I’m only about half-way through this.  I was going to post when I finished but this poor forum category doesn’t get enough attention.  A friend gave me the book knowing it was along the lines of the stuff I read.

“American Gods” by Neil Gaiman

Anyone read it yet?

Very good book for anyone interested in religion and mythology.  Mr. Gaiman is also a friend of Terry Pratchett whom I know many of you Europeans adore….

I read it when I first moved up here. I saw it in the grocery store, of all places and had to grab it

I thought it was very good. However, I don’t know if it’s just because I am such a fan of his comics, but while I was reading it, I could just picture the art, frame by frame. It read like a graphic novel to me, not that I’m criticizing as I’m a big fan of graphic novels.

Good book, although I preferred his Neverwhere to American Gods.  It is an interesting scenario—kind of Harry Potter-ish in that all this occurs in plain view of the rest of the world without the rest of the world catching on.  Good social commentary through the “New Gods.“  Good story.  Compelling and oddly sympathetic characters.  A bit gothic in feel. 

But I agree with MadCarlotta that it is very transparent and visual—it reads like it could easily be taken to the silver screen or another graphic format.  Neverwhere reads the same way and is a BBC series (not sure which is the chicken and which is the egg for that book/TV tie-in).

As with most fantasy/scifi/horror, I thought the ending was a little weak—better than Crighton and King, two other visual authors, but not as strong as one could hope.

I tried to read it, but I couldn’t finish it- it creeped me out a bit.

I much perfer his later book

Anansi Boys is a sort of spinoff from American Gods I think. Maybe spinoff isn’t 100% accurate because I don’t think the stories are necessarily related, but Anansi is a character in American Gods

A ‘companion’ book is the word you’re looking for, Carlotta.

I’ve not been brave enough to try the American Gods, yet.  I’m not a big fan of sci-fi/fantasy set in the modern world.  I did appreciate his collaboration with TP on “Good Omens” though.

Snowy - 28 February 2007 07:32 PM

A ‘companion’ book is the word you’re looking for, Carlotta.

Thanks Snowy