The first season of American Gods ended with a bang earlier this week, leaving us with a long wait until we get to see just what happens next for Shadow, Wednesday, and the others. However, like The Handmaid’s Tale, the show is based on a novel, and there’s a number of others about similar things: gods and magic.
Here are eight stories that you should check out while you wait for the show to return.
Image: William Morrow
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
The logical place to start with this sort of list is Neil Gaiman’s companion novel to American Gods, Anansi Boys. Charles Nancy learns that his father, Mr. Nancy (played by Orlando Jones in the Starz series), has died. Soon, he discovers that his father was the trickster god Anansi, and that he also has a brother, Spider, who has inherited his father’s gifts. When Spider enters his life, he turns it upside down. The novel isn’t quite a sequel to American Gods, but it does share a few characters, and explores some similar territory, like gods walking the Earth alongside their subjects.
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Deep in the forests of medieval Russia, winter lasts much of the year. There, Vasilisa listens to fairy tales and traditions, and discovers the spirits and creatures that live in the woods, and in her house. When her father remarries, Vasilisa finds that her stepmother dislikes the old ways, and forbids the family to worship the household spirits. Meanwhile, an ambitious priest preaches Christianity. The two set the family on a collision course for a supernatural struggle, especially as something begins to awaken deep in the forest. Arden’s novel doesn’t quite deal with Gods, but it does play with the idea that supernatural beings play a role in everyday life, and that faith in their existence plays a role in keeping the world safe.