American Gods

Gaiman has quite a cult following for his work, whether it’s his comics, novels, short stories, or his essays. This masterpiece is an excellent example of Gaiman’s ability to blend fantasy with reality and tell a compelling story through three-dimensional characters.

The novel follows the story of Shadow Moon, a newly released convict. He emerges from prison to find his life in ruins but a mysterious stranger named Wednesday offers him a new life. Shadows world transforms and he finds himself in a world where Gods walk freely and he should believe everything.

This book shows the essence of our changing world, where the focus on myths and origins morphs into a world based on technology. More importantly, American Gods tell a story of characters trying to find their place in a changing world.

The main plot follows Shadow’s work for Wednesday as they prepare for the ‘storm’ that’s coming. The old gods believe that there will be a war between them and the new gods. Additionally, woven into this main plot are various sub-plots. There is Shadow’s love life which has become tangled up because of his cheating wife’s death – and her refusal to stay dead.

There are also breaks from the main storyline when Shadow must hide first in Cairo, Illinois with some Egyptian deities and then in Lakeside when Shadow finds himself trying to solve the mystery of the disappearing children.

Intercut throughout the novel are scenes from the daily lives of Gods and accounts written by Mr.Ibis of the people who brought the Gods to America through their beliefs. The accounts of the worshippers that made their way to America show us how the Gods were seen in their homeland but throughout the novel, we see how these Gods have changed in this new land, how they’ve adapted into American Gods.

Odin and Loki, are hustlers and grafters, the Queen of Sheba is a prostitute, an ifrit drives taxis in New York City, Czernobog is retired from work at a slaughterhouse, and the Egyptian Gods run a funeral home.