Scourged
By Kevin Hearne
- Release Date: 2018-04-03
- Genre: Contemporary
Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In the final book in The Iron Druid Chronicles, two-thousand-year-old Druid Atticus O’Sullivan confronts the Norse gods Loki and Hel to stop the impending apocalypse, while Granuaile and Owen work to secure the future of Druidry.
“[Kevin] Hearne draws his Iron Druid Chronicles to a pitch-perfect close in this dizzy, world-hopping adventure. But amidst the battles and bargaining that go into saving the world, there is also an enormous amount of heart.”—RT Book Reviews
Unchained from fate, the Norse gods Loki and Hel are ready to unleash Ragnarok, a.k.a. the Apocalypse, upon the earth. They’ve made allies on the darker side of many pantheons, and there’s a globe-spanning battle brewing that ancient Druid Atticus O’Sullivan will be hardpressed to survive, much less win.
Granuaile MacTiernan must join immortals Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen in a fight against the Yama Kings in Taiwan, and she discovers that the stakes are much higher than she thought.
Meanwhile, Archdruid Owen Kennedy must put out both literal and metaphorical fires from Bavaria to Peru to keep the world safe for his apprentices and the future of Druidry.
And Atticus recruits the aid of a tyromancer, an Indian witch, and a trickster god in hopes that they’ll give him just enough leverage to both save Gaia and see another sunrise. There is a hound named Oberon who deserves a snack, after all.
Don’t miss any of The Iron Druid Chronicles:
HOUNDED | HEXED | HAMMERED | TRICKED | TRAPPED | HUNTED | SHATTERED | STAKED | SCOURGED | BESIEGED
Reviews
Sadly Disappointed
1By Finnian-59This series had so much potential and some really effective writing and character development. Seldom have I enjoyed a series as much. Never have I been more disappointed with the way the author choose to end things. No rational reason for this ending, and clearly No Balance. What a waste.Disappointing
2By ElCorsairI liked this book the least out of the series. I did love the series overall. This book and the last one seemed very preachy and all of the great character development the author had done prior to this point went right out the window and off the rails in my opinion. Didn’t like the ending at all but that is just my opinion. Series was really good up until the last two books. Sad really, this could have been a great ending to a great story but instead was a dud.So worth it
5By The only fan?I get that so many didn’t like the ending but it was perfect for the character’s arc. Plus if you don’t like the ending, write your own book; don’t poo on someone else’s vision. It takes awhile to get there-nine books-but it’s ultimately a story of hope, of finding a path that lies in harmony with those around you, facing the consequences when you inevitably falter, and learning that that’s part of the path.When you really need an editor to step up...
2By Valvil...and say “ you need to rewrite this, that’s no way to end a beloved fantasy series.” A lot or trite stuff in this one. Too much self guilt from Atticus and too much of an effort to make Atticus a martyr, while at the same time the message is that he had only himself to blame. Hard to buy into it. Most disappointing book of the series, and as it sits at the end of it, it taints the whole story badly. Often many book series drag on too long and the author stretches them out to the point where good ideas are exhausted and the story begins to feel contrived and out of character. To my view that’s what happened here, which is a pity. I did enjoy the rest of it.Perfect
5By Kpkill3rIt’s a great bookScourged
3By Scott11024This last book in the series was disappointing. The world wouldn’t have been saved without his previous actions. Yet he felt guilty about everything even the successes. The decision to protect the future of Druidry in his apprentice was the only logical one considering even the Gods were leaving backups in place. He stood up for what was right with the tools he had. Why were there no consequences for the Norse or Olympians wrongs? Failed plot in my opinion. Detailed sequences of early books were lacking as well. Seemed like a lazy way to wrap up the series.Phoned it in
2By USNA88Unfortunately, this is my least favorite of the Iron Druid Chronicles. I absolutely love the other books but I feel Mr. Hearn tired of his characters at this point and just basically phoned in the entire book. Nothing in the plot is within keeping up the rest of the books, the humor was half-baked at best, and it is obvious he wanted to move on to new worlds and storylines. I was hoping far a truly “triumphant” end to the series - this book isn’t even close. Rats ...Scourged
