The devilishly gorgeous American Gods (Amazon Prime) is an eight-part adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s much-loved 2001 novel, which tells the story of a modern world on the verge of a clash between deities old and new. Gaiman has said that, while many directors had called him about putting the story on screen, they told him it was "too long and too sprawling" to be a movie; but without the long and sprawling details, it wouldn't be the same story. ... American Gods would certainly have been an incomprehensible movie. As a TV show, it just about gets away with it. It's an enticing visual feast, but, at this early stage, it’s also confusing and opaque, and there's very little effort being made to explain what is going on. Those who have read the novel may be better equipped to work out why a giant woman is pulling a man into her vagina, but for viewers who have not, it’s bewildering. ... For what is obviously such a grand and ambitious undertaking, though, there is something oddly familiar about American Gods. Perhaps it is simply one of those accidents of timing, but in recent months there have been a number of shows along roughly the same lines: violent, moody and handsome, so sure of their own good looks that they lack the inclination to explain anything about themselves. Fans of Legion and Preacher, in particular, will be happy to add another clever-clever supernatural show to their library, while fans of the book may be delighted that it has found its way to the screen at last. But it may take patience for those viewers who fall somewhere in between.