out of the reserve. However, he escapes when he sees the superiority against him and returns with his father Odin and some other gods. In the ensuing skirmish, fifteen of the twenty Jötunnen are killed, as are Väinämöinen and Gunnar Magnusson. In return, the gods Uller , Freyr and the Valkyries lose their lives. Leif succeeds in defeating Thor in a duel, but he himself is beheaded in the process. Atticus, himself badly injured, tries to put the head that was shattered by Thor's hammer back together so that Leif's vampire healing powers can possibly breathe undead life into him again. After Atticus is largely able to heal himself, he returns to earth with Perun and Zhang Guo Lao, where they bury Väinämoinen. A short time later, the three survivors separate. Atticus takes Gunnar's corpse to bring back his alpha to the wolf pack, as does Leif. Hal Hauk, up to now second in the ranking and now alpha animal, enables Atticus and Granuaile to flee with new ID cards, as a number of gods and magical beings will now hunt them down and they will now have to find a new retreat.
Tricked
| Original title | Tricked |
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| Published |
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| translator | Friedrich Mader |
After his raid in Asgard, Atticus sees no other way to hide from the gods hunting him than to die. So he asks the trickster god Coyote the Diné to take his form and let himself be killed. The trick succeeds, and since the form-changing coyote cannot be killed, it reappears in a new form a short time later. In return, the devious god demands that Atticus should help him with a project. What this looks like, Atticus only learns later: with the help of the local elemental spirit, he is supposed to generate a gold deposit on the Colorado Plateau, which is to serve as a starting chapter to establish renewable energies. What Coyote hides: Two skinwalkers, skin changers possessed by powerful spirits, live near the building site for the village from where the gold is to be mined. Coyote's plan is that Atticus should do this for him, as he also has to protect his student Granuaile, whom he took with him for her training. Hel , the goddess of death from the Nordic pantheon, succeeds in tracking down Atticus and asks him to join her in describing Ragnarök . When he refuses, she casts a spell on the skinwalkers and their dog Garm , which forces them to kill Atticus. Again Coyote has to serve as prey to break this spell, but now the Skinwalker defend their territory as it was intended before Hel's appearance. Meanwhile, Atticus is making progress with Granuaile and also faking her death so that they can start a new life as teachers and students. But when Leif Helgarson, who after his fight with Thor has recovered halfway thanks to his vampire healing powers, turns to him, a new problem arises. With Leif's weakening, other vampires now claim his territory, and only through a ruse can he get Atticus to kill the most powerful vampire and Leif's own creator, Zdenik. This betrayal, in which both Atticus and his dog Oberon are badly injured, breaks their friendship, but makes a decisive contribution to the fact that Leif can clear his territory. With the help of Hataali Frank, a Navajo magician who learns Atticus' true identity in part, Atticus and Coyote finally manage to lure the Skinwalker into the trap and kill them after some of their attacks. In the process, however, Frank dies, who has a heart attack due to his age after the fight. Since Atticus was also able to get the elemental spirit to provide the gold, his agreement with Coyote is fulfilled. As an additional thank you, he gives him the right to live on the Navajo reservation and complete Granuaile's training there.
Caught
| Original title | Trapped |
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| Published |
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| translator | Friedrich Mader |
Granuaile's training is finally over. After twelve years she is ready to connect with Gaia, the earth itself. But all powers seem to oppose this plan; Loki , the Nordic god of lies, was able to free himself from his prison and devastated the realm of Perun, the Slavic god of thunder. The latter flees from Loki and asks Atticus for help. This brings Perun, Granuaile, Oberon and himself to Tír na nÓg to safety. There they are expected and asked to an audience with the supreme goddess Brighid. Atticus follows the request, although it could not actually have come about, since he had faked his death more than twelve years ago in order to avoid most of the gods. At that time he had to give his sword Fragarach to the Morrígan in order to make his death credible. Only now does it fulfill its promise to return it to its original owner Manannan mac Lir . Since she was always at odds with Brighid, she wants to humiliate her with this gesture. In the following conversation, Atticus explains why he faked his death and learns for his part that attachment to the earth is only possible in Europe. However, all magical paths to it are closed; only the one that leads to the Olympic field is still intact. Atticus sees this as a trap, since the god Bacchus, whom Atticus made a scapegoat several times, swore his death. However, he has no choice, as the bond must happen as quickly as possible. Before they leave, however, Atticus is warned by Manannan that the Svartálfar may be in league with those who are trying to kill Atticus. In