Besieged

Atticus O'Sullivan is a two-thousand-year-old Irish druid, and this collection of original short stories sends him through different eras and places where the old gods and their monsters still hold power. It belongs to the Iron Druid Chronicles.

In ancient Egypt, Atticus agrees to raid a hidden chamber beneath the library of Alexandria. He has to get past deadly traps, then discovers that two members of the Egyptian pantheon are guarding the place.

In England, a friendship with William Shakespeare drops both men into trouble with a trio of infamous witches. At a Kansas carnival, demons that take souls and ghouls that crave flesh use a house of horrors to lure in visitors, and the fun turns deadly.

During the Gold Rush, the avatar of greed brings bloodshed to the streets of San Francisco and angers the elemental Sequoia. Atticus may have to fight fire with fire to restore balance.

Nine stories in all, with a comic tone and plenty of action. The rest of the book brings bogeymen, vampire hordes, wrathful wraiths and a trip to the realm of the dead.