Rating: 
Summary: American Gods
Review: In his most recently published novel, Neil Gaiman begins with an interesting premise' whatever happened to the gods of the Old World when people immigrated to New World?
We begin story with the protagonist, Shadow Moon, is finishing the last days of his prison sentence, looking forward to being reunited with his wife Laura and his best friend (and hopeful future employer). Several days before his scheduled parole release date, his wife and best friend are killed in a car accident. On his way home to attend the funeral, he encounters a mysterious man with a penchant for Jack Daniels whiskey who calls himself Wednesday. Shadow agrees to work for Wednesday as an errand-boy for his upcoming travels. They first travel to House on the Rock, a touristy roadside attraction in southwestern Wisconsin and then onto other roadside attractions all across the Midwest. During his travels, Shadow finds himself as a target for some group that reveals it to be the gods of the modern age, who threaten and then try to persuade Shadow to join their side. All of these events are leading up to the war that will end all wars, pitting the ancient gods of the Old World against the new gods that have been created under the banner of modern technology and progress. In addition to all this craziness, Shadow's dead wife Laura keeps reappearing in his life
In his quest to answer the previously mentioned question, Gaiman brings in a pantheon of gods from varying cultural traditions, in keeping with the melting pot mentality of American culture. However interesting it may be to read about gods and goddesses from different religions, Gaiman doesn't seem to completely flesh out his characters. The gods are somewhat one-dimensional do not really give any idea of the full extent of the former honor and worship that they enjoyed in the Old World. It is almost necessary to have some background in Scandinavian, Slavic, and African mythologies to better understand these characters. The new gods are even less fleshed out, more stock character villains and thugs, though their names are somewhat telling of what modern society values. One notable omission is the absence of the gods of the world's monotheistic religions. There is little, if any, reference to Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. It seems strange that Gaiman would choose to omit these major players in modern religion. The most nuanced character in the novel is Shadow, but as his name suggests, his identity is cloaked in mystery and the reader is left guessing as to what are his motivations for doing what he does.
Stylistically, the format for the novel works well, layering the main storyline with interludes and vignettes of how some these gods and folkloric creatures came to America. Gaiman's background as a comic book writer comes through in the text, giving the reader a mountain of detail concerning the actions of the characters and the surroundings. At certain points of the novel, the sheer amount of detail slows downs the narrative and adds unnecessary weight to the novel. His graphic portrayals of sexual encounters and violence and the amount of salty language employed as well as his attempts to describe the coin tricks that are so central to the character of Shadow are unneeded and at times offensive to the aesthetics of the reader. If there is a purpose to demonstrate some aspect of the old religions and gods with these scenes, Gaiman does not succeed in illustrating it.
In the novel, the question is asked why is it hard for the old gods to survive in modern America? Gaiman's theory is that the individualistic trait in American culture that picks and chooses which religious beliefs it is going to follow, that subscribes more to an individual spirituality than a set creed that characterizes most major religions. Though Gaiman's subject matter is fascinating, he leaves little room for the makings of a truly interesting novel. Within the framework of the novel, there is a possibility to editorialize more and to shape it to be an interesting critique of American culture. There are hints of this and as Gaiman is British, he is in a prime position to offer the opinions of someone who is not as deeply enmeshed in the culture. He is given the ball, but doesn't really run with it and ruins much of the novel's potential because of it.
On a more positive note, this novel is not entirely bad. However, I will qualify that statement by saying that I do not see the book as a one that would be popular with a mainstream audience, though it was a New York Times Bestseller. I see this novel as being geared to a more specific audience in mind that appreciates adult fantasy and horror and I can without reservation say that I am not in that demographic.
Rating:
Summary: Yes, it's imaginative....
Review: but is it enough? It's a good story line but even in Science Fiction and Fantasy you have to have plausibility in context to the plot line. The incarnation of actual beings that represent the folklore of a culture was hard to get into.
Other observations:
-The characters withhold information from Shadow not for any other reason but to keep the info from the reader.
-Shadow after being traumatized by his wifes death doesn't even blink an eye when her animated corpse shows up in his hotel room and time to time after that.
-Shadow just accepts it all....no big deal.
