About this title: After three years in prison, Shadow has done his time. But as the days, then the hours, then the seconds until his release tick away, he can feel a storm building. Two days before he gets out, his wife Laura dies in a mysterious car crash, in apparently adulterous circumstances. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr Wednesday claiming to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, along the way solving the murders which have occurred every winter in one small American town. But ...
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Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Used-Acceptable. Spine shows wear. Slight rubbing damage to corners and edges. Cover shows some scuffing. Good reading copy. We ship daily. read more
Description: Very Good. 0380789035 Mass Market Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780060558123ISBN:0060558121
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Pages clean and tight, no markings at all. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 592 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York City
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780965221542ISBN:0965221547
Description: Good. This book has been bent a little Every heavytail order includes with a sweet! We carefully hand clean and reinspect each and every item we ship. Our quality control process ensures items to be in the condition described or better. Heavytail is determined to earn your repeat business through old fashioned customer service. We love international orders. read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. 2003-Paperback-Front cover shows large tears which have been tape-worked. ---Used-Acceptable-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Harpercollins
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780380789030ISBN:0380789035
Description: Good. Size: 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall; Good Plus Mass Market Paperback w/light shelfwear, light shelf smudges. Light edge/spine wear/chips. Text free of notes, binding good. Spine leans a bit and has some reader creases. Confirmation on all Domestic Orders! read more
Except they don't; they live right here. In our own world. Living our miserable lives. God is a bus driver, a prostitute, god owns a local bar.
They are forgotten and replaced, forced to live the same pitiful existence as the humans they once ruled; only with the painful memory of their once glorious reign.
This book is magnificent. Amazing, breathtaking, epic. I loved reading it, walking into that incredible world where myths are reality (and a cruel reality of that!)- I just didn't want it to end.
It's not (only) a book about gods, and battles, good and bad and whatever- it's much more real than that. Often while reading it it came to my mind that if only the author made a bit more sci-fi, it only he had made it a bit more magical, mystical, as it is appropriate when dealing with myths- it would loose all it's charm. But that is the whole point- keeping the story and the characters divine and sort-of common in the same time. Not many authors can walk so steady on that thin rope. To be able to tell a story so larger than life and in the same time not make a big deal about it. In there lies the real magic of this book, in those tiny details that make the story what it is.
I finished the book in 3 am and I still can't stop thinking about it..."
"I enjoyed the Sandman graphic novels by Gaiman. I appreciated that Gaiman is well read in myths and incorporated diverse array of cultures and characters into his writings. However, those novels were freaky and they are more compilation of several loosely short stories than an on going series. All the same I wondered what he would do with an adult novel, and I am constantly looking for new good Fantasy novels.
It's easy to instantly fall in love with Shadow, the muscular ex-con protagonist who is released from prison and can think of nothing less than to return home to simple life with his wife. I like that Shadow constantly works against the stereotype of the thuggish brute to show purposefully that he is an intellectual and good for more than moving a heavy couch. But the winds are changing quite literally.
But I still had trouble finishing the book because there never seemed to be enough urgency moving the story along. I went SLOOOOOOW. Ultimately there's a fascinating premise that America is a relatively new country not old enough to have a lot of it's own myths. Thus, like real life human immigrants, gods and legends from far away lands moved to America for opportunities. The older god are dying out to new gods of what Americans really worship: sex, money, and everything else new and shiny. A war was brewing, I just wished the dang war would boil over already!"
"Shadow didn’t want anything but to go home to his wife. After spending time in prison, finding out his wife was killed in a car accident days before he came home to her left him open to new ideas. Taking a job with a man named Wednesday, a man that he met on the plain, he set off for a new adventure that most would have found unbelievable. Seeing Laura (his dead wife) in the flesh, not just a ghost or a dream was one thing, but meeting Gods, and traveling across America to try and form a strong front was something Shadow took in without much thought. He was able to believe.
Truly a strange book, the only reason I read this is because I was told ’If you like weird, you will like this’, so I thought I would give it a try. Hard to explain or give a synopsis, very intricate story line. Lots of characters, many of them Gods from many different countries with hard to pronounce and hard to remember names. Some characters had simple names, Mr. World (but he had more than one name), most Gods have more than one name. There was back stories of how and why the Gods were brought to America which did help, never thought I would learn so much about ancient Gods and mythology from a novel (found myself googling Czernobog, Odin, the Zorya sisters and more). There is also time spent in the Gods world, the ’backstage’ that sometimes came across as a dream state. Almost everything was tied up neatly by the end, Neil Gaiman wrote a very imaginative and creative book, I very much enjoyed the “weird” of this one."
"This is a work of dark, urban fantasy with roots going back to the dawn of man. The old gods who came to America with immigrants from cultures worldwide have faded with their believers. Now, they are in a battle for existence with the new deities of technology, transportation, and telecommunication. Can Odin rally the old gods to battle? Or is it too late?
* I really like all the background mythology flashbacks, with the different cultures and gods. And I was verrrry curious as to who, exactly Shadow, the protagonist, would turn out to be.
* Gaiman drew me in, informed me, entertained me, given me the creeps, and never let up. I really appreciated the exposition when Shadow explains what's going on to Sam - it was a welcome clarification of everything and let me know I was understanding all there was to understand.
* Final thoughts: This is a book rich with mythology and symbolism, and on one level is a commentary on what America holds dear, written from an outside perspective on America. On another level, it's just a wonderful dark fantasy that keeps you guessing. I'm still wondering about a particular gold coin passed on to Shadow by a character named Mad Sweeney... I especially loved: "this is a good town", the Egyptian undertakers, and the Native American mythology/trickster elements. Tricky, indeed, is the word for this book. Very tricky, Mr. Gaiman, if you are reading this..."
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