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Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous
This is great. I like Umberto Eco, a blend of religious themed and historical fiction, combining all my favorite boring subjects into novel format. The Name of the Rose is better, but this has been a great read so far. Interestingly it connects Byzantine Orthodox beef with Latin Catholics, something I am a bit familiar with as an Orthodox Christian 
Wait. NEW Neil Gaiman? I want it. Is it epic
like American Gods or just OK like Anansi Boys?
Either way I have to order it right away!!
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Dude, of course there's a new Neil Gaiman. It is, disappointingly, only 193 pages or something... It's also completely separate from American Gods as far as I can tell, and though it feels almost like a more stylized, clever take on a children's book, it's one of the scariest things he's ever written. I'm taking it very slow, especially because it's so short, so I may be off in the long run, but despite its nostalgic childhood narrative, it has malevolent overtone that makes it a very tense and anxious read. My god, what that man can do with words.
Anyway, of course it's got a mythological foundation (I think) but this time it seems closer to Pagan faerie than to any of the more obvious cultural myths and archetypes seen in American Gods and Anansi Boys. Like a cautionary tale a Pagan mother might tell her children to horrify them out of doing something naughty.
You and I seem to have similar I interests. Did you know that (according to Goodreads, and some other super credible sources?) there is an entire sub-sub genre of science fiction/fantasy/historical fiction that is completely devoted to theologically themed realist allegories, with some supernatural and/or heavily speculative element?
I too love religion and history, but psychology and cognitive/behavioral science, shot through a prism of speculation, is the big kicker for me. So this genre, which includes books by authors ranging from Gaiman, Gene Wolfe, China Mieville, to Dan Brown (yeah, I know), Susanna Clarke, Gordon Dahlquist, and
Tom Wolfe. I wish I remembered it's name. Theological Science Fiction sounds really awful, so having a cool sub-pop name works for me.