I have not read nearly enough books by Kevin Hearne, but I will definitely be rectifying that situation shortly. I first read Hounded (Iron Druid Chronicles) many years ago after it first came out and I absolutely loved it, but for one reason or another never had a chance to finish the rest of the series. I was fortunate to get my hands on an early review copy of Ink & Sigil, which happens to be in the Iron Druid universe and has a quick nod to Atticus and Oberon, but otherwise holds its own quite nicely. I was drawn in from the first word. This book had awesome action, an intriguing plot, a mystery that will hopefully be solved as the series progresses, and most importantly amazingly nutty characters. I haven't laughed that long at a book in a long time! Can't wait for more.

This book is well written, and I liked the characters. I wasn't much for the dialect spellings and kept tripping over them while reading. It made it easy to figure out the accent of the characters, but there were a lot of dialect spellings. It may have been easier to read if there were fewer of the dialect spellings. The progress of the mystery felt slow, and overall I liked the Iron Druid series more than this one.

I read this book early thanks to #NetGalley and #DelRay

Another fantastic book by Kevin Hearne! I loved that this book is in the same world as The Iron Druid Chronicles! The magic system is really cool and had me looking up old ink recipes. Al's curse also makes for some really funny and heartfelt scenes. I also, can't wait for my husband to get the audio book, so I can listen to Luke Daniels read it.

A delightful, stand-alone book and introduction to a whimsically wonderful system of magic, complete with supernatural beings and Glaswegian (that’s Glasgow-ian) accent. Not to mention its pervasive sense of raunchy humor. Before getting started, the author provides an introduction with pronunciation and dialect guide. I found the language hilarious, never mind the characters and plot, because when I moved to this (remote, forested) area, there was a pub a few miles out of town. The White Cockade (check your history for the meaning) was owned and bartended by a Glasgow émigré with an accent roughly equivalent to talking around bits of glass. The only way to understand him was to turn off the front part of your brain and let the words seep in through the back of your skull. Several minutes later, all would be made clear. Which resulted in interesting timing of conversation. Nice guy, though. Great cook of pub food.

So here I am in a first-person Glaswegian dialect narration, whooping with laughter and in general enjoying the story immensely. That’s pretty much all you need to know, other than there’s a reason why the Sigil Master’s apprentices keep dying of such causes as eating scones with raisins. To make matters worse, the above-mentioned Sigil Master has been cursed in such a way that if he speaks directly to a person long enough, they are seized by a sudden and violent hatred of him, no matter how loving or trusting their previous relationship was. Although Ink and Sigil swept through a page-turning climax to a most satisfying ending, I hope to see more of its characters.

I was a fan of this author’s Druid Chronicles, so I was eager to dive into this one to see what the author had come up with. What he came up with was an original Sigil wizard, in his sixties mind you, who has been cursed for people to start hating him with each word he speaks. This was fascinating and opened up many thought tangents on my end. The story didn’t take long to get going, and we jumped pretty much right into the story. I was a little worried when there was a pronunciation guide at the beginning, but it surprised me that the accent didn’t really bother me, and it was easy to understand. This latest series-starter was well-written and full of humor just like we’ve come to expect from this author. As a side note, you don’t need to have read the Druid Chronicles to read this one; they are separate but in the same universe. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

I had no idea that this was a spin-off series from the Iron Druid Chronicles until after I started researching the book a little more. After reading this book, I think I’ll have to invest some time into the Iron Druid Chronicles after this one.

This is a really fun magical book that has a ton of action and witty characters. I really enjoyed the vast personality that Hearne created within this book. I also completely loved the alcoholic beverages I learned about. I mean I did not know Scotland produced a lot of Gin. Thankfully I had a Scotch from the Highlands to sip on while reading this, that one of my good friends picked up for me last year.

Ink & Sigil, follows Al MacBharrais, one of only five Sigil Agents in the human world. With a amazing white moustache and a preference for great spirits, he’s in charge of making sure non-humans don’t make a mess of the human world. He uses his ‘magic’ skills or Sigils to give him enough power to fight against Faes who would otherwise wreck havoc. One caveat is that Al has been cursed where anyone who hears him talking ends up hating him. He needs to figure out how to reverse the curse but until then he uses a speech app to talk safely.

Because of this curse, Al has just lost his seventh apprentice Gordie. After his death, Al uncovers Gordie’s double life, of capturing Fae and selling them to an unknown source. In the process Al befriends a pink hobglobin and hilarity ensures.

It was a little difficult to get use to the Scottish dialogue but once I got into the flow, the language fit perfectly with the story.

This book is extremely imaginative and filled with adventure. I was really hoping to see when the second book was coming out but I couldn’t even find a tentative date for it, which is super sad. I super enjoyed this book! The cover is gorgeous, the book is fun, and

It’s unique, moving and enjoyable reading with so many eccentric characters and I always admire Kevin Hearne’s imagination to open us new and dazzling universes’ doors and enjoy our adventurous ride with him!

