American Gods
Author: Neil Gaiman
Published: 2001
Rating: 
Shadow Moon is released from prison a couple of days early due to losing his wife and best friend in a car accident. With nothing left for him in his hometown of Eagle Point, Indiana he accepts a job from the grifter, Mr. Wednesday, not questioning anything so long as he doesn’t have to kill anybody.
“You work for me. You protect me. You help me. You transport me from place to place…In the unlikely event of my death, you will hold my vigil…” (p. 47)
Things get strange quickly. He starts having dreams of a man with a white buffalo’s head. A leprechaun teaches him some new coin tricks. But, for Shadow it doesn’t feel so strange. His encounters with gods do not faze him so much as does his dead wife who comes to visit him on occasion.
Shadow drives across the U.S. with Mr. Wednesday to talk to people or rather, gods, about a coming storm, a war and it’s between new gods and old gods. From a museum to a funeral home to a small town where nothing bad happens ever, Shadow is meeting all sorts of Gods, like Easter and Horus.
Simply put, this story is phenomenal from the first page to the very last. The intertwining of mythologies with the modern age, which is always changing, creates a brand new magic all its own. Over and over again I found myself saying, “What the eff?”, but in such a good way. I haven’t been so surprised or educated by such originality in years. My brain was completely blown out of my skull.
For those who are lovers of mythology, and epic detail similar to Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, this is most certainly for you. The imagery pulled me into this book just like the movie The Pagemaster.
Books like this remind me of why it is that I write. They evoke more than just emotions or relatability. They pull me into a whole new world. I’m definitely going back and rereading this again sometime. I still feel like there’s so much more I don’t know that happened within the book and that makes me even happier.
Now, the show adapted from the book started on April 30th, 2017 and if you haven’t read the book it’ll be confusing at first. The show is an instant attention grabber. And Ricky Whittle (The 100) as Shadow? *faints*
I can’t wait to see who comes in to portray Sam Black Crow. She’s is my favorite character. She’s got a lot of spunk and is one of the few normal friends that Shadow happens upon.
Tune in to Starz on Sunday at 9PM if you are ready for this.
NEW!
Here are some of my favorite excerpts from the book. If you consider excerpts/quotes to be spoilers then do not read any further.
Wednesday looked at him with amusement and something else—irritation perhaps. Or pride. “Why don’t you argue?” asked Wednesday. “Why don’t you exclaim that it’s all impossible? Why the hell do you just do what I say and take it all so fucking calmly?” (p. 433)
Definitely a question I asked during this whole book.
“What the hell? We’ll always have Peru ,” he said, under his breath, as Sam walked away from him. “And El Paso. We’ll always have that.” (p.729)
“Hey, Sweeney,” said Shadow, breathless, “why are we fighting?”
“For the joy of it,” said Sweeney, sober now, or at least no longer visibly drunk. “For the sheer unholy fucken delight of it. Can’t you feel the joy in your own veins, rising like the sap in the springtime?” (p. 55)
More to come soon…
K.
P.S. Today’s song? Don’t Fear the Reaper, version by Denmark and Winter.
The Scarlet Reader 