Neil Gaiman: American Gods

By STEPHEN JEWELL

Neil Gaiman rose to literary prominence as the author of D.C./Vertigo comics' Sandman, a long, epic fantasy comic series which revolved loosely around Morpheus, the Lord of Dream. Gaiman brought Sandman to a definite end a couple of years ago, choosing to concentrate instead on American Gods, his first fully fledged novel after Neverwhere, which was based on an abortive BBC television series, Stardust, a spin-off from a Vertigo graphic novel and Good Omens, which was written with Discworld author Terry Pratchett.

Star of the show is ex-con Shadow, who has just been released from three years in prison for a crime he (predictably) did not commit.

Shadow's life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in compromisingly tragic circumstances and he finds himself at the mercy of the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be an ancient god and the king of America.

Shadow is an engaging if undistinguished Everyman character, who coincidentally has a knack for coin tricks, just like the comic-book artist, lead character from Michael Chabon's impressive, Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

Wednesday and Shadow embark on a truly surreal road trip of America's mythical by-ways, which takes in serial killers, theme parks and all manner of mystical subterfuge before culminating in the godforsaken, exact dead centre of the United States.

Coming across as a cross between Twin Peaks and Clive Barker, American Gods is much darker than Sandman or Stardust, which are both very much grounded in traditional folklore.

American Gods benefits from having a consistent story structure with a well-defined beginning, middle and end, instead of Sandman's episodic, monthly comic-book form, which often wandered off on rambling tangents.

Having never been overly fond of Gaiman's comic-book output, I found American Gods surprisingly compelling and effective.

Perhaps Gaiman is more at home on the printed page than he is in the funny books.

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* Stephen Jewell is an Auckland journalist.