American Gods - the next HBO series

The next HBO show

            

            For whatever reason, I have a knack for reading books that later become HBO television series. Granted, I don’t know if reading two books actually constitutes me having a “knack” for it, but just follow me. Four of five years ago, my brother told me I had to read a book called “A Game of Thrones”. He had read it years before and kept telling me that I should. So, I did. I believe I had already started reading it when he told me that it was being made into a show. In actuality, he may have said so beforehand, but it makes this story sound better if I believe I was already reading it when I heard, so we’ll go with that version of the tale.

 You may have heard of this show. It's apparently doing okay.

            Being a fan of “The Sandman” comic series, I decided to check out some of author Neil Gaiman’s other works. In addition to comics, he has written a few novels, such as “Neverwhere”, “Anansi Boys”, and “Stardust” (“Stardust” was even made into a movie, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro), but the one that jumped out at me from the book store shelf was “American Gods”. I flipped open the cover and checked out the first few pages, and I found it interesting. So, onto the Christmas list it went, and on Christmas morn I had a spiffy literary gift, courtesy of my little sister.

            I read the book, off and on, during the first part of this year. I would put it down, pick something else up, come back to it later, etc. About a week ago I got into the 400 pages-area and decided to finish it off. It’s not really a book meant to be sparsely read, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of it. Essentially it is a modern day fantasy novel about mythical gods, set in modern America. As the story begins, the main protagonist, Shadow, is nearing the end of his prison sentence. He acknowledges that he made bad choices that led to his incarceration, and now that he has almost finished doing his time, he wants only to keep his head down and return to his wife’s side.

It isn’t far into book that he is set free, and a chain of events set him on a different course. I’m an advocate of not ruining plot points for potential readers, but these events include various states of death and un-death, visionary dreams, and a meeting with an eccentric character named Mr. Wednesday. Throughout the story, interesting ideas on gods and myths are explored, as well as the power that people have over them, and that they have over people. In the epilogue, Gaiman acknowledges that this idea has been explored before, but I found his take to be entertaining and original. Mr. Wednesday’s shenanigans are reason enough to keep turning the pages. Through him, you’ll learn what the most important quality a man has is to women, the relationship between mythical gods and America, and how to sell someone a $20 violin for $10,000.

As entertaining as Mr. Wednesday is, it’s Shadow that holds the story together. Gaiman imagined Dwayne Johnson (The Rock!) when creating Shadow, and indeed, initially describes him as big enough not to –bleep!- with. In contrast to his size, Shadow’s demeanor is relatively laid back and even thoughtful at times. His ability to remain calm and reasonable sees him through several of the plot’s turns. Also notable is that he is a man of his word, often seeing through promises that are detrimental to his well-being. Gaiman created a layered, flawed character here, and how Shadow handles the events are as much a focal point as the events themselves. And speaking of who was envisioned for the character.

 Gaiman's description of the protagonist at the novel's start: "Shadow had done three years in prison. He was big enough and looked don't-(bleep)-with-me enough that his biggest problem was killing time." He envisioned the Rock as he created him.

Halfway through reading the book, I was informed by a friend that the book is being made into an HBO show. I had to laugh, relaying to her the same factoid I spewed in the opening paragraph about “Game of Thrones”. I have the knack! Out of all the novels Gaiman has, I randomly picked “American Gods”, and I’m glad I did. The series is slated to premiere in either late 2013 or 2014, presumably providing us with relief in the long drought between “Thrones” seasons. I haven’t heard anything of The Rock being cast as Shadow, and my gut tells me he won’t. It’s unfortunate, because he would be perfect in the role. HBO’s track record of casting hasn’t let me down yet, though, and I have faith that the show will retain the feel of the novel and be of the same high caliber the network has been producing.

Go read the book! If you don't want to, though, HBO has you covered. The show is set to premiere late 2013 or in 2014.