American Gods by Neil Gaiman

This is a pretty strong novel--no surprise--though it took me longer to read than most of the books I've been reading lately (it's longer). It's positively laden with Easter eggs for people who've learned myth and legend, and the main character is actually changed by events. Gaiman is powerfully readable, but I count three major problems with the book: First, while it's possible to spot the Old Gods, mostly (someone with a better grounding than I in myth and legend would probably manage more) there's like no clue what any of the New Gods are, they're just "this guy's probably something technological" and "this woman's like TV" but they don't stand out so much and there aren't anything like so many of them--maybe the Old Gods are not so threatened as all that and all that; second, the novel is remarkably grim--if you're expecting the gentle whimsy most people know (or think they know) Gaiman for, that's not in this book; third, the book doesn't really seem to have anything to say, if there's a point to the whole thing it's not very sharp--though it's possible that the twenty-three years that have passed since the book was published have obscured some of that.