A Hit and A Miss

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Adult Fantasy

For me, Neil Gaiman is a very hit or miss author.  When he hits it, it's out of the park.  It's a book so good you can't resist telling other people about the book and such an amazing author.  He can string together stories and words like a master weaver.  When he misses, it's so off the mark, it should be measured in astronomical terms.  This book, for me, was a mixture of both.

The first part of the book is a gigantic miss.  It takes forever to care about the characters or even understand what they have to do with one another and how their stories combine.  I put the book down about twenty times and only persisted because I finish every book I start, no exceptions.  I'm glad I did, though, because the second half of the book is a huge hit.  Once I actually started caring about them, the pages seemed to roll by faster and faster and I couldn't wait to hear how the whole thing would end.

Throughout it all, I did particularly love the mythical references.  I raced to my computer time and again to Wiki who all of these fascinating characters were.  I can't imagine such a brain that could hold all the information and make a story out of it.  The mythical information was much more pleasing to read about than the main character, though.