Special Offer

Download for Free with
Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial

Audio downloads available at

Listen anytime, anywhere with our FREE Audible apps for Android, iPhone
and Windows Phone.

See larger image

Share your own customer images

American Gods (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

by Neil Gaiman (Author, Narrator), George Guidall (Narrator)

4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (260 customer reviews)

List Price:	�15.99 (Prices include VAT)
Price:	�14.00, or Free with Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial membership
You Save:	�1.99 (12%)
	All prices include VAT

At Audible.co.uk, you can download any of 100,000 audiobooks and more, and listen on your Kindle� tablet, iPhone^®, iPod^® or Android�.
Your Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial membership includes:

This audiobook free, or any other Audible audiobook of your choice
Members-only sales and promotions
Total flexibility - cancel, pause or upgrade your membership easily and whenever you like

Read the customer ratings and reviews at Audible.co.uk for American Gods (Unabridged) (audiobook).

	Amazon Price		New from	Used from
Kindle Edition	�5.49		--	--
Hardcover	--		--	--
Show # more hardcovers
Show fewer hardcovers
Paperback	�6.29		--	--
Show # more paperbacks
Show fewer paperbacks
MP3 CD, Audiobook	--		--	--
Show # more audio books
Show fewer audio books
Audio Download, Unabridged	�14.00	or Free with Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Anansi Boys
› Neil Gaiman

4.4 out of 5 stars (95)

Paperback

�6.29
Neverwhere [Adaptation]
Neil Gaiman

4.5 out of 5 stars (296)

Audio Download

�9.62
Stardust
› Neil Gaiman

4.5 out of 5 stars (148)

Paperback

�6.29
Smoke and Mirrors
› Neil Gaiman

4.1 out of 5 stars (72)

Paperback

�6.29
Good Omens
› Neil Gaiman

4.6 out of 5 stars (222)

Hardcover

�6.87
The Silver Dream: An InterWorld Novel, Book …
Neil Gaiman

3.7 out of 5 stars (7)

Audio Download

�12.15

Product details

Audio Download
Listening Length: 19 hours and 40 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Headline Digital
Audible.co.uk Release Date: 12 April 2012
Language: English
ASIN: B0080HPAK0

Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (260 customer reviews)

Would you like to give feedback on images?

Product Description

After three years in prison, Shadow has done his time. But as the days, then the hours, then the seconds until his release tick away, he can feel a storm building. Two days before he gets out, his wife Laura dies in a mysterious car crash, in apparently adulterous circumstances. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr. Wednesday, claiming to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god, and the king of America.

Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, along the way solving the murders which have occurred every winter in one small American town. But they are being pursued by someone with whom Shadow must make his peace.... Disturbing, gripping, and profoundly strange, Neil Gaiman's epic new novel sees him on the road to finding the soul of America.

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

neil gaiman(12)

contemporary fiction(3)

dark humour(3)

anansi(2)

gods(2)

gaiman(3)

short stories(5)

comic fantasy(1)

crime(1)

mythology(1)

Customer Reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars

4.1 out of 5 stars

Write a customer review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Bucketloads of imagination..... 26 Oct 2011

By Wynne Kelly TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Not being a fan of "fantasy" novels I knew from the outset that this was probably not going to be my cup of tea. However it came highly recommended by a young family member so I decided to give it a go.

American Gods is essentially a road trip book and is written with great energy and bucketloads of imagination. The main premise is that gods die when they are forgotten but many have been brought to the New World by immigrants and are still around and impinging on the lives of humans. Some of the gods are more easy to identify than others (Mr Wednesday=Odin, Mr Nancy=Anansi and Low Key=Loki). In Shadow (the main protagonist) the analogy with Christianity is implicit - the tree, death, resurrection, the wound in the side.

Shadow's journey criss-crossing the United States is told from the outsider's viewpoint. He passes through towns with fascinating names: Thebes, Peru, Cairo etc. and meets equally fascinating characters.

This is a big novel packed with action and ideas but a bit rambling and ragged in parts. However I can understand its appeal - it is energetic, witty and imaginative.

At one point a character says "All things have rules." "Yeah," said Shadow, "But nobody tells me what they are." As a new reader to this genre I felt the same!

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Didn't want it to end... 17 Sep 2012

By G. Francis

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I will keep this short. I read this when it came out and enjoyed it, almost 10 years on I picked it up again and loved it. I have found myself thinking about the book when away from it, it has a magical effect, so fantastical yet so grounded in reality that you will never look at a cat or an undertaker in quite the same way. I am very excited to hear that HBO are planning a series based on it and the author is writing a sequel... Can't wait! If you like your fantasy a little dark, a little humorous, a little real, this is the book for you!

