American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition (A Full Cast Production)

By: Neil Gaiman

Narrated by: Ron McLarty, Daniel Oreskes, full cast

Now a STARZ® Original Series produced by FremantleMedia North America starring Ricky Whittle, Ian McShane, Emily Browning, and Pablo Schreiber.

Locked behind bars for three years, Shadow did his time, quietly waiting for the day when he could return to Eagle Point, Indiana. A man no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, all he wanted was to be with Laura, the wife he deeply loved, and start a new life.

But just days before his release, Laura and Shadow's best friend are killed in an accident. With his life in pieces and nothing to keep him tethered, Shadow accepts a job from a beguiling stranger he meets on the way home, an enigmatic man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. A trickster and a rogue, Wednesday seems to know more about Shadow than Shadow does himself.

Life as Wednesday's bodyguard, driver, and errand boy is far more interesting and dangerous than Shadow ever imagined. Soon Shadow learns that the past never dies . . . and that beneath the placid surface of everyday life a storm is brewing—an epic war for the very soul of America—and that he is standing squarely in its path.

"Mystery, satire, sex, horror, poetic prose—American Gods uses all these to keep the reader turning the pages."—Washington Post

©2011 Neil Gaiman (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"This full-cast performance of the tenth anniversary edition of Neil Gaiman's American Gods (think director's cut) is one of the most mesmerizing audio experiences ever.... Ron McLarty plays a randy, crusty old Odin disguised as a white-collar con man to perfection. Daniel Oreskes's Shadow, the hero who doesn't know quite what he is, is masterful. Oliver Wyman, who did Mad Sweeney the Leprechaun, is a genius. Hats in the air for the whole cast, a flawless production, and a tour de force of a tale." ( AudioFile)

The story is the star

American Gods has rested firmly in my all time top-5 list of favorite books since I first read it 10 years ago. With this in mind, I admit a certain amount of trepidation going into this book based on some of the early reviews of the full-cast performance. All doubts were cast aside the moment I heard the voice of Wednesday as it seemed to sound just as I had imagined. All in all I felt the performance was quite good and certainly did not detract from the story.

As for the story itself, Gaiman's imagination has never let me down and this is no exception. Just like when I read it, I simply could not stop listening, hanging on Shadow's every word and finishing the book in less than a week.

The bottom line here is simply that it's a fantastic book in any format and for my money a must-read. Normally the genre's Neil Gaiman contributes to are not my traditional taste, but his use of language combined with his awesome imagination make for quite a force that has yet to let me down. If you haven't already, you need to try a Gaiman book at least once and experience it for yourself.

The Soundtrack of Neil's Imagination........

This review is focussed on the audio aspects only; the story is epic and widely regarded as Gaiman's best work. So let's just take that part as read and move on:
I have both versions of American Gods as audiobook, and I must admit approached this version with trepidation. If you have listened to the BBC radio Hobbit or Hitchhikers Guide or Gaiman's own "Plays for Voices", you know there is a pretty stark division between excellent audiobook and excellent audio theatre. Multiple voices in a reading verge *close* to performance, but then have all the "he said" and "she admitted"s that you'd think would break up the flow. Which it did. But only for about the first 10 minutes and then it just WORKS. The voices are dead-on perfect, you'll find things in the story you didn't find your first time (two times... five times....) through. I highly recommend this version, even if you already have the other one! Definitely worth the listen.
The coda at the end for the cut scene is also fun.

An entertaining twist of all human mythos

I greatly enjoyed listening to this audiobook. The full cast was captivating and helped me identify more with the tone and inflection of the authors words, but without the "he said she said" clutter. Neil Gaiman did an excellent job of taking a majority of humanity's hundreds of mythologies and weaving them into his own mythos.

I gave it 5 stars for those reasons and others you'll find throughout the book.

I love the new production...

I read and liked AMERICAN GODS years ago. The new audiobook version with all the different narrators is wonderful, and I especially loved the intercalary sections read by Neil himself -- he has a warm and engaging voice. Team Czernobog!

The Old Gods Return

If you've never read American Gods before, this is definitely the best way to into it. This is one of the most uniquely American stories ever told and the entire cast does a fantastic job with Gaiman's already wonderful prose. What are you waiting for? Very highly recommended!

Mind-broadening

Gaiman is one of my favorite authors, but I have listened (and read) this book more times than I can count. Always there is something new I come away with, be it a wonderful turn of phrase or a powerful new idea of the world as it possibly could be. It has inspired me to learn more about a variety of peoples and phenomena; led me to examine my own beliefs and to embrace the fantastical nature of mystery beyond what is readily perceived. It also reignited some forgotten interests, and piqued new curiosity about others. I love this book.

Great time listening to anytime

I love the Neil gaiman unabridged books I'm a big fan of neil gaiman's work

Loved it!

I've read this book twice and listened to it once, and probably will read and/or listen again. Peculiar, amazing, evocative...

Impressed

Awesome book, my first audio book!!!! From seeing the tv series i had to read the book and the book was just as interesting if not more.

Great fun

This was just good fun from start to finish. The world Gaiman creates is captivating; the story is engaging. The additional material in this edition, and sections read by the author, gives the reading a sense of being complete and definitive. It’s like being inside his head, hearing the voices he heard when he wrote the book. You become part of the experience of the story’s creation.
I truly enjoyed this title and would recommend to anyone interested in Gaiman’s work.