spite of everything, they travel to Greece and are looking for a place where they can carry out the lengthy bond undisturbed. Before that, however, Atticus is visited by Frigg , who makes him promise to help the remaining Aesir to compensate for his devastation in the crusade against Tor in the destruction of the Fenriswolf . Loki's outbreak symbolizes the imminent beginning of Ragnarök, and since Atticus is responsible for the deaths of many who were supposed to go to battle against Loki and his daughter Hel, he is supposed to make amends for his deeds. Once in Greece, they begin the bond and the associated tattoo, but are interrupted shortly afterwards when they are attacked by some assassins. Since Granuaile's bond has progressed so far that she can see into the magical spectrum, they manage to repel the attack. They learn that the Svartálfar are actually behind the attack, but receive help from one of the Túatha Dé Danann. So they return to Tír na nÓg and ask Goibhniu , Granuaile to make a capable weapon. At the same time, Atticus makes an agreement with Manannan to get Fragarach back and tells him to look for the traitor. Back in Greece, they find that Bacchus is on their heels. So they go to the city to equip themselves with more weapons. In a shop they are surprised by Atticus' former lawyer Leif Helgarson, who puts them in contact with Theophilus. This is the oldest vampire on earth and one of the causes of the Roman extinction of the druids. He now wants to complete this and sends several Svartálfar into the field against them. They can only evade the attack with difficulty and with injury. In order to be able to finally end the ritual, they have to reestablish the magical connections that enable them to switch fields. Since Atticus understood the phenomenon, he tricked the god Faunus into returning to Olympus. His wandering in the world was the cause of the disruption of communications. When this succeeds, they finally have the time to end the bond. When Granuaile passes the ritual as a fully fledged druid, she no longer forces herself to keep the teacher-student role and they confess their love to one another.
For more than a thousand years there has been more than one druid on earth, which allows Atticus to finally focus on the figures who are trying to kill him. On the one hand, he rekindles the vampire hunt through an agreement, with which he wants to keep Theophilus off the neck. Then he releases the dryads , whom he has captured as leverage against Faunus, and takes up the fight with Bacchus. While he cannot kill the immortal, he does manage to trap him in a slowed stream of time. Now all he has to do is keep his promise to kill the Fenriswolf. This turns out to be the greatest challenge, with which he has to fall back on the help of the goddess Freyja and a dwarf force from the Nordic realms. Nevertheless, together with Granuaile, he succeeds in defeating Fenris and thus delaying Ragnarök.
Hunted
| Original title | Hunted |
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| Published |
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| translator | Friedrich Mader |
Although Atticus has managed to get rid of many opponents, this only makes more stand out. The Roman and Greek pantheon found a reason to have Atticus killed in the imprisonment of Bacchus. They send the two goddesses of the hunt, Artemis and Diana , from whom Atticus can only escape with the help of the Morrigan, who loses her life in the process. Since their followers believe that the Olympians are truly immortal, Atticus cannot take up the fight and has to flee. Shortly before the Morrigan dies and her mental connection is lost, she prophesies that her only safe refuge is in the Herne area . However, this turns out to be a difficult goal, since the Faunus is still blocking the field changes. So Atticus, Granuaile and Oberon have to run from Romania to England in the Windsor Forrest , as the Morrigan's prophecy says that this is the only way to get to their destination safely. Supported by the power of the earth and temporarily in animal form, they can evade several attempted attacks by vampires and dark elves. In Poland they meet Malina Sokoloski's circle of witches, with whom Atticus had dealings in America. At this meeting they are tracked down by Loki, who can be banished by the witches with combined forces. They continue their escape, but are soon informed of Loki's escape by Odin, who has allied himself with Atticus to prevent Ragnarok. At the same time he also gives Atticus an explanation why his pursuers know so precisely about his route; his amulet protects him from clairvoyance, but not Granuaile. Therefore they steer a bow to Germany, in the hope of finding an unguarded door there in the old realm of Tír na nÓg. However, they find them protected by a manticore , which makes it clear to Atticus that one of the Túatha Dé Danann is involved in his hunt. He suspects a fairy ruler whom he had once exposed, and Midhir , the half-brother of the Aenghus Óg he killed. Since the way to Tír na nÓg was cut off for them, they continued on foot towards Belgium. On the way they are caught by another attack; a human sniper kills Atticus with a headshot before being killed by Granuaile himself. Believing that she has lost her master, she asks the local elemental spirit to take Atticus into the earth and continues on the path so as not to be overtaken by the Olympic goddesses. But thanks to a pendant made in Napoleon's