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What Is American Gods All About Anyway?

by Coral Moore
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American Gods is a modern-day treatment of ancient myths, focused mainly on the gods coming from Norse traditions. Through the travels of the main character, Shadow Moon, we’re introduced to a world that occupies the same space as ours, but has more going on underneath than we’ve ever dreamed.

On Gaiman’s website, American Gods is described this way:67f9419328a0319b8ea8e110.L

As unsettling as it is exhilarating, American Gods is a dark and kaleidoscopic journey into an America at once eerily familiar and utterly alien.

Basically, as people immigrated to America, they brought their gods with them. The gods weren’t really at home here. They never felt quite as comfortable as they did in their own lands, but they came anyway, compelled by their believers. Over time, worship of these old gods in the new world shrunk. That flagging belief caused a corresponding reduction in the power the traditional gods wielded, until they could do little beyond parlor tricks. Because power like that can’t be destroyed, only reassigned, new gods worshiped by modern America came into prominence. The depiction of the new gods is equal parts pop culture and technology, and easily some of the most memorable moments of the book.

The interplay between the old gods as they struggle for control of the limited amount of faith left to them is the central concept of American Gods. Much of the action revolves around Shadow driving a mysterious benefactor across the country in an effort to rally his old world comrades. His employer turns out to be a familiar figure from Norse mythology, who I won’t identify by name so as not to spoil the surprise. With a distinct flavor of twentieth century Americana and a healthy dash of classic mythology, Gaiman tells an interesting and intricate story.

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The best thing about American Gods is the portrayal of ancient gods in the modern world. The degradation of their once noble personalities into perversions of what they were is captivating. In order to maintain their power in our ever-increasingly unfamiliar world, the gods turn to strange and often disturbing pursuits. A god that once presided over death might become a funeral director. A goddess of love might resort to consuming those she seduces. Some gods turn to confidence games to amuse and inspire them. With a huge cast of potential characters from mythology, it’s easy to see how this book fits better in series format rather than just a single feature-length film.

Ever wonder what your favorite mythological figure would be like if he were written into a world of seedy bars and all-night grocery stores? There’s a good chance you’ll find out as American Gods is being written for HBO right now!  Check out the novel as you still have time to get it read before the series hits the air (premiere date TBD!).

But what will it look like on screen? Who will be cast? Nothing is set in stone just yet so be sure to give your opinions with a comment below!

SERIES UPDATE: It looks like American Gods is still a-go on HBO!  We tweeted Neil Gaiman today and got a response to our request for an update:

 

 

Looks like the pilot script is coming this year and work will probably begin early next! We hesitate to put a premiere date on this one just yet. Let’s hope for sooner rather than later though as HBO’s schedule tends to thin out just a bit after the big summer series’ close out. Thanks for tweeting us back Neil! Keep up GODS work.

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7 comments

Annym April 17, 2013 - 2:35 pm

lol I’m reading this and thinking, hey, didn’t I read this idea in Terry Pratchett’s books, I’d completely forgotten they’d worked together, and obviously share ideas. I’ll definitely have to add it to my list of things to read and watch.

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Guilherme Garcia March 3, 2013 - 7:08 pm

I tell ya, I just finished the book, one of the best ones I’ve ever read, it’s impossible to make it to screen, but HBO sure can turn the process into a lot of fun for everyone. HAIL WOTAN fucker of hot teenage girls.

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Sharon VanSlyke January 2, 2013 - 7:14 pm

There are sooo many posibilities and little eddies in this storyline that I can’t imagine it not being spectacular.

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Nathaniel Sheive October 28, 2012 - 9:53 pm

makes me think if i should read the book first than watch and see how destroyed they make the series compared to the book or just waiton the show, and not be disappointed like i was in game of thrones

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Coral Moore October 31, 2012 - 2:49 pm

It’s always difficult to translate books to visual media because there’s a depth that you can get in a hundred thousand word novel that you just can’t get in a couple of hours of television. I think having the writer be directly involved this time will certainly be beneficial and hopefully the result isn’t too disappointing.

I vote for reading the book first, just because I love it. :)

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Crimson October 19, 2012 - 7:35 pm

Don’t get your hopes up just yet; HBO would still need to order and produce a pilot (right now they’ve only ordered the script), and then they would need to order and produce another batch of episodes before we would get it. Late 2013/early 2014 is too optimistic, I think.

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Martyn Drake October 17, 2012 - 10:55 am

Let’s hope that HBO makes sure that those without direct HBO/cable can get access to this show in a timely and reasonably cost effective manner.. and that means not paying Murdoch or using Blinkbox here in the UK (otherwise it’ll be the Oatmeal cartoon all over again like Game of Thrones..)

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