“The Dreamer awakes
The shadow goes by
The tale I have told you,
That tale is a lie.
But listen to me,
Bright maiden, proud youth
The tale is a lie;
What it tells is the truth.” ― Traditional folktale ending
“ANANSI”- the spider…miniscule, tiny, deadly. The Anansi (Nanzi, for short, and in our story-Nancy) lives in Florida, father to Fat Charlie, his accountant son, who craves the freedom to step out of his father’s shadow, maintaining the physical distance by living in South London.
Nancy Sr. (whom we last met in American Boys) is quite the ladies man, and whilst charming buxom members of the fairer sex one evening in a karaoke bar - he comes to a sticky end.
Nancy Jr. - Fat Charlie travels to Florida to dispense with his filial duties, and is told by Mrs. Callyanne Higgler, a family friend that late Nancy Sr. was actually the reincarnation of the West African spider god Anansi. And before Charlie can start to believe he maybe endowed with some of the magical qualities his father had- the lady dampens his spirits and tells him of his spider-brother-Spider. In a drunken stupor, Charlie whispers to a lil’ arachnid he’d love a visit from his sibling.
In the morning Spider pays a visit, stepping in and out through an old picture. The swashbuckling, suave sibling is saddened and shocked to hear of their father’s demise. That evening, the two brothers drown their sorrows in a pub, and the next morning, as Charlie misses work, nursing a hangover, Spider appears in his guise at work. Here he pushes back the rug to see the dirt beneath it; the Messrs. Graham Coat Agency has been embezzling funds galore. He also discovers his brother’s lovely fiancée Rose Noah.
Performing his duties to the T, Spider sheds light on the financial irregularities at the Agency, and in order to get him out of the way, a fat cheque and holiday are planned. Off course this is a case of mistaken identity, doppelgänger gone bad. Fed up, Charlie travels once more to Orlando, to seek Mrs. Higgler’s help - she leads him to her friend, who, with some abracadabra-meets-bibbity-babbity-boo black magic, gets him to travel back in time - where he confronts creatures unwilling to help him, thanks to Nancy Sr. being such a cad and what not.
Finally, Bird Woman agrees to help in exchange for the Anansi bloodline. On the other hand, Maeve Livingstone, a harassed client of the Agency confronts Grahame with regard to her late husband’s swindled royalties, threatening to sue him. The wily serpent agrees to return the money, and as the poor woman is about to leave - he kills her mercilessly, hiding the body in a closet. The woman haunts the Agency, and refuses to go into the afterlife unless she is able to get her hands on Grahame Coats. She even meets the ghost of Anansi, who teaches her to use cleverness and skill instead of strength, to get what she wants.
Charlie is arrested for fraudulent financial practices and Spider tells the truth about himself - she is inconsolable and unforgiving. She sails away on a cruise with her mother, when she chances upon Grahame, and the pair is kidnapped by him, imprisoned in his basement. Spider is now aware that the constant attacks on his person have something to do with Charlie - he spirits him out in guise of his attorney Mr.Merryman, to Skopsie, where they reach the conclusion that they both stand to lose if the Anansi bloodline is compromised.
Charlie is freed from prison, and he helps recover Maeve’s body; he seeks Mrs. Higgler’s help to solve his travails, but is directed to Mrs. Dunwiddy who explains how she hexed him, that Spider and Charlie are two sides of the same coin. This charges Charlie to seek his ‘other half’, restores his tongue and the bloodline. However, Grahame is taken over by the fearsome Tiger, who plots to kill Rosie, thus getting even with Spider. But Anansi and Maeve get the better of him, and he is eliminated in the real world.
Charlie, heady with success, still at the beginning of Time, with the aid of Spider, shuts Grahame Coats and Tiger in a cave, sealing their fates. Coats is now renamed “Stoats”, in keeping with his weasel - like nature. Charlie relinquishes all emotional ties with Rose, and she marries Spider - they have no children, an act of rebellion to antagonize his mother-in-law; Charlie finds a soul mate in Daisy Day, a policewoman he met at the pub, they have a son Marcus. Meanwhile, old Anansi looks on from beyond with approval at his offspring.
Neil Gaiman’s pen successfully blends fantasy with myriad shades of reality, lending an air of veracity. The Author has to his credit over twenty fantasy novels and short stories. He is known for his connotative and indirect approach in writing, most of his works are monomyths, where the hero is transported from this world to the next, where he, dauntless and unafraid, battles forces beyond his control.
The Book won the Locus, Mythopoeic, YALSA ALEX, and British Fantasy Awards in 2006. It has also been adapted as a radio play for the BBC World Service.
Performing his duties to the T, Spider sheds light on the financial irregularities at the Agency, and in order to get him out of the way, a fat cheque and holiday are planned. Off course this is a case of mistaken identity, doppelgänger gone bad. Fed up, Charlie travels once more to Orlando, to seek Mrs. Higgler’s help - she leads him to her friend, who, with some abracadabra-meets-bibbity-babbity-boo black magic, gets him to travel back in time - where he confronts creatures unwilling to help him, thanks to Nancy Sr. being such a cad and what not.
Finally, Bird Woman agrees to help in exchange for the Anansi bloodline. On the other hand, Maeve Livingstone, a harassed client of the Agency confronts Grahame with regard to her late husband’s swindled royalties, threatening to sue him. The wily serpent agrees to return the money, and as the poor woman is about to leave - he kills her mercilessly, hiding the body in a closet. The woman haunts the Agency, and refuses to go into the afterlife unless she is able to get her hands on Grahame Coats. She even meets the ghost of Anansi, who teaches her to use cleverness and skill instead of strength, to get what she wants.
Charlie is arrested for fraudulent financial practices and Spider tells the truth about himself - she is inconsolable and unforgiving. She sails away on a cruise with her mother, when she chances upon Grahame, and the pair is kidnapped by him, imprisoned in his basement. Spider is now aware that the constant attacks on his person have something to do with Charlie - he spirits him out in guise of his attorney Mr.Merryman, to Skopsie, where they reach the conclusion that they both stand to lose if the Anansi bloodline is compromised.
Charlie is freed from prison, and he helps recover Maeve’s body; he seeks Mrs. Higgler’s help to solve his travails, but is directed to Mrs. Dunwiddy who explains how she hexed him, that Spider and Charlie are two sides of the same coin. This charges Charlie to seek his ‘other half’, restores his tongue and the bloodline. However, Grahame is taken over by the fearsome Tiger, who plots to kill Rosie, thus getting even with Spider. But Anansi and Maeve get the better of him, and he is eliminated in the real world.
Charlie, heady with success, still at the beginning of Time, with the aid of Spider, shuts Grahame Coats and Tiger in a cave, sealing their fates. Coats is now renamed “Stoats”, in keeping with his weasel - like nature. Charlie relinquishes all emotional ties with Rose, and she marries Spider - they have no children, an act of rebellion to antagonize his mother-in-law; Charlie finds a soul mate in Daisy Day, a policewoman he met at the pub, they have a son Marcus. Meanwhile, old Anansi looks on from beyond with approval at his offspring.
Neil Gaiman’s pen successfully blends fantasy with myriad shades of reality, lending an air of veracity. The Author has to his credit over twenty fantasy novels and short stories. He is known for his connotative and indirect approach in writing, most of his works are monomyths, where the hero is transported from this world to the next, where he, dauntless and unafraid, battles forces beyond his control.
The Book won the Locus, Mythopoeic, YALSA ALEX, and British Fantasy Awards in 2006. It has also been adapted as a radio play for the BBC World Service.
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