Good Omens

Good Omens is a great parody of The Omen. The devil (i.e. the snake who convinced Eve to eat the apple) and angel characters are lovably human, and no one is really evil–or if they are, they are evil in a way that doesn’t have real malice (see War, Famine, etc.). The Four Horsemen are delightfully modernized, and mirrored by Them (four mischievous children). There’s also a witchfinder and a witch. This book was co-written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, but it’s definitely written in Pratchett’s style, with many references that will be familiar to Discworld fans (it’s like this is a rough draft of the world building of Discworld, which, in a way, it was). There isn’t much of Gaiman’s creepy-yet-light-hearted darkness, except for the ending, which is ambiguous

Pratchett and Gaiman – does it get any better? Both creative geniuses and they are brilliant in Good Omens. What a wonderful way to spend a day!

How perfect is this? A book by two of my favorite authors was later made into a TV series starring two of my favorite actors. It’s like a gift from the universe specially made for me. And even better, it’s pretty amazing.

The Story
There is a lot going in Good Omens. We have three distinct storylines following the key players. First, there’s the main story of how an angel and a demon are trying to prevent the apocalypse because frankly life in the 20th century is everything they’d ever want it to be and they would rather not see it end.

Then, there’s the story of the boy who is supposed to be the Antichrist and bring about the apocalypse.

There’s also a thread of the story as we watch the four horsemen of the apocalypse organize themselves and set things into motion.

Lastly, I’m going to lump together the characters revolving around the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, a book of prophecies that is distinct from other books of prophecies for one reason alone – It’s 100% accurate, this includes the descendant of Agnes, Anathema Device (best name for a character, ever) Newton Pulsifer, and Witchfinder Sergent Shadwell.

We see the book in three main time periods; the events surrounding the placement of the baby Antichrist into a suitable family; the key points of the boy’s growing up when both the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley work to ensure he’s given a proper education so when the time comes for the apocalypse, he’s ready; and then the time when the apocalypse is supposed to happen.

As I said, there’s a lot going on here.

My Review
The one thing that I always find delightful in Pratchett’s books is his use of distinct and likable characters. We see loads of this here. The cast is absolutely massive in this book and yet each character is built in such a way that they walk fully formed off of the page. Take the demon Crowley, for example. He could have been played like a stereotypical villain and not been anything more than that. Instead, we have a man who loves his vintage Bentley (even if every cassette he tries to play in it in time turns into a Queen album), raises houseplants like children (which he sacrifices regularly to threaten the others to grow better, he is a demon after all), and created the M25 just to annoy humans.

Then, we mix all these amazing characters into a storyline that’s both so complicated and yet so simple which screams iconic Gaiman.

It’s a hard combination to pull off and yet, for me, was 100% successful in creating a delightful romp through something running just parallel enough to the truth that it can be enjoyed first while reading, but also again as you think about all the bits and how they fit together.

Recommendations
If you’re already a fan of Pratchett and Gaiman you’ll already know that they both love to walk on the edge of the acceptable and explore what is considered right and wrong and why. That said if reading about the Antichrist as a very real person, and worse, a child makes you a little squeamish, then this whole book might be a little too much for comfort.

Age recommendations – I’d stick this one to adult readers and the older teenagers they let play. Besides the playful religious overtones ranging into the questionable at times, there only a sprinkling of curse words, I think f*^# is said once, and the violence and romantic content is present but subdued. The reason I recommend older readers is that the story won’t make much sense without context and life experience.

I rate Good Omens 5/5 for its excellent characters, delightful unlikely situations, and the most unusual of friendships.

Firstly, cards on the table, I am a big fan of Neil Gaiman and not a fan, in any way, of Terry Pratchett. So I was not convinced I wanted to read this book as I seem to be the only one who never finds anything Terry wrote the least bit amusing.

Also, I streamed the series before I read the book and enjoyed the series so much I thought I would try the book.

What can I say, I wasn’t too surprised by the fact I didn’t laugh at most of it, just occasionally and in fact preferred the TV series. Normally I consider TV adaptation second always to a good book. Even Get Carter, which is a great movie, is not even close to the original book.

The plot is good, solid and holds together well, but there was no sense of wonderment in it, which is the usual feeling I get from a good Gaiman novel. That sense of encountering something magical.

Even the best line in the TV series relating to the Velvet Underground was removed. Instead, we got jokes about Queens greatest hits.

The high point was Crowley. He was well written and seemed to me to have the funniest line. Isnt there something about the Devil always has the best lines?

And another and minor complaint, I bought this book new and halfway through reading it the centre pages started to shed, like a dog as it approached summer. Was I the only one to receive a badly glued book?

One of my all time favourite books. I’ve read it so many times and still find things to enjoy. Great characters and truly funny set pieces.

I loved this book. I listened to the Audible version and found the reader to be just right.

The crazy but sometimes-silly imagination of Terry Pratchett, tempered by the often-dark writing of Neil Gaiman. The end of the world has never been imagined like this.

Another wonderful outrageous story, a reluctant demon and a minor angel find they have more in common with each other than their masters. When the Antichrist shows up, and Armageddon looms, they conceive the craziest plot imaginable: What if the final battle just… didn’t happen?

Crowly, the demon, is wonderfully wicked, terrorizing his houseplants. “What did I tell you about leaf spots? Say goodbye to the the rubber tree everybody!” Aziraphale, the angel, gets a little overenthusiastic being helpful sometimes, as with the woman whose bicycle got run over. “Oh, look, it doesn’t appear to be damaged at all.” Woman: “Yes, but I feel quite sure I didn’t own a 10-speed.”

The Amazon video adaptation of this book is worthy of the story, but, of course the book is even better.

So the hubby wanted to watch the show adaption. I told him I wasn’t watching it with him unless I read the book first. So after he read it, here we are!
This book was harder to read than I thought it would be. I thought I would fly through it, page after page, but it was a slow pace. I actually looked at my hubby and said,’it’s one of those ones you gotta read all the way through to get it, right?!’. He nodded and told me to stick with it. All the while, I was baffled at having to stick with a Gaiman novel…
I want to say when I got to the end that I had some sense of clarity and understanding but I can’t. While these characters were so well-crafted, witty and fun to read in dialogue, the story itself was lacking, confusing and all over the place. You can tell this book was written with two very different authors.
Oh, how I pray the show is not like the book. I have a friend who says the show is better but I’m on the fence after struggling with the book.
Definitely not my favorite Gaiman book, that is still The Ocean At The End Of The Lane. Read that one if you haven’t already.

A fun book, a quick, easy, enjoyable read that pokes fun at all sorts of things that seriously needed poking fun at.