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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
What can be said about this modern classic that hasn't already been said? If you're a fan of Gaiman, you've already read it. If you're wondering why the gods no longer speak to us and what would happen if they did, you should read it.
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Next time you're at the mega-bookstore, try this: walk over to the essays/mythology/new age?? section and pick the worst researched encyclopedia of mythic gods and creatures available, preferably one compiled by someone who sells earth crystals and aromatic oils for a living. Bonus kudos if the name contains some sort of animal such as "Black Eagle Johnson" (healer, caucasian, honoray indian), and if his 4-year old did the artwork.
Now, make your way to the clearance bin and grab yourself a copy of "Clue"-The murder mystery game! You're gonna need it. Oh, and don't forget the latest edition of "100 Coin Tricks to Impress Your Friends".
Then sit down at the cafe and order the largest, most sugary, diabetes-inducing caffeinated concoction they offer. If the "barista" has the nerve to correct you by saying "oh you mean a venti??" SLAP HIM. Kudos if you already suffer from ADHD.
Open the encyclopedia, pick a god/creature, match it with the description of one of the characters from Clue, pick a murder weapon as well, and you might be going somewhere with character development. INSERT COIN TRICK. LEPRECHAUNS.
As for antagonists you're going to have to work extra hard. Pick a modern device, match it with its user stereotype and give him/her an imaginative name such as "Mr. Phone"(CAUTION: Mr. Moviephone is taken, don't use it). Take your time with the name, you wouldn't want your future readers to feel insulted. MORE COIN TRICKS. RACY FANTASY.
Ask the WWE jackass behind you to describe his favorite wrestler, write the description verbatim.
BACKSTORY: He hails from the Marine Corps or Jail. OORAH!
That's your main character. ZOMBIES
Allude to a BIG-ASS war. Foreshadow it cleverly with devices such as "there's a storm coming", or "there are black clouds in the horizon" or just fuck it and say "there's a war coming!" Forget to resolve it until the next to last chapter, and do it haphazardly, before the sugar crash.
You see where I'm going with this.....
Now, make your way to the clearance bin and grab yourself a copy of "Clue"-The murder mystery game! You're gonna need it. Oh, and don't forget the latest edition of "100 Coin Tricks to Impress Your Friends".
Then sit down at the cafe and order the largest, most sugary, diabetes-inducing caffeinated concoction they offer. If the "barista" has the nerve to correct you by saying "oh you mean a venti??" SLAP HIM. Kudos if you already suffer from ADHD.
Open the encyclopedia, pick a god/creature, match it with the description of one of the characters from Clue, pick a murder weapon as well, and you might be going somewhere with character development. INSERT COIN TRICK. LEPRECHAUNS.
As for antagonists you're going to have to work extra hard. Pick a modern device, match it with its user stereotype and give him/her an imaginative name such as "Mr. Phone"(CAUTION: Mr. Moviephone is taken, don't use it). Take your time with the name, you wouldn't want your future readers to feel insulted. MORE COIN TRICKS. RACY FANTASY.
Ask the WWE jackass behind you to describe his favorite wrestler, write the description verbatim.
BACKSTORY: He hails from the Marine Corps or Jail. OORAH!
That's your main character. ZOMBIES
Allude to a BIG-ASS war. Foreshadow it cleverly with devices such as "there's a storm coming", or "there are black clouds in the horizon" or just fuck it and say "there's a war coming!" Forget to resolve it until the next to last chapter, and do it haphazardly, before the sugar crash.
You see where I'm going with this.....
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My father insisted that I read this book for years, once I finally did, it immediately became the gold standard by which I judge all the fiction I have read since.
Some years ago I was following a newsgroup on fantasy reading. Someone posted a review of American Gods, stating all the reasons why he had not liked the book. Strangely enough, all those reasons sounded like elements I would like in a book, so I decided to buy it. Once I picked it up I could not put it down, an intriguing book mixing folklore and fantastic elements, that deeply resoundedwith many other hings I'd read before but turned out in a completely different final result.. I most definitely reccommend it a lot!
In the final analysis I think I may have enjoyed the 10th Anniversary Edition slightly less than my first read-through, some 7 or 8 years ago. How much of that is due to it being a second read (although I remembered virtually nothing about the story) and how much is due to the additional, originally excised material, I wouldn't like to estimate.
First time through I devoured it, it felt short and over too soon. This time it felt pretty damn long and by the end I was sort of hoping it would hurry up and finish.
But as a piece of work it remains wise, funny, entertaining, emotional, dramatic, mysterious... it's a very good book. Just perhaps not the great book I took it for first time around.
First time through I devoured it, it felt short and over too soon. This time it felt pretty damn long and by the end I was sort of hoping it would hurry up and finish.
But as a piece of work it remains wise, funny, entertaining, emotional, dramatic, mysterious... it's a very good book. Just perhaps not the great book I took it for first time around.
2.5 stars
This book was entertaining in a vague, page-turning way.
The main character is deliberately mysterious, and we're not given much information about him; his name is Shadow, which is... very subtle. Having finished the book, I really think he could've been better-developed while maintaining that aura of mystery. I found myself not really caring what happened to him, especially as it seemed that he didn't really care what happened to himself. Shadow sort of apathetically moves from one experience to the next; he has very little personality, and not much self-preservation. There are some in-story reasons for this, but it does make for a rather boring character.
The plot is bloated, with too many events, and poor pacing. In general, the book felt too long.
Having said that, there were things I liked. I really appreciated Gaiman's ability to describe a scene. In a few words, you get the feel of a cheap, dirty, poorly lit motel, or an ugly rusted piece of shit car (his words, not mine), or a random out-of-the-way gas station. The descriptions of long drives across the country were also entertaining; I imagine this would make a pretty good audiobook to listen to on a road trip.
Several of the characters were memorable. While Gaiman obviously knows his mythology, the characters felt like they were original creations, not simply rehashings of old mythological tropes.
All-in-all, the book was okay. I wouldn't really recommend it, but there's nothing I could point to as really *wrong* with it. I think some people would probably like it more than I did.
This book was entertaining in a vague, page-turning way.
The main character is deliberately mysterious, and we're not given much information about him; his name is Shadow, which is... very subtle. Having finished the book, I really think he could've been better-developed while maintaining that aura of mystery. I found myself not really caring what happened to him, especially as it seemed that he didn't really care what happened to himself. Shadow sort of apathetically moves from one experience to the next; he has very little personality, and not much self-preservation. There are some in-story reasons for this, but it does make for a rather boring character.
The plot is bloated, with too many events, and poor pacing. In general, the book felt too long.
Having said that, there were things I liked. I really appreciated Gaiman's ability to describe a scene. In a few words, you get the feel of a cheap, dirty, poorly lit motel, or an ugly rusted piece of shit car (his words, not mine), or a random out-of-the-way gas station. The descriptions of long drives across the country were also entertaining; I imagine this would make a pretty good audiobook to listen to on a road trip.
Several of the characters were memorable. While Gaiman obviously knows his mythology, the characters felt like they were original creations, not simply rehashings of old mythological tropes.
All-in-all, the book was okay. I wouldn't really recommend it, but there's nothing I could point to as really *wrong* with it. I think some people would probably like it more than I did.