I had some hard time to decipher the dialogues between Scottish men so it slowed down my pace just a little bit to search for true meanings of their words but overall it was remarkably interesting and intriguing brand new series and I’m in to read more!

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on Ink & Sigil. For more of my reviews head to speakingof.org or my Instagram @speakingof_books. Huge thank you to Del Rey Books for my advanced copy.

In Kevin Hearne’s latest urban fantasy, Al MacBharrais is blessed and cursed. He’s blessed with the rare ability to make sigils, and he’s cursed so that whoever hears his voice begins to develop an intense hatred for him. You can imagine how badly this affects his personal life. However, Al’s life is about to get worse as his apprentices start mysteriously dying in freak accidents, and as he begins to investigate their deaths, he uncovers a shady magical creature trafficking scheme.

Overall, I loved the Celtic mythology influences and the unique hard magic system. It was fun to see Al creatively work around his curse, and of course, I adored Nadia, the psychic goth lesbian who kicks butt. Literally.

Along with the Scottish setting, the writing is very tongue and cheek and humorous … sometimes to its own detriment. Unfortunately, I found myself unable to feel the emotional stakes of him investigating the deaths of his apprentices. I feel this boils down to an issue of tonal balance. However, at one point, I was taken out of left field when Al mentions his diseased wife who he would travel to the Underworld for like Orpheus to get her back. That connection I did feel and that would have been a more compelling story for me, so as a series, I hope that storyline is explored and developed later down the road.

In a nutshell, the plot and most of the characters I wasn’t as invested in, but the worldbuilding and magic system are well-crafted.

Another amazing story from Kevin Hearne. I was so excited to return to the Iron Druid universe and I loved every second of this. Al is a dynamic character and he pushed the plot to it limit. There was magic and mayhem - I wouldn't have settled for any less - but there was also a cool mystery. I thought Al's curses were pretty original and that really started the story off well. It was nice to learn even more about the Iron Druid universe while also getting to know these new characters.

I definitely enjoyed this spin-off from The Iron Druid Chronicles. Although it helps to be familiar with the series, you don’t really need to know it to appreciate this one. I had a lot of fun reading this one (despite some serious moments & troubles for the main character). Highly recommended!

Aloysius MacBharrais (great name!) is a Sigil agent with a battle seer as a CMA office manager named Nadia. You will have to read about her and her bad assery. Too much to go into in a review but wizard van and cheese fondue.
We open on Al discovering his apprentice dead from a raisin scone (I take offense I like raisin pastries) and he uncovers a bunch of illegal dealings that were going on behind his back.
In the process of finding out who was in charge we go on a grand adventure full of ghost dogs, tricky hobgoblins, bean sidhes, and many other creatures including Americans!
Also, I want to add Al who is in his 60's btw seems like hes a good boss and person. Not many men that age would be cool with a wizard van.

I would love some of these sigils! They are used for all sorts of purposes like gaining strength, healing, agility, etc. I would just like some put in an envelope maybe the Sigil of restful sleep for my 6 yo who keeps me up every night.

I love Irish, Scottish and English lore centered around Druid and Fae story telling. And the recipes of inks and sigils and magical whimsical elements. I want to go hunt ingredients and meet interesting characters.

I loved that the writing was in the accents they spoke. It helped me try to test out my linguistics and speech patterns in Scottish, I'm still shite but that's fine.

I haven't read the other Druid Chronicles books and this is the start of a new series. I didn't feel lost or like I needed to catch up.

I recommend for those that love fantasy, fae, adventure, intrigue, and cool guys.

With his newest book, Ink & Sigil, NYT bestselling author Kevin Hearne brings his unique flavor of storytelling and wicked sense of humor to a familiar world - his version of Earth from the Iron Druid Chronicles. Readers don’t have to be acquainted with his previous books to delve into this one; it’s a fresh story from a different point-of-view.

Al MacBharrais is an elderly Scotsman serving as a sigil agent for the First of the Fae, while training an apprentice to carry on after he retires. The death of that apprentice uncovers a sinister plot, and Al gathers a cast of unusual and talented people to hunt down the perpetrators.

Hearne throws Fae creatures into Modern Day Scotland and sprinkles in some foul language, impish humor, and current events. It’s an absolutely delightful read. I devoured this book in less than a day and I hope to see more books featuring Al in the future.

Ink & Sigil is the first of it's series, but not the first in this universe. It shares the universe of the Iron Druid Chronicles (which is a series I adored). In this shared universe we meet our protagonist Al MacBharrais, who is a Sigil Agent who protects humans from the fae, by making the fae sign binding contracts to stay out of human business. Al also has to deal with the mystery of a curse placed on his head, that makes speaking to people, eventually turn against him. So he has to use his phone to communicate with everyone.

