American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of American Gods: A Novel
Book Review: "This Is a Bad Place For Gods..."
Summary: 5 Stars
Released from prison shortly after the accidental death of his wife, ex-con Shadow finds himself free, but bereft of all the things that gave his previous life meaning. As he bids his farewell to the fragments of that life, an eerie stranger named Mr. Wednesday offers him employment. Wednesday needs someone to act as aid, driver, errand boy, and, in case of Wednesday's death, someone to hold a vigil for him. Shadow consents and finds himself drawn unsuspectingly into a cryptic reality where myth and legend coexist with today's realities.Mr. Wednesday, trickster and wise man, is on a quest. The old gods who came over to this country with each human incursion have weakened as their followers have dwindled and are now threatened with extinction by the modern gods of technology and marketing. Wednesday travels from deity to deity, rounding up help for what will be last battle. He engages ancient Russian gods, Norse legends, Egyptian deities, and countless others who have found their way to America in the past 10,000 or so years. Shadow never quite understands what his role is in all of this, but he experiences visions and dreams which promise that he is far more than Wednesday's factotum.
The plot is unendingly inventive as it treks its way across the country. From Chicago to Rhode Island, and Seattle to the magical town of Lakeside, Shadow's journey seems to follow the back roads of America. The people he meets are gritty, and the gods are even grittier. Gaiman creates believable characters with quick brush strokes and builds vivid landscapes that belie their mundane origins. Gaiman, recently moved to the U.S. has invited us along on his own quest to discover an America uniquely his own.
This is a novel that resonates at many levels, it is Shadow's initiation quest, Gaiman's search for the American identity, a revisionist Twilight of the Gods, and last, but not least a captivating piece of fiction. The gods that people this story came with people who found their way to this country from almost every time and place. Gaiman has put his finger on once of this country's greatest truths. Every person who ever lived here has roots from somewhere else. We have crossed oceans and land bridges, on foot, and by every other means of transportation. Our culture has been created whole cloth out of the character and beliefs of all those people. Gaiman has managed to capture a bit of that vision and put it on display for the reader.
After his superb work in "Neverwhere," "Stardust," and the Sandman graphic novels, Neil Gaimon has established himself a force to be reckoned with in the crossover horror/fantasy genre. Now with his new novel Gaiman establishes his mastery in a remarkable story of quest and transformation as he comes to terms with his own vision of America. "American Gods" defies classification and invites superlatives. This is one of 2001's must reads.
Book Review: A Compelling Novel Exploring Lost Spirituality in America
Summary: 4 Stars
American Gods is equal parts hallucinogenic travelogue, religious homage, science-fiction adventure, and search for the soul of the American Country. Gaiman's novel follows an ex-convict that gets involved with ancient gods, having unwillingly taken the form of bottom-feeding humans, as they prepare for their final battle with the new idols that have usurped them. One's ability to enjoy the book depends greatly on his or her ability to suspend disbelief in the face of such a far-fetched contrivance, however, underneath it lies an intelligent and often compelling narrative that laments the loss spirituality and faith in modern American civilization.
(read more reviews like this at
http://www.voidmagazine.com/twocentreview.html)
Book Review: A Dark Look at America
Summary: 4 Stars
I was surprised by how much I liked this book - I'd never beenable to get into Gaiman's work before (particularly Sandman), but
I found this to be one of the strongest works of modern fantasy
I've ever read.
This is a different kind of road trip and it tells the stories
of many gods, both living and dead.
Book Review: A Great Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was completely caught off guard when I picked this one up. Had no idea what I was getting into.A fantastic, journey into the mystical. Complex and very straightforward all at once. Refreshing. Gaiman shows incredible knowledge of mythology and its place in the human psych. An enjoyable journey that I didn't want to end.
Book Review: A Gripping and Involving Tale
Summary: 5 Stars
Since everyone else has summarized the plot for you -- the ancient gods are alive and not so well in America, and competing with the new gods of consumerist society, and trouble is a-coming -- I'll just stick to the mechanics, This is a beautifully plotted and written book, free of loose ends, and surprisingly well constructed at every turn. It's full of surprises, and you get to feel the identities of all the characters, whether real or 'imaginary.' Maybe it takes a while for the central character, Shadow, to become real, but then, that's probably the idea. I'd vote this the best sci-fi I've read since Cryptonomicon...It would make a great movie