Friday, June 3, 2011

CR3 #46: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Fat Charlie Nancy didn't really understand his father at all. Imagine his surprise when he discovers that his recently deceased father was the personification of the mythical figure Anansi. He's also very surprised that he has a brother--an out-going, magical party boy named Spider--that he never knew existed. Once Spider shows up, Fat Charlie's calm, normal, boring life takes a turn for the crazy. He has to ask for help from some strange sources, and discovers that his father had some fairly dangerous enemies. Besides all that, his fiancee may be falling for Spider and his boss might be a high level criminal out to frame Fat Charlie. It's a wild and satisfying ride.

At first I was excited about the book, since the character of Anansi is featured in American Gods. However, it started out pretty slowly. It took me a while to warm up to Fat Charlie--in the beginning, he was kind of a whiny fuddy-duddy, but eventually he gets it together and becomes a pretty cool hero. The side characters are great, and the plot moves along fairly quickly. It has parts that are funny, weird, sad, and scary, all within the same novel. I'd definitely recommend this, perhaps for after American Gods, since Anansi Boys is kind of a spin off.

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CBR14 #1 - Revenge Body by Rachel Wiley

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