Two Ravens and One Crow: Kevin Hearne

"Six years into the training of his beautiful apprentice, Granuaile, a large crow swoops down and transforms into none other than the Morrigan, a goddess who insists that Atticus come with her at once. He must leave his apprentice behind, along with his Irish wolfhound, Oberon—and he must also leave his sword. 

The Morrigan has always taken extreme pleasure in pronouncing the Druid’s mortal danger and imminent doom, so the fact that she won’t reveal the purpose of their journey makes him very nervous. Of course, any time the Celtic Chooser of the Slain drops in unannounced, it’s never good. When she does let slip that she’ll be saving his life in the near future, Atticus is left to wonder . . . will he soon be giving his legions of enemies something to crow about?"

I've got admit I'm not a huge fan of short stories, but I love the Iron Druid Chronicles so I gave this one a go. It's Hearne so you know it's going to be intelligent and well-written, whatever the format.

With Oberon off the scene for the majority of the story though, it felt a little flat. It's essentially just a bridge across the 12 year jump in the series that the next novel takes. And a money-spinner also of course. It's engaging, but a very fast read. Too fast for me.

If you're a fan of the series, you'll like it. If, like me, you're a fan who finds short stories too short to be fulfilling...it's not going to convince you otherwise, but you'll get some insight and some chuckles all the same. Above all though, it hammers home just how central to the concept the cynical, talking dog is...(well, not talking..but you know what I mean). I'm not entirely sure this is a good thing. Maybe it should be re-branded as "The Oberon Chronicles"..