The Sandman: Season 1

Hey guys!
Today I’m back with one of last year’s most impressive new shows. It took me a moment to find the time to binge this, and I wish I had done so earlier!

The Plot (according to Rotten Tomatoes):

When the Sandman, aka Dream, the cosmic being who controls all dreams, is captured and held prisoner for more than a century, he must journey across different worlds and timelines to fix the chaos his absence has caused.

The Sandman on RT

The Rating:

The mind of Neil Gaiman must be a wondrous place to live in. By now I’ve read multiple of his books and watched many of the adaptations and I never cease to be amazed. The sheer power of imagination that Gaiman has, the worlds he creates, the characters! I will forever be in awe of his talent.

I’ve loved pretty much every adaptation of his work that I’ve watched so far and this is no exception. Sandman blew me away from the first episode on. The show is intense, smart, dark and gloomy, but at the same time beautiful. The show has a lot of rather dark moments but just as many that will warm your heart.

There are just so many cool characters in this. I want to know more about each and every one of them. I’m sure they all have intriguing backstories and I honestly cannot wait for more seasons to explore on that front. The acting performances are amazing but it’s the costume design as well as – obviously – the writing that makes all of these characters so intriguing. I feel like the stars really aligned for this show.

I guess this counts as spoilers but I saw people on Twitter talk/complain about it. The show did an interesting thing by giving us a twist on John Constantine. This has always been a character that I enjoyed, be it in the Hellblazer comics, the movie, or the TV show. Here we get a gender-bent version and John is now Joanna. Not gonna lie, I usually don’t care much for Jenna Coleman but her story arc was amazing and heartbreaking, and devastating, and just all the feelings. I didn’t mind this change at all, it was an interesting surprise.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Hello, my darling readers!
I’m a huge sucker for everything myth-related (hello there, Rick Riordan!), so of course, I had to pick up Neil Gaiman’s take on Norse Mythology. Let’s talk a closer look as his retelling of old stories!

Norse Mythology on Goodreads

The Plot:

This collection of Norse Mythology features all your favorite Gods: Odin, Thor, and the trickster Loki…

The Rating:

I’ll keep this one really short.
Neil Gaiman is trying hard to make the best of what those Norse Myths have to offer.

Some of the stories are entertaining but – and that’s not Gaiman’s fault – there isn’t much depth. You might learn a little more about some of the Gods but the bottom line is: if shit went down it was definitely Loki’s fault.

American Gods: Season 2 – A Review

Hello, my darling readers!
In my attempt to catch up with all the new season out there, I finally managed to finish watching American Gods season 2! Let’s find out whether the second season can live up to the hype around the show!

The Plot:

Odin is trying to rile up the Old Gods to stand with him. His ever-faithful bodyguard Shadow Moon is by his side.
In the mean-time, a still dead Laura is traipsing around with Mad Sweeney.

The Rating:

Okay, I had my problems with this one.
The first season was impressive and I just couldn’t stop watching.
With the second one, however, I somehow stopped halfway in and didn’t get back to it for several months. It started strong but somewhere around the middle, it’s reached it’s lowest point so far.

Unfortunately, the story kept dragging on without much sense of purpose. I don’t even really know what this season was supposed to be about. American Gods tries to lure you back it using flashing and over-the-top visuals but it only succeeded in giving me a headache. A lot of the charm went missing in this season and even the intriguing bit about the history of the Gods was rather disappointing in this season.

Book vs. TV Show: Good Omens

Hello, dear readers!
You have no idea how I excited I got when I had first heard about Good Omens. David Tennant? Michael Sheen? Demon and Angel? Apocalypse? Neil Gaiman? YES PLEASE!
This time, I got a little swept away and watch the entire show twice before finally picking up the book. Let’s take a closer look at both!

The Plot:

The angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley haven been friends since – well – the beginning of time. When the apocalypse looms ahead they try to prevent the end of the world. Unfortunately, they aren’t the brightest candles on the cake…

Book vs. TV Show:

As usual, I’ll kick off with my thoughts on the novel. Written by legends Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, there was no way this could not turn out well.
My expectations were pretty high but the book fulfilled almost all of them.
I didn’t love it quite as much as I had expected but was certainly a good read. The idea behind the story is brilliant and hilarious. The execution in terms of Azira and Crowley is almost perfect as well. I’m not too sure about some of the other characters like Newt and Anathema, but I’m willing to ignore that.
All in all the book was a lot of fun and contained some interesting bits of information, but I’m don’t think I’d read it a second time.

So, how did the show hold up in comparison?
I may be a little biased here as I am a huge David Tennant fan, but the show is seriously amazing.

Book Review: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Hey guys!
Some time ago I did a book vs. show post on American Gods. However, I only did a mini-review on the novel, which didn’t cover all that I have to say. So let’s look into the book more deeply!

American Gods by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Cover)

 

The Plot:
Shadow Moon’s life sucks. He just got out of jail – because his wife died. As if that wasn’t enough, turns out she had been screwing his best friend.
Where could you possibly go from here? Well, an opportunity comes up for Shadow, he meets a weird old guy named Mr. Wednesday who claims to be the God Odin, in need for an assistant…

 

The Rating:
I know, I’m a bit late with reading this novel as it was originally published in 2001. But once I started reading, I just couldn’t put it down.
What Neil Gaiman created here is first of all a cleverly drafted storyline. The plot is mysterious and you won’t be able to see through any of the twist that lie ahead. Gaiman surprised me numerous times throughout this book and I couldn’t tell which way things would go in the end.
Another major plus point of American Gods are the awesome characters. Of course, our protagonist Shadow Moon is a relatable guy who gains depth with every page, but let’s be honest, he’s not what we came for.

Book vs. Show: American Gods

Hey guys!
I’m currently catching up with last years big hits. This time I went through American Gods, both book and show. So let’s see whether it’s good!

 

The Plot:
Shadow Moon’s life sucks. He just got out of jail – because his wife died. As if that wasn’t enough, turns out she had been screwing his best friend.
Where could you possibly go from here? Well, an opportunity comes up for Shadow, he meets a weird old guy named Mr. Wednesday who claims to be the God Odin, in need for an assistant…

 

Book vs. Movie:
Let me begin with the novel. Written by Neil Gaiman and published in 2001, I am a bit late to catch up with this bestseller. However, it was 100 % worth the time I spent reading. American Gods is funny and smart. Gaiman does a great job integrating lots of information on history and different religions. You will learn many fascinating new aspects and I ended up researching lots of the stuff mentioned!
Furthermore, Gaiman does not simply come up with a list of religions, he marvelously puts all of it into a new frame thus transporting everything to the present day. You wouldn’t expect this to work out, but believe me, it’s damn close to perfect.
Moreover, the characters Neil Gaiman came up with are witty and have some of the best lines, you’ll be quoting constantly afterwards.
I basically devoured the book and was very excited to see how all of this would translate to the screen.
So let’s see what the showrunners did about all of this!