Television adaptation: ‘American Gods’ by Richard Gaiman

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The television adaptation of ‘American Gods’ by Richard Gaiman will premiere on Starz on Sunday April 30, 2017. Photo: Barnes & Noble

There is another book based series coming to television this month. This one is by Neil Richard Gaiman, British author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. He is best known for his comic book series The Sandman as well as the novels “Stardust,” “Coraline,” “The Graveyard Book” and “American Gods.” The first season consists of eight episodes and will premiere on Starz on Sunday April 30, 2017 and stars Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon and Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday.

According to Amazon, “American Gods” is a mixture of Americana, fantasy with elements of ancient and modern mythology centering around a mysterious character named Shadow Moon. The central theme is that gods and mythological creatures exist if people believe in them and their power diminishes as people’s beliefs decline. Due to America’s new obsessions with media, celebrity, technology and drugs, new gods have arisen. Shadow Moon is a man serving three years in prison who is unexpectedly released with only days remaining on his sentence after his beloved wife Laura is killed. He meets an enigmatic man named Mr. Wednesday who offers him a job as a bodyguard, driver and overall errand boy. The truth is that Mr. Wednesday is the god Odin who is making his way across America reuniting the old gods to confront the new gods, including Media and Technology, who are growing stronger.

Television adaptation: ‘The White Princess’ by Philippa Gregory

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‘The White Princess’ by Philippa Gregory has been adapted into a mini-series that will premiere on Starz on April 16, 2017. Photo: Barnes & Noble

Philippa Gregory is an English historical novelist best known for her novel “The Other Boleyn Girl” which won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Her first novel “Wideacre” became an instant bestseller and gave way to her first trilogy, The Wideacre Trilogy. Since then she has written stand-alone novels, short stories, children’s books and non-fiction books. Her other series of novels include Earthly Joys, The Tudor Court Series and The Cousins’ War Series. “The White Princess” is part of The Cousins’ War Series, now known as The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels and has been adapted into a television miniseries for Starz that will premiere on Sunday April 16. It is a sequel to The White Queen, the BBC produced miniseries that adapted the novels “The White Queen,” “The Red Queen” and “The Kingmaker’s Daughter.”

According to Amazon, The White Princess” is the story of Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville and later the wife of Henry VII and mother of Henry VIII. After Henry Tudor kills the man she loves and becomes the new king of England, she must marry him to end the long running War of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York and guarantee the safety of her family. But Henry knows that she is still in love with his dead enemy and that her mother and half of England remain loyal to her brother, the missing heir. His greatest fear is that somewhere the rightful prince is waiting to claim his throne. When a young man who would be king invades England, Elizabeth must choose between the husband she has grown to love and the young man who claims to be her long-lost brother.