Rating: 
Summary: A first- Intellectual fantasy!
Review: Loved it! In a world of Tolkien clones, and never ending cash cow 'epics' it is oh so refreshing to find a truly intellectual fantasy novel. Gaiman has created a novel that the well read individual can read and not feel like they are induldging in the equivalent of a fast food burger. People like Goodkind satasify that certain craving, but you feel vaguley ill after finishing it. American Gods, though, is an incredibly original, intelligent, involving story. Anyone who ever studied world mythology, enjoys sociological observations that are, at time, incredibly enlightening, and likes to read an enjoyable novel needs to check this one out.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing
Review: This Gaiman guy knows how to tell a story. Don't hesitate to pick this one up. This book expertly combines world mythology, mystery, humor and adventure. This one will stay with you.
Rating:
Summary: pretty fun and lasting entertainment
Review: a highly amusing and insightful look inside mystical America.Written in a language that is engaging, thoughtful, and balanced, you are pulled into an interweaving story laced with unforeseen roadtricks and loops that tapdance on your neurons and make you awake to the magic of modern life. Unlike many of you, I am not a Gaiman enthusiast, but after the dramatic effects of this book, I think I'll do something about that. Fun and enjoyable reading!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully woven web of complex aligorical storytelling
Review: This is a story about a man searching for answers and peace after a few rocky years and numerous horrendous situations. He finds mythology and intreage in his journey around America and is changed forever. It is a wonderfully developed metaphore on life and belief, as the author drives you down many roads at the same time yet ending up at a decisive destination. At times reading like poetry, the writing is descriptive and beatiful, and at times descriptive and disturbing. A brilliantly moving story that left me bitter when I had finnished it-I wanted to read more. Very entertaining and edifying.
Rating:
Summary: Almost
Review: I have to say first, that I admire Gaiman as a writer. Second, I have to say that this novel was decent, I really loved the short stories every so often in the book, they were so involving that I became annoyed when the "main" story continued. I do agree with other reviewers when they said that the characters had no depth - this is true. Shadow was like an empty shell, nothing inside. There were moments during the story that I became enraged because none of the characters offered any explanations to him - they would drag him someplace and he would ask, "Where are we going? why are we going there?" and he would get these vague answers, and what's worse is that, he didn't care! Shadow, the character didn't care, and this, as a reader, made me feel cheated of a REAL character. The entire book felt like a huge tease! Everything was so vague, and I feel like Gaiman purposely made everything vague to try and push a mystery, but all I got was a vision of Gaiman sitting at his desk repeating to himself, "I need 100 more pages to fill this book before the end...hmmmm..I know! I'll just write a bunch of meaningless conversations, that will fool the readers into to believing something is happening, yeah!" oh well..maybe I'm being to hard on the guy, or maybe Gaiman is not for me. I also read Stardust, which was very good, but also didn't convince me with character building - there was nothing - no feeling - ...
Rating:
Summary: Wow...
Review: I've only read one other book by Neil Gaiman, and I didn't really like it. However, I'm glad I decided to give him another chance, because this book was great! Granted, it's probably more enjoyable to read if you know a little about "the old gods" ahead of time, but I thought the whole idea for the book was both clever and fascinating. The idea that technological gadgets are North America's new "gods" isn't necessarily original, but this is the first time I've seen them represented as physical characters in a novel. If you're weird like me and have wondered what Odin would be like if you met him in the street, this book is for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a memorable read
Review: The book starts out with the anticipation that this will be an entertaining read but after the first five pages, it falls apart and doesn't capture the reader again until the last four pages. Everything else between the beginning and end are just words to take up space and add thickness between the covers. Character development is practically non-existent and most of the characters are really just a profusion of names that only make the theme of the book distracting and chaotic. It is not clearly and understandably recognized that the name of the character Wednesday derived itself from the Norse word 'Wodinstag' which was the day honoring the Norse god Wodin (or Odin). The book rambles from page to page without any continuity of meaning about the idea of what the author is presenting and each page becomes a struggle to finish.
In summary, the author was certainly not thinking of what the reader would like to enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: something for everyone
Review: Gaiman really did his homework when researching religions. I was really impressed with the way the story unfolded.
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