American Gods

I had American Gods in my 'I should probably read it' list for a very long time, and the fact it is now a TV series gave me the extra ounce of curiosity I needed it to start it. I knew I wouldn't be able to stop reading it from the first page, and this is why:

"The boundaries of our country, sir? Why sir, onto the north we are bounded by the Aurora Borealis, on the east we are bounded by the rising sun, on the south we are bounded by the procession of the Equinoxes, and on the west by the Day of Judgement.

--THE AMERICAN JOE MILLER'S JEST BOOK

Shadow had done three years in prison. He was big enough, and looked don't-fuck-with-me enough that his biggest problem was killing time. So he kept himself in shape, and taught himself coin tricks, and thought a lot about how much he loved his wife.

The best thing--in Shadow's opinion, perhaps the only good thing--about being in prison was a feeling of relief. The feeling that he'd plunged as low as he could plunge and he'd hit bottom. He didn't worry that the man was going to get him, because the man had got him. He did not awake in prison with a feeling of dread; he was no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, because yesterday had brought it."

The book is long, especially if you are reading the 10th anniversary edition, rich and dense....and immensely entertaining. It is also, and I am using Neil Gaiman's words,"a fine, strange novel to have learned how to write. I was always aware of how very far short it fell of the beautiful, golden, gleaming, perfect book I had in my head, but even so, it made me happy."

It did make me happy, but also scared and creeped out by the graphic violence and violent sex, thrilled to meet the old, new Gods and cultural icons....It is indeed a very very good introduction ( at least for me ) to a fantastic writer. It is also not really a sci-fi novel as far as I am concerned but a fantastic book altogether. I haven't watched the show but I did read the book, and I can not recommend it enough.