I’ve become a fan of Gaiman’s work, so, after reading Good Omens, Neverwhere, and Coraline, that I would try other works of his. I bought this copy at the same time as the others.

Read: October 23 – October 27, 2023

Genre: Fantasy, Horror
Audience: Adult
Book contains: foul language, explicit sexual content, death, cheating

Purchase a copy from Amazon.ca

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A Complex Web and a Great Story

Recently released from prison, Shadow returns home to find the life that was waiting for him for three years was gone, and now he’s getting a job offer from a mysterious stranger. He’s thrust into the world of old and new gods, and a storm is coming.

More adult fiction from Neil Gaiman, and with adult fiction, there’s typically more graphic content, such as explicit language and sexual content. I’m good at ignoring it, but that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t enjoy reading it. At least there wasn’t too much.

Jay Jensen on YouTube, did a pretty good reading of this book, though I was confused by the missing scenes. Then, because he only did the first two chapters, I found NotThe1stNoel, who was pretty good, though there was a lot of static in the recording. Later recordings were a lot better, and she did very well with the voices.

The book is written in third person point of view, and mainly follows Shadow, though it switches to other characters every once in a while, as well. Other characters who play a role in the story—some Shadow meets, and some he doesn’t. There are also interludes between the chapters detailing how a specific god has come over to America—often right before or right after meeting this god in the main narrative.

The main character’s name is Shadow, though this is a nickname because of how he used to follow people around as a youth. His real name is never mentioned. He’s described as young, perhaps late twenties, and he’s just gotten out of a three-year sentence to find that his life had been turned upside down. Just when he’s down on his luck, he meets Wednesday, who offers him a job, and from there, Shadow is dragged through a world of crazy, meeting people like Mr. Town and Mr. World, and others like the buffalo-headed man, funeral home directors Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jaquel, and Czernobog, who wants to smash his skull in with a hammer.

The main romantic relationship is between Shadow and his wife, and it’s mainly a dead relationship. Otherwise, there is some casual sex here and there. Mostly, it’s the friendships that Shadow builds throughout the novel, and his business relationship with his boss, Wednesday. I enjoy the way these relationships grow, stretch, and fold around themselves, almost like taffy, as there is nothing certain about the interpersonal connections made in this book.

Gaiman’s writing style, as always, is incredibly complex, with many layers and double meanings. For instance, throughout the book, Shadow is playing with coins, which seems like just a thing that he does, but it also plays a role in the larger plot as well, cleverly hidden. Many things that happen throughout the book that seem innocuous at first come back in a big way; an offhand comment turns out to be incredibly important. Because of this, there is no wasted scene, no piece of writing that is unnecessary. I always love this about Gaiman’s writing.

This book, however, wasn’t my favourite. It got really good by the end, but it was hard to get into. There’s always so much going on at the same time, and though I didn’t get any characters mixed up, I didn’t understand some of the more complicated parts of the story. That, combined with some aspects that I didn’t like, dampened my enjoyment of the reading.

That being said, I recommend this book to adult readers who like a bit of mystery and a bit of fantasy. I think many people can relate to Shadow as a character who’s down on his luck.

Related Reviews:

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
The Broken Earth Trilogy Book 1: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin