American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

This famous novel is firmly entrenched in the fantasy pantheon, and I had been looking forward to reading it for years. While I appreciate its incredible originality, and absolutely love the idea behind it, I have to say I was a bit bored with the book itself. I know I'm reading a book I really like when I forgo Netflix or Reddit in order to sit and read for hours at a time. This book, I read only when eating and before I went to bed; the one time I tried to just sit and read, I became restless after fifteen minutes. Perhaps the problem lies not in the inherent value of the novel, which was unique at the time it was published, but in the fact that there have been many copycats since then. Having read the latter, the former just doesn't seem as exciting as it must have twelve years ago. I wish I had read it when it first came out, as I believe I would have liked it better. I certainly have enjoyed other Gaiman books. He's a fantastic storyteller, with that uniquely British sensibility I like so much. My slight disappointment with this novel will not stop me from reading Gaiman's other work.