time, Atticus can revive himself and follows Granuaile, now believed dead and as the hunter of the hunter-goddesses. This proves to be a crucial advantage when Granuaile are overtaken by the Olympians. Together they can defeat them and cut off their heads, which will stop their healing process. Granuaile and Atticus, however, have little time to enjoy his resurrection, because the Olympians demand the surrender of the hunters and Bacchus through their respective messengers of the gods Hermes and Mercurius . Although they are forbidden by an order from other unknown gods to attack Atticus themselves, they try to capture the heads of the goddesses by force. They succeed in doing this, even though Atticus mutilates them beforehand so that their healing process will take a while. Eventually they arrive in Belgium, where he is informed by Odin that the vampire hunt started by Atticus is bearing fruit and that Odin was able to finish off some of Atticus' captors. Nevertheless, he is tracked down by his former lawyer Leif Helgarson, who embroils him in a fight with a vampire-like being named Werner Drasche. However, after this can be convinced by Atticus that it is only being used, they part in a truce. Their last hurdle to England is the crossing of the Strait of Dover , on which they have to engage in a fight with the Olympic sea goddesses Poseidon and Neptune . They can only reach England with a narrow margin. There they meet the dwarf Fjalar , who supports them in the fight against a group of dark elves. Finally arrived in Herne's realm, they can rest for the first time for a short time before the healed Artemis and Diana reach them. With the help of Herne and Flidais , they manage to defeat the goddesses again and use them as leverage against the Olympians so that they finally grant them an audience. Eventually they can convince Jupiter and Zeus that the end of the world - embodied by Ragnarok - is far more important than revenge for Bacchus. The new alliance is immediately put to the test, as Loki interferes again, but is taken away by his daughter Hel. Even Bacchus, who is finally freed by Atticus, does not want to give up his campaign of revenge and can only be pacified by the other Olympians with great difficulty. Now initially freed from the divine persecutors, Atticus sets out to reveal the traitor to the Túatha Dé Danann. He finds Midhir and the fairy ruler murdered in Midhir's seat and is almost killed by the manticore waiting there. Seriously injured, he can flee back to Tír na nÓg, where he recovers. Finally they go to one of the islands of time where Bacchus was previously imprisoned, because according to the prophecy of the Morrigan there is a potential ally of Atticus.
Shocked
| Original title | Shattered |
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| Published |
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| translator | Friedrich Mader |
Impaled
| Original title | Staked |
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| Published |
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| translator | Friedrich Mader |
Shattered
| Original title | Scourged |
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| Published |
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| translator | Friedrich Mader |
Ambushed, short stories
| Original title | Defeated |
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| Published |
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| translator | Friedrich Mader |
main characters
Atticus O'Sullivan
Siodhachan Ó Suileabháin was born in Ireland about fifty years before the birth of Christ and trained as a druid. As such, he dedicated himself to Gaia, the earth itself, and used its power and magic to protect it and the elementals from any threat. When the Romans almost completely wiped out the druids and he became the personal enemy of the god Aenghus Óg through a conflict, he fled and hid. Through herbalism he found the elixir for eternal youth and roamed the world as the last living druid. At some point he came to the Americas and settled in Arizona in the twentieth century. He took the name Atticus O'Sullivan and ran a book and herb shop. Eventually, however, he has to oppose Óg and kills him. In the course of the following months he got more and more into conflicts with gods of various legends, witches, vampires and a number of other mythical figures. But with the help of many allies he can assert himself against her and finds in the Irish Granuaile a new student and later also a lover with whom he wants to build a new circle of druids.
Granuaile MacTiernan
Granuaile is a beautiful Irish woman who works as a barmaid in the town of Tempe, Arizona after completing a degree in philosophy. She shares her body with the spirit of the Indian witch Laksha. She meets Atticus who helps Laksha regain her power and find a new body. Later Atticus takes her on as a student to show her the lengthy path of Druidism. She is very intelligent and willing to learn, which means she makes rapid progress. However, due to the lack of connection to earth, she cannot magically support Atticus in the fight, which is why her teacher always has to protect her. In order to complete her education, she has to fake her death and break away from her family, which she does without hesitation. In the course of her training, she falls in love with Atticus, but has to wait for the twelve-year training to end until the two can allow a relationship.
