I received a copy of 'American Gods' for Christmas and it took me awhile to sit down and read it. But once I started, it was quite easy to get drawn in. Most fantasy novels have a significant flaw that spoils them for me. They can create any powers they like for anyone they like. It's hard to maintain dramatic tension in those circumstances.
American Gods has a much more creative and interesting approach. The premise is that people who immigrated to the U.S. brought their gods with them. These gods take on actual physical form as people but their 'powers' get weaker and weaker as fewer people believe in them. Each of the gods has the character (in reduced fashion) of the original with those types of powers / skills. But they look and act like people who live on the margins of society.
He takes gods from many of the different 'pantheons' around the world - which makes it interesting. I recognized some and would like to know more about some of the others. The interaction between the gods of the old world and the gods of the new world is particularly well done.
The book has some of the flaws of much fantasy / science fiction (a pace that is too slow, an over reliance on tension caused by confusing the main character, characters that are not very fully realized) but, overall, this was an interesting book and the end was a very creative resolution of the story lines.
No comments:
Post a Comment