American Gods- 4 1/2 stars!

It’s the old gods vs the new with man in between… but mostly unaware. Shadow, thinking himself just one of those average humans with a string of bad luck, is none-the-less, less than average, considering he fairly quickly accepted the fact that the ancient god whom approached him soon after being released from prison and discovering his beloved wife’s death is indeed a god. What follows is a meandering tale of how Shadow finds himself in the midst of the struggle and in fact rather key to its outcome.

Creepy, sexed out and deliciously bizarre American Gods is a book one will never call easy- but it can be fun, given half the chance. Me I love me some subtle wit, and Gaiman’s pretty much mastered it. But that’s not what made American Gods fun for me- no what I enjoyed most was his clever detailing of how the ancient gods came to our shores thru vignettes and dialogue. Well, that and the way they look now living on the peripheries of humanity and interacting with our hapless protagonist. I also loved Gaiman’s bringing to life of our more recent idols- tv, credit cards and technology, among them.

The sub plot with Shadow finding out who he really is- mostly begins with him hiding out in- and liking- the small town of Lakeside WI, while the old god Odin sets up his war. It definitely felt superfluous at times, yet it becomes a good framework for defining Shadow. I found myself looking forward to getting back to him after I’d set the book down and pick it up later. Something about the setting made Shadow more human- even though we suspect he is anything but at this point. Later he walks thru death, judgment, hell and the grave to find his beginning and his true nature. (Hunh, never thought we were headed into the existential when I started this book. Very nice surprise- I was positively riveted when Annubis put Shadow’s heart on the scales!)

Still it’s the war of the gods (that's not a war at all) that defines the book. Ultimately American Gods is about what we as a western culture- specifically a North American culture- choose to believe as one nation. No longer are we believing in our own gods from our mother and father lands, and perhaps rightly so, so what are we believing in? Are the new American gods we are all are choosing to bow down too truly Technology and Science and Media? Gosh, it sure feels like that. Yeah, I’m not so sure I like those soulless fiends. But we have to believe in something because belief is what motivates us to "do", to make things better or to make things worse. I guess now we have to decide what is worthy to believe in before we lose our souls to worthless gods.

Makes you think doesn’t it? And that’s why I loved this book.