Menu

Writer's Grove: Archives

Candle & Crow

March 9, 2024

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles comes the final book in the “action-packed, enchantingly fun” (Booklist) Ink & Sigil series, as an ink-slinging wizard pursues the answer to a very personal mystery: Who cast a pair of curses on his head?

Al MacBharrais has a most unusual job: He’s a practitioner of ink-and-sigil magic, tasked with keeping order among the gods and monsters that dwell hidden in the human world. But there’s one supernatural mystery he’s never been able to solve: Years ago, someone cast twin curses on him that killed off his apprentices and drove away loved ones who heard him speak, leaving him bereft and isolated.

But he’s not quite alone: As Al works to solve this mystery, his friends draw him into their own eccentric dramas. Buck Foi the hobgoblin has been pondering his own legacy—and has a plan for a daring shenanigan that will make him the most celebrated hobgoblin of all. Nadia, goth queen and battle seer, is creating her own cult around a god who loves whisky and cheese.

And the Morrigan, a former Irish death goddess, has decided she wants not only to live as an ordinary woman but also to face the most perilous challenge of the mortal world: online dating.

Meanwhile, Al crosses paths with old friends and new—including some beloved Druids and their very good dogs—in his globe-trotting quest to solve the mystery of his curses. But he’s pulled in so many different directions by his colleagues, a suspicious detective, and the whims of destructive gods that Al begins to wonder: Will he ever find time to write his own happy ending?

The Hermit Next Door

March 8, 2024

An all-new otherworldly adventure!

Newly widowed and trying to cope with her grief, Winnie Mae Chisholm moves from Tennessee with her teenage son, Pax, to Oregon, hoping the change will let them both heal and move on. She’s warned when buying their new home that the next door neighbor, Mr. Fisher, is a famous recluse and no one has seen him in years, but that’s fine with her—she’s looking for quiet.

She’s not going to get it, however, because when Pax meets the neighbor, he discovers that the reason Mr. Fisher hides from the world is that he isn’t actually from this world. He’s been stranded for decades and he’s trying to get home, and he could really use some help.

Abruptly part of the best-kept secret on the planet, Winnie Mae and Pax have to protect Mr. Fisher from a nosy neighbor who would ruin his work and doom him to die among aliens, but they also have to ask themselves: How far would they go to escape their grief? Would another world be far enough?

Canines & Cocktails

February 12, 2024

Oberon the Irish wolfhound and his Boston terrier buddy, Starbuck, not only witness humans waste perfectly good sausage, but also a sneaky murder committed right before their eyes in THE CHARTREUSE CHANTEUSE by Kevin Hearne. Justice demands that someone pay for both crimes, and together with their Druid, Atticus O’Sullivan, and D.I. Rose Badgely of the Launceston police, they’ll show the dastardly villain they messed with the wrong good dogs.

THE BARTENDER AND THE BEAST introduces the enchanting world of Arcadia Falls, the setting for Delilah S. Dawson’s return to Paranormal Romance. When no-nonsense bartender Cassia King returns to her sleepy hometown in the Georgia mountains to help her sister, she can’t help falling for well-dressed wildlife rehabilitator Riley. But as Cash learns, Arcadia Falls has a secret, and so does the bar’s rescue pit bull, Peach Pit…

In WHISKEY SOUR by Chuck Wendig, It was the end of the world and Harry Campbell wanted a drink. He’s one of the few who remained in Ouray, Colorado, after everything went to hell — and has decided to willfully fall off the wagon and find a way to make a cocktail he once loved, the whiskey sour. His quest to make a drink will take him beyond the borders of Ouray and into the world fallen under the shadow of the now-gone White Mask disease. But, he won’t do it alone — Shepherd Marcy Reyes lends him the courage and pluck of the golden retriever known as Gumball to help him stay alive and stay sane in the process. But Harry’s journey holds a greater, more secret purpose — he has questions that remain unanswered about what the rogue AI called Black Swan did to them all, and he intends to have those answers, even if they change him, and perhaps the world, forever.

