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The Gunslinger is the first novel in Stephen King’s epic “Dark Tower” series and introduces the main character of the tale, known simply as “the gunslinger”.
As a review should open with a synopsis of the plot of the book, I must use this time to alert you to the strange lack of plot of this book. It is simply a book in which one man follows another, throughout which flash backs and contemplations are our only distraction from the endless and parched desert of the gunslinger’s world.
According to King’s afterword the book had been on his writer’s slate for thirty years before he finally completed the first book; he would continually dip into the piece throughout his writing career, setting it aside only to dedicate himself solely to what is arguably known as his greatest work, The Stand. The time and devotion that King has poured into these books comes across in their narratives, as the characters have clearly been lovingly crafted in King’s head for years until he knows them as well as he knows himself. This is where the first problem of the book kicks off however; evidently King has known these characters a very long time, the readers however are only on their first encounter with them and so the cold and logical mind of the lead character comes across simply as a lack of characterisation as his past, his motivations, even his name, are unknown to us.
On the other hand, the distant nature of the character fits well with the varying tempo of the narrative, in the gunslinger we find the single constant that is otherwise lost on the genre and imagery of the novel. The book is a strange mix of genres that by rights really shouldn’t work. It begins with a lone ranger style character crossing a seemingly endless desert in pursuit of a mysterious “Man in Black”. It is followed with a traditional old west style account of the gunslingers time in Tull, a small tumble-weed town fit with saloon and shoot out. It is here where we see the first glimpses of religious mysticism and intrigue which follow into the intellectual scientific mystery of the Dark Tower, time and the universe itself.
Before that however an encounter with a boy who seems to have been pulled through time and abandoned in a house haunted by demonic voices and rotting skeletons serves to bring a thread of emotion, along with dark horror overtones, into the novel. Through the introduction of Jake, the gunslinger’s past begins to unravel; opening up another genre trend in his castle bound, sword-and-sorcery-esque childhood as an apprentice gunslinger in a land of royal order and untrustworthy enchanters.
Eventually a brief assault from a group of glowing, mountain dwelling mutants takes the story down the science fiction trail, where it had already made one or two hesitant steps previously, with the depiction of a world that has moved on, where technology, science, even electricity are prehistoric myths of a mankind with seemingly godlike powers, now long forgotten.
In so many ways this mish-mash of genres ought to mar the narrative and make the piece almost unreadable, yet this is hardly the case, in fact they work quite well together. It is hardly a seamless transition and on occasion the references stick out like a sore thumb, but you get the impression that they’re supposed to do just that.
What does make the book hard going is the lead characters’ lack of emotion; for sometime before he meets Jake the gunslinger is quite simply obsessed with capturing the man in black; his reasons and drive are completely unknown to us and so for the first third of the book you have to struggle through with a fairly one sided, unlikeable character.
The boy Jake brings emotion to the narrative however, his story is intriguing and the references he makes to subways and movies serve to allow us readers to find something tangible and recognisable to grasp in this melting pot of genre stereotypes.
Jake is by far the book’s strongest point, he is a relatable and likeable character; no more than a scared, lost child. Yet his role in the novel is short lived and despite the upset and bitter feeling his departure leaves you with it is an inevitable plot turn that King alerts you to early on; and in some strange way, it fits. Nothing could be more appropriate for the gunslinger’s story than the love that he begins to feel for Jake, and nothing could be more appropriate for the mythical/religious analogy of the novel than the fate that awaits Jake because of this love.
The mystery of the book can also be overshadowing at times, rather than simply clouding perception the reader’s understanding is completely blocked for certain aspects of the narrative; which, at the closing point of The Gunslinger, can be overlooked, provided that they are explained later on in the series, otherwise this will be a serious flaw in this single book, let alone the series as a whole.
