Book Cover

“It doesn’t matter that you didn’t believe in us,” said Mr. Ibis. “We believed in you.”

# Review

At its core, American Gods is a story about stories; it takes place in the United States, where the Old Gods (deities from ancient religions, such as the Norse pantheon) are in a conflict with the New Gods (concepts we worship today in modern society, such as media and technology). The book explores this conflict through the eyes of Shadow Moon, a human ex-con who gets caught up in the schemes of a con man, Mr. Wednesday.

This book explores the stories behind each of the deities, many of which I have never heard of before reading this book, such as Czernobog from Polabian mythology. One can tell that Gaiman is passionate and well-researched about mythology from different parts of the world. Perhaps my favourite aspect of the book is reading about how each of the Olds Gods (their believers) came to America and established themselves.

This book is meant to entertain, so don’t expect profound and deep explorations of complex themes like religion and American society. Despite this, there are tidbits of such explorations spread throughout the book.

# Conclusion

An interesting story about deities in America.

# Overall rating: 7.5

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