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What Members Thought
Thoroughly enjoyable romp through America and mythology. This story is stuffed with gods from all cultures and mythical beings of all types. They came to America in the minds of people moving to America and took shape there. They still inhabit America , mostly unbelieved in, often rather old, some doing menial jobs or semi-retired. There are also new gods, media, TV, internet and there are tensions between old and new. Into all this comes Shadow, an ex-con, hired by Mr Wednesday (aka Odin). Ther
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I listened to the audiobook of this because my book club is discussing it next month and it's been years (ten?) since I first read it. I recall that I tore through the book and liked it so much that I kept my copy, which I often don't do after reading something. The audiobook didn't work for me as well - it's not that it isn't very well read, because it is. But it felt like it moved too slowly by audio and some of the scenes were awkward to have read to me. By the time Shadow got to Lakeside and
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Feb 17, 2019
Sean DeLauder
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
hugo-winner,
nebula-winner
This book is a 600-page crescendo that could have been closer to 450 if we removed the scenes of indulging in cultural delicacies.
A great story, but, good heavens, the characters must have spent a quarter of the book eating (this is likely an exaggeration).
A great story, but, good heavens, the characters must have spent a quarter of the book eating (this is likely an exaggeration).
Good writing insofar as piecing words together for fluidity and communication, but it's dampened by middling-to-bad storytelling. Predictable in some places, a complete snore in others.
"Shadow"? Seriously?
Meh. ...more
"Shadow"? Seriously?
Meh. ...more
It was enjoyable in some parts and I liked the idea behind it, but I didn't warm to any of the characters. The story itself is rather interesting, nothing is quite as it seems and there are some interesting twists and turns taken towards the end, even a few loose ends tied up in the process. Apparently Neil Gaiman did a lot of research not only into the mythology of many cultures but also into the history, geography and culture of America. I think I learnt a few things along the way.
The main pr ...more
The main pr ...more
This book is not very traditional in its structure, which means you'll sometimes be on the edge of your seat, turning pages in a blur, and sometimes going along at a slow (but not boring) pace. The plot is sometimes hard to find but the world is interesting and so is the idea behind. Clashing all of the gods together is awesome, and seeing some of them in their new version (a lot were also in Sandman) was intriguing. I mean, well done of a writer that he can take the same shape and backstory for
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Dec 26, 2012
Reshmi Sajeesh
marked it as to-read
May 20, 2013
Erik F.
marked it as to-read
Mar 28, 2015
Alex Buckley
marked it as to-read
Mar 25, 2016
Tibss
marked it as to-read
