American Gods by Neil Gaiman

American Gods (2001) is a fantasy novel by British author Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on the mysterious and taciturn Shadow.

Picked it up when I heard that a TV series is in the works. It's an entertaining twist on modernized mythology, but it's nothing like Percy Jackson.

First Read: June 2007

It felt a little rush and at times he seemed to use pop interpretation of cultures, mythologies, and their gods. I love the vignette scattered through out the book.

Overall a good book, very well written. However, not my kind of story. I read it with a science fiction / fantasy mindset, and it has very little of that. The whole gods plot was pretty much a background for the true story of the book.

Basically it's a story about an ex-con walking around the USA. It's more of a travel, sight seeing and ‘small town getting to know', kind of book.

Interesting characters, good dialogs, but lack of a climax and exciting scenes.