BONUS POST: Who Else Saw the "American Gods" Series Premier?
It's (finally) time, my friends, to talk about the first episode of the "American Gods" series on Starz!
As with the books we talk about here on the Writing Desk, this is a spoiler free zone, so I won't be going into too much detail. Only enough that anyone with basic knowledge of the plot, or who has seen the series promos, would already know.
Going into this show as someone who has read the book, (more than once, we already know this about me), I was admittedly pretty nervous about how well the television version of one of my favorite novels was going to turn out.
So far? I have not been disappointed!
There were two main concerns I had, which perhaps someone who hasn't read the book yet wouldn't worry about, but they were niggling at the back of my mind.
1) Representation of characters. I was curious after reading the initial casting list as to how well
represented the characters would be, based on their descriptions (or lack of description) in the book. Overall, I've been pleased with the choices made by the show's producers. Some characters, like Shadow Moon, were more open to interpretation versus the likes of Mr. Wednesday.
Ricky Whittle and Ian McShane, so far, fit very closely to how I'd pictured their characters in my head. I did imagine Mr. Wednesday's speaking voice a little differently, but that's a personal nit that doesn't necessarily need to be picked in this situation.
There were a few updates made to the Technical Boy, which I was expecting given that the book was originally published sixteen years ago. Bruce Langley has definitely managed to creep me out so far!
What can I say about Bilquis? They did modernize her character's...methods of procuring worship. But the end result is the same. Also, I was very curious how they were going to pull that off! For those of you who haven't read the book, were you expecting a scene like that at all?
I can admit it. I had a massive "fangirl" moment when Mad Sweeney made his appearance! (I may or may not have startled both dogs off of the couch.) He's one of my favorite characters from the book, and I'm so happy with how he turned out! Never judge a leprechaun by his height.
2) Would the episodes follow the order of events laid out in the novel? Obviously when a book is being adapted for a movie or television, some changes have to be made to account for timing, how long ago the book was written, how many episodes are allotted in the series, etc. Transforming something that relies largely on the imagination of the reader into a visual version can't be easy, but so far I feel like Bryan Fuller and Michael Green are on the right track. I'm sure some events in the book, like the many internal moments Shadow experiences, will need to be tweaked in order to work on-screen.
For all of you out there who have had a chance to see the show, what did you think? Had you read the book before or are you experiencing these characters for the first time? I think this makes a huge difference in how the show is received by viewers, especially one with with so many complex characters involved.
I also want to know, what does everyone think of this brief analysis as we meet each of the gods and goddesses in "American Gods"? Would you like to continue to see posts like this, or not? Would you like more details on which historical gods/legends/figures inspired the characters?
Episode Two airs tonight! Do you believe yet?
*All promo photos and stills are property of Starz and Neil Gaiman.
As with the books we talk about here on the Writing Desk, this is a spoiler free zone, so I won't be going into too much detail. Only enough that anyone with basic knowledge of the plot, or who has seen the series promos, would already know.
Going into this show as someone who has read the book, (more than once, we already know this about me), I was admittedly pretty nervous about how well the television version of one of my favorite novels was going to turn out.
So far? I have not been disappointed!
There were two main concerns I had, which perhaps someone who hasn't read the book yet wouldn't worry about, but they were niggling at the back of my mind.
1) Representation of characters. I was curious after reading the initial casting list as to how well represented the characters would be, based on their descriptions (or lack of description) in the book. Overall, I've been pleased with the choices made by the show's producers. Some characters, like Shadow Moon, were more open to interpretation versus the likes of Mr. Wednesday.
Ricky Whittle and Ian McShane, so far, fit very closely to how I'd pictured their characters in my head. I did imagine Mr. Wednesday's speaking voice a little differently, but that's a personal nit that doesn't necessarily need to be picked in this situation.
There were a few updates made to the Technical Boy, which I was expecting given that the book was originally published sixteen years ago. Bruce Langley has definitely managed to creep me out so far!
What can I say about Bilquis? They did modernize her character's...methods of procuring worship. But the end result is the same. Also, I was very curious how they were going to pull that off! For those of you who haven't read the book, were you expecting a scene like that at all?
I can admit it. I had a massive "fangirl" moment when Mad Sweeney made his appearance! (I may or may not have startled both dogs off of the couch.) He's one of my favorite characters from the book, and I'm so happy with how he turned out! Never judge a leprechaun by his height.
2) Would the episodes follow the order of events laid out in the novel? Obviously when a book is being adapted for a movie or television, some changes have to be made to account for timing, how long ago the book was written, how many episodes are allotted in the series, etc. Transforming something that relies largely on the imagination of the reader into a visual version can't be easy, but so far I feel like Bryan Fuller and Michael Green are on the right track. I'm sure some events in the book, like the many internal moments Shadow experiences, will need to be tweaked in order to work on-screen.
For all of you out there who have had a chance to see the show, what did you think? Had you read the book before or are you experiencing these characters for the first time? I think this makes a huge difference in how the show is received by viewers, especially one with with so many complex characters involved.
I also want to know, what does everyone think of this brief analysis as we meet each of the gods and goddesses in "American Gods"? Would you like to continue to see posts like this, or not? Would you like more details on which historical gods/legends/figures inspired the characters?
Episode Two airs tonight! Do you believe yet?
*All promo photos and stills are property of Starz and Neil Gaiman.
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