American Gods - Neil Gaiman
I was recommended this book by a good friend - thanks Emma! She knows I like legends and mythology and wow, does this book have an abundance of everything in that sphere!
We begin by following 'Shadow' a bit of a bad lad, just getting out of jail - for being a bad lad. He'd been released early because of a tragedy in the family - he lost his wife and best friend in a car wreck. The news doesn't get better and it would appear that now, Shadow is out of jail, widowed, without his best mate and without a job to go to.
The story follows Shadow across America when he is offered a Bodyguarding job by a mysterious - and persistent - chap who visits lots of strange and weird acquaintances for the purpose of recruiting them into his service.
I'm not going to tell you who the mysterious chap is, or what he is planning but the book is fast-paced and ultimately and grippingly readable. Neil has done an awful lot of research into the ancient legends and has spun a tale to drag those legendary characters, kicking and screaming, into the 21st Century - with a HUGE twist!
The plot is fascinating, the characters are believable - in that you can actually get to like or dislike all of them from a few scant sentences and the story as a whole draws the reader into Shadow's world completely and willingly.
The book as a whole flows effortlessly and as an introduction to Neil Gaiman's work (apart from Good Omens with Terry Pratchett) I found it leaving me wanting to read everything that the man has ever written!
Neil began a weblog to accompany American Gods. The first post is simply:
The journal is open.
He started it in 2001 and the link to his February Bloggings is here
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2001_02_01_archive.html
If you want a detailed review on the story and plot, the place to go is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gods
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