American Gods spoiler thread for book readers who can't shut it

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > American Gods spoiler thread for book readers who can't shut it

Wizchine: Sep 17, 2007; Television is the retina
of the mind's eye.

I don't remember how far into the book I picked up that Shadow wasn't white, but it wasn't THAT far. Having other characters not being able to peg his ethnicity worked thematically - he's a mix of old world and new world, and can't really be pinned down to any one ethnicity (or pantheon). He's a cipher in every respect.

# ¿ May 4, 2017 03:29

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 00:59

Wizchine: Sep 17, 2007; Television is the retina
of the mind's eye.

When I'm reading, I seldom attach the face of a real person to a book character. It only happens every once in a while. I think it helps me give the character freer reign to be him- or herself without the baggage of an actor, his or her previous roles, etc.

# ¿ May 5, 2017 01:17

Wizchine: Sep 17, 2007; Television is the retina
of the mind's eye.

Toast Museum posted:

Hearing it aloud has to make a difference. I listened to the audiobook, going in with nothing more than "there are gods in this." The narrator enunciated "Low-Key" as much as possible, but my immediate reaction was still "oh okay, it's Loki." The show clearly isn't interested in keeping viewers in the dark about anyone's identity for long, but I wonder if Shadow will figure it out sooner in the show too.

That reminds me, does the book explicitly identify Shadow as Baldr? I don't remember that at all if it did.

I never thought of him as Baldr until I read this thread. It does make a nice little bon mot that a sun god is named "Shadow Moon," and the fact that he is set up as a sacrifice resonates, but... I dunno. What's the evidence, goons?

# ¿ May 9, 2017 21:13

Wizchine: Sep 17, 2007; Television is the retina
of the mind's eye.

Schizotek posted:

Loki literally rants about shoving a spear of mistletoe through his eye at one point towards the end.

Ah. Having just read Gaiman's Norse Mythology a few weeks ago, I now get the reference. But I wouldn't have at the time I read American Gods.

# ¿ May 9, 2017 21:27

Wizchine: Sep 17, 2007; Television is the retina
of the mind's eye.

dead comedy forums posted:

eh, I think some of you guys are forgetting something really major from the book

EXTRA SPOILERS, just in case:

the American gods are not the gods from their old lands, they are aspects formed from belief and memory of the immigrants and settlers that came to the United States. Wednesday is not the Scandinavian Odin, far from it - Shadow meets a more original aspect when he travels to Iceland in the epilogue - nor is Anubis from Memphis, Tennessee the same worshiped in Memphis, Ancient Egypt.

A thing that the series won't approach probably due to time constraints is that the situation was always bad for them because every goddamn European that comes to America has been christened and the pagan gods come from memory and folklore, not from genuine belief. Incidentally, this is why the African aspects that emerge in the Caribbean are powerful as hell, because the faith from the sub-Saharan peoples trafficked there is the perfect seed for the black soil of the tropics to provide in regards to belief - the gods even impel a slave named Agasu (who's probably Fran�ois Mackandal) to lead a massive slave revolt after losing his arm and to slaughter the French as war sacrifice.

Yeah. There are no Roman or Greek gods in America because nobody believed in them. Lief Ericson and his ilk gave Odin and Loki a foothold. And a loony Irish immigrant brought over belief in leprechauns, fairies, and other such stuff, iirc.

I don't remember how Egyptian Gods made the cut, however, unless it came from the egyptomania of the 19th and early 20th century, plus egyptology and the translation of sacred tomes and such.

# ¿ May 15, 2017 23:22

Wizchine: Sep 17, 2007; Television is the retina
of the mind's eye.

Macdeo Lurjtux posted:

That's really more a problem with the book, it's just kind a product of the hard on the 90s had for neo-paganism. So it just sort of played fast and loose with its rules to bring in the gods Gaiman wanted to showcase.

Yeah, it certainly seems more probable that we'd see gods of Central and South America - not to mention Mexico - wandering around North America than ancient Egyptian ones. But I don't recall any being mentioned offhand, though it's been a while since I read the book.

# ¿ May 16, 2017 00:38

Wizchine: Sep 17, 2007; Television is the retina
of the mind's eye.

