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Thread started 05/18/17 5:13pm

morningsong

Starz: American Gods

3 episodes in and I'm soooo confused. Am I going to have to read the novel to understand what the heck I'm watching? And yet I watch. Yes it has gratuitous sex, but it's sooo weird and even then I'm left totally confused with what I just watched. Did the guy become a Geni or Magi or whatever, now he's driving cabs? And he's happy about it? Wait, what? Who is the woman "swallowing" (if that's what you can call it) her worshippers/lovers? Is the guy who robbed the bank the devil? What's with the choosing doors after you die? I am getting a kick out of the Leprechaun, he's the most understandable one so far. Maybe because I know what a Leprechaun is so he's easy even if he's a bit different than the commonly know legends. That ain't even half my questions. I think it's the complicated storyline that intrigues me, it looks like it's going somewhere but I'mma be ticked if it's goes-nowhere-ville and I invest too many episodes on it.

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Reply #1 posted 05/19/17 3:26am

Cerebus

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My favorite novel, my favorite author.

Season one only covers the first 100 pages of the book, there are many changes (some big, some small) and a not insignificant amount of new material has been created and added to the show (also some big, some small). The changes and the new material have been done with consent and consultation from the author to assure that everything they are doing will work with the eventual sequel novel, which he'll be writing at some point in the not terribly distant future and would likely tie-in to, say, season five of the show (yes, they have planned that far ahead). It's definitely going somewhere, and judging by the first three episodes it's going to be a great ride, but it's going to be a long while before it gets there.

The novel is dense with story and character, so it's not hard to imagine that someone new to the story could get a bit lost watching the series. The basic premise of the novel is that there are old gods who are dying off from lack of followers and new gods who are coming to power, trying to take their place, and they're going to fight about it, a lot. I'm sure you got that much from the advertisement for the show, but I can't say much more than that. There are a lot of things that I could explain that would be spoilers (some big, some small), but I'd rather not do that. I do highly recommend reading the novel, and if you can, the 'Author's Preferred Text' version, which contains an additional 12,000 words (but both versions are outstanding). A lot of what doesn't make sense now WILL make sense eventually, so I hope you stick with it. That being said, I'll answer your questions as best I can without giving too much away.



There are small interludes in the book called "Somewhere in America", a title card is seen when they take place in the series. Some of them are not going to be ongoing stories, they're more like backstory, or bits of information to let you know that their is both old, and new, and that there's struggles taking place (that sounds cryptic, but I don't want to spoil anything).

Yes, Salim, the guy who got in the taxi and eventually had sex with The Jinn became The Jinn after giving himself over to him. If you re-watch it, you can see that there is a connection made when Salim catches a glimpse of the fire in The Jinn's eyes from the back seat. The Jinn tells Salim that he does not grant wishes. When Salim gets in the taxi the next morning he also says I do not grant wishes. He has taken The Jinn's place, by choice or by trick.



The woman eating people with her vagina is Bilquis, she is the Queen of Sheba from the Bible. She asks her lovers to "worship her", and, well, you've seen the rest. They've done a pretty decent job of portraying her in the series thus far, but the first scene with her was much more intense in the book.


The Egyptian god Anubis came to get the dead women to take her to her afterlife because she believed stories she had been told by her grandmother. She was judged worthy of making the journey to Duat, the Egyptian afterlife. But there are many worlds in the Duat and more trials to be faced - each door leads to one of those worlds. She is first worried she'll meat her abusive father, so she asks Anubis to choose for her. She is then worried she won't see her grandmother again if the wrong door has been chosen, so she pauses. Doesn't matter, her hairless sphynx cat pushes her in.

The devil? No.

Any/all of your questions will likely be answered to one degree or another at the American Gods wiki page, but you will definitely find spoilers there, fast and easy. Use the drop down menus at the top to check out info on the characters, the series or the book. http://americangods.wikia..._Gods_Wiki

Also, Nerdist is doing a series on the characters that explains who they are in the series as well as who they are in various mythologies. It's pretty cool, very unspoilery, and doesn't include characters who haven't appeared yet. It might help you out some. http://nerdist.com/tag/am...ry-primer/


Other than that I'm happy to answer any questions you have in as unspoilery a manner as is possible.






[Edited 5/19/17 10:26am]

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Reply #2 posted 05/19/17 4:32am

Chancellor

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I kept seeing the trailer for American Gods while I was watching the series finale of Black Sails..I Love stories about mythical Gods but the trailer did not win me over..I decided to wait and see if anyone liked it then I'll record it when they do a Marathon...

Nobody in my Social media feed is talking about it...It's not HOT talk...

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Reply #3 posted 05/19/17 10:24am

Cerebus

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Chancellor said:

I kept seeing the trailer for American Gods while I was watching the series finale of Black Sails..I Love stories about mythical Gods but the trailer did not win me over..I decided to wait and see if anyone liked it then I'll record it when they do a Marathon...

Nobody in my Social media feed is talking about it...It's not HOT talk...



Umm, it's being talked about everywhere, the reviews are nearly all positive-to-glowing and it's ratings week-over-week are actually growing. I'm not sure what you consider "hot" talk, but not being in your social media feed doesn't mean anything. It just means it's not in your social media feed. If you enjoy stories about mythical gods you should definitely give it a try and decide for yourself.

