Good Omens

How would you feel if you were a supernatural being enjoying the XX century on Earth when Heaven and Hell decide it's time to bring on the Apocalypse? Angel Aziraphale enjoys his bookshop on Earth very much and after so many centuries of companionship he even learnt to appreciate the bon vivant demon Crowley. In this way, they are both very disappointed to learn that the Antichrist was born and that in eleven years' time the Earth will be destroyed. Since they both believe they know more about humans than their counterparts (above and below), they take it to themselves to try and stop the Armageddon. But the Antichrist seems to be missing and people, being people, are not keen on letting the Earth go just yet.

I've loved this book since the first time I read it so many years ago and it's amazing that it keeps growing on me. Maybe knowing the story helps to savour each paragraph more each time. The writing style is very Pratchett but the core of the story is very Gaiman - there's no way these two together could go wrong. The book is hilarious and you'll find yourself laughing out loud or trying to read passages out loud to people that have no idea of what you're talking about - it is that good. And maybe while reading this story you'll learn something about caring for our planet and humankind. Maybe.

"And there never was an apple, in Adam's opinion, that wasn't worth the trouble you got into for eating it."

How would you feel if you were a supernatural being enjoying the XX century on Earth when Heaven and Hell decide it's time to bring on the Apocalypse? Angel Aziraphale enjoys his bookshop on Earth very much and after so many centuries of companionship he even learnt to appreciate the bon vivant demon Crowley. In this way, they are both very disappointed to learn that the Antichrist was born and that in eleven years' time the Earth will be destroyed. Since they both believe they know more about humans than their counterparts (above and below), they take it to themselves to try and stop the Armageddon. But the Antichrist seems to be missing and people, being people, are not keen on letting the Earth go just yet.

I've loved this book since the first time I read it so many years ago and it's amazing that it keeps growing on me. Maybe knowing the story helps to savour each paragraph more each time. The writing style is very Pratchett but the core of the story is very Gaiman - there's no way these two together could go wrong. The book is hilarious and you'll find yourself laughing out loud or trying to read passages out loud to people that have no idea of what you're talking about - it is that good. And maybe while reading this story you'll learn something about caring for our planet and humankind. Maybe.

"And there never was an apple, in Adam's opinion, that wasn't worth the trouble you got into for eating it."

A fun book to read that gives a humorous spin on the "end of the world" type of story. The story starts with two supernatural characters, the angel, Aziraphale, and the demon, Crowley, meeting after Adam and Eve are evicted from the Garden of Eden. As the years past, they find they like each other and come to a gentlemen's agreement that sees them doing enough to please their respective authorities (Heaven and Hell), while keeping the peace between themselves.

But it comes to an end when Crowley find he has to deliver the anti-Christ to a devilish nunnery, where the anti-Christ is to be swapped with another baby and then raised in the ways of evil (or good) until he is ready to end the world. But things go wrong when the wrong babies were swapped (without Crowley's knowledge). Years later, just days before the end of the world is due, the mistake is discovered and now both Aziraphale and Crowley desperately hunt for the real anti-Christ in the hope of stopping him, for both have grown rather fond of the world as it is and there is no telling what an anti-Christ that wasn't 'raised properly' might do.

While that is happening, other supernatural events being to take place. The four horsemen of the Apocalypse begin to gather (with one being humorously replaced by another due to an advancement by mankind). A strange book, "The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch" is lost and found and shown, unlike other books filled with prophecies, to be actually able to predict the future: only as viewed by a witch from the past, so the descriptions of future events are rather unusual. It is also rather disorganized.

So things come to a climax when the anti-Christ gets revealed and all the characters converge on a nice little spot in England in order to ensure or prevent the end of the world from happening.

Written by two authors well known from their supernatural and humorous fiction, this is a fun book to read, filled with interesting characters and situations that should get quite a few chuckles out of the reader.