I really enjoyed the characters of Al and Nadia. they were very engaging to read and they had a great chemistry. There was a whole section at the beginning of the book about the Scottish (specially Glasgow/Weegie) accent that is used throughout the book. I'm usually weary of long pronunciation guides, but I found the dialogue very easy to follow, and it didn't bother me at all. I found the plot interesting, but felt it might have been a mistake to set this story in the same world as the Iron Druid Chronicles, because I wanted more crossover in this first installment of this book.

Overall I highly recommend for fans of Hearne and for those looking for a great urban fantasy to pick up.

Really enjoyed this!! I don't usually enjoy vernacular, often it feels demeaning and cliche, but in this case it was done very well and added a lot of local flavor in a nice way. I also enjoyed that the protagonist wasn't a young, gorgeous diva. The storytelling was more sincere than I was expecting, at least regarding the protagonist. The storytelling is very skillful and just carries you along. Nothing too bleak or tragic, a satisfying conclusion, and overall a great read.

Ink & Sigil is an enjoyable fantasy for the great world-builder Kevin Hearne. Al MacBharrais is our narrator hero, a sigil agent, one of only five sigil agents in the world and he has trouble. His apprentice died choking on a raisin in his scones. It’s clear to everyone that eating a scone with raisins is deliberately risking death, so no one is particularly surprised. However, why is it that all his apprentices die in accidents.

Al rushes to make sure all evidence of sigiling is removed before the police see what they should not. After all, part of his job as a sigil agent is keeping humans unaware of the several planes of existence sharing our world He has a hand ID card stacked with sigils that make sure people do what he says and forget they saw him, so he is able to clean up the abundance of special ink, paper, and sigils. But there’s also a hobgoblin in a cage. What does that mean?

Al discovers his apprentice has been trafficking in fae creatures, bringing them from their plane to ours and selling them to some mysterious buyer named Bastille. Joining him in his investigation of this trafficking are his office manager-accountant/enforcer Natalie, Buck Foi the hobgoblin, and a handy hacker as well as various friends and associates.



Ink & Sigil is a romp of a book but not for the young, just reverse the letters of Buch Foi’s name and you will understand the delightful trove of profane and obscene insults that season this book. It’s spicy. In a way, this is an introductory book to a new series, because Al has a deep and dangerous mystery to solve and this is only the beginning.

Ink & Sigil will be released on August 29th. I received an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

Ink & Sigil at Del Rey | Penguin Random House
A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne
A Blight of Blackwings by Kevin Hearne
Kevin Hearne author site

This story started with a slow quick fuse that quickly exploded into a fun, entertaining adventure.

A new series that takes place in the same universe as the author’s Iron Druid Chronicles with new characters and new adventures. If you love the Iron Druid like me you will love this old man!

Aloysius “Al” MacBharrais is a Sigil Agent. One of five such people in the world who were given the power to create sigils from special ink by the goddess Brigid . These sigils are a kind of magic that can be used for both offensive and defensive purposes and the sigil agents are tasked with using their abilities to maintain the supernatural.
Al’s apprentice dies by choking to death on a raisin scone, and he isn’t convinced it isn’t really an accident. Perhaps because his previous six apprentices have also all died in various accidents. His investigation leads him to a fey smuggling ring and it looks like his apprentice was involved. Hijinks abound from there.


The character of Al MacBharrais is well-developed in this first book along with his sigil craft and several of his closest friends and allies. Humor and a great story await!

Recommended. Keven Hearne fans will not be disappointed.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC in return for an honest review (less)

I've been anticipating this novel since I saw it mentioned by Holly Hearts Books on YouTube. High fantasy with innovative world building and dialog. Great characters that are easy to love. The story has an intriguing magic system with dark themes and elements of humor. It was easy to stay interesting in the story. Enjoyable read, I recommend this one! Thank you NetGalley for allowing mevto review this wonderful book

A few posts ago, I stated that I'd had several books I DNF because they just weren't of my interest. Normally I've been the person who finishes a book no matter how uninterested I am. However, with so many books to read and with so little time, I gotta keep moving.



The Subjects - I read about halfway through the book and realized I didn't know what was going on. Then I decided it was time to stop.



Nightshade - Within about 20 pages, I knew it wasn't the book for me. The writing seemed all over the place, and nothing was holding me. So then I read another 20 pages - or tried to - and knew I had to move on.



Ink & Sigil - This is the one I was most hopeful for of the three DNF. It seemed pretty good at first. A little bit of Highland folklore and Scottish culture. But then, like the other two, I found myself disinterested. There's just too many things to be doing then hanging on to a book you're not interested in.



