In curating my library, there is one thing that is certain, Neil Gaiman’s stories are ones that are meant to be kept in hardcover and never given away. In his epic novel, “American Gods,” we are introduced to Anansi (the spider god). In Anansi Boys, we are introduced to the trickster’s sons: Fat Charlie and Spider.
Fat Charlie Nancy’s life is boring. He works a dead end job in London where the job turnover is high. He is engaged to an incredible woman with a future mother-in-law out to get him. When he gets news that his father has died, he returns to his childhood home in Florida to bury him. This is when he learns he has a brother. The old lady tells him to tell a spider that he’s looking for his brother and his brother will show up.
So what does Fat Charlie do? He tells a spider. When Spider arrives, he is nothing like Charlie. He is a god, living it up and more than happy to steal the life his brother has, including his job and his girl. So when Charlie tries to get rid of his brother, he goes to the other gods for help…ones that don’t like his father (the trickster) so well. Some have a bone to pick and are willing to destroy the Anansi line in the process.
An excellent read.
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Marvel gets it wrong. Perhaps they should have picked up the old Norse Mythology stories before developing the movies. It was because of the Thor comic books that this book exists. Neil Gaiman loved Thor. He loved the comic books and the Norse stories. The books that told the old stories started to disappear, so Gaiman decided to preserve the tales as best as he could and release “Norse Mythology.” In these stories, you’ll find similarities to the Rick Riordan “Magnus Chase” demi-god books. You will even find how wrong Marvel’s Thor Ragnarok was. [Spoiler: In the movie, Hela is Thor and Loki’s older sister. In the mythology, she is Hel, daughter of Loki.] If you want to expand your knowledge of human history, you must read this book. These stories are the old stories of the Northern gods.
As America became the new land people throughout the world immigrated to over the last few centuries, they brought their gods with them. Now, the gods of yesterday (Norse, Egyptian, etc.) battle against the gods of today (the internet, television, etc.) for survival. Shadow is thrown in the middle of this war and he has no idea why the gods have taken an interest in him. Wednesday (Odin) hires him as his driver as they seek out the gods of old to join in the war against the new gods or risk becoming extinct. What no one knows is that there’s a two person con going on. Who are the con men in this story? That is the question. For those who’ve seen the Starz series, this book will give you a sneak peek into next season and what you can look forward to. Excellent story and a great way to learn about the gods of old from all around the world. I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next. Also, watch the Starz series if you haven’t yet. Great show!