4By Lex LibraI liked all of these books. And I had no issues with this one - until the ending. I did not care for the ending tied to Atticus. Everyone except him went back on their bargains. Read the book Enjoy it, it was good. But my preference is to wish for a different ending.Interesting themes but deeply unsatisfying end
2By jdv007I have to agree with the other reviewers. This was a great series with interesting characters nearly ruined by this last book. While I understood the need for the scourging and had no problem with the main characters not walking off into the sunset together, Granuaille’s subplot feels like just an excuse to squeeze in another pantheon and the ending conflict between the main characters is forced and makes them seem petty and self-absorbed. Not this author’s best effort by far.Heartbreaking and unsatisfying
2By LmitchdunnI have nothing else to say.The end
2By TSpresHaving been a great fan of this series, I must admit this book fell short of my expectations. Without spoiling the book for others I will keep the review vague. The action itself was slow moving and not exciting, the wasted story of the sloth (while an interesting side story, took too many pages), and that ending was horrible. Had this been in the series with more books coming it would have been acceptable, but as the last book of the series, the ending felt lazy and I found it to be more miserable than comforting.Sadly a poor sendoff for great characters
2By Crota, Son of OryxThis book was unfortunately not what the characters deserved. Some events, like the destruction of the world serpent (and accompanying character death) are so rushed that you won’t be quite sure that they really happened. Compiling that issue, the characters are written in a way that does not reflect the development they’ve made so far. Whereas around the halfway point of the series, the relationship between Granuaile and Atticus was well written, with an equal balance of trust, care, love, and independence, it’s thrown out the window in the later part of the series. Intentional or not, Granuaile begins being written like an intense anti-patriarchy social warrior, which is a huge exaggeration of her character traits. While it’s clear that Atticus cares for her, even though they receive almost no interaction together during the last few books, it seems as though Granuaile never really feels much for Atticus all of a sudden. The book tells you that yes they love each other, but you are never shown that. Granuaile even mentions in a short story that she’s considering sleeping with some guy she meets in Poland, since Atticus and her relationship wasn’t mutually exclusive. Not only is that sudden, it’s fairly scummy, and I don’t get the sense from the way Atticus is written that he’s even thinking about sleeping with other girls. It’s sad that an excellent relationship that could make one smile due to its genuine nature suddenly vanished as the characters became strangers. Compounding this issue is that Granuaile was given a useless role for most of the book. As with the other recent ones, the three protagonist’s stories mostly took place completely apart. Granuaile’s only purpose it seems was to be somewhere else in order to give a poor reason to break off the relationship between her and Atticus suddenly, thereby making him more miserable. The ending itself was fairly bad. Atticus loses his right arm, his connection to much of the earth’s abilities, thereby losing those as well. It’s a lame and unneeded consequence that feels ripped straight from Full Metal Alchemist. It’s also hinted that he’ll find a way to get his arm healed, but we don’t know for sure, so what was the bloody point? A shoehorned suggested romance between Atticus and the Morrigan is suggested. Overall I would’ve given the book a 7/10, but the ending and butchering of the characters and their relationships with each other was horrible, bringing one of the most disappointing endings ever to my favorite series. 3/10.Closure - sort of
5By PulseReviewConsThis has been by far one of my favorite series in the Urban fantasy genre. It’s an awesome world and I thank the author for their amazing contribution. The ending was a little tough to stomach - but that’s mostly because I empathize so much with the characters - and that’s the sign of a successful story.Ending
1By HadhvsA great series until the end. Built up a great ending for Atticus to be with his girl only to send them apart. Terrible ending.Upper jh
5By yfcggyYseeeeztddrstrrrdztssdrdrsddddßrzyrsrdtesddttrstress4..,. Hey y’all I had up guy and ggTexgu x
