Rave Review: "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Quick Summary

Type: Novel

Genre: Fantasy, humor

Back Cover: "According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter - the world's only totally reliable guide to the future - the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just after tea...

People have been predicting the end of the world almost from its very beginning, so it’s only natural to be sceptical when a new date is set for Judgement Day. This time though, the armies of Good and Evil really do appear to be massing. The four Bikers of the Apocalypse are hitting the road. But both the angels and demons – well, one fast-living demon and a somewhat fussy angel – would quite like the Rapture not to happen.

And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist…"

Read Time: 2 days

Rating: 5 stars

Review

I watched the TV show before I read the book, so I knew the general plot of the story before even starting the first page. Since I enjoyed the show so much, I was pleased to see how well (overall) the show had kept faithful to the book. The show added some elements, of course, and subtracted others, but the core story I enjoyed was there.

Good Omens: the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch was hilarious. Because of the Discworld series, I already knew that I liked Pratchett's humor, but maybe it's time for me to check out some of Gaiman's books because they collaborated really well on this book.

Some of the things I enjoyed from the show which were not in the book were the fun vignettes of Aziraphale and Crowley collaborating through the ages, as well as their scheme to get out of trouble for helping to avoid the apocalypse. However, I am very aware that Neil Gaiman was consulted on the show, so I have no doubt that he signed off or even contributed to those scenes.

Some of the things that I enjoyed in the book that I missed from the show was the signs of the apocalypse (the raining fish) and the ride of the Horsemen. The ride of the Horsemen - and their storylines, for that matter - were a lot of fun and refreshing to see, especially since so much of the book I recognize from the show (again, very faithful adaptation).

Overall, a lot of fun to read and definitely a 5-star read.