Finally, some readers who may not have read any King before may find his writing style hard to get along with, he is indulgent and descriptive and at times this makes sentences long winded and ruins their significance. King is not one to say something in four words when he can do it forty. He also loves to demonstrate his vocabulary and eloquence by constructing convoluted sentences with unnecessarily intellectual words. This is particularly noticeable in the gunslingers final encounter with the man in black, in which they question the size of the universe and the meaning of life. It is overly complex and draws attention away from the drama of the moment, which would have been far better served with awe and simplicity than King’s over zealous dedication to adjectives.
As this “aren’t we insignificant” dirge is the ending of the first Dark Tower book, it leaves you on a considerable downer. A terrible sacrifice, both to the character and to the quality of the book, is made and then the man in black, whom we have been so ardently searching for, leaves us more confused than we were to begin with. Maybe this was completely intentional on King’s part, as this ending just makes you desperate to read the next book in the series.
In a strange way I would not say this was an enjoyable read, but an intriguing and exciting one that has left me both frustrated and enthralled. The promise of the books that follow make the first book worth the reading as, when it boils down to it, the first book did nothing more than introduce the myths and imagery of the series, which themselves are a truly refreshing take on fantasy fiction.
The fourth book in the Potter series begins more than fifty years before the present day, with the strange death of the Riddle family, wealthy land owners and their older son, Tom. The family’s groundskeeper, once suspected of murdering his employers, now looks after the abandoned house. One fateful night he notices a light within the house that has been abandoned for years; and goes to investigate assuming it is local youths. He is mistaken however and it is the last mistake poor Frank ever makes.
Somewhere in Surrey, Harry Potter, a fourteen year old orphan who lives with his aunt and uncle, wakes with a throbbing pain in the scar on his forehead.
The real story begins at the Quidditch World Cup, where wizards have gathered in their hundreds to support their various teams. However, in the middle of the night there is a disturbance when a group of Death Eaters, wizards who supported the dark wizard Lord Voldermort when he was in power fifteen years previously, attack the local muggles. This all culminates in someone inscribing the “dark mark” – the symbol Lord Voldermort would always leave after committing a murder – in the night sky.
As ever Harry and his two best friends Ron and Hermione find themselves caught right in the middle of all the action. When they return to school they are greeted by their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, All-star “Mad-Eye” Moody; a one-eyed ex-aura whose replacement eye has the ability to see through walls. They also learn that for the first time in several years Hogwarts will be hosting the “Tri-Wizard Tournament”; a competition between three of Europe’s biggest magical schools that involve a series of trials that must display both physical and magical ability.
Only contestants over a certain age may compete in the tournament however, by some strange twist of fate Harry’s name is chosen by the enchanted Goblet of Fire listing him as the fourth contestant in the tournament. Also taking part are the beautiful French student Fleur Delacour, the famous Quidditch player Viktor Krum and the handsome Hogwarts student Cedric Diggory, who readers will have met briefly in the previous book.
Harry is truly put through his paces in the subsequent trials, however he eventually finds himself in the lead upon entering the maze that signifies the final task. Upon completion the winner must pick up the coveted Triwizard Cup, they will then be transported out of the maze and crowned winner.
However, the cup has been tampered with and when Harry, accompanied by Cedric in an effort to ensure that they are both winners, touches the cup he is transported to a place that will change the wizarding world forever.
The Goblet of Fire is the first really long Harry Potter book, where there seems to be a constant stream of action and drama and the tension is almost permanently high, which really takes the edge off the book’s length. Rowling kicks the suspense off from the word go, with the murder of Frank Bryce and the revelation that Voldermort is already far more powerful than any one would have expected, thanks to his servant Wormtail, who has been disguised as the Weasley’s pet rat for over a decade. The suspicion and tension stay high throughout the Quidditch World Cup and into the first term at Hogwarts, where tiny confusing incidents and the huge mystery of who put Harry’s name in the Goblet of Fire, all entwine to help develop this surprisingly complex story.
The Triwizard trials are interesting to read and a few are certainly very exciting, but personally I found the whole maze and Voldermort bit a little anti-climatic. Cedric’s death is a swift and heartless incantation, the shock of which is more likely to catch you out than genuine grief is. Although this part of the book is of infinite importance, the ritual that raises Voldermort is skimmed over and it just seems as though Rowling could have made more of it: she doesn’t utilize the setting and darkness of the ritual enough to truly demonstrate the terror that Voldermort is supposed to incite.
