(This review relates to seasons 1, 2 and 3)

I am always a little weary when books I really love are adapted for the screen, and I am pretty sure I would have hated a movie adaption of American Gods. However, by turning it into a tv-show, the whole story and its characters have been given much more room to grow than they would have in a movie. To my own surprise I found myself actually really enjoying this series. The actors are fantastic, especially Shadow and Wednesday could not have been cast more perfectly. The makers of the show managed to find exactly the right balance between staying true to the book, and changing some elements to make it speak more to the current ‘zeitgeist’ (the book is 20 years old after all). I especially love the large role they have given to Laura, who is one of my absolute favorite characters in the series and has been given a much more interesting narrative than in the book.

My only hesitation in recommending this series is that I do not know what the experience would be like if you have not read the book first. The book itself is already pretty weird, and in the series they have leaned into this weirdness quite heavily and turned it into an almost surreal viewing experience. I really loved this about it, but without the context of the book you might need some patience before it starts to make any sort of sense. Perhaps consider starting with the book, which is what I would recommend in almost all cases anyway.