Saturday, December 24, 2011

AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman

Finished Sa 12/24/11

AMERICAN GODS is an exciting novel which hinges on the following premise: Gods and Spiritual Beings lose power as people cease to believe or choose other entities to invest their faith.

An ex-convict by the name of Shadow is enlisted by an amiable grifter by the name of Mr. Wednesday (who also happens to be the Norse deity, Odin) to stage a final battle between the Gods of the Old Religion and the new spiritual entities. The ancient American spirits of immigrants and the indigenous populations have been abandoned, and replaced with new objects of believe such as Telephony, The Internet, Hollywood, and political hegemony.

And in the best tradition of American Road Novels, Shadow and Mr. Odin travel the highways and byways of the USA enlisting the aid of other enchanted beings who are facing the ascendancy of America's new pantheon. House On The Rock, Rock City, and Lookout Mountain are quirky US tourist destinations which hold great spiritual power, and these places are visited by Shadow and Odin.

The book is an engaging read, and it reminded me a bit of Stephen King's, THE STAND. My only suggestion is that the book included a list of all the Gods and deities which were presented in the story.

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