The story of Barty Crouch Jr is the more intriguing story in my mind, and his deception and Rowling’s construction of the All-star Moody character are both so well thought out and intricate that you will never see the revelation coming. The emergence of the Moody character allows Rowling the opportunity to bring together several separate and seemingly insignificant strings and begin the weave them into the story so that they become core parts of the construction of the story and the magical world.
As with all the Potter books there are some brilliant comedy moments, including Hermione’s new love of house elves and the “Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare” (SPEW), which throws up – excuse the pun – loads of brilliant one liners from Ron and Harry, and in fact becomes notably important in the development of a certain relationship.
Also, Ron’s sheer ignorance and jealousy surrounding the Yule Ball is one of the best parts of all the Potter books, as it is, as ever, the characters that carry Rowling’s series. Otherwise her writing is adequate, and shows significant development in this book and the previous one, when compared to the first two, but it is still not the books best asset.
The Goblet of Fire is when things really begin to heat up in Harry’s story, his relationships with friends and peers become more complex, his sense of duty and courage become more defined and the plot line itself begins to move in a more certain and structured direction.
The fourth book in the Potter series begins more than fifty years before the present day, with the strange death of the Riddle family, wealthy land owners and their older son, Tom. The family’s groundskeeper, once suspected of murdering his employers, now looks after the abandoned house. One fateful night he notices a light within the house that has been abandoned for years; and goes to investigate assuming it is local youths. He is mistaken however and it is the last mistake poor Frank ever makes.
Somewhere in Surrey, Harry Potter, a fourteen year old orphan who lives with his aunt and uncle, wakes with a throbbing pain in the scar on his forehead.
The real story begins at the Quidditch World Cup, where wizards have gathered in their hundreds to support their various teams. However, in the middle of the night there is a disturbance when a group of Death Eaters, wizards who supported the dark wizard Lord Voldermort when he was in power fifteen years previously, attack the local muggles. This all culminates in someone inscribing the “dark mark” – the symbol Lord Voldermort would always leave after committing a murder – in the night sky.
As ever Harry and his two best friends Ron and Hermione find themselves caught right in the middle of all the action. When they return to school they are greeted by their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, All-star “Mad-Eye” Moody; a one-eyed ex-aura whose replacement eye has the ability to see through walls. They also learn that for the first time in several years Hogwarts will be hosting the “Tri-Wizard Tournament”; a competition between three of Europe’s biggest magical schools that involve a series of trials that must display both physical and magical ability.
Only contestants over a certain age may compete in the tournament however, by some strange twist of fate Harry’s name is chosen by the enchanted Goblet of Fire listing him as the fourth contestant in the tournament. Also taking part are the beautiful French student Fleur Delacour, the famous Quidditch player Viktor Krum and the handsome Hogwarts student Cedric Diggory, who readers will have met briefly in the previous book.
Harry is truly put through his paces in the subsequent trials, however he eventually finds himself in the lead upon entering the maze that signifies the final task. Upon completion the winner must pick up the coveted Triwizard Cup, they will then be transported out of the maze and crowned winner.
However, the cup has been tampered with and when Harry, accompanied by Cedric in an effort to ensure that they are both winners, touches the cup he is transported to a place that will change the wizarding world forever.
The Goblet of Fire is the first really long Harry Potter book, where there seems to be a constant stream of action and drama and the tension is almost permanently high, which really takes the edge off the book’s length. Rowling kicks the suspense off from the word go, with the murder of Frank Bryce and the revelation that Voldermort is already far more powerful than any one would have expected, thanks to his servant Wormtail, who has been disguised as the Weasley’s pet rat for over a decade. The suspicion and tension stay high throughout the Quidditch World Cup and into the first term at Hogwarts, where tiny confusing incidents and the huge mystery of who put Harry’s name in the Goblet of Fire, all entwine to help develop this surprisingly complex story.
