American Gods is about a man named Shadow, who is getting released from prison. But when he get's released everything is different, weird and wonderful. Well not at first because just before Shadow get's released from prison, he finds out that his wife Laura has died in a car crash. When Shadow does eventually leave prison, he has nothing to go back to. As Shadow boards a plane home we meet Mr Wednesday, who is a fascinating character. This is when things really get crazy in Shadows life. Mr Wednesday offers Shadow a job and Shadow accepts it after Wednesday tells him he has nothing left to lose. Throughout the book we meet various gods from different countries like Odin, Mama Ji and Easter to name a few. We go on this weird journey, where we follow a war between the old Gods and the new Gods. Mr Wednesday brings Shadow along to try to convince the old Gods to fight back and not be forgotten. But the new Gods do not like this and they go after Mr Wednesday and Shadow.
My favorite character was Shadow, because he was the most well developed and interesting character out of the lot of them. We follow Shadow throughout this book and he really develops into a character of his own and not just a shell. As we progress through the story he realizes that he has something to live and fight for, which gives him purpose. Most of the characters did not feel very Godly because they seemed like normal people living among us, but it did make me relate to the Gods more because of this. The story as a whole was well paced and not too long or short. There are some big twists at the end and even though the middle of the book feels like a slog, it was worth getting through that for the brilliant and satisfying ending. My favorite part of the book was when we were in the town Lakeside. This was my favorite part because all of the characters we were introduced to in that little town felt like they had personality, even the side characters. The scenes where we are transported to a different dimension are well done and always feel mysterious. These scenes also make you want to read more, to see what the hell that was about and if it is going to mean anything to the story as a whole. When we are not focusing on Shadow, we get introduced to the different Gods and these chapters and scenes really kept me engaged and wanting to read more.
The negatives of the book is that I thought it was going to be more epic and larger in scale. Instead we got Gods that seemed just like normal people and did not seem Godly. But I do not fault the book for this, because this tone fitted well in with the story that was told. There was one character who I thought we could of done without, and that was Laura. Laura did not bring anything interesting to the story and the scenes with her in it were some of the more dragged out parts of the book. But other than these little niggles I really enjoyed the journey as a whole.
Verdict - 7/10
Overall it is a real page turner and the story does not drag on too much. The characters are interesting and the concept of the Gods and there situation are well done. If you want to read something that is a bit different in the fantasy genre than I recommend checking this book out.