Choco1980 posted:

EDIT: ^^^ And just how many Americans do you know that feel awe at the very idea of Xipe Totec? Not friggin many. It'd be interesting to see them incorporate Santa Muerte however, She's quickly gaining a LOT of followers from what I hear. Explicitly being the Goddess of outcasts and criminals kinda makes you enduring that way.

I was thinking of an Urban Fantasy series I'd been reading (Eric Carter). Most UF novels feature a lot of European stuff, but the only Gods knocking around in this series so far are the Aztec ones, strongly featuring Santa Muerte as an aspect of Mictēcacihuātl. The protagonist is cornered into marrying her. The series also includes her former husband, Mictlantecuhtli, Quetzalcoatl, plus a trip to Mictlan in book 3. .

# ¿ May 16, 2017 02:29

Wizchine: Sep 17, 2007; Television is the retina
of the mind's eye.

Macdeo Lurjtux posted:

It happens because Death and Dream were superficially the poster children for goth kids. I don't know any goth chicks that didn't try to pull off either an ankh necklace or the Eye of Isis mascara look.

Eh, the ankh was cool with goths prior to Sandman ever being published, though.

# ¿ May 17, 2017 00:49

Wizchine: Sep 17, 2007; Television is the retina
of the mind's eye.

SiKboy posted:

Totally off-topic, but are they any good? I like the genre but there are a lot of terrible writers working in it. I think I passed the Eric Carter stuff over because the cover looked really cheap and reminded me of a really awful self-published kindle UF series that I picked up the first 2 books for less than a pound (and still felt ripped off). The Hellaquin chronicals I think that was called? I'm looking for a new urban fantasy series thats not complete trash, or is at least enjoyable trash.

I like his stuff. He writes a good pulp noir. And he writes well about the city of LA - he's not all taken in with the Hollywood stuff, which is what most writers can't help themselves from focusing on. My criticisms are that the protagonist isn't really well fleshed out, and some of the locations and action are sort of forgettable, but I enjoy it while I'm reading it.

My advice is to read City of the Lost, first. It's a standalone that takes place in the same LA, with one or two of the same supporting characters, but the protagonist (Joe Sunday) is more colorful than Eric Carter. (That book doesn't go into the Aztec stuff, though.) If you like his writing, though, you'll enjoy the Eric Carter series, too.

# ¿ May 17, 2017 08:44

Wizchine: Sep 17, 2007; Television is the retina
of the mind's eye.

Well, Mr. Jacquel is Anubis, and Mr. Ibis is Thoth - they just named themselves after their animal portion of their identity.

# ¿ May 29, 2017 19:55

Wizchine: Sep 17, 2007; Television is the retina
of the mind's eye.

Tuxedo Catfish posted:

I knew who he was as soon as they said "Mr. Wednesday" because "it's my day" but I had a lot of exposure to Norse myth growing up.

Of course I was also completely blindsided by the Loki reveal so who knows.

Yeah, same here. I've known for ever that Wednesday is Wotan's Day and so I pegged him right away. But I felt like a chump that I missed Loki.

# ¿ May 29, 2017 21:49

Wizchine: Sep 17, 2007; Television is the retina
of the mind's eye.

Steve Yun posted:

Clip from episode 6, minor spoilers of upcoming god

Sweet. I was afraid it was going the other way and would be La Llorana or something.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2017 01:43

Wizchine: Sep 17, 2007; Television is the retina
of the mind's eye.

I've never understood why there's a need on this forum - whether it's with books, films, trailers, whatever - to classify such a large percentage of stuff as "bad". When I see the line parroted multiple times that American Gods is "bad", I have to say I've read bad - I know bad. American Gods is not "bad." I mean, if you truly believe so, thank your lucky stars that you've somehow missed the huge swaths of truly awful dreck that's been written.

The LA Times TV Guide used to rate movies from one to four stars. Two stars had the description, "flawed, has moments." I always thought that was a good way to classify stuff that wasn't great, but wasn't bad. "Bad" is the one-star poo poo.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2017 07:46

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 00:59

Wizchine: Sep 17, 2007; Television is the retina
of the mind's eye.

I haven't been watching the show (don't have Starz) - but I suspect the guy in the top hat is Baron Samedi.

# ¿ Jun 8, 2017 08:43

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