American Gods

Rating:
Summary: Go to the library for it.
Review: I wanted to give this 5 stars and say that it was fantastic but the truth of the matter is that Gaiman took a geat idea and didn't do much with it. I was waiting for it to pick up and it never did. Some of the character were interesting but he could have done so much more with it (almost anything could have been done with these characters)....I don't know , I am confused by what he wanted to say. I have read tons of fantasy and sci-fi but this is better taken out of the library than bought. Many people gave it 5 stars but it truly is not a 5 star book. Neverwhere was much better.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This was my first Gaiman novel and my favorite to this point. More in depth then Neverwhere, American Gods is another excellent journey, this time through America. I read mostly sci-fi but Gaiman is an all around well crafted author who bridges a gap between many genres. Many Many more great works to come from this amazing storyteller.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing read!
Review: "American Gods" is one of the most intriguing fantasy novels I've read in years. Its the story of a man named Shadow who is released from prison only to find his wife and best friend had been killed and a strange man offering him a job. From this point, the book takes the path of a fantasy and horror novel introducing you to a wide variety of gods, old and new. This is just the beginning and for such a large book, it never bores.

This book takes you through idyllic small towns, interesting characters, a walking dead woman, little out of the way tourist traps which are made very interesting through Gaiman's wonderful writing and a world in which nothing is as it seems. I won't give away too much of the plot, but I will say that the gods were presented in very interesting, sinister and humorous ways. After reading this, I found myself looking around at the people wishing there were gods around me.

All in all, this book is a magical journey into a strange and perilous world. It took me three days to read it and it left me thinking about it long after I finished. Its funny, its frightening, sad and phenomenal. A great read.

Rating:
Summary: A great American work, written by a "Brit"
Review: American Gods is by far one of the greatest books written about America. Ok, so it isn't exactly the most accurate book, but it's certainly, in an odd way, believable. The characters are realistic, and those based on Myths, legends, or folk-lore are accurate.

The idea's been thrown around before, that when a belief in a God dies out, so does the God. Gaiman threw in a unique twist by having the Gods tied into the country they were brought to and having them struggling to get by just like any average person.

The book takes you all across America, during many different time periods, following Gods and Pixies and other creatures of myth and legend on an unbelievable journey for survival that Gaiman writes so well you'll find yourself believing that the whole thing could have or did happen.

Overall, this is one of the best "Fantasy" books I've read in a long time, and I think that anyone interested in fiction of any kind will enjoy American Gods.

Rating:
Summary: Starts out Great...
Review: You have to be a certain type of reader to enjoy this Gaiman work. I have only read one other of his, "Neverwhere" and I recommend that one highly! But this one has soooo many twists and turns, you feel like you are a rat in a giant maze.

The main character, Shadow, lacks depth, and Gaiman segways into so many side stories in order to bring the plot together-you tend to feel like, "Gee, is this ever going to get to the point?" Overall, I would've rated this higher, but I just didn't enjoy it as much as "Neverwhere", the plot is very slow and runs into so many walls, you get a headache reading it! Not to discount Mr. Gaiman's writting skills, he is superb at his craft, but I just couldn't get into this one, and had to force myself to finish it. You can try this one if you want, but I would suggest getting it from a friend or the library. But, if you want to read some better work by the author, get "Neverwhere", it is a much better read that moves a lot quicker.

Rating:
Summary: Gaiman's Best Novel to Date
Review: This is probably the best book I've read this year. Mr. Gaiman has some brilliant ideas in his head, and luckly for us he also knows how to put them on paper. After reading Neverwhere and Good Omens, I had high hopes for this book. Well, the expectations were met and far exceeded. This novel literaly has everything. It is a road-trip, mystery, romance, fantasy novel. And let's not forget about the characters. Shadow, Wednesday, Mr. Nance, Mr. Ibis, Laura, Mr. Town, ect. The list goes on and on. All of these characters are real. They all have real motivations; none of their actions came off as forced to me. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: entertaining and not too gory
Review: American Gods is essentially a fine summer read for someone who likes things a little on the dark side. It's not a horror book exactly, though it has a similar sense of dread and high body count (it tends to stay away from the detailed discriptions of death and dismemberment that most post King and Barker horror writers go for nowadays, which I personally find refreshing). I guess the best word for it is dark fantasy. The story is entertaining, with enough twists and turns to keep a reader interested. It does seem to be reaching for some deeper ideas about man and his religions, but comes up a bit empty on the philosophical front. Who needs a philosophy book at the beach, though? It's a fun book, nicely told, and full of nice little tidbits of information about ancient gods and mystic beliefs. This is a nice mainstream selection for fans of Charles de Lint or Tim Powers. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: A Superb Novel!
Review: I first heard of Neil Gaiman from his excellent comic book series, Sandman. The tale of the being that represents dreams, Morpheus, a "god" of sorts.

In his novel, American Gods, he's taken the old gods of legend and transported them to America where they have faded away and now simply exist. When our main character Shadow gets out of prison, he learnes his wife and best friend are dead and that his old life is completely gone. So he takes a job for the mysterious Wednesday who takes him on a trip across America rounding up his allies, the fellow old gods, and Shadow learns he is much more of a key player in this saga than he ever thought.

This novel is outstanding and I reccomend it especially to anyone who likes Stepehn King or Dean Koontz. Fans of King's The Stand or the Talisman will love this one.

Rating:
Summary: One of Gaiman's Best
Review: Shadow is realeased from prison a couple days early for his wife's funeral he has no sense of purpose. As luck would have it he meets a man named Wenesday(if you know any German you will see that this a clever joke) This guy has a job for him and the result is a very good(if long) book.

I liked this book, seeing the old God's duke it out with the new Gods and those parts are very intersting but it falls apart in the last 50 pages and thusly leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but not Neil's best
Review: American Gods is a dense work, a compendium of mythology both past and present. It was not as accessible as his other books, specifically "The Neverwhere" nad "Good Omens" and not as enjoyable. The tone of this novel is much darker and I miss the humor of his previous works. Still it is an interesting read and I guess it may work better if the reader had solid background in Norse, Slavic, Egyptian, etc mythology, which I do not.