The Triwizard trials are interesting to read and a few are certainly very exciting, but personally I found the whole maze and Voldermort bit a little anti-climatic. Cedric’s death is a swift and heartless incantation, the shock of which is more likely to catch you out than genuine grief is. Although this part of the book is of infinite importance, the ritual that raises Voldermort is skimmed over and it just seems as though Rowling could have made more of it: she doesn’t utilize the setting and darkness of the ritual enough to truly demonstrate the terror that Voldermort is supposed to incite.
The story of Barty Crouch Jr is the more intriguing story in my mind, and his deception and Rowling’s construction of the All-star Moody character are both so well thought out and intricate that you will never see the revelation coming. The emergence of the Moody character allows Rowling the opportunity to bring together several separate and seemingly insignificant strings and begin the weave them into the story so that they become core parts of the construction of the story and the magical world.
As with all the Potter books there are some brilliant comedy moments, including Hermione’s new love of house elves and the “Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare” (SPEW), which throws up – excuse the pun – loads of brilliant one liners from Ron and Harry, and in fact becomes notably important in the development of a certain relationship.
Also, Ron’s sheer ignorance and jealousy surrounding the Yule Ball is one of the best parts of all the Potter books, as it is, as ever, the characters that carry Rowling’s series. Otherwise her writing is adequate, and shows significant development in this book and the previous one, when compared to the first two, but it is still not the books best asset.
The Goblet of Fire is when things really begin to heat up in Harry’s story, his relationships with friends and peers become more complex, his sense of duty and courage become more defined and the plot line itself begins to move in a more certain and structured direction.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
The second book in the JK Rowling series about a young, orphan wizard named Harry Potter begins shortly after his twelfth birthday at the end of July. Harry lives with his mother’s sister Petunia and her husband and son, Vernon and Dudley Dursely on a quiet street in Surrey.
However, Harry is not as normal as the rest of his family, and from September until June he lives in a huge hidden castle somewhere in England called Hogwarts. Hundreds of other boys and girls live at Hogwarts too, where together they are all learning magic. Some of them are from wizarding families, whilst others grow up knowing nothing of the magical world and receive letters on their eleventh birthday telling them that those strange abilities they’ve always had are in fact impotent magical powers.
It is Harry’s second year at Hogwarts and there he has two very close friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, a full blood wizard and muggle born respectively. After the shocks of Harry’s first year at Hogwarts, where he discovered that the man who murdered his parents is living, albeit a kind of half life, draining the life from others, and seeking a way to return himself back to his full health and power. This man’s name is Lord Voldermort.
In the second book we begin to gain an insight into Voldermort, as Harry, without realising it, drifts into the memories of his nemesis through an enchanted diary. Harry is not the first person to possess Voldermorts memories however, in fact Ron’s younger sister Ginny, who is in her first year at Hogwarts, has been pouring her heart out into the pages of the diary for months and the diary, disguised as a caring ear to Ginny, has been using her life to become more and more powerful himself. As Voldermort’s power has grown he has used Ginny to unleash a deadly terror upon Hogwarts, an unknown killer that seems untraceable and leaves his victim’s paralyzed by fear.
Harry meanwhile, begins to hear menacing voices, voices only he can hear and strange messages begin appearing across the school proclaiming that any student not a full-blood wizard will die and that the “Chamber of Secrets” has been re-opened.
Together, Harry, Ron and Hermione begin to investigate, trying to discover what the Chamber of Secrets is, and what could possibly be attacking the students. Whilst in one of the memories locked in the diary Harry learns that his part giant teacher and friend, Rubius Hagrid, was expelled from Hogwarts as a child for keeping a dangerous animal on the grounds. To Ron’s horror the two boys discover that the monster was a giant, man-eating spider, but even worse that he is not the one who has been attacking the students.
Eventually Hermione is found paralyzed on her way back from the library and a student is dragged into the Chamber of Secrets as one final sacrifice to the monster before Voldermort can finally be returned to full strength.
