Ultimately I liked this book. I wish I knew more about all sorts of mythology and religion; I probably could have appreciated it on yet another level.

Good lord did it take me forever to read, though. And I understand the UK version is even longer.

What happens to gods when their followers lose interest and eventually forget them? In this work of urban fantasy Neil Gaiman explores this idea, introducing the reader to Shadow, a man recently released from prison and who has learned his wife has just died. Beginning life again essentially from scratch, he agrees to begin working for a man named Wednesday. Wednesday is preparing for a coming battle between the ancient, traditional gods (himself, Anansi, Easter, Czernobog and Ibis, among others) who have been forgotten in favor of the new “gods” of the modern, industrialized world (technology, cities, etc.).

As the reader, I wanted to know a little more about the characters (the gods) and their stories and motivations. This was my first Gaiman experience and, while I highly enjoyed his writing style, I wasn’t completely in love with the story. I’d definitely read another of his works.

Several times throughout the book, I thought I knew where it was going – a critique of the American lifestyle, a commentary on the American value system, or an endorsement of the US over other places, but it was none of those things, and a little bit of all of them, and a lot more, too.

Urgh.

Don’t get me wrong, American Gods has an excellent premise, and I’m enjoying the side-stories we’re getting, but I have issues with its execution. 168 pages into the book and we’re still not going anywhere? And there are roughly 300 pages left? What?

Perhaps it was the wrong thing to come straight from Good Omens to this book. I just didn’t know that Gaiman was going to be this… tedious.