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American Gods: A Novel

I've been a proud Gaiman fan since the early Sandman days and this, his first "serious" novel, was an eagerly anticipated book in my house.

The book opens with our protagonist, Shadow, waiting out his last days in jail. He's served his time by keeping his head down and staving off the boredom by teaching himself simple sleight-of-hand coin tricks. He's looking forward to returning to his life as a free man - he's got a job waiting for him, courtesy of his best friend, Robbie, and a home with his wife Laura.

But a summons to the warden's office heralds the news that his Robbie and Laura have been killed in a car accident. Shadow is released early to attend the funeral, but as soon as he boards the plane to take him home, he starts a journey across America which will by turns confuse, enthrall and enlighten him, but will end in pain, war and blood sacrifice.

The gods are here in America - all of them. Brought here by believers who came to America over the years, from the brownies and kobolds of rural Germany to the jackal-headed Egyptian god of the dead, from the African spider trickster-god to the British goddess of war - and behind and beyond them all, Odin, the All-Father, who has taken a very personal interest in Shadow.

Gaiman's vision is so broad and deep that the book is a very involved, worthwhile read, and almost impossible to do justice to in a review. It's not an easy read, nor a quick one, and the reader is constantly challenged. Prepare to rethink your position on every superstition and religious belief.

Prepare also to spend some instructive time at the local library looking up gods, heroes and mythical beings you never even knew existed. It's been Gaiman's gift through every piece of his writing - right from the first episode of Sandman - to scatter a cornucopia's worth of literary and cultural references into the mix, without making the text impenetrable to those of us without a degree in... well, everything, really. I come away from every Gaiman work feeling that I've learned a tiny bit about something new and now I've got to learn more - and American Gods is no exception. Highly recommended.