American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Reviewed by David Hannon
Powells.com
Winner of the 2002 Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker awards for best novel, American Gods primarily concerns itself with the life of a man, post incarceration, named Shadow. Having spent three years in prison dreaming of the quiet life he would lead when released, Shadow suffers a rude awakening upon learning that both his wife and his best friend have been killed in a car accident. Released early he boards a plane home and is seated next to a strange old man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. Wednesday knows Shadow's wife is dead, that he just got out of prison and has nothing to go home to. He's also aware that Shadow needs a job and is about to offer him a hum-dinger.
Shadow travels with Wednesday on a cross-country recruiting mission for the war of the gods, taking him into the lives and homes of the old gods. Over time these gods (Anansi, Vishnu, Czernobog, the Zorya, etc.) have been forgotten. Without worship and adulation they have become weak and somewhat pitiful. The new gods however, the gods of technology, media, and contemporary culture are growing stronger and more powerful by the day, and it's only a matter of time before the new and old duke it out in an epic clash of modernism versus tradition.
Taking us through plenty of painful and harrowing experiences, Shadow learns more about the gods' history and future than anyone should rightly know. Considering the multitude of characters, Gaiman does a spectacular job of presenting just enough personal detail about each one to make them interesting and believable. Gaiman certainly knows how to spin a well-crafted yarn -- mixing fascinating character histories with swift and energetic plot lines -- and it's one that will keep you captivated to the end, whether you choose to side with the new gods or the old.