Oh man, I could not have read this book at a better time. As a speculative fiction junkie I was making myself sick on bad writing, bad plots, bad characters, over and over again, unable to stop until I had my hit and searching desperately for the high I could vaguely recall from the first time my world had become open to all possibilities and 'fantasy' was introduced to me in book form.

Reading this book was like hitting the pure stuff when I had been struggling with diluted product for ages. I read the whole thing during a trip to Disney World and considered it an excellent use of my time. The world was shut out to me until 'the end'. The writing in American Gods is at once concrete and surreal. Impossible things happen as a matter of fact, but the entire time there is the conviction that Gaiman is writing about here and now. There is none of that superfluous language that struggles to instill a sense of wonder into the reader when there is nothing wonderful happening. The words become invisible and the story itself steers the mind into a much more natural state of awe. This is what I like most about American Gods, that even though it is an attempt at modern myth making, it doesn't don the jarring language of the fantasy epic. In other words, it is exquisitely written.

Now that it has been several months since that glorious high, I can look back at American Gods and see its (few) flaws. The resolution felt incomplete to me, and the transformation of Shadow, the main character, did not seem to have much effect. It's hard to illustrate a deep change in a character who spends a majority of the book semi-passive and super-stoic. The peeks into his character and the small decisions he does make really add up, and there is still a feeling of progression, but for me I felt as if the whole thing was left teetering at the edge of something immense, and if only... something... would nudge... it... a little...

I suspect this frustration has to do with the constant reference to a brewing storm throughout the book, and although lightning literally figures into the climax (pretty @$#^ing creative Gaiman, kudos), I didn't really feel the heat.

But enough kvetching about small things. I loved this book. If you like rumbling, swelling stories and -good writing- in your fantasy, you cannot go wrong with Gaiman.

And there's gay sex. Plus 1/2 star for that. ( )

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book that Asks You to Think, December 15, 2009

This book is fascinating, titillating, smart and funny. This is not a light read on vacation because the book asks you to suspend reality and be immersed in it. Mr. Gaiman makes many cultural references, societal commentary (not always good) and loads of mythological elements weaved into this fascinating story.

The book's main character takes us through a journey which weaves a tale of how the old gods (Odin, Thor, Anubis, elves, leprechauns, etc.), who were brought over to the US by immigrants, are dying because people stopped believing in them to favor the new gods (media, celebrities, technology, money and more).

The book follows "Shadow" upon his release from jail due to the death of his wife in a car accident. Shadow gets a job as bodyguard for a mysterious man named Wednesday. As they travel across the US visiting Wednesday's friends it is slowly reveled that Wednesday is an incarnation of Odin who is recruiting the old gods for an epic battle against the new gods in order to regain their power and status.

I don't want to give too much away as this is a wonderful book, but the storyline gets much more complex, interesting and fascinating. ( )

The premise is brilliant: America, the immigrant nation, where old Gods had to be imported by the poor huddled masses because there were none already here, finds it has grown new Gods after all - styled after the new Americans' "worship" of their gadgets, media and consumerist lifestyle. The people now *consume* their idols: in the old days, the idols demanded it was the other way around - that was the sustenance of the Gods, and consequently we find the old Gods now worn out, power weakening, in the face of the new materialistic age. In a last ditch attempt to fight off destruction by distraction, Odin tries to rally the troops and co-opts, sneakily, Shadow, an ex con, to help him do it.

It's a great premise: as soon as I heard it I had to get a hold of the book, but when you reflect more deeply it's simply a great idea that doesn't really work, because, well, *then* what? A götterdammerung-style clash of the titans doesn't really work - what would be the point? How would you judge the result? Since that's the route that Gaiman takes his plot it's a dilemma he has, ultimately, to resolve, and how he does do it is a bit of a cop out.

The original edition of the work was something of a runaway success, and a bit like a now-famous film director, Gaiman's literary standing is such that he can go back and overturn editorial excisions to release a "Director's Cut". That's the version that I read - something like 100 pages longer than the originally published version, and with some modifications is largely reinstating material that some officious subeditor took out.

The problem is, I suspect the original subeditor was probably right: American Gods as reinstated feels flabby, over-populated with characters and events which aren't entirely mission critical to the plot or message, and - well - about a hundred pages too long. The resolution unfolds itself gently and carefully, and is deftly handled when it finally arrives. It just takes a little bit longer than it should to get there.

It's a striking book, make no mistake, and displays a depth of erudition on Gaiman's part which is never allowed to get in the way of a good yarn. But, at least in the version I read, this feels like a pretty good novel still uncut and in the rough, and in need of a editor's careful attention. Attention, that once upon a time, it apparently had! ( )

A fabulous novel exploring where the gods of mythology have gone. ( )

I absolutely love this book. It was recommended to me by someone who also absolutely loves the book, and I have continued to recommend it to others who will probably love the book. I'm a big fan of Gaiman's writing style (as evidenced by the number of his books that I now own), and the inclusion of gods from a wide variety of world religions was thrilling for someone who has always enjoyed mythologies from all over the world. ( )