...gods, religions and national boundaries are absolutely imaginary. They don't tend to exist. As soon as you pull back half a mile and look down at the Earth there are no national boundaries. There aren't even national boundaries when you get down and walk around. They're just imaginary lines we draw on maps. I just get fascinated by people who assume that things that are imaginary have no relevance to their lives.

He later became a fan of science fiction reading the works of authors as diverse as Alan MooreSamuel R. Gaiman has not written a direct sequel to American Gods but he has revisited the characters. In the late 1980s he wrote Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion in what he calls a "classic English humour" style.

His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust American Gods Coraline and The Graveyard Book. Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (pron.