Neil Gaiman writing HBO pilot for American Gods

[J epworth]

One of my favourite books of the past 10 years, this could end up being as good as Game of Thrones for HBO.

I'd heard rumours of this before but this is the first official announcement I've heard

https://twitter.com/neilhimself/stat...89457650925568

Writing HBO AMERICAN GODS pilot with @Tordotcom AMERICAN GODS playlist playing to keep me company. http://j.mp/SeMHHC

[J epworth]

And I just realized 2001 was 11 years ago

[Coys1882]

With the success of Grimm - I don't see why a show like this wouldn't do well.

[Esoteric]

This looks interesting, I think I might have to pick up the book.

[AR_Six]

Issue: this story doesn't really translate that well to a serialized TV medium. What are the big "events" that you structure a season around? I can think of two and they both happen too close together in the book to be the finales of separate seasons:

Spoiler!

Wednesday's death
Climactic battle

A lot of the narrative is just going to lead to episodes feeling really slow and uninteresting for the general TV audience. Not to mention your protagonist exemplifies "internal monologue". What are they going to do, have unending voiceover?

[J epworth]

Originally Posted by AR_Six

Issue: this story doesn't really translate that well to a serialized TV medium. What are the big "events" that you structure a season around? I can think of two and they both happen too close together in the book to be the finales of separate seasons:

Spoiler!

Wednesday's death
Climactic battle

A lot of the narrative is just going to lead to episodes feeling really slow and uninteresting for the general TV audience. Not to mention your protagonist exemplifies "internal monologue". What are they going to do, have unending voiceover?

I'm not sure how they are going to make this into a 6 season series like they have announced, but I could see them expanding the histories and creating storylines for all the characters that get recruited throughout the book, as well as adding some histories to characters that weren't really touched upon in the book. I could see the plot of the book as we know it being split into the first 2 seasons, then maybe by then they will have deviated from the books plot enough that the world Gaiman created could continue with a great premise for another 4 seasons.

[J epworth]

Actually nevermind about the book being 2 seasons, Gaiman has said it would be essentially the first season:

Now, Gaiman has revealed more about his plans for the drama, saying that it will not be completely faithful to the book. He told MTV News: "I'm worrying about it one episode at a time [and] one season at a time. The overall plan right now is that the first season would essentially be... the first book, with a few interesting divergences. You don't want the people who've read the book to be able to go, 'I know everything that's going to be happening.' Well, no. You know a lot more than anybody who is starting from here, but we will do things that will surprise you, too."

He added that the scope of a long-running TV series would allow him to explore the world created in his original 2001 novel. "There was always so much more plot for American Gods and... what happens in the fall-out, so we're just going to follow it along."

http://www.nme.com/filmandtv/news/ne...es-will/220913

This was back in 2011 though, so who knows what he's thinking now that the script is actually starting to be written.

[AR_Six]

Okay, that makes sense from a season plot arc perspective but this is HBO. Their seasons are 12 episodes. You cannot do American Gods in 12. I'm not 100% sure it's do-able in 20. So I would think that the re-write will be extensive.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by AR_Six

Okay, that makes sense from a season plot arc perspective but this is HBO. Their seasons are 12 episodes. You cannot do American Gods in 12. I'm not 100% sure it's do-able in 20. So I would think that the re-write will be extensive.

12 episodes?!?!?

How many Starks do I have to kill to get two more episodes of Game of Thrones a year?

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by AR_Six

Okay, that makes sense from a season plot arc perspective but this is HBO. Their seasons are 12 episodes. You cannot do American Gods in 12. I'm not 100% sure it's do-able in 20. So I would think that the re-write will be extensive.

If you can do 1000+ page Game of Thrones books with a gagillion characters in 12 episodes then you can easily do American Gods in 12 as well.

[PsYcNeT]

They could also follow the storyline of Anansi Boys, as the books are related.

[Flames89]

Can anyone give a review of this book? Is it a series? Recommended for non-fantasy/sci-fi readers (am getting back into the genre thanks to Game of Thrones)?

[AR_Six]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

If you can do 1000+ page Game of Thrones books with a gagillion characters in 12 episodes then you can easily do American Gods in 12 as well.

First of all, they're actually splitting the next book into two seasons IIRC, but more importantly it's not about page count. GOT is a totally different type of book. It, like most fantasy, is largely plot driven. Lots of significant events taking place across Westeros to build episodes around. Not the case in Gaiman's book.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Flames89

Can anyone give a review of this book? Is it a series? Recommended for non-fantasy/sci-fi readers (am getting back into the genre thanks to Game of Thrones)?

So far, it's just one book, although there is a second book, Anansi Boys, which is set in the same universe. The book itself isn't huge (the paperback is just under 600 pages).


The basic premise behind the story is that gods are real and have a physical presence in the world, but they exist only as people believe them to exist, and only if people believe in them.

Because America is a melting-pot of various cultures and faiths, there are gods in America that have their origins from all over the world. As people were exposed to different cultures, their perceptions of the world changed, and their perceptions of their gods changed as well. This resulted in the gods themselves adapting to be what those who believed in them believed them to be. It's like how Santa Claus in North America is a very different character from Sinterklaas in Europe, even though they have the same origin point.

Over the years, the old gods have been losing power to the new gods of America (such as technology, the internet, television, etc.), and the story is about rounding up the old gods for an epic battle with the new gods.


It's set in modern-day America, and the characters travel around the country to round-up the old gods.

[AR_Six]

It's a pretty decent book, well worth a read, and teaches an important moral lesson:

Spoiler!

don't mess with zombie chicks named Laura.