Rating: 
Summary: Thought-provoking, entertaining modern fiction
Review: An original work from begining to end; the premise, although fantastic, solidifies in a plausible way. Excellent prose. High points: character development, credit to the reader's intellect, research behind the book, consistency, plot twists...this was a very well-planned book. Low points: None.A good read for fantasy/sci-fi fans, mythology buffs and those interested in modern fiction. If you like the Xanth novels or Neal Stephenson, you will really enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: A fantastic story weaving myth with regular people, the mundane and the spiritual to tell the story of how simple, yet intricately intertwined life is. We often underestimate the power of perception. Our view things defines the worlds each of us lives in. Everyone has an idea of what town life is like -- put all these together and you create a personality. Gaiman creates this Mr. Town, and many others. Each is personable in their own way. Even when you don't agree with the vision portrayed, you can't help but relate to the characters and their stories.
Rating:
Summary: Grabbed Me On The First Page
Review: I'll tell you what, go to a bookstore and read the first page. I'm willing to bet you'll have to buy the book. It immediately grabs your interest with the first page. This is rare for me as I usually have to "get into" a book. This is a story about America, mythology, love, death, and history. Neil Gaiman has impressed me before, but I was totally unprepared for how much I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed it so much, in fact, I haven't been able to start reading anything else. Everything else I've picked up has been a let down. The main character, Shadow, is left purposely undeveloped and mysterious, but everyone else (including the land of America that begins to become a character all its own) is wonderfully developed. Mr. Wednesday is a wonderful, warm engaging character that steals every scene he is in. Neil Gaiman has managed to create a brilliant supporting character that you never quite get to see enough of. The chapters are long and I found myself reading a chapter and then pausing inbetween to digest what I had read. I usually rip through fantasy books at a rapid pace, but I wanted to savor every word of this book, so I wound up reading it very slowly. I will definitely be reading it again. I hope that Gaiman will revisit this mileu again. If not these characters, then perhaps he will write a sequel about different people in the same world. Neil Gaiman is at least as good a novelist as he is a comics writer. Recommended to fans of Roger Zelazny!
Rating: 
Summary: brilliant book
Review: I think all the reviewers have said it all so maybe I won't repeat except to say that I was entirely riveted by this book until the last few chapters, which is why I did not give it 5 stars. I expected a different ending, maybe because everything led up to Shadow being more of a mythical creature than he actually turned out to be. Most books tend to give you the inside track on the main character's motivations, and when this book didn't do so, even to the point of not giving his "true" name, I felt that it was leading up to something much bigger than what actually transpired. But maybe not, and maybe I am missing some vital explanation that did in fact occur. (While I do not want to spoil this for anyone, which character exactly turned out to be Baldur?!?) However, despite that, I thought that this was a brilliant book and I would recommend it to anyone. I will say that I too read "The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul," and while I did think of it while reading "American Gods" there is no real similarity at all.
Rating:
Summary: I was taken by surprise
Review: with the story, the characters, the evrything. I could not even go to the toillet and thank God we have free working hours in my job, so I didn't have to explain my boss why I didn't come that day to work at all (imagine: "Oh Mister, I have been reading this fascinating book, American Gods, if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it..." - "OUT") :)
Rating:
Summary: super lucky star
Review: this book is better than i expected, much better then the mediocre reviews i read. it is a relatively quick read, and though it does offer some of the same questions as 'the long dark tea-time of the soul' it is a completely different animal all-together. neil gaiman is sooo good.
Rating:
Summary: Oh My! Gripping!
Review: Gaiman is another one of my pet authors. A real imaginist. American Gods is this Brit author's search for the real America. If you want to read a novel that attempts to capture the soul of America, this is it. Man, this bizarre fantastical journey reaches for it and finds it. The idea? As America was created by the great melting pot, those who came here brought their culture, their lifestyle, basically, their gods. And those gods are still here, wallowing in half forgotten-ness, but still fighting for survival. It is a grand work. Read it. If you want to think about what it is to be part of America. If you want to think about how new culture and old culture combine and merge, how ideas fade through the ages, like an old forgotten god, read it. For me it was even more vivid after recent events to read a novel like this. I think Gaiman says it best in his acknowledgments, where he buried his most sturring statement, and here since I don't have the book with me, I will destroy his comment and misquote him, but it goes something like, and thanks to my family for putting up with my while I went looking for America, which ended up to be in America all along. Thanks, Neil. We needed that.
Rating:
Summary: a brilliant mind trip
Review: I've been Neil Gaiman's fan for years.I firmly believe that the sandman series are the greatest achievement of the graphic novel genre and the most sofisticated by far.This book illustrates the innerworkings of a brilliant mind loaded with an incredible ammount of information,that most would find useless.Yet,if you like world's mythology,road trips and just a great great story with terrific characters,this is the book for you.
I will not give a summary of the story,you can get that from reading a dust jacket cover.This is not in any way a light reading,it has a good pace,but it's not exactly a pageturner.It is the most accomplished and sofisticated novel to day by one of the best contemporary writers(for my money anyway),it is intelligent,off-beatly humored and is a must for any fan and a great introduction for the future ones.
So,buy it,read it and discover the mesmorizingly distorted world of American Gods by an always brilliant Neil Gaiman.
Rating: 
Summary: I guess I wasn't all that impressed
Review: If you've read Douglas Adams' The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul, you already know the general ideas of this book. I was distubed by the similarity--Norse gods, bitter because of their human-imposed immortality, bringing a mortal into their own dimension, etc. I got a couple of laughs out of American Gods, and I suppose it was worth the time spent reading it, but it was nothing exciting. I enjoyed Good Omens and absolutely adore the Sandman series, and was disappointed by this attempt.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, enjoyable, but...
Review: I looked forward to this book greatly after hearing what a plot synopsis of it, and immediately ordered it when it came out. Now, it's well written, and I really did enjoy it immensely, but...
Well, it's a little to straight forward. Like I said, it's a fun read, and it's a quick read, which is too bad because you want it to just keep going, and it was clearly well researched, which is no surprise considering the author, but the twists just aren't all that shocking. The last 50 pages you see coming a mile away. On the other hand, I still read and enjoyed each one of those 50 pages, so maybe I shouldn't complain.
I guess my only real complaint here is that I expected more depth to the story, and I expected it to make me think more when I put it down. With Gaiman, I think I just expect more cerebral challenges, and this one is just something of a straight forward, albeit highly enjoyable, read.
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