American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Thanks to wily espionage by The Mad Hatter, some news of HBO’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s classic Americana/Urban Fantasy novel, American Gods, has surfaced:

First and foremost Neil mentioned that the first season of the HBO adaptation of American Gods will be comprised of the whole of the novel. Given that it has been discussed that there are plans for 6 seasons Neil will be providing a lot more information. The idea that the “Monarch of the Glen” being made part of the series seems likely as well. Plus Neil said there are at least two more stories about Shadow’s time in Europe that take place after Monarch and before the events of the planned sequel to American Gods. Neil briefly discussed the shorts and seemed interested in getting to them sooner than later. He also brought up what he calls “The American Gods Sequel Box,” which includes Bigfoot, a possible appearance by Jesus, and a tiny town in Florida founded by Spiritualist in the 20s comprised of lots of tarot reading shops. It is apparently a real thing.

Seems I was right on the money with my predictions when news of the project first hit the web. Most interesting to me, though, is the discussion of ‘The American Gods Sequel Box.’ With only the first season of the television show covering the novel, I’m curious to see what direction HBO takes with the following seasons. As I said in the previous post, it would be great if they took one of Gaiman’s concepts from ‘The Box’ and dedicated a season to exploring it before moving onto a new, self-contained idea when the season ends, similar to The Wire. Gaiman has experience writing television/film/theatre, so it will be interesting to see if he chooses stories from ‘The Box’ based on how well they’ll translate to the screen or if he’ll be removed from the creative aspects of the adaptation. With George R.R. Martin penning an episode per season for Game of Thrones, it’s easy to assume that Gaiman will play a similar role on American Gods. Very curious to see how this project proceeds.

Discussion
  • darkul June 23, 2011 at 12:23 am

    6 seasons? Ridiculous for a book which easily could be made in 120 minutes.
    Or maybe 2 movies, if we add Anansi Boys.
    Sure, there could be many stories wrought around those forgotten gods … but be honest … Neil Gaiman is so tremendously overhyped. Average-books, most of them.

  • Bets Davies June 24, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    I have to disagree on the 120 minutes theory. That is a long book and if he intends to capture every nuance, he’ll need a season. Books generally don’t make good movies. Short stories do. But, honestly, if Mirrormask is any guideline, I don’t think he can write a script.

    Honestly, I think his writing started to go down hill on American Gods. He’s hit that stage where, as a writer, he is more interested in technique than heart and character. While Stardust and Neverwhere may be less technically advanced than say, Anasasi Boys, they have heart and compelling characters. Sandman I never was that much into but it was raw talent you knew was going somewhere. His YA kind of sucks, too.

  • […] month, but it’s encouraging to know that Gaiman is so heavily involved. I guess this answers early questions about Gaiman’s involvement in the series. viaNeil Gaiman tagsAmerican GodsHBONeil […]