Prepare to worship the deities of 'American Gods'

Belief is power in the world of American Gods. In Neil Gaiman's beloved novel -- and the lavish new Starz adaptation from Bryan Fuller and Michael Green -- gods exist because people believe in them, and as soon as we stop believing... well, you remember what Peter Pan told us about fairies. Unfortunately for the Old Gods -- mythological deities like Odin and Anubis, who were worshiped in earlier periods of civilization -- humans typically have a short attention span, and we're increasingly turning away from the holy figures of our pasts in favor of smartphones and binge-watching. Technology has become our new god, and that tension between the old and the new drives a lot of the drama in American Gods, as these mythic figures battle for relevance and the attention of humanity. SEE ALSO: 'American Gods' gives classic art a tech twist, because it already knows us way too well Our hapless protagonist, ex-con Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle), will meet dozens of gods on his journey, and we're not going to reveal them all here.