Trapped

I think I need a break from this series. The quality has dipped so very low.

The good points....

Granuaile is a bad ass. That’s about the main positive I can say about her character. It actually almost seems like two different characters at times - one is a bad ass Druid who doesn’t need anyone, and the other is a whiny, immature spoiled brat.

Oberon, as always, is a joy. He’s truly one of the reasons I’m still slogging through.

Perun is still endearing and I enjoyed meeting more of the Tuatha De Danaan.

Some good action.

Other than that? Meh.

The negatives...

Atticus is a child. A 2,100 year old man baby. I’m all for flawed protagonists, but how can someone live for so long and gain so little maturity or wisdom? He’s the worst Druid I can imagine, who actually does nothing for the Earth, other than take. He pledged to recover the Earth that was killed in the first book, that it was the most important thing in the world, and...well that’s pretty much it. Short mentions here and there but little else. He also still makes rash, off the cuff decisions, which ALWAYS end in tragedy. Five thousand dwarves die because of a lie he told just to piss Loki off. He has zero remorse for anything he’s done. He just blunders through and ensures he pisses off more and more powerful beings, which would be unnecessary if he actually thought for a nanosecond. This isn’t the ‘heat of battle, save my own skin, but not at the expense of my soul’ kinda thing, it’s more ‘it doesn’t matter how I do it as long as it’s done and I’m ok’ kinda thing. It’s not even as if he’s doing it to protect the people he loves, despite the totally unbelievable romance that happens (his best relationship is still Oberon), because he puts her in more danger with every stupid decision he makes.

Granuaile is....hmmmm. Like I said earlier, it’s almost like there is actually two different characters sharing a name and a body. She’s badass (really autocorrect, you changed ‘badass’ to ‘NASA’?!’) and self sufficient, showing real wisdom and emotional intelligence one minute, and a whiny brat the next. She doesn’t like that Gods aren’t perfect? That there are things even they can’t fix? I wanted to shake her so badly. She’s had twelve years of learning yet she never thought to ask about Atticus’ actual beliefs and his reasoning? For someone who says she loves him she really spent zero time getting to know him. She only finds out about his past family life in this book. It’s like Hearne forgot that this relationship had supposedly been building for 12 years, and he’s now showing us the process of them getting to know each other. That’s awful writing. She’s also pissy that he won’t sleep with her while she’s still his apprentice?! GROW UP! He’s trying to do the right thing by you woman! He doesn’t want to take advantage of you and the power imbalance. By whining and pouting that he doesn’t want you to take your pants off because he’s desperately trying to control himself to ensure he does the right thing, you’re just showing how far away from mature you are. Not enough wisdom to be bound to the Earth as a protector.

The storyline is ok. Too jumpy and choppy though. Bouncing everywhere and conveniently avoiding most danger even if it’s on their doorstep. Very convoluted, so many people after him for very few cogent reasons, and he continually adds more enemies with the aforementioned lack of critical thinking skills and problem solving. Just dive in and hope for the best. Same formula in every book.

All the ‘boss fights’ are wrapped up in about two pages. They’re nowhere near long enough. It’s too easy to kill Gods and mythical creatures, there’s never any tension or the vague notion they’re truly in danger.

I loved the first two books in this series but it has driven off a cliff.

Trapped is the fifth book of Hearne’s Iron Druid series. Twelve years have passed since the events of Tricked. Atticus is close to completing the training and initiation of Granuaile when their plans are interrupted by debts and vendettas. I won’t go into specifics in order to avoid spoilers, but they travel to various gods’ realms and have to overcome a wide variety of enemies.

If you’ve been keeping up with the series, you’ll find all your favorite elements here: a fast moving plot, with plenty of action; hilarious banter with Atticus and Oberon; inventive characterizations of various deities and mythological figures. As Atticus faces various challenges and enemies, we realize that each situation is a result of his earlier actions. This was perhaps the most impressive part to me: Hearne’s tight plotting extended across multiple books, paying off here.

A more recent development, and most welcome, is the emergence of Granuaile as a more well-rounded character. In Trapped, she seems to come into her own, and is portrayed with quite a bit of agency. This works against the common trope of the assistant or love interest who is essentially one dimensional, there to enable exposition or admiration of the protagonist’s strengths.

If you are new to the Iron Druid series, I would not recommend starting here. So many plot elements depend on action from the previous books that you would be best served by starting at the beginning. For readers familiar with the series, Trapped shows that the Iron Druid series continues to improve. I’m excited to find out what adventures Atticus, Granuaile, and Oberon have next.