Oberon
Oberon is an Irish Wolfhound . At the age of 15, he is significantly older than a conspecific, as Atticus gives him his youth serum called Immortali tea. Oberon is able to talk mentally with Atticus, as well as some deities like Flidais. Although he has a considerable intellect for an animal, his way of thinking is simple. His sometimes banal, context-distorting comments are very much appreciated by Atticus, as they help him to see tense situations more casually. As a watchdog, Oberon helps his master to warn him of any unwelcome arrivals. However, due to its size and mass, it can also take part in smaller fights. When he tries to protect Atticus from the powerful vampire Zdenik, he breaks a few ribs, but gives Atticus the time to dissolve his opponent with a binding spell. He can also support him again and again in his further battles and also makes it his mission to protect his student Granuaile.
Leif Helgarson
Leif is a thousand year old vampire who works as a lawyer in Tempe. He belongs to the law firm Magnusson and Hauk, which is run by a pack of werewolf and has Atticus as a client. In order to solve his numerous problems with the mortal world that give rise to his magical conflicts, Leif is well versed in American law. However, he can only work at night as sunlight kills him. He also helps Atticus in numerous fights and trains with him in sword fighting. He later gets him to take part in his campaign of revenge against the thunder god Thor, who once killed his family for fun. In this fight, however, he is seriously injured and only survives due to Atticus' druid powers. Due to his loss of strength, however, he can no longer defend his territory and must defraud Atticus so that he kills his creator Zdenik, who wants to take over the territory. Because Oberon is injured in the process, their friendship perishes and he leaves the office. He works to rise in the vampire hierarchy and is intriguing for this. Leif wants to use Atticus as a tool, since druids have such an advantage over vampires that they can break them down into their components with just a few words.
Hal Hauk
Hallbjörn Hauk is a werewolf from Iceland and part of the Tempe pack. He runs the law firm Magnusson and Hauk with his alpha animal Gunnar Magnusson. He supports Atticus both as a lawyer and as a comrade in numerous fights, such as against a Polish witch club, and provides him with new papers, money and contacts as soon as he gets into trouble with the law. After Gunnar is killed fighting the Nordic pantheon, Hauk takes the place of the pack alpha. Since he never wanted to be and had asked Atticus to bring his Alpha back alive from the campaign, he is not happy with his position, but accepts it and continues to support Atticus. So he supports him with money and other belongings all over the world.
Morrígan
The Morrígan is the Celtic goddess of battle. She once agreed with Atticus that she would never bring him out of a battle to the dead when it was in her power. Since then she has visited the druid regularly and warns him of prophecies that could affect his life. However, she also sees it as an object to live out her sexual passions and uses it partly to consolidate her position with the Túatha Dé Danann. Ultimately, it helps him to fake his death in order to escape the hatred of many gods and to start a new life. So she is the only Celtic deity who knows that he is still alive. Later she lets herself be killed by the Olympic goddesses Artemis and Diana to enable Atticus to escape, but on the other hand also because she cannot rebel against her divine nature and no longer wants to exist as the ominous goddess of battle.
Laksha Kulasekaran
Laksha is an Indian witch who was born in Madurai in 1277. At the age of sixteen she met Marco Polo and decided to break free from the caste system. She learned the art of the Vedic Demons to transfer her spirit into other people or objects. So she survived a shipwreck in which she transferred her spirit into her gemstone necklace made by a demon, which could strengthen her powers. In a roundabout way, she settled in the spirit of the bartender Granuaile until, with the help of Atticus, she got her necklace back and was able to take over a new body. In the time after that she helped Atticus in his fight against some Bacchantes, who brought her one of Iduns immortalizing golden apples in return.
Katie MacDonagh
Katie MacDonagh is an old Irish widow who lives in Tempe and is Atticus' neighbor. She is a nice old lady, and Atticus befriends her quickly. Over the years he has lived in Arizona, she knows nothing of his true identity until she is confronted with it when Atticus slays a god in front of her eyes. But she still stands by him and supports him as far as it is in her power. However, she suffers from the ailments that come and die with age. However, the Norse death goddess Hel seizes her body in order to be able to show herself in the mortal world and to track down Atticus, but later drops the body.
criticism
"Kevin Hearne ... has come up with a fast-paced story with very peculiar fictional characters and skillfully moored ancient myths with modern elements, which makes the reader both laugh and amazement."
"The Chronicle of the Iron Druid is one of the best series in the urban fantasy genre in recent years."
“The Chronicle of the Iron Druid is convincing from the first to the last page. Fantastic entertainment at its best. "
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Klett-Cotta :: Ambushed - Kevin Hearne. Retrieved January 2, 2019 .