A world 10 years in the making. One
filled with heroes and legends from all
over the globe, whose stories have been
reinvented for modern day, that makes us
believe that their truly is a whole
universe out there, just waiting to be
explored. It's the epitome of what good
world building should do. And it's why
in this episode of the Storyteller's
Notebook, a series in which I analyze
various storytelling techniques used by various creators in various mediums, I want to talk about . . .
American Gods,
specifically the 10th Anniversary Edition
of the original novel, and its approach
to world building . . .
I mean, you read the title right? Oh, spoilers by the way, for the book and, though I'm not explicitly
talking about it, the TV series.
American Gods is a fantasy novel by Neil
Gaiman published in 2001, set in a world
where gods and mythological beings are
real, and are created and feed off of
people's belief in them. The story
follows Shadow Moon, a convict released
from prison early on account of his
wife's sudden death who takes up a job
as a bodyguard for a mysterious
grifter called Mr. Wednesday, and
quickly becomes embroiled in a battle
between gods both old and new as they
fight for the heart and soul of modern
America. It's a rich and fascinating
novel whose themes of deception, betrayal,
identity, and immigration are ever
relevant, especially nowadays in our
current political climate. And while it
does have its problems, something I hope
the TV series has worked on since, even
though I'm using footage from it to make
editing this a lot easier I, admittedly
haven't properly watched the TV series
yet - I'm sorry - One of the things this
novel does amazingly well is its
world-building.
It blends together myths, legends and
cultural icons from all over the world
with a contemporary American setting in
such a way that's down-to-earth, surreal,
and epic, as if this tale of warring gods
is just one of many playing out in this
mythical no-man's land. A lot of this comes from the story's strong sense
of history. Each of the gods, as well as
having their own mythologies to draw
from, also have their own unique backstories about how they ended up in
America. Mr. Wednesday, who we learn is
actually the Norse god Odin, arrived in
America in 813 AD, alongside Tyr and Thor, after a longboat of Vikings landed in
America, and hung a local Native American
man in sacrifice to them, before being
slaughtered by said sacrifice's tribe in
revenge. Mad Sweeney, a leprechaun from
Ireland - Aaaaaay - came across the Atlantic in
the mind of a girl from Bantry Bay
trying to escape the Great Famine. Ibis,
Jacquel, and Bast, who are the Egyptian
gods Thoth, Anubis, and Bastet respectively,
ended up in America after the ancient
Egyptians established a trade route with
Native Americans thousands of years ago,
and stayed long enough for their beliefs
to stick. The Coming to America chapters
each build upon this history, similarly
showing how various mythical figures
arrived in America in their own strange
ways, from the Cornish pixie who ended
up in America because of a kleptomaniac
girl banished from Britain, and her
belief in fairy folk, to the mammoth god, Nunyunnini, who led his tribe across the
barren snows of the Bering land bridge to
the New World, only to be forgotten when
said tribe was conquered by a more
powerful one many generations later.
It even shows that there are many incarnations of these gods all across the world,
with how Mama-ji mentions that there's a
version of her back in India doing
better than her, and the fact that shadow
runs into another version of Odin in
Reykjavik, Iceland, in the Postscript. And,
as a side note, the extra chapters often
use their prose to show that they exist
independently of the narrative. The
Somewhere in America chapters are
written in present tense to emphasize
the feeling of them happening right now . . .
somewhere in America, and the Coming to
America chapters use run on lines in
italic to show Mr. Ibis' actions as he
writes these tales before flowing back
into the prose.
The dense lore and background
behind these gods and goddesses, as well
as the extra stories independent of the
main plot, strengthens and reinforces the
idea that this is a world that has and
does exist beyond the bounds of the main
story, and will continue to long after it
comes to a close. And the book takes
pride in exploring this world as much as
it can, showing off all sorts of
interesting places, usually based on real
locations, and all kinds of quirky
characters that give the world a
distinct sense of identity. From the
hustle and bustle of big cities like Las
Vegas and San Francisco to the dozens of
small towns dotted across the South,
Midwest, and Far North, like Cairo or
Eagle Point, to places like the House on
the Rock, a tourist trap so bizarre in
its history and design that Gaiman said
he had to quote, "tone it down a bit so
people would believe it" . . .
in a fantasy novel . . . about gods and monsters and - you get the point, the House on the Rock is a
weird place. They all highlight a
grandiose mythicality to the American
landscape that builds on the book's
fantasy focus. Likewise, the novel's
characters reveal the varying lifestyles
of this world's inhabitants. Some of the
gods, like Czernobog and the Zorya
sisters, are just about getting by, living
off a combination of Czernobog's pension
from the slaughterhouse where he used to
work, and the extra cash his Zoryas are
able to bring in through fortune-telling.
