American Gods by Neil Gaiman

The power of a god or goddess is dependent on the number of their followers as well as their continued belief. Furthermore, this deity could not have existed without this belief in the first place. This idea seems both intuitive and startlingly absurd, and Gaiman plays with this contradiction by detailing the adventures of Shadow, a recently released convict. He is offered a job by a man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday, who eventually lets on that he is the American version of the god Odin. Yes, there are multiple embodiments of the same god in different areas of the world where there is still enough belief to sustain them. Gaiman details this wonderfully at times by recounting past stories of immigrants who brought their own gods with them to this strange, alien land broadly referred to as America. We are also introduced to these gods, who are memorable characters as gods should be, as Shadow joins Mr. Wednesday in his scheme to unite the older generation of gods.
Yes, there is a generational gap between the new gods and old gods; both generations must compete for precious believers. The old gods are out of touch and belief in them has waned; most have settled down into a more or less human way of life. The new gods are created and grow in power so rapidly that they have no idea what to do with their newfound belief. The stage is set for conflict, and yes, gods can die. I won’t ruin the ending, but I’ll say that much of the book is spent building up to that final showdown. Patience was not required for me to get to this point; the back stories and interactions of the gods were fascinating enough on their own.
I only realized that tremendous amount of research that Gaiman had put into this story when I read the very complete list of acknowledgements. As a fiction writer, this both intimidates and fascinates me. I originally set out to read this book after reading a collection of Gaiman’s short stories and being left with the question “how does an author decide whether their creation is best put to use as a short story or as a novel?” I’m beginning to think that it’s not so much a choice as an overwhelming desire to keep exploring an idea.