Okay, I’m a Neil Gaiman nut, but it took me ages to read American Gods. And I think the book was overhyped to me. It really didn’t have the same appeal that Sandman did. Maybe part of my problem was listening to the audio version, which did not have great sound quality and the narrator was really awkward. He sounded like he should be reading with a corncob pipe in his mouth, which is fine for characters like Wednesday, Czernobog, and Hinzelmann, but terrible for Laura and makes it sound like your grandfather is reading you a lot of strange sex scenes. Blerg! On top of that, I really didn’t care for Shadow or for the in-between stories about how the gods came to inhabit America. The pace was just too slow and ponderous for me. Perhaps that’s what comes from reading too many comic books? :P

Darkly funny and constantly surprising, this book is a consuming adventure that draws you deeper and deeper into a mysterious world lying just below our own. One of my faves.

I asked a coworker for a sci-fi fantasy suggestion for my open-minded but very feminine book club and she suggest this. I’ve known about Neil Gaiman for a while but I’m not much of a sci-fi reader so I never picked up anything. I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t sure about the story or the style and all I can say is Cool. This book rocks and Gaiman is an extremely enjoyable writer. I’m not done with it but I will be finishing this and reading more by him. It’s not very sci-fi either, it’s almost anthropological…I hear a lot of Joseph Campbell in this and I like that a lot!

Wow. 5 out of 5. And you know I’m a picky bitch. Hate to cut this short, but I have to go read everything he’s ever written now.