Let me just preface this by saying that I really, really like this book. This was my sixth or seventh time through and I’m still finding things I’ve missed before or understanding some scenes in new ways.
That said, the discourse last night did highlight some of the issues with such an ambitious project that I’ve missed for some reason.
American gods is a modern day myth of epic proportions. The basic concept deals with ‘down on their luck’ gods trying to gather enough belief to make it in the new world. They were carried to the USA by immigrants from all over the world but are now being forgotten.
In their place stand techno gods of media and computers; of blinking lights and highways. The old gods are gathered by the mysterious Mr Wednesday to take back their space in peoples’ heads. In Neil Gaiman’s world, deities need the belief of mortals to survive and they’re willing to do almost anything to get it.
Into this arena steps Shadow. A recently released convict, all Shadow wants to do is pick up the broken pieces of his life and mourn his dead wife. What he gets is a job with Mr Wednesday, a lead role in a war of the gods and a wife who’s not so much late as slightly delayed.
In the course of Wednesday and Shadow’s travels, they encounter divine beings from a myriad of cultures, the mysterious men in black, bizarre folk heroes and a six foot tall leprechaun. All have a part to play in the coming battle, though for most it’s not the part they think.
It’s an engaging concept and a good story. However, some parts of the book tend to be either irrelevant or slightly too abstract for the casual reader. The cast is also a touch too large and most seem to be there simply to show off Neils, admittedly impressive, knowledge of mythology and history. The ending is also a little bit too neat and leaves nothing to the imagination. A few of the ideas have been done before and done better…Most notably by Gaiman himself in his ‘Sandman’ series.
Like I said though, I really like this book. Getting some other opinions has opened my eyes to a lot of its flaws, but I’d still recommend this as a read, as well as Neil Gaimans other works. It’s not for everybody, but it’s certainly for me.
Rating: 
