Tuesday, February 3, 2009

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

American Gods by Neil Gaiman is a very interesting book with a rich storyline. It tells the story of a man named Shadow, who has just been released from jail. He is offered a job by Wednesday. Wednesday wants Shadow to help him with a battle: the battle between the old gods and the new gods. The old gods are gods from the ancient pantheons who were brought to America in the minds and beliefs of immigrants. Some of the pantheons included in the book are Norse, Egyptian, Hindu, Native American, Celtic. There are also some folk figures included. Gaiman does not name all the gods explicitly, and some of them I could not figure out by myself. The new gods are the gods of tv, the internet, media, and other modern phenomena. The new gods are gaining worshippers, while the old gods are losing their power. Hence the battle.

Throughout the book, the main storyline is interrupted by short stories. These stories tell how the different gods were brought to America in the first place. These short stories are a fascinating addition to the book.

I really liked this book, and I would definitely recommend it The whole story was very imaginative, and the characters were well-developed. There was a little twist at the end that surprised me, but it fit perfectly with the storyline and characters. Overall, a good read.

2 comments:

Rachel said...

i LOVE anything neil gaiman does! american gods is an amazing book. have you ever checked out the sandman graphic novels? they are so awesome!

Loca4crafts said...

I have not, but I will. Thanks for the recommendation :)