I would love to get inside Neil Gaiman's head for a bit to see what is going on up there. This book, inspired by Gaiman's visit to and ultimately his time spent living in the US, certainly defies genres. It's part American road trip, part science fiction, part fantasy and magic, part horror, and won awards in almost all of those categories. The main character of Shadow is drawn into the world of the gods left behind and forgotten during the early days of America. The new Americans came to worship new gods, such as technology, money, and capitalism. The earlier gods from Europe, Africa, Scandinavia and many other parts of the world are being egged on by Wednesday (aka Odin) who wants them to claim their rightful place in the pantheon by waging war against the new deities. But all is not what it seems, as mysteries are eventually revealed to Shadow, who comes to understand his role in all of the coming final confrontation.