Others, like the Man in the Grey Suit and
Easter, are able to live quite well, with
the Man into Grey Suit feeding off the
money and time people sacrifice to his
casino, and Easter living off the fact
that people still celebrate her holiday,
even though no one knows who she,
actually is. And others still, like
the new gods, do manage to thrive, but
at a cost.
Through the world's locations and characters, we
understand that this is a vast and
mythical world, and one whose people
struggle in one way or another, doing
their best to get to the next day or
desperately doing everything in their
power to stay relevant. It gives the
novel's setting a lived-in vibe and
establishes a consistent tone that makes
it stand out. But for as important as all
this lore and scenery is, what makes it all
click together is the fact that it's all
in service of the story. As you can
probably guess from what I've talked about
so far, there are several thematic through
lines in the world of American Gods. The
old gods - gods of the harvest, of justice,
and of death - have been forgotten by the
people who brought them to America,
replaced by new ones - gods of opinion, of
media, and of the Internet - Similarly, many of
the small towns Shadow visits across
America are either spiraling into
poverty, being abandoned, or being
consumed by corporate interests.
Lakeside, the small northern town Shadow spends several chapters hiding out in, seems to be the
only small town that's doing well and
even, then it's only because of the sacrifices
that Hinzelmann, a nice old
man everyone in town is friends with,
takes from it every year. He's an old god,
himself created through sacrifice,
desperately clinging to his power. At the
same time, the book's characters have a
strong knack for deception and betrayal. Shadow's quite proficient at coin tricks,
and art built around misdirection and
deception. While Shadow was imprison, his
wife, Laura had an affair with his best
friend,
betraying his trust. Mr. Wednesday earns
his money by scamming people, a point
made abundantly clear with his bank
robbery in Chapter 5. Mr. World, the
mysterious leader of the men in black and
the head of the new god's forces, turns
out to be none other than
Loki, the infamous Norse god of trickery
and deception himself. And in the end, it
turns out that Mr. Wednesday and Loki have
been working together to stoke the
flames of war between the gods, which
they could then use to increase their
power, betraying and deceiving not only
Shadow, but also all the gods who have put
their utmost trust and faith in them.
Meanwhile, there's also a focus in the
idea of people finding a way to reinvent
themselves. Many of the supplementary
stories focus on immigrants trying to
build a new life for themselves in
America, and even Shadow is an ex-convict
doing his best to move on after his
wife's death. It's a world that is
constantly changing, that's quick to
adapt, and where to downtrodden and
miserable have the opportunity to
completely turn their lives around. But,
at the same time, this is a world where
people ignore their problems, and let
them fester and grow in this land that
is so bad for gods. The world, while
feeling vast and expansive, is built to
reflect and reinforce the novel's core
themes and ideas. American Gods' approach
to world building is to, essentially,
treat its world like a character in its
own right. Which, is ironic, given that in
the novel, America itself is, also a god,
but, that's a whole thing. The world
has its own backstory, its own identity,
its own relatable struggles and
conflicts, and most importantly, it plays
a part in the narrative. It's a strange,
and yet, creatively simple idea to give a
world, and by extension, the story it's
been built for, an extra layer of
personality.
And yeah, those are my thoughts. Let me
know what yous think, if yous agree,
disagree, if you're a fan of Neil
Gaiman's work - or Gaiman, I don't know how
to pronounce his last name -
what your thoughts on world-building are, etc,
and thanks for watching! Also, let me know what yous thought of the
style of this video, I'm trying some new
and I wanna get some feedback. If yous
enjoyed this and want to see more, then
check out my last video, a Q&A I did to
celebrate hitting 1000 subscribers, which,
again, thank you! Or check out the last
episode the Storyteller's Notebook, and
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