Started: 30/07/17
Finished: 14/08/17
Spoilers: No.
So this is a very long review; and rightly so, it's a very long book.
I have the Author's Preferred Text edition, which is 12,000 words longer than the average copy of American Gods, and let me tell you, it is a hefty book at 640 pages long. This is a daunting task for any reader, but if this is the version Neil Gaiman prefers then, damn me, I'm going to read it.
This is one of those books that is so vast and so intricate (a polite way of saying complicated) that it will always be interpreted differently by each reader. If it wasn't so big, (or filled with adult content) I'd say it's the kind of book that would eventually filter on to a school reading list, with kids trying to dissect its true, profound meanings for hours and hours and still having no clue. Like I said, this book will always be interpreted differently.
I started reading this because I watched and enjoyed the Amazon series, but figured reading the book would give me a better understanding of what was actually happening. For me, that wasn't the case. Starting the book while already deep into the series only served to confuse me more as a lot was different and a lot had been changed for TV. Both are very good as separate bodies of work, but try to put them together and they don't quite fit, like mismatching puzzle pieces. Having watched the show first, I was desperately trying to connect the events in the book to the events in the series.
Characters
Shadow Moon is our leading man. He seems like the kind of guy who just takes things in his stride. He was distraught about his wife of course, but he never puts those feelings on display. He just kind of accepts the hand he's been dealt and gets on with it. Even though he spends the majority of the book confused and in need of some answers, he barely ever demands them, hardly asks a question, never freaks out. He just accepts that he's mixed in some weird and crazy shit, and he's okay with that.
Wednesday is a fascinating character. I won't go too into detail cause I wouldn't want to spoil anything, but he is a truly complex character, and the most dubious bastard I've read in a while. After finishing the book, I really can't decide if I like him or not. Sometimes I think I do, given who he is, but then sometimes I don't, given what he's done.
There are many colourful characters, and all of them morally grey. It's hard to tell who is genuine, who's in it for themselves, and who can really be trusted. This book is a sort of who's who of the mythological world. If you're familiar with myths and other cultures then you're in for a treat; it's a mixed bag, this one.
Also, had a bit of a soft spot for Mr Nancy. He was one cool spider.
Plot
Our protagonist, Shadow, is about to be released from prison after three years. He is released a few days early however after the death of his wife, Laura. It is while trying to fly home for the funeral that he meets the enigmatic Mr Wednesday of a plane. He offers him a job as his bodyguard, driver and general errand boy. With nothing to lose, Shadow eventually accepts the offer and he's plunged into a world of Gods, myths and legends, and a world he didn't know existed. A war between the Old Gods and the New Gods is brewing, and Shadow finds himself caught in the crossfire.
Gods, myths, legends; these things only exist so long as there is someone who believes in them. Someone to tells the tales and pass on the wisdom. The idea here is that if someone has devoted, blind faith in something, it manifests, becomes a tangible thing, such as the Old Gods, brought to the New World of America with the people who travelled there, taking their faith with them. The more faith and followers they have, the more powerful they become.
Now the New Gods, in this Age we call Information are a little different. Nowadays people put all their faith into Technology and Media, and thus, the New Gods manifest. The New Gods seek to modernise and commercialise the Old Gods, but the Old Gods would rather take their faith the old fashioned way, with prayers and sacrifices and belief. The war between the two sides is something hinted at from very earlier on in the book and comes to a head in the last few chapters with a plot-twist I didn't see coming.
I am not a religious person, nor will I ever be, but cleverly, Neil Gaiman has me rooting for the Old Gods in this one. He somehow makes the New Gods seem like a monstrous alternative when in reality it is a normal everyday part of modern society.
A strange, compelling, and oddly thought provoking storyline. Unlike anything I've ever read before or anything I'm ever likely to read again, but that's a pretty broad and obvious fact given the bizarre subject matter.
Setting
America, naturally. This book is a journey for Shadow, physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Basically what I'm saying is Shadow gets mind-fucked to next the week.
He's travelling across America with Wednesday, collecting the support of every Old God in their path for the imminent war. Outside of this plot line with Shadow, we are treated to certain 'Coming to America' chapters which tell the stories of immigrants and explorers from a time long past, when they first touched ground in America, and the lives they lived there.
When these people travelled to America, they took their gods and beliefs with them. The Norse gods went there with the Vikings, Faeries, such as Mad Sweeney the Leprechaun, went there with Essie Tregowan, the Cornish girl, and so on and so forth. I loved these chapters. It gave a sense that the book was bigger than just the book and just the story, like there was a history there as well, and so much more history that wasn't explored. Every God and myth has a 'Coming to America' tale yet to be told.
The only way I can really describe this world Gaiman has built around the foundations of our own is vast, and that barely scratches the surface.
Writing Style
This is the first book I've read by Neil Gaiman. I've heard so much hype about him as an author in general, and having finally read one of his books, I can understand that hype. He's a storyteller of the highest degree. His words draw you in and keep you there.
Descriptions are colourful and vivid and do well to paint a picture of these people and this strange, strange world they come from.
Dialogue is on point. These characters talk the way people talk, making it an overall more immersive and enjoyable experience.
Betrayals, double-crosses, plot-twists. I never saw any of it coming. It's like Shadow's coin tricks; misdirection and all that. I was too busy focused on the prospect of the war that I never stopped to ask why? What purpose does the war serve, and to whom? What is it Wednesday really wants and can he be trusted? too dazzled by the trick to consider what was happening behind the curtain.
Very clever, Mr Gaiman. Very clever.
Final Impression The moral of this story? Never trust a God.
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