Читать онлайн «Shattered»

Shattered

(The seventh book in the Iron Druid Chronicles series)

A novel by Kevin Hearne

PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

I think it’s cool if you read the unusual names in my books however you want. There won’t be a test afterward and I’m not going to withhold a Twinkie from you if you pronounce any of them incorrectly. You’re supposed to have fun here, after all, and it’s usually not fun if someone tells you that you’re doing it wrong. But I like to provide these in case you want to master those names and enjoy the Druids’ globetrotting. So here we go; caps-lock bits indicate stressed syllables. …

Erlendr = EHR len dur (Not quite AIR lend ur, but close. A bit more like a short e on that first syllable. )

Freydís = FRAY deece

Hildr = HILL dur (Female name still used today in Iceland and Norway, but in modern spelling they go ahead and indicate the last vowel, like Hildur. )

Ísólfr = EES ol vur (The first syllable should rhyme with fleece, not ease. The o is a long oh, you know. And an f in the middle is kinda soft, so it sounds like a v. )

Krókr Hrafnson = KROH kur HRABn son (Hrafn = raven. Difficult to get this right in English. There’s that aspirated Hr at the beginning and then the problematic fn. In modern Icelandic it’s pronounced like a bn or simply a b, but we’re unsure precisely how it was spoken in Old Norse. In the old days it may have been HRAV son. From poetry scanning we know that there wasn’t a vowel sound between the f and n, so this is supposed to be a two-syllable word, but maybe with a hint of n in the middle.

Oddrún = ODD rune (Female name still used today in Iceland. Bonus points if you roll the r a bit. )

Skúfr = SKOO vur (Again with the soft f thing. )

Creidhne = CRANE ya

Flidais = FLIH dish

Fuilteach = FWIL tah

Goibhniu = GUV new

Granuaile = GRAWN ya WALE

Fragarach = FRAH gah rah

Luchta = LOOKED ah

Orlaith = OR lah

Scáthmhaide = SKAH wad juh

Siodhachan = SHE ya han

Dabāva = da BAHV (Translates into pressure or compression. Last vowel is dropped in pronunciation. )

IRON DRUID CHRONICLES

THE STORY SO FAR

Atticus O’Sullivan, born in 83 B. C. E. as Siodhachan Ó Suileabháin, has spent much of his long life as a Druid on the run from Aenghus Óg, one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Aenghus Óg sought the return of Fragarach, a magical sword that Atticus had stolen in the second century, and the fact that Atticus had learned how to keep himself young and wouldn’t simply die annoyed the heck out of him.

When Aenghus Óg finds Atticus hiding in Tempe, Arizona, Atticus makes the fateful decision to fight instead of run, unwittingly setting off a chain of consequences that snowballs on him, despite his efforts to lie low.

In Hounded, he gains an apprentice, Granuaile, retrieves a necklace that serves as a focus for Laksha Kulasekaran, an Indian witch, and discovers that his cold iron aura is proof against hellfire. He defeats Aenghus Óg with an assist from the Morrigan, Brighid, and the local pack of werewolves. However, he also severely cripples a witches’ coven that wasn’t exactly benevolent but was protecting the Phoenix metro area from more-menacing groups of predators.