Harry finds himself, separated from Ron and their brain-washed Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who had accompanied him, in the caverns beneath the school and facing a huge, deadly snake, with nothing but his wand and a tattered old hat.
This book is more of a mystery than its predecessor; with a real air of intrigue and uncertainty about it. Yet it finds itself in a slightly awkward position, somewhere between childhood innocence and naivety and darker teenage horror. In many places it seems a bit obvious and ham-fisted, Rowling seems to have opted for stereotypes rather than originality in these monsters and it makes it all a little contrived.
Unfortunately this is inescapable and dulls the intrigue and interest of the book, in many ways this book came too soon, when the dark side of the magical world was still too undefined for readers for it to truly be explored to the extent that it needs to be for this story. Yet it is a necessary part of the series and must be read in order to understand the following five books.
In many ways the Chamber of Secrets opens doors to aspects of the Harry Potter series that will become hugely important later on, ideas about Voldermort’s past and his soul and even his choice to hunt Harry begin to take shape and future relationships are hinted at.
However, when it comes down to it The Chamber of Secrets is most definitely the weakest of all the Potter books, the story line is predictable and the newly introduced characters are pretty stereotypical and just add to the aforementioned predictability.
The books best asset is the stuff with Lord Voldermort and Tom Riddle, the finale in the Chamber of Secrets is far better than the rest of the book; which seems to exist largely of ridiculous filler moments, like an incident with a cat hair and some polyjuice potion, rather than slowly gathering information throughout the story to build to a climax. It is a shame that more time isn’t devoted to Tom Riddle and the mysteries of Voldermort’s past, but that is reserved for later on in the series. Without it however, this book sits more in the thriller/mystery section, despite its fantastical elements, and even seated there it’s not the best book on the shelf.
It does have its positive points, of course, as the characters develop and the mysterious and fascinating magical world is built upon, getting stronger with every word. Where in the first book everything is new the second book builds on the already established understanding and really sets up the rest of series.
And, as with all the Potter books, it has a fantastic main character base, which make the whole read bearable and even enjoyable, ridiculous over-the-top incidents with flying cars and falling pudding can even be forgiven thanks to the humour of Ron Weasley and the irate madness of Vernon Dursely; not to mention it being the first time we meet the wonderful house elf, Dobby.
All in all, not the best Potter book, particularly if you don’t like spiders and snakes, but it’s pretty easy to get through and will definitely whet your appetite for the rest of the series.
The third book in the Rowling series about the teenage wizard Harry James Potter is the one that really starts to delve into the darker side of the magical world; it’s the book where we first face dementors and learn some of the secrets of Hogwarts and it’s previous students; it’s really no surprise it won the Bram Stoker Award for “Superior Achievement” in horror writing in it’s first year of publication.
The key plot line in this book is that of Sirius Black, the best friend of Harry’s father James and only person granted the knowledge of the Potter’s whereabouts when Voldermort was at his height. According to rumours that have gone unbounded for thirteen years, Sirius betrayed James and Lily Potter to the Dark Lord and caused their death, he then went on to murder a fellow wizard and several other muggle citizens in some kind of mad rage.
The night after his thirteenth birthday Harry storms out of his uncle’s house in Privet drive; dragging his trunk, broomstick and caged owl with him. Whilst storming down the street he finds himself seeing a dark shape in the shadows, a huge black dog that seems to stalk him through the rest of the book. A trip to a bookshop in Diagon Alley reveals to Harry that the menacing creature is in fact a Grim, a magical omen, the sight of which marks the viewer as soon to die.
For all these Sirius has been a resident at the wizarding jail; Azkaban. An island ruled over by inhuman and terrifying magical creatures called dementors. However, Sirius manages to escape the prison, a feat never achieved by any other wizard, and as far as every one in the book is concerned he’s trying to hunt down Harry, so he can finish the work his master started.
