Specifically they were just talking about Hammer of the Gods...but yeah...after hearing the complaint, I thought it'd be much more similar, but besides the basic concept that gods exist, there wasn't anything at all similar between the two universes.

:) Yay!

That seems to be the consensus with everyone I talk to. I'm going to start reading it this afternoon :)

Indeed.

It took me a while to get into the book, but by the end I really liked it.

Noted! I'm glad you told me - now I'm not expecting Anansi Boys to be better or worse. I was afraid it would get overhyped for me, the way people kept going on about how much they liked it.

This is SORT of a coincidence. I borrow audiobooks from the library, and they had Anansi Boys - but I looked at it's basic info, and it appeared that I should read American Gods first. So, I actually dipped into my pocket and BOUGHT the American Gods audiobook.

So, yes, I'm going through Gaiman books, but it's really just so that I can read Anansi Boys. The selection of audiobooks at the library is sort of slim...and I like authors to be recommended, rather than just trying anyone willy nilly. I knew enough people who liked Gaiman to give him a go. I also tend to like adventure stories, so he seemed a good bet.

So yeah, if you want to recommend other things for me, that'd be cool, and I could see if they have them at the library.

Thanks! I'll check it out sometime :)

Oh man, yeah...that's ridiculous! It's like people complaining that the gods ate humans - um, this is Supernatural, everything non-human seems to eat/kill humans. This is ITS OWN UNIVERSE!

Sigh, anyway...yeah, people are crazy.

Yeah, I think I probably couldn't have finished it if I hadn't been listening to it on audiobook while I worked.

And indeed, neither Supernatural nor Gaiman have the monopoly on modern stories of gods :P

It's funny, I read kids books until I was around 13/14 and then I switched to adult novels...until I was last year and then I started reading "kids" books again. :P

Read what makes you happy! It doesn't matter what demographic it's meant for!

Yes, as I told claudiapriscus above, the problem with American Gods is that it has an inactive participant - he experiences the story passively, never making his own decisions or performing independent actions until nearly the end - although this was supposed to be a character point, the problem is that it makes it VERY hard for the reader to get involved in the story, or to feel excitement, or anything really...if your protagonist is inactive, your story will feel boring even if there is a lot going on.

I think Gaiman could have made the same character choice but written it a little differently so that the story was more engaging at the beginning. I think if I had tried to read the book, I wouldn't have made it through - it was only because it was the only thing I had to listen to while I worked that I was able to get to the point in the story where it actually becomes engaging.

But yeah...anyway...there's my storytelling-tip for the day.

Thank you! I think part of my problem today was that I didn't get very much sleep last night...it's never a good thing.

I agree with everything you just said. There's a difference between being influenced (or playing homage) and "ripping off" and Kripke was certainly the former and not at all guilty of the latter.

But yes, the wank around that episode, even American Gods aside, is ridiculous :P But yes, no matter how many crossovers people write, the book is the book and the show is the show and never the twain shall meet.

I'm looking forward to Anansi Boys! I was supposed to start it this afternoon, but something came up. So, I'm starting it tomorrow instead. It's only ~10 hours (American Gods was ~20), so I'm hoping to be finished it by Thursday when it has to go back to the library.