Rating: 
Summary: Neil Gaiman's Best Book Yet
Review: Wow. This book is just great. I read it for hours on end, and when I wasn't reading it, I kept thinking about it. This book is Gaiman's best book to date. I've read most of his other books and even some of the Sandman graphic novels, and this is his best work. It's about what happens to gods from the old countries once the people who worship them come to America. What happens to these American versions of these gods? That's one of the main questions tackled in this book.The protagonist is Shadow, a man who is released from jail after 3 years of doing time. His wife dies (very disturbing how) and he flies back for her funeral. He meets a Mr. Wednesday and from there the adventure starts. Full of sadness, happiness, humor, and horror. This book is destined to be a classic. Though it is a bit longer than the usual book, it is definitely worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: I had trouble picking it up...even when I wanted to
Review: The book gets off to a good start introducing a very cool idea and some pretty cool characters. The problem is that for the bulk of the book nothing much happens to them. There is little character development and the plot drags on at an awful pace. I found my self liking this book in theory but not in actuality. Read it if you want to but be prepared not to like it as much as you want to.
Rating: 
Summary: A book that evokes strong opinions.
Review: This book has caused more arguments among my friends and colleagues than any in recent memory, and for me, that's a good thing. I like the book, others love it, and some hate it with a passion. Flipping through the reviews, I see the same strength of opinion here. The reason to recommend the book is the depth of allusion and the fun you'll have trying to figure who's who. Having a solid background in mythology of all kinds helps, but having a sense of humor and irony is required. The plot's the thing with Gaiman, so throw aside notions of the importance of sweeping literary prose and overly deep characterization: just enjoy the story. If you're looking for beautiful sentences, then look elsewhere. Try to ignore the extreme reviews as well. This is an interesting story about the battle between the old gods (Norse, Greek, Irish, etc.) brought over with the immigrants and the new gods (TV, the internet, etc.). A good concept here ... it is well executed as well. Yeah, Gaiman's not a great writer in the purest sense, and yeah, he is not likely to win the Booker, but some of those writers can't write a story like he can. Live with it.
Rating:
Summary: Original and refreshing
Review: I looked forward to reading this Bram Stoker award winner and having finally finished it, I was glad I did. Although I think a lot of the middle could be trimmed down and a few of the psychedelic dream scenes edited, it was a satisfying read. The beginning really pulled me in and was quite powerful. Thankfully, the ending was just a powerful and made a nice bookend to the tale. Neil seemed to wander at times, but he always managed to steer back on course. Be warned -- this is not light reading. Nor is this a horror novel (I'm not sure why it was nominated and won the Bram Stoker award) Also, strangely, the idea of the plot is very similar to J. Michael Straczynski's RISING STARS comic book series. If you want a book to pass the time, American Gods is not the one. It is deep and thoughtful and makes the reader work for the treasures Gaiman hides inside.
Rating:
Summary: The...Review
Review: "Racism's bad, mm'kay? White men are evil, mm'kay?" Mr. Gaiman has an artless style that's pleasing to the modern ear. What's not so pleasing is his dependency on trite liberal cliches to prop up his story. All of the non-white non-male gods are helpful to Shadow; Odin, Loki, and the new gods(all white)that Shadow is supposed to fight, are not....
I would like to see a liberal like Neil Gaiman write a story where a non-white human is the obvious bad guy; one who is bad "just because". Here's why-it would be refreshing to my book-lover's soul to see every type of human carry the weight of antagonism.
Leave aside the fact that the character of Shadow doesn't change AT ALL from the first page to the last. Leave aside the fact that aside from a few pages here and there, the author doesn't say anything that resonates with the reader. No major insights into the human condition, no sympathetic pangs or joys for the reader to indulge in, just a lot of nothing, except for a minor introduction to gods and goddesses from lesser known pantheons.
Mind you, after all is said and done, I still got a lot of pleasure from this book. I've been a fan since his "Seasons in the Mist" story-arc in Sandman. It's just that the "anti-white male" thing has been done to death in this culture. Its time to grow up. We are all equally good, and equally bad. ALL of us....
Rating: 
Summary: American Junk
Review: I bought American Gods because of all the hype and because I had read Neverwhere and loved it. All I can say is that American Gods was a failure... I can handle machco, but the writing was poor and poor writing is unforgivable. Where was his editor? I especially loved lines such as "She entered the room through the door." So? She was in a funeral home. What was she going to do, pop in through the window? Neil Gaiman is not a great writer; he is an opportunist taking advantage of a book-buying public no longer capable of reading anything more sophisticated than a three line blip thrown across a televison screen. I wasted my money. Boo hoo.
Rating:
Summary: very good
Review: Very good story, with complex characters. There is a suprise twist ending wich is always refreshing. This book really makes you want to learn to do coin tricks though.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not what I was expecting
Review: This novel was an odd thing for me to get through. For a few pages, the book would have me in its claws. After that, however, something would shake me out of my trance and I would struggle to regain my enthusiasm for a chapter or so. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why this book fell short for me. The characters were entertaining and the story moved at a decent pace. One thing I noticed that Gaiman does in this book is he describes someone getting shot in the face with the same intensity as he would someone sitting in a cafe with their legs crossed, sipping a cup of stale coffee. While the words are undoubtedly well chosen, the mood is somehow stifled. No exclamation points, no terse wording to suggest the rapidity and urgency of the situation. Maybe that's what held me back a bit.
Overall, American Gods proves to be a good read. I hate using the word 'good', but it's the only worthy word that comes to mind.
Rating:
Summary: fascinating and engrossing thriller
Review: First: this is the first Neil Gaiman book I have read. I'm not a big reader of science fiction, but I had heard good things about his writing and the premise of the book was intriguing. Just released from prison, Shadow learns that his wife Laura has died, and takes up with Loki, somewhat against his will. Shadow is a bit of an enigma and his backstory-- how he came to be in prison, details of his love for his wife-- are revealed slowly and heartachingly. He is much smarter than he seems at first. He gets drawn into Wednesday's battle with Odin, who is in fact an ancient, a battle that will restore the gods to their proper place in society. Many of the gods are rather down-at-heel-- and some of them seem to be new ones-- Media-- a weird incident with the Dick Van Dyke show where Shadow sees Dick beating his wife. And Shadow's wife Laura does not stay in the grave, but hangs around, decomposing, to help him. None of this is fully explained, which is beautiful. Gaiman assumes a very intelligent reader, which I appreciated. He convinces us that he (Gaiman) knows his mythology inside and out, and the power and terror of some of it sticks with me even now. As a whole the book was intelligent, unpredictable, interesting-- and tragic. I withhold one star only because the book was very much a downer-- and maybe that's not fair. It's almost a new genre, a "noir fantasy." Really a great read, and unforgettable, nightmare imagery.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as I expected
Review: People had been raving to me about this book for years, so I finally tried it. These themes have been well-trodden for many years, and I honestly think they've been handled better elsewhere. Tim Powers has played with similar themes (notably in his creepy Declare) and the result was incredibly compelling. I even found myself comparing this book to Adams' The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul, and preferring Adams' take on Odin. It's not that the book isn't well written..it is, and it's fun identifying the various gods, but it all seems too familiar to me.
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