| American Gods |
Article Index for American |
Website Links For American Gods |
Information AboutAmerican Gods |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT AMERICAN GODS | |
| 2001 novels | |
| fantasy novels | |
| hugo award winner for best novel | |
| novels by neil gaiman | |
| nebula award winning works | |
| norse mythology in art and literature | |
|
''American Gods'' is a Novel by Neil Gaiman . The novel is a blend of Americana , Fantasy , and various strands of ancient and modern Mythology , all centering on a mysterious and taciturn Protagonist , Shadow. It was Gaiman's fourth prose novel, being preceded by '' Good Omens '' (a collaboration with Terry Pratchett ), '' Neverwhere '', and '' Stardust '' (a Fairy Tale illustrated by Charles Vess ). Several of the themes touched upon in the book were previously glimpsed in '' The Sandman '' Graphic Novel s, for which Gaiman is best known. The book was published in 2001 by Headline in the United Kingdom and by William Morrow in the United States . It has won the 2002 Hugo , Nebula and Bram Stoker awards, all for Best Novel. It was also nominated for Best Novel in the 2002 BSFA Award . While Gaiman was writing ''American Gods'', his publishers set up a promotional web site featuring a Weblog in which Gaiman described the day-to-day process of writing (and then revising, publishing, promoting) the novel. After the novel was published, the web site evolved into a more general Official Neil Gaiman Web Site, and As Of 2006 Gaiman still regularly adds to the weblog, describing the day-to-day process of being Neil Gaiman and writing, revising, publishing, or promoting whatever his current project is. Gaiman's novel '' Anansi Boys '' shares a character with ''American Gods,'' Mr. Nancy, and was actually conceived before "American Gods." It is not a sequel but is a part of the same fictional world. The novella, "Monarch of the Glen" (from the Legends II anthology), does continue Shadow's journeys, and is a lead-in to a new "American Gods" novel yet to be written. PLOT The book follows the adventures of ex-convict "Shadow" Moon, upon his early release from prison due to the death of his wife, Laura, in a car accident. He is hired by the mysterious Mr. Wednesday to act as an escort and bodyguard, and travels across America visiting Wednesday's colleagues and acquaintances. Gradually, it is revealed that Wednesday is an incarnation of Odin the All-Father (the word Wednesday is derived from "Odin's (Woden's) day"), who is recruiting American manifestations of the Old Gods of ancient Mythology , whose powers have waned as their believers have decreased in number, to participate in an epic battle against the New American Gods, manifestations of modern life and technology (e.g. the Internet , Media , modern means of Transport ). Mythological characters prominently featured in the book include Odin , Loki , Czernobog , the Norns , Anansi , Eostre , Kali , Thoth , Anubis , Horus , and Bast . In addition to the numerous figures from real-world myths, a few characters from '' The Sandman '' and its spinoffs make brief cameos in the book, including Delirium of The Endless . Other mythological characters featured in the novel are not divine, but are more legends or folk heroes, for instance, Johnny Appleseed . Shadow himself is alluded to be Balder --an allusion later proven in the follow-up novella, "Monach of the Glen." Various real-life towns and tourist attractions, including the House On The Rock , are featured through the course of the book. Gaiman states in an introduction that he has obfuscated the precise location of some actual locales. According to Gaiman, ''American Gods'' is not based on Diana Wynne Jones 's '' Eight Days Of Luke '', "although they bear an odd relationship, like second cousins once removed or something." When working on the structure of a story linking gods and days of the week, he realised that this idea had already been done in ''Eight Days of Luke''. So he abandoned the idea, but later used the character Wednesday and the day of meeting when writing ''American Gods''. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|