Meanwhile at Hogwarts all sorts of things are going on, from the great and overwhelmingly important, to the miniscule and seemingly meaningless; a quidditch – a magical sport played on brooms in the air – match is invaded by dementors that causes Harry to crash and destroy his flying broomstick, whilst Hermione’s cat eats Ron’s rat (no that isn’t a metaphor) which leaves Ron even grumpier than ever and their friendship seemingly over.
Harry’s new Divination teacher foresees his death, whilst Hagrid, now teaching Care of Magical Creatures, introduces them to a majestic creature that is a strange cross between an eagle and a horse, whilst Hermione seems to have taken on more subjects than can physically fit into a day.
Harry is given the gift of an enchanted map that shows him secret passage ways out of Hogwarts and begins taking lessons in how to defend himself against dementors and the painful and terrifying memory they bring when in Harry’s presence. Harry is given a second gift, this time a mysterious package that arrives on Christmas day, which turns out to be a Firebolt, an enviable racing broom.
Then as if out of no where Sirius Black breaks into Hogwarts, not once, but twice, evading the dementors and threatening both a portrait and Harry’s very own dorm-mate Ron, with a knife.
All of this, along with a few passing comments that on reflection are so obvious and tongue-in-cheek they’re hilarious, culminate in Harry, Ron and Hermione, Sirius Black, a dead wizard and a werewolf in a creaky old shack that’s been haunted for years.
This is when the truth finally comes out and Harry’s world is changed forever.
This book is when the Harry Potter books begin to get grown up, not only does Harry find himself faced with true deceit and terror, in a way that he never really has been before, he also begins to develop into a young man, finding his feet socially and even starting to find girls attractive.
The dementors open up a new facet of darkness and horror to the magical world, which just can’t be matched by the earlier incidents with the giant spiders and the basilisk. Rowling’s description of the rotting hand that reaches toward their victim and the fate that greets you from beneath a dementor’s hood is really quite haunting.
As ever, there are some excellent comedy moments between Ron and Hermione, who can’t seem to stand one another. Whilst the stress of taking on too many classes drives Hermione to breaking point; eventually slapping Draco Malfoy and storms out of their Divination class, calling the professor a fraud. And, if we’re mentioning comedy, we cannot forget the brilliant “blowing up my aunt” incident at the start of the book either.
The book’s biggest flaw is it’s ending, which although gripping and apt feels, in a lot of ways, rushed. Harry is briefly reunited with his godfather and can feel a genuine family connection for the very first time, yet this emotional connection isn’t backed up in anyway. Every other relationship and emotional tie in the series are built up pretty much from the word go, even the gentle and warm-hearted Remus Lupin – the most recent Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher – has more of an opportunity to connect with Harry, and yet after no time at all Harry and Sirius are behaving as if they have known each other their whole lives; it just seems a little insipid and unbelievable, particularly when you compare to some of the other relationships in the books.
The Prisoner of Azkaban is dark and upsetting in a lot of ways; it looks into horrible aspects of revenge and spite through Sirius Black, who despite staying relatively sane over his years in Azakban has been twisted by hate and blood lust. The unbridled fear that the dementors bring out in Harry is also almost disturbing, yet his experience with them causes a heart-breaking dilemma that really resonates from the book. It also addresses several interesting concepts about responsibility and growing up; where Harry and his peers are faced with the kind of moments that seem so small but nonetheless define who you are for the rest of your life.
Neil Gaiman’s modern epic fantasy American Gods tells the story of ex-con Shadow, who finds himself widowed just days before making parole and inexplicably wanders into a bi-dimensional war of unfathomable proportions.
Shadow is, quite simply, kind. He is a good natured and thought provoking character who seems simply to wander through the book experiencing things that would have most terrified or inescapably perplexed. Shadow however has a slow and gentle intensity to him which is heartbreakingly endearing. He finds himself, silently wracked with grief over his wife and working for a mysterious Mr Wednesday who drags Shadow all across America recruiting all manner of exocentric men and women. Shadow begins to have strange dreams that seem so real yet are impossible by day light, he finds himself seeing into ancient civilisations and, almost without meaning to, trying to understand the nature of faith and belief.