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Reply #4 posted 05/19/17 11:04am

RodeoSchro

I'm old enough to remember when the only "Starz" was a great rock band with that name. They were certainly American ROCK gods!

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Reply #5 posted 05/19/17 6:51pm

morningsong

Cerebus said:

My favorite novel, my favorite author.

Season one only covers the first 100 pages of the book, there are many changes (some big, some small) and a not insignificant amount of new material has been created and added to the show (also some big, some small). The changes and the new material have been done with consent and consultation from the author to assure that everything they are doing will work with the eventual sequel novel, which he'll be writing at some point in the not terribly distant future and would likely tie-in to, say, season five of the show (yes, they have planned that far ahead). It's definitely going somewhere, and judging by the first three episodes it's going to be a great ride, but it's going to be a long while before it gets there.

The novel is dense with story and character, so it's not hard to imagine that someone new to the story could get a bit lost watching the series. The basic premise of the novel is that there are old gods who are dying off from lack of followers and new gods who are coming to power, trying to take their place, and they're going to fight about it, a lot. I'm sure you got that much from the advertisement for the show, but I can't say much more than that. There are a lot of things that I could explain that would be spoilers (some big, some small), but I'd rather not do that. I do highly recommend reading the novel, and if you can, the 'Author's Preferred Text' version, which contains an additional 12,000 words (but both versions are outstanding). A lot of what doesn't make sense now WILL make sense eventually, so I hope you stick with it. That being said, I'll answer your questions as best I can without giving too much away.



There are small interludes in the book called "Somewhere in America", a title card is seen when they take place in the series. Some of them are not going to be ongoing stories, they're more like backstory, or bits of information to let you know that their is both old, and new, and that there's struggles taking place (that sounds cryptic, but I don't want to spoil anything).

Yes, Salim, the guy who got in the taxi and eventually had sex with The Jinn became The Jinn after giving himself over to him. If you re-watch it, you can see that there is a connection made when Salim catches a glimpse of the fire in The Jinn's eyes from the back seat. The Jinn tells Salim that he does not grant wishes. When Salim gets in the taxi the next morning he also says I do not grant wishes. He has taken The Jinn's place, by choice or by trick.



The woman eating people with her vagina is Bilquis, she is the Queen of Sheba from the Bible. She asks her lovers to "worship her", and, well, you've seen the rest. They've done a pretty decent job of portraying her in the series thus far, but the first scene with her was much more intense in the book.


The Egyptian god Anubis came to get the dead women to take her to her afterlife because she believed stories she had been told by her grandmother. She was judged worthy of making the journey to Duat, the Egyptian afterlife. But there are many worlds in the Duat and more trials to be faced - each door leads to one of those worlds. She is first worried she'll meat her abusive father, so she asks Anubis to choose for her. She is then worried she won't see her grandmother again if the wrong door has been chosen, so she pauses. Doesn't matter, her hairless sphynx cat pushes her in.

The devil? No.

Any/all of your questions will likely be answered to one degree or another at the American Gods wiki page, but you will definitely find spoilers there, fast and easy. Use the drop down menus at the top to check out info on the characters, the series or the book. http://americangods.wikia..._Gods_Wiki

Also, Nerdist is doing a series on the characters that explains who they are in the series as well as who they are in various mythologies. It's pretty cool, very unspoilery, and doesn't include characters who haven't appeared yet. It might help you out some. http://nerdist.com/tag/am...ry-primer/


Other than that I'm happy to answer any questions you have in as unspoilery a manner as is possible.






[Edited 5/19/17 10:26am]




Thanks! biggrin I'm not familiar with that legend of the Queen of Sheba so I had it all wrong, right there. So Cloris Leachman and her sisters are from the Greek/Roman mythology, ok. I'll look into those sights because I'm going to need a lot of help while watching this. And I'll continue with it.

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Reply #6 posted 05/19/17 10:08pm

Cerebus

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morningsong said:


Thanks! biggrin I'm not familiar with that legend of the Queen of Sheba so I had it all wrong, right there. So Cloris Leachman and her sisters are from the Greek/Roman mythology, ok. I'll look into those sights because I'm going to need a lot of help while watching this. And I'll continue with it.



You're most welcome. biggrin The Zorya sisters are of Slavic mythology, as is Czernobog (the guy with the hammer). Neil Gaiman pulled from various different mythologies in writing American Gods, as he has done in many of his other works (The Sandman comic book, for instance). Sometimes he uses gods/goddesses that are represented in more than one mythology. Bilquis, technically, is the goddess of love. But she is the Queen of Sheba. The way Neil uses the gods/goddesses and their mythologies doesn't always align with what is already known of them. Sometimes he uses names we already know, keeps their basic structure, but takes them to a place where he imagined they would be if still alive, fighting for followers in 21st century America. Other times they are used very much exactly as decribed in past texts, doing exactly what you'd expect them to be doing.... fighting for followers in 21st century America. lol

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Reply #7 posted 05/22/17 12:59am

morningsong

Oh my goodness I can't believe I missed Anansi the trickster , I should have known him right off it took a second viewing. And the other one is Odin the Al Pacino looking guy
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