A Curse of Krakens

February 15, 2023

From the New York Times bestselling creator of The Iron Druid Chronicles comes the final book in the epic fantasy trilogy that began with A Plague of Giants, about a war that broke a continent—and opened the door to a new world.

Seeker and Sower
Pen Yas ben Min’s cousin was one of the legendary heroes of the wars against the giants until her untimely death. Pen has grown up in her famous cousin’s shadow, but when she’s given a quest to plant the seed of the magical Fourth Tree, she has a chance to step into the light—and usher in a new age for her country.

Fighter and Friend
Abhi’s life—and the world—changed when he discovered a lost magic: the power to speak to animals. After fighting so many battles, he’s weary and longs for home and his love, Tamhan. But before he can return, there is one last mission that only Abhi can complete: to speak to the colossal creatures who wait beneath the waves—the krakens.

Sailor and Explorer
Koesha and her shipmates have already made an impossible journey by navigating the Northern Yawn, at the end of which she secured an unusual cloak. But when that cloak turns out to be the key to unlocking the mystery of the Seventh Kenning, Koesha has to risk everything on another life-threatening journey and hope that she can steer her crew to safety.

Paper & Blood

April 6, 2021

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles comes book two of an “action-packed, enchantingly fun” (Booklist) spin-off series, as an eccentric master of rare magic solves a supernatural mystery Down Under!

There’s only one Al MacBharrais: Though other Scotsmen may have dramatic mustaches and a taste for fancy cocktails, Al also has a unique talent. He’s a master of ink and sigil magic. In his gifted hands, paper and pen can work wondrous spells.

But Al isn’t quite alone: He is part of a global network of sigil agents who use their powers to protect the world from mischievous gods and strange monsters. So when a fellow agent disappears under sinister circumstances in Australia, Al leaves behind the cozy pubs and cafes of Glasgow and travels to the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria to solve the mystery.

The trail to his colleague begins to pile up with bodies at alarming speed, so Al is grateful his friends have come to help—especially Nadia, his accountant who moonlights as a pit fighter. Together with a whisky-loving hobgoblin known as Buck Foi and the ancient Druid Atticus O’Sullivan, along with his dogs, Oberon and Starbuck, Al and Nadia will face down the wildest wonders Australia—and the supernatural world—can throw at them, and confront a legendary monster not seen in centuries.

 

A Question of Navigation

September 18, 2020

The only favor the aliens do for Clint Beecham when they abduct him is give him a shirt that says DO NOT EAT on it in their language. He’s told that as a physicist, he is to be reserved, along with five other scientists, for a mysterious purpose.

But fifty thousand other humans on board the interstellar scout ship are scheduled to be butchered and frozen, a food supply for the long journey to the alien homeworld. Clint and the other Reserves can’t stand by and let that happen.

Ayesha is a biologist and Deepali a geologist; Oscar is a meteorologist and Gregory specializes in robotics; Hanh is a researcher in marine biology. Together they’re humanity’s last unlikely hope. Because if they don’t find a way to stop the ravenous aliens from reporting that they’ve found a planet full of delicious creatures to eat, the fifty thousand humans on board will only be the first of billions: the entire earth will become an all-you-can-eat buffet.

From Publishers Weekly:

“Hearne (the Iron Druid Chronicles series) pits a group of scientists against their alien abductors in a riotous quest to save humankind from becoming lunch… Hearne offsets the dire threat to humanity with dark humor and pointed social commentary as cooperation and self-sacrifice win the day. Hearne’s gripping, resonant alien abduction romp is both fun and thought-provoking.”

Ink & Sigil

April 3, 2020

New York Times bestselling author Kevin Hearne returns to the world of his beloved Iron Druid Chronicles in a spin-off series about an eccentric master of rare magic solving an uncanny mystery in Scotland.

Al MacBharrais is both blessed and cursed. He is blessed with an extraordinary white moustache, an appreciation for craft cocktails—and a most unique magical talent. He can cast spells with enchanted ink and he uses his gifts to protect our world from rogue minions of various pantheons, especially the Fae.