For anyone who hasn’t worked it out yet Mr Wednesday is, quite obviously, a God. An ancient and powerful god brought to America by early Viking settlers who were wiped out before their faith could truly flourish; leaving Wednesday, or as he better known, Odin, to flounder in a faithless world.
Odin, and so many other gods brought to the America’s by ancient tribes and travelling peoples, now find their very existences threatened as belief in technology and the media become the religion of modern capitalist America. Thus Odin brings in Shadow to help him gather an army to battle the new gods who threaten these old ones.
Along the way Shadow meets some very strange, exotic and intoxicating people; gods of death and goddesses of sex, bringers of the night and guardians of peace and prosperity. Gaiman dots short and beautifully written chapters throughout the book in which we see these gods land upon American shores, we learn how they are born and what powers they have and the meaning they bring to their people; and then just to show us how impotent they have become we are thrown back into the frigid winter of modern North America where gods must survive on cash machine heists and taxi drivers wages.
In the midst of all of this Shadow is grieving for his wife, Laura, who finds herself brought back to him and desperate to keep her “Puppy” safe. Laura plays a pivotal role in the story, though she barely enters into the key storyline; yet her presence brings the two dimensional world of gods and men walking out on the earth as she lives in death, a walking but rotting corpse.
Eventually Shadow finds himself bound up a web of treachery; the lies and deception of which will undoubtedly but leave a bad taste in your mouth when you see the peril they put the harmless Shadow in. Throughout you can’t quite sit comfortably with Wednesday, and his true identity is not the worst revelation of the book.
The problem is that you can see Wednesday’s identity a mile off, and finding out at the end why he chose Shadow over all the other ex-cons in the world is about as subtle as a piano falling on your head. The sacrifice Shadow makes is the most painful part of that revelation, but its metaphor is also a bit too blatant which spoils the effect that Gaiman has clearly been going for. Any mysticism and intensity that exists in the pages that tell of Shadow’s vigil for Wednesday are tainted, not only by the betrayal of Wednesday himself; but by the ignorance that Gaiman expects of his readers – you hope he has other plans in store, that he will not take the obvious route and, as Shadow is physically and mentally tormented, you are distracted by your own disappointment at Gaiman’s anti-climax.
Also all the god related myths and metaphors are all well and good and my own lack of knowledge about many of them stands as a testament to the point Gaiman’s book is making, yet without an extensive knowledge a lot of the meaning that is hidden in brief moments and meetings gets totally lost and it kills the mood a little.
To truly appreciate this book you need an intense level of understanding about ancient religions, which you can quite clearly tell Gaiman has got after most likely putting in copious amounts of research before writing the book. But the average reader is bound to find some references just going over their head, and that just ruins the mystery and ambiance of the book; because rather than being intrigued you find yourself a little dumbfounded in places when revelations appear seemingly out of the blue.
The whole story gets a little lost in places as well, as Shadow finds himself hiding out and dipping into the lives of a small town or a family business; both of which are moments which could easily stand alone as stories, with enough personality and interest of their own that they distract from the novel as a whole and break the tension surrounding the main plot. It’s as though Gaiman is trying to do too much with this piece and rushes through the main plotline whilst lingering on smaller insignificant and frankly more interesting sub-plots.
Thankfully the silent and intense sweetness that is Shadow makes the book a very easy piece to sink into, and you find yourself largely untroubled by the books length and complex sub-plot. It passes by quickly, with its own peaks and troughs as any book does, but the final twist at the end suits the piece at large very well and the closing moments leave you feeling that, at least, Shadow might be alright after all.
Neil Gaiman’s modern epic fantasy American Gods tells the story of ex-con Shadow, who finds himself widowed just days before making parole and inexplicably wanders into a bi-dimensional war of unfathomable proportions.