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Found a new author 17 April 2013

By BillyBeatnik

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have been a Stephen King and James Herbert, among others, for over thirty years now. However, for some strange reason I had never heard of Neil Gaiman. Well, I've just finished this book and I'm now looking forward many more from him. Oh yeah, need I say I loved this book?

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

80 of 92 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Big book, big ideas 30 Nov 2005

By "kangaroogrrrl"

Format:Paperback

American Gods is a big book in more ways than one; not only is it over six hundred pages long, but it deals with big ideas. The main character, Shadow, has been released from prison a few days early in order to be able to attend his wife's funeral. On the way home, he's recruited buy the mysterious Mr Wednesday.
It eventually transpires that Shadow has been recruited into a war between gods; the old gods, brought to America by the various immigrants over time, and the new gods of television and media and so forth.
The nice thing about this book is the amount of mythology hidden to a lesser or greater extent in the storytelling. Some of the gods are more easily recognisable than others; the jump from "Mr Nancy" to "Anansi", for instance, is not so great, whereas the link between Mr Wednesday to Odin is not as immediately obvious. But you don't have to have much grounding in mythology to be able to enjoy the book, which is one of the great things about it; there are plenty of layers to be unpicked, if you're that way inclined, but on the other hand, you can just sit back and enjoy Neil Gaiman's masterful storytelling.
The added benefit of this particular edition is the author interview in the back, which gives that extra little insight into the book. It's apparently also the author's preferred text, though having read both versions, I have to say that for the reader it makes little difference.

2 Comments |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What got me into Gaiman 4 Feb 2012

By Catherine C.

Format:Paperback

After driving down to Cornwall for a sun-and-sea camping holiday with the ladies, I realised I'd forgotten to bring a book, which was unusual for me since I'm a complete bookworm. I blamed it on the rush and panic of getting to the campsite on time and making sure we had everything. Luckily, one of my friends had brought two along with her and offered me American Gods. I'd not heard of Neil Gaiman until this point. I am so thankful that I was introduced to Gaiman's wonderful world of fiction. I could not put this book down, partly because I have a great interest in mythology, and partly because the prose was written in such a captivating way. I found the story very interesting, and the way Gaiman cleverly intertwined mythology of many cultures, along with 'modern gods' such as Internet, and Media. American Gods has ended up being one of my favourite books of all time. All time.

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

45 of 55 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The most fun that you can have by yourself. 22 Nov 2005

By Andrew

Format:Paperback

American Gods is possibly one of the greatest books ever written. Not because of its prose, not because it is an evolutionary book of its time, but because it is the most bizarrely conceived idea that is presented in an almost plausible manner with that magical ingredient: the story weaving ability of Neil Gaiman. I loved this book, truly.
The story centres on the character of Shadow who is about to be released from prison and is eager to get back to a life and, above all, back to his wife. Two days before he is due to be released Shadows wife dies tragically in a car accident. On the journey home from prison to attend his wife’s funeral Shadow meets the enigmatic Mr Wednesday who offers him a job. Having nothing of his old life remaining to go back to Shadow reluctantly agrees to the offer on, what he believes are, his terms.
Mr Wednesday takes Shadow to a bar where he drinks three glasses of mead to “seal the agreement” and the pair meet Mad Sweeney; a leprechaun and an alcoholic. From then on nothing in Shadows life is conventional as we follow him on the path of Mr Wednesday’s agenda to a surprising and satisfying conclusion.
I could rave on about this book but I would not want to spoil the plot for you. Needless to say it has won the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the Bram Stoker Award and the Locus Award. This book is pure Gaiman; its book heroin. I was reading it on the toilet, on the tube, during my tea breaks, during commercial breaks, in fact any spare minute that I had was spent reading this book I enjoyed it that much, and now my girlfriend is suffering the same fate. I would recommend this read in a heartbeat.

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

› See all 260 customer reviews (newest first)

Write a customer review

Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Gods

A fascinating and enjoyable book whose characters slowly come to life as the story progresses. I found it harder to put d the deeper into the story. Read more

Published 15 hours ago by Mr. H. C. Eggleton

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book!

Amazon offered great service: quick delivery, no damage, nice packing.
The book: awesome awesome awesome! I really enjoyed. Read more

Published 3 days ago by Thit Taaning