But he is also cursed. Anyone who hears his voice will begin to feel an inexplicable hatred for Al, so he can only communicate through the written word or speech apps. And his apprentices keep dying in peculiar freak accidents. As his personal life crumbles around him, he devotes his life to his work, all the while trying to crack the secret of his curse.

But when his latest apprentice, Gordie, turns up dead in his Glasgow flat, Al discovers evidence that Gordie was living a secret life of crime. Now Al is forced to play detective—while avoiding actual detectives who are wondering why death seems to always follow Al. Investigating his apprentice’s death will take him through Scotland’s magical underworld, and he’ll need the help of a mischievous hobgoblin if he’s to survive.

SOME PRAISE:
“If you like drawing, ink, Edinburgh, magic, or Kevin Hearne, you are in for a great treat. Ink and Sigil is great escape reading, and I loved every word.” —Charlaine Harris, New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse books

“Kevin Hearne’s Ink and Sigil is a novel that will transport you right in the Scottish realm of fey and fairies and have you thinking the “other” is real. The magic is both familiar and new, believable and extraordinary. I especially liked the curse on the main character. Between the worldbuilding and clever prose, this one is worth a read.” —Charlie Holmberg, author of The Paper Magician

“Kevin Hearne has used ink and paper to craft his own brand of magic. Ink & Sigil is filled to the brim with the Hearne-anigans we’ve all grown to love. Fans of ribald humor, literary puns, and the odd hobgoblin will be enchanted by this paranormal mystery.”   —Jaye Wells, author of the Prospero’s War series

“A delightfully grimy journey through the hidden underworld of Glasgow, Ink & Sigil vividly blends Kevin Hearne’s unique take on urban fantasy with the grit of Scottish magic.” —Adam Christopher, author of the Ray Electromatic mysteries

The Demon Barker of Wheat Street

April 1, 2020

“The Demon Barker of Wheat Street” is part of the CARNIEPUNK anthology and it takes place a couple of weeks after the events of TWO RAVENS AND ONE CROW. CARNIEPUNK is now available wherever you buy your books.

But, if you’d like to buy it singly for only ninety-nine cents, you can!

The Chapel Perilous

I wrote a story for the Unfettered anthology and it turned out to be an origin story of sorts for Atticus. A blend of history, myth, and legend—specifically the legends surrounding the quest for the Holy Grail—”The Chapel Perilous” takes you back to sixth century Wales, before Atticus became the Iron Druid. This story is now available in the US & Canada for cheap (0.99 or its equivalent) all by itself—and in most of the rest of the world too—but in the UK & Australia the rights are owned by Orbit, so you can only get it as part of the Unfettered anthology. (It’s a great anthology, well worth it!)

Tough to know where to place this story in the chronology of the series because it’s a frame story. The bulk of it is Atticus recounting his shenanigans back in the Dark Ages, but he’s telling it all to Granuaile and Oberon in between the books TRICKED and TRAPPED. I will let you decide where it deserves to be placed in the series. Fun for you and no stress for me!

Two Tales of the Iron Druid Chronicles

Available both in ebook and audio worldwide, Two Tales of the Iron Druid Chronicles contains the stories “Kaibab Unbound” and “A Test of Mettle.” The cover was illustrated by Hugo-award winning artist Galen Dara and depicts “Kaibab Unbound”—that’s Atticus in owl form there. Super cheap in ebook—only 0.99 and available for:

iTunes/iBooks Nook Kindle

The audiobook is narrated by Luke Daniels and you can find it here at Audible.

In fact, would you like to hear a sample o’ that for free? Get clicky on the Soundcloud thingie here and it will stream for you.

Author of The Iron Druid Chronicles, Ink & Sigil, the Seven Kennings trilogy, and co‑author of the Tales of Pell

© Kevin Hearne. All Rights Reserved.

Shenanigans: Instagram Mastodon