Shadow is, quite simply, kind. He is a good natured and thought provoking character who seems simply to wander through the book experiencing things that would have most terrified or inescapably perplexed. Shadow however has a slow and gentle intensity to him which is heartbreakingly endearing. He finds himself, silently wracked with grief over his wife and working for a mysterious Mr Wednesday who drags Shadow all across America recruiting all manner of exocentric men and women. Shadow begins to have strange dreams that seem so real yet are impossible by day light, he finds himself seeing into ancient civilisations and, almost without meaning to, trying to understand the nature of faith and belief.
For anyone who hasn’t worked it out yet Mr Wednesday is, quite obviously, a God. An ancient and powerful god brought to America by early Viking settlers who were wiped out before their faith could truly flourish; leaving Wednesday, or as he better known, Odin, to flounder in a faithless world.
Odin, and so many other gods brought to the America’s by ancient tribes and travelling peoples, now find their very existences threatened as belief in technology and the media become the religion of modern capitalist America. Thus Odin brings in Shadow to help him gather an army to battle the new gods who threaten these old ones.
Along the way Shadow meets some very strange, exotic and intoxicating people; gods of death and goddesses of sex, bringers of the night and guardians of peace and prosperity. Gaiman dots short and beautifully written chapters throughout the book in which we see these gods land upon American shores, we learn how they are born and what powers they have and the meaning they bring to their people; and then just to show us how impotent they have become we are thrown back into the frigid winter of modern North America where gods must survive on cash machine heists and taxi drivers wages.
In the midst of all of this Shadow is grieving for his wife, Laura, who finds herself brought back to him and desperate to keep her “Puppy” safe. Laura plays a pivotal role in the story, though she barely enters into the key storyline; yet her presence brings the two dimensional world of gods and men walking out on the earth as she lives in death, a walking but rotting corpse.
Eventually Shadow finds himself bound up a web of treachery; the lies and deception of which will undoubtedly but leave a bad taste in your mouth when you see the peril they put the harmless Shadow in. Throughout you can’t quite sit comfortably with Wednesday, and his true identity is not the worst revelation of the book.
The problem is that you can see Wednesday’s identity a mile off, and finding out at the end why he chose Shadow over all the other ex-cons in the world is about as subtle as a piano falling on your head. The sacrifice Shadow makes is the most painful part of that revelation, but its metaphor is also a bit too blatant which spoils the effect that Gaiman has clearly been going for. Any mysticism and intensity that exists in the pages that tell of Shadow’s vigil for Wednesday are tainted, not only by the betrayal of Wednesday himself; but by the ignorance that Gaiman expects of his readers – you hope he has other plans in store, that he will not take the obvious route and, as Shadow is physically and mentally tormented, you are distracted by your own disappointment at Gaiman’s anti-climax.
Also all the god related myths and metaphors are all well and good and my own lack of knowledge about many of them stands as a testament to the point Gaiman’s book is making, yet without an extensive knowledge a lot of the meaning that is hidden in brief moments and meetings gets totally lost and it kills the mood a little.
To truly appreciate this book you need an intense level of understanding about ancient religions, which you can quite clearly tell Gaiman has got after most likely putting in copious amounts of research before writing the book. But the average reader is bound to find some references just going over their head, and that just ruins the mystery and ambiance of the book; because rather than being intrigued you find yourself a little dumbfounded in places when revelations appear seemingly out of the blue.
The whole story gets a little lost in places as well, as Shadow finds himself hiding out and dipping into the lives of a small town or a family business; both of which are moments which could easily stand alone as stories, with enough personality and interest of their own that they distract from the novel as a whole and break the tension surrounding the main plot. It’s as though Gaiman is trying to do too much with this piece and rushes through the main plotline whilst lingering on smaller insignificant and frankly more interesting sub-plots.
Thankfully the silent and intense sweetness that is Shadow makes the book a very easy piece to sink into, and you find yourself largely untroubled by the books length and complex sub-plot. It passes by quickly, with its own peaks and troughs as any book does, but the final twist at the end suits the piece at large very well and the closing moments leave you feeling that, at least, Shadow might be alright after all.