American Gods (and Nordic) are Coming

In case you are out of the loop, the new show American Gods will be coming to STARZ on April 30th that will sure scratch the itch of all you Vikings and Game of Thrones fans waiting for a new series. No, it doesn’t have much in the way of sword and sorcery– at least not at first.

And if you’ve seen the previews, you’ve probably thought to yourself, “This doesn’t really look like my kind of show. Where are the giant swords? Where are the dragons?! WHERE ARE MY DRAGONS?!”

Look.

Despite its name, American Gods has a LOT to do with Norse Mythology. We don’t want to spoil anything for you, of course, but here’s the synopsis from IMDB:

A recently released ex-convict named Shadow meets a mysterious man who calls himself “Wednesday” and who knows more than he first seems to about Shadow’s life and past.

American Gods was originally a novel by Neil Gaiman. You probably remember that Gaiman is a BIG fan of Norse Mythology (if you didn’t know this or don’t know anything about Gaiman, feel free to check out my review of his most recent publication, the aptly named Norse Mythology.)

In my humble opinion, it is THE Great American novel. It takes all the best aspects of America– road trips, culture clash, a yearning for a national identity, vastness, emptiness, greasy diner food, crazy landmarks that make no sense– and combines them into one great story of finding ones’ self and war.

And mixed into it all is the mythology of mankind– but perhaps most pervasively, Norse Mythology. Gaiman is very close to Norse Mythology, and this (long before the aptly titled book came out) is his love letter to it. Where Norse Mythology (the Gaiman book) is a simple telling of certain tales this is a weaving of many of those stories into one– and giving them a modern context to show the human side of mythology.

For those of you who HAVE read the book, you’re probably just as eager as I am to see this tale play itself out on the big screen. It’s been a long time coming. In 2010, I saw Neil Gaiman read at The House on the Rock, and he mentioned that a show was coming down the pipeline. But due to changes and unforeseen circumstances, it took nearly seven years for this show to come to fruition. In other words– this is a long time coming, and it already looks great.

From left to right: Mr. Wednesday, Vulcan and Shadow.

Look, all we’re saying, people of AleHorn, is that while this may not look like it’s your kind of show, it most definitely is. After all, if doesn’t matter if you believe in them. They believe in you.

Give it a shot when it comes out and let us know what you think on our Facebook page!

American Gods premiers on STARZ on April 30th at 9 PM ET/PT.