I have already confessed a quite deep abiding love for Neil, and I have to admit, Anansi Boys was no different.
Fat Charlie is a cringe-worthy character, one of those spineless people that are meant to be the sidekick or enemy, not the main protagonist. And yet, Gaiman writes him with such grace and humility that you are on his side, you want him to win the girl, be the hero at the end of the day. Spider, is the same, yet in the complete opposite way, he is the cocky, do-it-now, don’t worry about the consequences. It’s kind of brilliant, because you don’t really realise what Gaiman has done with the two main characters, until it is revealed to them also. The way that he makes you singularly feel sorry for fat Charlie, and dislike Spider is so brilliantly constructed (I think I have said brilliant too many times) it borders on perfection. For those of you wondering, Fat Charlie and Spider are brothers, originally part of each other, until they were separated by magic, creating Spider, Charlies alter-ego, the mischievous, self-absorbed, confident, good-looking, oh, and magic, brother.
You see, their dad is the spider god, Anansi, the trickster god, and he has pissed off a few people. And gods. People-gods? And embarrassed Fat Charlie a lot. But that’s what dads do, right?
Exciting, funny and BRILLIANT, full of old myth and electrifying adventure, get on it!
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