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Science Fiction & Fantasy |
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American Gods: A Novel
written by Neil Gaiman
Studio : Harper Perennial
by Harper Perennial
Release Date : 2003-09-02
Publisher : Harper Perennial
Released : 2003-09-01
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780060558123
UPC : 000060558121
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 696 reviews)
List Price : $14.95
Our Price : $7.00
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Product Description |
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Released from prison, Shadow finds his world turned upside down. His wife has been killed; a mysterious stranger offers him a job. But Mr. Wednesday, who knows more about Shadow than is possible, warns that a storm is coming -- a battle for the very soul of America . . . and they are in its direct path. One of the most talked-about books of the new millennium, American Gods is a kaleidoscopic journey deep into myth and across an American landscape at once eerily familiar and utterly alien. It is, quite simply, a contemporary masterpiece. |
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Americancivilwar.com Review |
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American Gods is Neil Gaiman's best and most ambitious novel yet, a scary, strange, and hallucinogenic road-trip story wrapped around a deep examination of the American spirit. Gaiman tackles everything from the onslaught of the information age to the meaning of death, but he doesn't sacrifice the razor-sharp plotting and narrative style he's been delivering since his Sandman days. Shadow gets out of prison early when his wife is killed in a car crash. At a loss, he takes up with a mysterious character called Wednesday, who is much more than he appears. In fact, Wednesday is an old god, once known as Odin the All-father, who is roaming America rounding up his forgotten fellows in preparation for an epic battle against the upstart deities of the Internet, credit cards, television, and all that is wired. Shadow agrees to help Wednesday, and they whirl through a psycho-spiritual storm that becomes all too real in its manifestations. For instance, Shadow's dead wife Laura keeps showing up, and not just as a ghost--the difficulty of their continuing relationship is by turns grim and darkly funny, just like the rest of the book. Armed only with some coin tricks and a sense of purpose, Shadow travels through, around, and underneath the visible surface of things, digging up all the powerful myths Americans brought with them in their journeys to this land as well as the ones that were already here. Shadow's road story is the heart of the novel, and it's here that Gaiman offers up the details that make this such a cinematic book--the distinctly American foods and diversions, the bizarre roadside attractions, the decrepit gods reduced to shell games and prostitution. "This is a bad land for Gods," says Shadow. More than a tourist in America, but not a native, Neil Gaiman offers an outside-in and inside-out perspective on the soul and spirituality of the country--our obsessions with money and power, our jumbled religious heritage and its societal outcomes, and the millennial decisions we face about what's real and what's not. --Therese Littleton |
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Very Clever & Fun |
This was a Christmas present from my sister-in-law last year. I completely loved Anansi Boys and was eager to tear into this one.
I must say, I really thought Anansi Boys was a better book. That isn't to say I didn't like this one, I just thought that Anansi Boys flowed better.
I really loved how he took ancient mythology and breathed new life into the old stories. I honestly found myself wishing more of the story was from the perspective of the old gods rather than the main character, Shadow. I just didn't find the main character all that engaging. I thought it was really clever plot and I love his writing style.
It reminded me a lot of another book I read years ago by the title of Shadows Fall by Simon R. Green.
Overall, a fun book that just didn't match up to Anansi Boys. |
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Excellent |
truly one of Gaiman's best. I adored this book so much, that I'm hoping he'll continue to write stories about Shadow in the future. He's written a short story titled "Monarch of the Glen", (included in "Fragile Things") that takes on Shadow's journey after the events of this novel...another excellent example of Gaiman's storytelling.
This book is a must for anyone interested in Neil Gaiman's work, or mythology or both. |
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better than average |
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this book was good i guess . it was enticing to begin with. also it contained a new type of plot but i do agree it is dark and that there is not a clear protagonist but the muddling of charachters gives it some flavor p.s. it is long |
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Enjoyable, fun adventure! |
I have a particular weakness for irreverent humor, satire, and surreality, so when I was recommended to read "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman I was agreeable. I had loved Sandman and his joint-venture with Terry Pratchett in Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (Discworld). However, I was surprised and found myself eagerly devouring this novel because it was unique, not many books are able incorporate mythology, satire, and humor so successfully.
As always, Gaiman brings together an adventure that matches wit and fantasy with mythological themes and contemporary storytelling. In the heartlands of America, its settlers and immigrants brought with them the beliefs and myths of their homelands. Those gods and other mystical creatures from folklore and mythology are now living amongst us, getting by and dealing with the day-to-day issues all mortals face...mortgages, money, death, and taxes.
It is this world to which an ex-con, Shadow, is slowly introduced as he takes employment with a mysterious man named, Mr. Wednesday. Here he meets a drunk leprechaun, talking animals from old folk stories, and a cacophony of deities as he helps his employer gather up the old gods in a defensive bid against the rise of the new gods of modern America such as the internet, credit cards, and media, Shadow finds himself a pawn in a very dangerous game.
On the whole the novel progressed smoothly through the plot. Only a few chapters interrupted the flow. These occasional interruptions were origin tales describing an Old World god's introduction to America. On their own, they were intelligent and gripping, I would have loved to learn more about Odin, or the woman who brought the Little Folk with her from Ireland. As part of a whole, they simply broke my immersion in Shadow's story and served no clear narrative purpose. You would be reading along minding your own business and then a new chapter would be come up and it would feel as if was a completely different story tucked in the middle. Perhaps if they were presented in a different way it wouldn't have felt so out of place.
Gaiman's tale was easily read and pulled you along an engaging adventure. To see these once-great beings acting just like regular people down on their luck gave the book just the right amount of irony and humor without it being preachy, corny, or even religious. I was pleased that "American Gods" features increasingly odd and surreal moments that made me eagerly turn each page to see what happens next. |
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A Stellar Work of Fantasy |
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Blue chip dark fantasy. Although readers of Gaiman's Sandman books will find some familiar territory retreaded here, it's Gaimans first major novel to really stand on its own in the literary medium, a showcase of one of the best minds in modern fantasy, and an easy recommendation to make. |
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