Rating: 
Summary: Layers like an Onion, keep peeling to the core.....
Review: I read this book starting at 3am, during one of the rare heat spells that we get here in Buffalo. The house was quiet, except for the whirring of the large fan in the room, keeping me cool while I became enveloped in this book, armed with my trusty cold bottle of Mountain Dew. I had been a fan of Mr. Gaiman's for a long time, from the concepts introduced in "Black Orchid" and "The Sandman", to the novels like "Good Omens", "Neverwhere" and "Stardust". (which is good in it's novel or graphic novel appearance.) "American Gods" is a wonder in imaginative uses of modern mythology. You may have to look up a few referances to catch a few lost traits behind many of the ancient characters as the reside in present day America, but why shouldn't you? You are intrested in them already, aren't you? The battle between the old gods and the new is innovative, fresh, yet still familiar on a subconsious level. Like a dream you forgot for a few days until an image triggers it up. The idea of an internet god and a television god hits close to home in our society, maybe it strikes a little fear there, too. It is a concept we see happening while dreading it at the same time: the worship of modern trappings. "American Gods" also has us ponder the old gods and our concept of faith and belief. Laura is the division between life and death, another dream/fear realized. Someone lost to death comes back to you, but are you better for it? Are they? Think if this as a gentler version of a chance at the Monkey's Paw. What would you wish for if you thought you had no one? Would you believe if old gods came to you with their stories, or does media worship have more of your faith these days? This, like most of Gaiman's works, is one of those novels that are great for the night dwellers like myself, who read best in the quietest hours, maybe crickets cricking in the background. There are some paragraphs that are shorter than they need to be, and the pace of the plot is mostly breakneck speed, but the nice thing about "American Gods" is that you can go back, re-read, and fill in the blanks. Keep the Faith.
Rating: 
Summary: And now for something entirely fantastic
Review: A friend pointed out that Gaiman requires his readers to be able to conjure specific images and suspend certain beliefs in order to understand his stories. I think my friend meant to be negative, but I agree with him. Gaiman tells a wonderful tale here, but "there's reality and then there's reality": the book is rooted in the America we know, but portrayed such that we see things we would not see otherwise. It's like... coming home for winter break after your first semester at college. Home is familiar and real, but not everything is 'real' in the way you once thought it was. And who's to say it ever was? Neil Gaiman fans will read this book, no matter what the reviews say. Most, if not all, of them are going to love it. Gaiman virgins, especially those not 'into' the fantasy genre, will perhaps be a little intrigued and a little wary of delving into this semi-epic. The hype is enough to make a cautious reader even more so. That said, give it a shot anyway. You have nothing to lose but they way you look at the world.
Rating:
Summary: It doesn't get much better than this
Review: It's a rare author who weaves a perfect, creative narrative from the best of all possible materials, and a rare book that entertains, challenges, and entices from cover to cover with such a narrative. Neil Gaiman's "American Gods," the latest literary offering from the High Priest of the English Language's Temple of Original Stories, achieves exactly this for exactly that kind of writer. In "American Gods," the author of "Neverwhere" and the creator of the Sandman graphic novels fashions a story that fans will find distantly familiar, and new readers will lose themselves inside within a few pages. The book opens with Shadow, the main character and an almost Shakespearian anti-hero, walking out of prison to learn that his wife has died. On the plane ride home, he meets an enigmatic con-man named Wednesday who offers Shadow a job - and a second chance at life. With little else to do except practice coin tricks he learned in prison, Shadow reluctantly accepts and the two begin a wintery, midwestern odyssey gathering other characters together in an attempt to weather an upcoming storm. The book follow's Shadow's travels as he discovers who he's working for, what's going on, and more about himself than he would ever want to know. The journey involves dreams, altered realities, other dimensions, strange encounters, and myths and folklore from every non-American culture on the planet. As with other Gaiman work, there is a certain amount of fun to figuring out which fantastic character Shadow is talking to - and to figuring out where the twisting plot leads next. Gaiman's premise - that gods are physically created by belief and made manifest - should be familiar to fans of his graphic novels, short stories, and other work. It is this kind of creativity that sets Gaiman apart from other authors today; his stories are as timeless as the mythologies that span cultures across the world, and yet they are original and fresh enough to engage the reader on a primal and intellectual level. After reading books like "American Gods" and Gaiman's other works, one imagines he would be utterly comfortable as a bard or storyteller, weaving tales of heros around the fireplace late at night to ward off the darkness and cold outside. "American Gods" is just as epic as these old stories, and as engaging as a new novel should be. Gaiman is one of the most important and welcome voices in English-language literature today, although intellectual praise shouldn't put off the reader searching for a good story, because that's exactly what one will find between these covers. "American Gods" is a journey of delights that I can do nothing but recommend to any reader.
