American Gods

 
Last year I went on a Neil Gaiman reading spree and borrowed a couple of his books from my friend Allison. Over a year later, hehehe, I finally read American Gods one of his most successful and well known novels. Filled with Gods of old fighting against the Gods of the new world, trying to survive. I have started in on Good Omens next, a delightful duet done by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

I hope you are well versed in mythology of all sorts since American Gods will put you through the ringer. You encounter mythological creatures from the Norse, Slavic, Algonquin, Hindu, and Egyptian cultures to name a few. I enjoyed the personalities that Gaiman gives to these gods, often portraying them as stereotypes but always making them amusing to read about. Take Mr. Nancy for example, he fits the stereotype of the laidback, happy old African-American man from the south and is based off of Anansi the Spider, a trickster. His character truly embodies the lore of Anansi and the persona.

Unfortunately I did not so much enjoy Shadow, the main character of this novel. Like his name his character was lacking any colour, which I found irritating at times. Luckily most of the novel Shadow spends surrounded by some of the multitude of mythological figures and since they are all colourful characters I was definitely satisfied.
Neil Gaiman