Thoughts: American Gods

Shadow is man with a past. But now he wants nothing more than to live a quiet life with his wife and stay out of trouble. Until he learns that she's been killed in a terrible accident.

Flying home for the funeral, as a violent storm rocks the plane, a strange man in the seat next to him introduces himself. The man calls himself Mr. Wednesday, and he knows more about Shadow than is possible.

He warns Shadow that a far bigger storm is coming. And from that moment on, nothing will ever be the same...

Quotes

Ah, Neil Gaiman. One of favorite authors.

And to be honest, American Gods did not hit me as quick as the other books. This one is as dark as others, but written without the regular lightheartedness. It's still wonderful.

Here's how it goes: Once let out of prison and learning of his wife's death, Shadow becomes the body guard and odd job man of a stranger called Wednesday. From there, he is launched into the middle of a storm, a big one, where Gods of all religions, cultures, and ways of life who have been brought to America by their worshipers are arguing and deciding on their own fate.

What I absolutley love is how Gaiman got the idea- America has no gods, just people who believe in them. Gods from all over the world have migrated with those that believe in them to America, where slowly over the centuries, they are becoming diminished and forgotten. New forces- forces of the industrial age, of the science age- are in the minds of America's people now. But what of the old gods?

Gaiman has a great way of making his characters like people you once knew, but lost track of over time. They're real, and you know they've always been real, even before you started reading about them. It's a perfect skill to have, when you're creating a world where Gods have struggled to survive among real, modern day people. Shadow is also a great character to follow; I was rooting for him the whole way, sorry that he had been thrown into this ordeal without him having to seek for my pity.

Even the epilogue was great. It tied up a few things to make a bang ending, a reminder that Gods will be Gods.

Okay, you get it, I loved it. My one problem: the climax, the storm- I don't know how much of a spoiler this is- but if you've read The Stand by Stephen King, the storm ends in a similar way. After all the build up, it's a bit of let down to have things end peacefully. And I'll leave it at that.