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Summary: American Gods is a world so close to our own...
Review: Neil Gaiman was introduced to me in a world of magic and the London Underground with his intelligent opus, Neverwhere. He has once again created a world so similar to our own that it is easy to get the two confused. American Gods is a mature and informed novel that is sentimental and disturbing, both comforting and terrifying, and altogether well written. Gaiman does all the things one would expect from the brilliant writer. He weaves tales together while keeping suspense high and his places and narratives in order. His characters, from protagonist/anti-hero Shadow to Wednesday (Shadow's employer) to wife Laura to a host of unknown and forgotten gods, are so real and so life-like that I expect to run into them in life. Gaiman has told their story with dignity and has captured their longing and their passion. To say anything about the story would be a spoiler, so I will just say that everything works itself into the story and it's a pleasure to see how Gaiman conducts this tale. I think that this story is even more appreciated if you have read Gaiman before, albeit in novel or comic form. It always amazes me how he writes like he writing for a comic, but this novel begins to move away from that. It is certainly an impressive and formidable book that I recommend to any fantasy fans or anyone interested in a good, exceptionally believable story.
Rating:
Summary: Buy It
Review: Simply put, Different, Enjoyable, and I'm not going to write the whole plot in my "review". I loved this book, never wrote a review before, but,however, this book deserved it. I want to travel, find these places, gods, pay homage, make them survive. If I have to give up...All This....so be it
Rating:
Summary: Not deep, but broad
Review: American Gods is an enjoyable read--I didn't find it quite as entertaining or imaginative as Neverwhere, but it still delivers. Gaiman may be slightly handicapped by his choice of actors--in Neverwhere, his imagination had more room to roam, while I got the feeling the gods in American Gods constrained him to some degree. The climax of the story is, as is fairly typical with Gaiman, more anticlimax than a real ripsnorter. I did feel he could have done a little more with his main character, who is told at one point that he doesn't seem fully alive by his very loving (and dead) wife--unfortunately, I rather agreed with her assessment.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read all year!
Review: This is my favorite kind of book--the sort that's amazingly good, but totally indescribable. AMERICAN GODS crosses the border between the mundane and the supernatural with such ease that it seems such a border doesn't even exist--and maybe it _doesn't_, which is one of the fascinating themes of the book. Beyond the intellectual fascination of the premise and the remarkable scope of Gaiman's grasp on myth, the man is just a way-good storyteller; every page grips you from top to bottom.
Rating:
Summary: Familiar ground for Gaiman
Review: Loved this book. Gaiman explores ground that will be familiar to people who have followed his work from Sandman through to the novels. If there could be said to be any sort of theme to Gaiman's work, it would be what lies just beyond our perceptions. Old gods grab the worship they can, taking crumbs where before they feasted, just happy to still be remembered by a few in American Gods. Love goddesses become strippers and street prostitutes, the All-father a small time grifter, and Egyptian gods of the dead are undertakers. All coexist in an uneasy jumble in a country where they do not belong, the dead gods of immigrants whose worship has not survived. While the themes are familiar, the story is new and different, and, as always, a complete joy to read. Gaiman astounds with his breadth of knowledge of world folklore and the American soul. If you've read Gaiman before, welcome home. If this is your first read, welcome to a strange new land. You'll never view existence in the same way again.
Rating:
Summary: Oh My God
Review: To prevent a spoiler I'll keep it simple... Most folk read fantastic books to be ushered into another world or reality. This book keeps you in this world but simply shows you the man working the levers behind the curtain w/ the same aforementioned feeling. If you enjoy mythology, mystery or just a good tale - this is the book you'll be wanting to read.
Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable Rides and Unusual Places
Review: It's three AM and I step outside for a smoke (I'm still quitting, of course) before plowing into AMERICAN GODS's lengthy epilogue. Thus far the ride has been memorable. Gaiman has definately delivered, hitting heretofore unheard notes with his usual dark poetic skill. How will he conclude the symphony? It's a very good novel, but will it be great? Will this be a perfect Neil Gaiman yarn? Some time later, I close the book. It is great novel, rich in imagination and insight. It is a perfect Gaiman story, perhaps his best so far. Buy it, rent it, borrow it but by all means, get reading. Strange and Charming Gods await you...
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