Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (edition 2006)

sigh

I love this book! I really do. It's one of those books I'll pull off the shelf every couple of years to read, and giggle all the way through each and every time, because it's just that funny. Realistically, you'd think a story about the Apocalypse really wouldn't be that funny, but the such capable hands as those of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, it's laugh out loud hysterical.

Aziraphale (the angel protecting the Garden of Eden) and Crowley (once known as Crawley, the infamous snake of Eden) have been living comfortably in modern times, having become fast friends after the whole Adam and Eve thing. When it comes time for the Apocalypse to take place, they decide to maybe try to put it off a couple more years, since they rather like living in the human world. Unfortunately, there was a mix up with the Antichrist when he was born (Warlock, who is thought to be the Antichrist, is a wildly normal young boy, while the real Antichrist, Adam Young, is living in the English countryside with his wildly normal family, not having any idea as to his true nature), and now there is a race on to find the real Antichrist before everything basically goes to hell. The Four Horsemen are trying to find the Antichrist (Pollution has replaced Pestilence since penicillin was discovered), Aziraphale and Crowley are looking for him, and meanwhile all the incredibly accurate prophecies of Agnes Nutter are coming true. And what do the Tibetans and aliens have to do with anything?

I think part of what makes the story so funny is that it doesn't try to take itself seriously at all. Gaiman and Pratchett never try to take the story farther that what it is, a comedy, and don't try to make anything really philosophical about it, so regardless of your actual beliefs or feelings about the Apocalypse, this story would be accessible to you and still funny. It is full of Gaiman and Pratchett's trademark wit and cleverness, even though it was written respectively early on in their careers, so it's not always a polished as it could be, which is also part of its charm

If you're looking for something that you don't really need to think too much about and is funny and clever, I really can't recommend Good Omens enough. Read it. You won't be disappointed! ( )

I am not a Neil Gaiman fan and his influence definitely shows in the this book. The story (if you can find it) seems to be all over the place. I really didn't like this book, but I am a Terry Pratchett fan so I might give it another chance... someday. ( )

It's hard not to like a book in which an angel and a demon find that not only are they reluctant to destroy the lifestyle, places and people they've been living amongst and enjoying, they kind of like each other too and so decide to work together to avoid the coming apocalypse. ( )

It started off great. The concept is amazing and amusing, characters are intriguing and are starting to develop well, the whole idea of satirizing religion and how people take it seriously in such intelligent and 'elegant' way, by imagining what could possibly go wrong if the religious predictions were to come true, is refreshing, and from the moment I started reading the book, I couldn't put it down because I so wanted to see what will happen next, and still, despite that, there were many parts where I just stopped and paused, cause the whole story is full of ideas and things that just make you wonder and think about them, or explore them further if they have already crossed your mind. And when you laugh, you in a way laugh at yourself in the same way Adams makes you do in The Guide. But what disappointed me most, is the ending. It's like one third of the book is missing or something. Hills were shaking, a mouse was born. You expect something really special, and you get....hmm. Everything unfolded to quickly. Like they got bored with writing it, and the just wanted it to end. It was way to naïve and simple. The characters that were introduced in such a big way, so you expected them to do something big, and important simply vanished in a way that you start wondering why were they even there?! (I'm speaking of course about the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse, and I have to add that the concept of Pollution really amazed me since in the Bible the fourth rider besides Death, War and Famine is not so clearly defined as the other 3, so thumbs up for Gaiman's and Pratchett's interpretation, warning in a way). Like I said, generally, very amusing and intelligent, too bad about the sloppy ending. Otherwise, it would be whole 5 stars. (P.s. It would be really great if somehow they would change their minds and decided to write a sequel, so I'm hoping for that.) ( )

I've been selected to give away 24 copies of this wonderful novel as part of World Book Night 2012. Here's a link to my blog post about that: http://bit.ly/zkHnET. And here's an extract specifically about the book:

"[Good Omens] is a fantastically funny, witty, wicked take on the age-old (and frequently rather tired) tale of ponderous powers locked in a battle of good vs. evil. But there’s nothing turgid or trite about this version. In this one the angels and demons, formally avatars of opposition, turn out to have far more in common with each other than with their ineffable and absent bosses. The deep and imponderable mechanisms of apocalypse are about as reliable as a cheap watch. And humanity, supposedly no more than pawns in their grand game, manages to give a pretty good account of itself.

"Good Omens is a bravura collaboration by two great writers at the height of their powers. Gaiman’s feel for character, and his gift for not just retelling but subverting mythology to suit his own satirical ends, mashes up wonderfully with Pratchett’s mastery of the comic fantasy form. The plot spins at a dizzying pace through a series of mounting crises, charting the course from mistake through disaster to catastrophe, leaving you with a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach about what might be about to happen – even as you laugh out loud. It is that rarest of things, a comic horror novel." ( )