A doorstopper of a book, but one which I loved almost all the way through. Upsides: Shadow being divinely unflappable, Undead Laura, the gods themselves, Mr Wednesday being the max, tricksy bastard that he is. Downsides: Gaiman Being Weird About Women, the only two major female gods being different strains of fertility goddess, and of course, the fact that

THERE IS NO GODDAMN WAR. I get subverting expectations — in fact I was kind of expecting it — but COME ON!

Honestly, I kind of feel like the best parts — or at least the parts which shone the most — were the interludes of Shadow’s time in Lakeside. It reminded me of the best of Gaiman’s short stories, down to the twist at the end.