Great Reads: American Gods

Simply put, the work is based around the premise that when people relocated in their thousands to America, from all the corners of the world, they brought their gods and their belief systems with them. In modern day, these beliefs, ancient myths and fairy tales live on in human form - personifications of legends come to life in the forms of gods and goddesses from a dozen different religions. However the ancient gods are waning as the beliefs of mankind fade, and are gradually being replaced by the modern gods of consumerism, technology and the media.

An insane and often hallucinogenic plot-line

Shadow, the protagonist and unlikely hero of the novel, is a haunted and reserved character, having recently both lost his wife in an alleged car accident and been released from prison. On the plane home he encounters an enigmatic figure styling himself Mr. Wednesday, who makes the outrageous claim that he is both a god and the king of America. With nothing else to lose, Shadow allows himself to be hired by Wednesday - later revealed as being Odin, the Norse god of war, prophecy and death - as an escort and bodyguard, and the two embark on a bizarre road-trip across America in an attempt to recruit the old gods in a war against the new.

Though based around an insane and often hallucinogenic plot-line, the novel is written in the most believable and convincing of ways, at times heart-rending and invariably captivating, with richly-drawn characters, constant mythological references, and a skewed, epic vision of America that looks deep into the country's very soul.

Ultimately, American Gods is a strange, hard-edged, irreverent and profoundly ambitious novel with a disturbing, dark grandeur; a deeply unsettling and strangely wise book of heartbreak, nobility, sacrifice and magic that will hold you enthralled to the very end.

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