Review: "Tricked: The Iron Druid Chronicles" by Kevin Hearne

If you're not familiar with Kevin Hearne's "Iron Druid" series, you should (but don't necessarily have to) read "Hounded," "Hexed" and"Hammered" before you tackle "Tricked."
After the cataclysmic events of "Hammered," it's not surprising that Book 4 starts off with Atticus wrapping up some unfinished business. With a hand from Coyote, the Navajo trickster god, Atticus manages to get the vengeful thunder gods off his back. That comes at a cost, of course; in exchange for dying in Atticus' place, Coyote asks Atticus to help him create a gold mine in the Colorado desert. Atticus is less than pleased when he finds out that to do so, he'll have to help Coyote's team rid the area of skinwalkers. Problem is, they have a power that's completely alien to his own, and he's not sure how to deal with it:

"If I wanted to work up something to ward specifically against a skinwalker, I'd have to confront it first and see the pattern of it in the magical spectrum. General wards against magic from another plane may or may not work. And that's the problem with wards, Granuaile." I figured I might as well embrace the teachable moment. "You can't ward against everything, and sometimes the bad guys will win through or around it despite your best efforts."

We've more or less been introduced to Atticus' capabilities at this point, but the Navajo background and Granuaile's training as a druid lets Hearne slip in more back story and illustrate the limitations druids face, as above. That — plus the loss of the god-killing sword, Fragarach, and the way he's stumped by the skinwalkers — is a handy way of keeping Atticus from seeming invincible. After all, he's killed a slew of gods at this point in the series. It keeps the suspense alive.

The events of Book 3 meant Atticus, apprentice Granuaile and Oberon have to find a new home, so a decent part of "Tricked" is spent clearing up loose ends from their old lives — getting new identities, new bank accounts, new cover stories, etc. — and answering a few leftover questions. We find out whether Leif survived his injuries at the hand of Thor, the Morrigan makes an appearance, and we even get an update (so to speak) on what happened to the Widow MacDonagh. Happily, Hearne takes care of those details without allowing the story to drag or to retread too much old ground.

Book 5 looks to take place years in the future, after Granuaile's training is all but complete, which should give the series a fresh starting point. Judging by the end of "Tricked," it's going to be good.

Review: "Conspiracy" by Lindsay Buroker

Newcomers to Lindsay Buroker's Emperor's Edge series should read them in order: "The Emperor's Edge," "Dark Currents," "Deadly Games" and, most recently, "Conspiracy." While all can be read as standalone stories, there is an overarching storyline that will make the most sense if you start at the beginning.
At the end of "Deadly Games," a note from the emperor offered Amaranthe and her group of mercenaries a large sum of money to kidnap him. No explanation was offered, but for a group of people seeking to vindicate themselves of various accidental criminal acts — and other, more personal motives — it was the opportunity they'd been waiting for. Their plan to do so runs into a few hitches, of course.

Buroker's strong suit is her characters, and "Conspiracy" continues to flesh out the members of the Emperor's Edge: Amaranthe, Sicarius, Maldynado, Books, Akstyr and Basilard. This book's side story focuses on Akstyr and his motivations. I'll admit that he was my least favorite character in the previous books, simply because he was so sullen all the time, but "Conspiracy" gives reason to hope he's gotten past that. We get more back story on Maldynado, too, likely in preparation for his story in Book 5.

I'm a sucker for writers including call-backs to earlier works, so when minor characters made reappearances here, I was thrilled. I hope that one, in particular, becomes a regular part of the team. (Highlight for spoiler: Sergeant Yara. Her interactions with Maldynado were amusing, and "watching" Amaranthe deal with another woman was a nice change of pace.) I enjoyed the related book "Encrypted," so I liked the references to the lead characters of that story and the appearance of the mysterious technology. I would love to see these two worlds intersect at some point.

And, of course, there's Amaranthe and Sicarius. Sicarius again gives Amaranthe reason to question herself for having feelings for him, which — yeah. That's reasonable. He kills people at the least provocation. However, she's had ample time to reach a decision on that matter, and she needs to either find peace with who he is or accept that it's not going to work.

Buroker is one of the best self-published authors that I've found. Excellent writing, good plotting and good editing — which, unfortunately, isn't always the case for indie authors. "Conspiracy" more than lives up to the high expectations she's set with the preceding books.

Be warned: "Conspiracy" ends with a classic cliffhanger. Good thing Buroker's such a speedy writer.