Oh well. On to the next ones.



2/5 Stars

I was so delighted to learn that Hearne was going back to the Iron Druid world. I loved the humor, friendship, and the way mythology was brought to life in a contemporary world. In Ink & Sigil, we enter the world of Aloysius MacBharrais, a sigil agent on the hunt to discover who has been killing off his apprentices. But while investigating his apprentice’s death, Al must avoid the actual investigators who seem very suspicious about the number of deaths that seem to follow in Al’s wake. With a hobgoblin as an unlikely ally, Al must navigate the dark underbelly of Scotland’s magical underworld. 

Reading a Kevin Hearne novel is always a wild ride. He is able to deftly blend bawdy humor, magical duels, and imaginative world building into a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience. It has the fun and warmth in creating a found family but also the danger and mystery that surrounds Al’s sigil magic. Secret societies, magical creatures, lots of delicious sounding boozy drinks, and an interesting blend of characters make for a fast paced and exciting read.  

Al was a very interesting character. Bearing a curse that causes anyone who hears his voice to fiercely hate him, Al spends much of his time communicating through a text to speech on his phone. He’s also in his 60s and has all the limitations that come with living a dangerous life for most of your 60 years. He is able to surround himself with loyal friends and employees and takes their loyalty seriously.  Nadia, his business manager and battle seer, keeps up his public image as a printshop owner during the day and helps him coordinate with hackers and other, slightly illegal characters, at night. The story behind their first meeting is quite the adventure I really love how creative Hearne can be.

There’s also a wonderful little hobgoblin that finds himself caught up in all of Al’s adventures I loved how hilarious their interactions were.

4 stars

You can read all of my reviews at NerdGirlLovesBooks.

This is a creative, funny, action-packed fantasy about an elderly sigil agent that can craft magical spells using special inks and symbols.

I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't yet read any of the The Iron Druid Chronicles. I have them all and intend to do so, I just haven't had the time. That said, if you have not read them either, you can still read and enjoy this book. I'm sure that I perhaps didn't fully appreciate certain references because I had not read them, but I didn't feel lost while reading this book.

Al MacBharrais is blessed with a fantastic white moustache. He also has a curse on his head that anyone that his hears voice long enough will developed a deep-seated hatred for him. He must therefore communicate in writing or by using a phone app. Al is a sigil agent - one of only five in the world. Al has tried to train a new sigil agent to take his position for when he can no longer perform his duties, but his apprentices have a habit of dying in freak accidents. His latest apprentice, Gordie, recently died, leaving Al in a predicament.

Al discovers that Gordie had been participating in a secret life of crime and it's up to Al to get to the bottom of it while avoiding detectives that wonder why Al's apprentices keep dying. He is aided in his investigation by his office manager/ enforcer and a wisecracking, mischief-making hobgoblin named Buck Foi.

The book is set in Glasgow, and the characters speak in wonderful Scottish accents that make it fun to imagine what they would sound like while you read. (Sadly, my Scottish accent is atrocious) As always, the author does a wonderful job of worldbuilding and the characters jump off the page. I could picture each one in my mind's eye, and imagine their expressions as they interact with each other.

I'm not a huge fan of urban fantasies, but because of the superb writing, I didn't mind it here. The story was entertaining and there was just enough of "other worldliness" that balanced out the urban setting. Having only read the author's The Seven Kennings book series, it was fun to read something a bit lighter from him. I just hope that this new series doesn't prevent him from writing more Seven Kennings books, because I have GOT to know what happens next!

Kevin Hearne is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend you read it.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and Del Rey in exchange for an honest review.

Al MacBharrais lives in a world of different creatures, deities, and spirits. He is an old sigil agent with a wonderful moustache and a taste for good gin. The story begins when Al finds Gordie, his seventh apprentice, has choked to death on a raisin. All his other apprentices also died suddenly in various accidents. But Al discovers a lot more in Gordie’s apartment, a hobgoblin in a cage, sigils Al had not yet taught Gordie, and rare ink ingredients Gordie should not have. This is the start of a wonderful mystery; who is secretly teaching Gordie and helping him find rare ingredients for inks, and why did Gordie capture a fairy and a hobgoblin to sell?

Al has been under a curse that causes people to hate him after listening to Al talk for an extended period. He uses a device that allows him to type in the words and then have them played back in an electronic voice. He also depends on his magical sigils to help him get around and Nadia, his business manager, who is also battle seer. Having a hobgoblin living with him is tricky, but works with careful planning.

I loved the characters in this book, they were all so different and quirky. Having much of the dialogue in a Glasgow accent (who knew there were different accents in Scotland?) made the story extra fun. And the book cover, amazing. I’d love to have a framed copy to hang in my office.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGallley through Random House Publishing Group and this is my honest review.