I’ve been reading Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid series for a while, but I’ve finally given up on the entire saga. The latest book is called “Staked,” and it was pretty much the straw that broke the camel’s back as far I’m concerned. I removed all of the Kindle books from my account, and also returned the Audible versions.
If you aren’t familiar with the Iron Druid series, here’s a quick synopsis from Infogalactic:
The series is set in our world (the first couple of books are set in a nicely researched Tempe, Arizona) where supernatural creatures exist, such as witches, vampires, werewolves, demons, elementals as well as various deities from many mythologies. The entire series is told in the first-person point of view and in the beginning is told exclusively by Atticus O’Sullivan (aka. Siodhachan O Suileabhain), a genuine 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.
After Granuaile is bound to the earth as a druid, some of the chapters are narrated by her. Upon his rescue from the Time Island, Owen Kennedy (arch druid to Atticus) begins narrating some of the chapters.
Initially, I loved the character Atticus. He’s a funny guy, and I enjoyed his battles with various gods and goddesses, as well as vampires and lots of other supernatural creatures. And I liked his dog Oberon too, who adds some humorous commentary throughout each of the books.
Unfortunately, Atticus takes a back seat in Staked. He’s now just one character in the book, not the main one. I could have dealt with that if it had just been him and his mentor Owen. Owen is a crabby old druid who was Atticus’ teacher when he was first learning how to become a druid.
Granuaile the female druid ruins the book with political correctness and daddy issues
But nope, it’s not just Atticus and Owen. The irritating female druid Granuaile is also in the book and skunks it up with her daddy issues. Her stepfather is an oil company executive, so of course, she thinks he’s evil.
At one point she destroys some oil wells while pontificating about the evils of global warming. That was the point where I stopped reading and got a refund for the book. I hate it when authors hit readers over the head with political bullshit, and the Granuaile chapters have become more and more annoying with that crap over the last few books.
I think the Granuaile character was just added to broaden the series appeal to women and help the author sell a few more books. Unfortunately, Granuaile is just a watered down, more politically correct version of Atticus. Even her dog is more or less a copy of Atticus’ dog Oberon.
Anyway, once I hit the chapter with the destruction of the oil wells, I knew it was time to stop reading. The self-righteousness of Granuaile is awful to wade through, and of course, she never stops to think of the consequences of her actions. What about the people who depend on the oil? What about the environmental issues related to her destructive actions? What about the people that work for the oil company who will now lose their jobs?
Apparently, none of that matters as it’s all about Granuaile’s feelings. This kind of simplistic, PC moralizing ruined the book for me. And I’m not alone in my contempt for the Granuaile character either, I’ve seen some comments from other readers on Amazon and elsewhere that echo my thoughts.
Contemporary fantasy authors forcing their politics on readers
It’s such a shame since the Iron Druid series started out so well. But as soon as it became more politically correct, with the author forcing his politics on readers, my desire to read ebbed away quickly.
The Iron Druid series isn’t the first time I’ve run into this problem. I also encountered it with Terry Goodkind’s books. Goodkind’s politics are more libertarian and are thus more appealing to me. Nevertheless, I stopped reading his books too.
When I read fantasy books, I do NOT want the author to push an overt political agenda on me. I don’t care if it’s right-wing or left-wing politics. I want to relax with a good story, and yet too many contemporary fantasy authors seem unable to separate their politics from their characters and stories.
Why must books with strong male characters become feminized?
Another issue that comes up with the Granuaile character is how a book series like the Iron Druid ends up being watered down and feminized by the author inserting an unnecessary female character into the story.
On the surface, you might think that she is a love interest for Atticus, but there’s no chemistry between the two of them. She comes across more like an annoying friend to Atticus than she does a lover. So their relationship never feels real or viable in any of the books.
And her presence in the books undermines what was a testosterone-driven fantasy series by injecting estrogen-addled female emoto-babble into the story. I found it nauseating to have to listen to her whine about her step-father over and over again.
At one point, I was so tired of her that I was hoping Loki or some other villain would simply kill her off, once and for all. The series would have been far better without her ever having been added to it, but the best we can hope for now is that she gets killed off as soon as possible.
The strange thing is that the author, Kevin Hearnes, actually had a fantastic female character in The Morrigan. She is the Celtic chooser of the slain and goddess of war. Her interactions with Atticus were fun to read, and you never quite knew what to expect with her. She had an air of danger and unpredictability about her that made her attractive, she was not someone to mess with, and Atticus knew this quite well.
So what does the author do? He kills off The Morrigan and then gives Granuaile the Whiner even more space in the books. I cannot imagine what he thought when he decided to do this. The Morrigan was a terrific character, and I missed her. And no, Granuaile is not a viable replacement for The Morrigan at all, in any way whatsoever.
Goodbye to the Iron Druid
So “Staked” is the last Iron Druid book I’ll read. As I noted earlier, I returned it and removed the other Iron Druid books from my Kindle account. And I got rid of the Audible versions. After seeing what the series has become in “Staked,” I realized I would never want to read or listen to the earlier books again.
The one positive take away for me in all of this is that I will now be filtering out fantasy books littered with political correctness and other overt political trash. I will have to do a bit more research on the author and the books before buying them, but I think it will be worth if it if I can avoid falling into the same trap.
It’s too bad that it has to be this way, I enjoyed Atticus’ adventures for a while. But now it’s time to say goodbye and look for a good series that doesn’t destroy itself with political correctness.
Alternatives to the Iron Druid series
One author that I like is Larry Correia. Just about anything by him is better and more entertaining than the Iron Druid series. Here are three great series by Larry that you should add to your reading list:
It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Officially secret, some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. On the other side are the people who kill monsters for a living. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.
Jake Sullivan is a war hero, a private eye-and an ex-con. He’s free because he has a magical talent, being able to alter the force of gravity in himself and objects in his vicinity, and the Bureau of Investigation calls on him when they need his help in apprehending criminals with their own magical talents. But the last operation he was sent along to help with went completely wrong, and Delilah Jones, the woman the G-men were after, who just happened to be an old friend of Jake’s in happier times, had a lot of magical muscle with her, too much muscle for the cops to handle, even with Jake’s help.
A knight of Cygnar follows a strict moral code. His integrity is beyond reproach. He holds himself to the highest standards whether dealing with friend or foe. And he values honor above all.
The year is 606 AR, and Cygnar has been sorely pressed by its enemies both at home and abroad. In Caspia, the conflict with the Protectorate is about to erupt into full war with the looming invasion of Sul. The Cygnaran military is desperate for soldiers with the skill, strength, and bravery to take up the devastating galvanic weaponry of the new Storm Division. In this climate, every soldier is valuable, even those fallen from the honor expected of a Storm Knight. A group of such men—thieves, drunkards, and worse—comprise the Sixth Platoon. All they need is someone to lead them.
Jim Lynch 
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