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Jun 04, 2008

Zerbe rated it:

Remember back when funny books were funny? Back before you went to college and found out that Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen weren't funny after all, but Samuel Beckett and Charles Dickens were hilarious? Remember when the words on the page didn't just make you smile wryly and shake your head in shame for humanity, but actually made you laugh out loud? Well, that's the kind of humor that Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's 1990 release Good Omens brims with, and it is so damn good.

The two More...

7 comments like (95 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2012

Keely rated it:

I read this book before I tried to tackle Pratchett on his own merit, so I may have to retroactively skew this review based upon what I now know. The book is enjoyable, but may suffer from the fact that it represents its two authors at what seems to be their most basic states.

There is no question as to the recognizability of both Gaiman's and Pratchett's respective styles here, but neither seems to add anything to the other. One of Gaiman's weaknesses is surely his general lack of hu More...

0 comments like (13 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

S rated it:

Oh. My. God.

This was one of the funniest books I have ever read. The writing was phenomenal and I could see myself and others I know in many of the quirky characters.

Good and Evil's earthly representatives discover that the time for the Apocalyse has arrived and they're not too happy about it. You see, they've grown to like life on Earth. And besides, Evil (with a capital 'E') itself couldn't possibly do worse things to mankind than what mankind does to itself.

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3 comments like (18 people liked it)

Mar 12, 2008

Kyle rated it:

This has got to be one of the funniest satires I've ever read. I suppose the closest comparison I could make is to describe it as a literary sibling to Dogma, but filtered through a distinctly British lense. That description doesn't really do the story justice, but that film definitely hits me in the same place as the book.
The whole premise, and I'm not giving much away here, begins with the accidental "mis-placement" of the infant Antichrist during a complex baby-swa More...

1 comment like (16 people liked it)

Dec 01, 2011

Kevin rated it:

I did not the idea of Pratchett and Gaiman writing a book together. Don't get me wrong, its not like I dion't like their writing, its just that combining the two of them did not work for. Its more like I only like certain books/topic along with certain humor of Pratchett.

5 comments like (8 people liked it)

Apr 14, 2008

Lena rated it:

I find if very difficult not to like a book about how plans for Armageddon hit a snag when a scatterbrained Satanic nun misplaces the Antichrist.

Many of the reviews of Good Omens compare it to Douglas Adams. There are some similarities in that much of the story occurs outside the bounds of normal reality, it's genuinely funny, and very British. But I found the overall tone to be softer, less snarky, and more intentionally philosophical in nature.

While the book is ve More...

8 comments like (14 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2008

Derek rated it:

This book was overall a huge disappointment for me to read. I'd heard so many good things about it and had been meaning to read it for years. When I finally started it, I was about 20 pages into it and I thought, "Yes, this is going to be one of the most entertaining books I've ever read." It was like reading The Hitchhiker's Guide for the first time again. It was witty and fast-paced and had so many brilliant things to say about society and religion. And then about halfway through, I More...

5 comments like (20 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Su rated it:

Wow, WHAT a fantastic book! Hilarious, hilarious, hilarious--this is the modern thinking man's (and woman's ^^) absolute book of delights! This book had me laughing my head off from page 1 all the way to the end, and it still had room to give us some worthwhile philosophical ideas.

Gaiman and Pratchett are not just masterful writers with fantastic writing styles and wit like you wouldn't believe, the parodic archetypes they take to be their personae dramatis are both so dead-on perfe More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Apr 03, 2010

Manny rated it:

I somehow ended up reading them both simultaneously. So I couldn't help wondering

What Madam Bovary Might Have Thought Of Good Omens

Three days later, a package arrived; there was no return address, but she immediately recognised Rodolphe's hand. It contained a paperback novel, whose title was Good Omens. Feverishly, she cast herself over it. Her English was poor, but, with the aid of a dictionary, she persevered and soon made great progress.

The more she read, t More...

12 comments like (47 people liked it)

Jan 15, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

Reviewed by Carrie Spellman for TeensReadToo.com

I love this book! The first time I came across it, it was hidden in a corner in a bookstore. It cried out to me. I had to take it home. I laughed so hard that I cried, more than once. I loved it so much I gave it away. Which is an extraordinarily difficult thing for me to do. But it wanted to be shared, and I can't deny a book its destiny. My brain, however, is not so capable of release. I had to buy it again. And read it over and over More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Aug 04, 2008

Ken rated it:

It is really hard to write good literary satire. Simple fact is that often satire goes too far over to the side of parody. When it crosses that line, it becomes bad mimicry rather than true satire. Think what This Is Spinal Tap would have been like if Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer just did an impression of the guys from Saxon – it would be funny for five minutes (if you actually knew who Saxon was) but ultimately the joke would get old. Over-parody leads to a stale joke More...

0 comments like (15 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2008

Robert rated it:

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (Ace, 1990)

So many people seem to consider this book the Second Coming of the Hitchhiker's Guide that I'm now scared to re-read Douglas Adams, for fear that my great enjoyment of the first three Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books was youthful folly rather than appreciation of great art.

Don't get me wrong, there are laugh-out-loud moments in Good Omens. But they are neither as frequent as they are in Gaiman's American Gods, nor a More...

1 comment like (11 people liked it)

Dec 19, 2010

Harun Harahap rated it:

Sebuah novel yang nyinyir, konyol dan lucu. Surga, Neraka, Kiamat bahkan Tuhan dijadikan sebuah permainan. Penulis membuat berbagai karakter yang lumayan unik di dalam novel ini. Misalnya saja karakter tokoh malaikat dan iblis. Dikarenakan mereka mengambil wujud manusia(lelaki), maka karakter mereka semakin kuat dan aneh. Iblis digambarkan begitu cool dan misterius serta mempunyai mobil yang sangat mewah dan sporty. Iblis menyumpah dengan kata-kata baik. Berlainan dengan Malaikat yang digambarka More...

10 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 20, 2011

Zeek rated it:

A book about Angels, Demons, An 11 year old Anti-Christ, Armageddon and the end of the world. It's sacrilegious & hilarious, with startling moments of insight about human nature and, through no fault of their own, theological truth. (Oh, not about the end of the world, but most definitely about the ineffable ways of God.)

Did I mention it's hilarious? I too literally laughed out loud while reading this book!

The story starts out at the very beginning when an Angel and a Demon h More...

6 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2011

Jacob rated it:

3 1/2 stars, but until Goodreads allows half-star ratings, I'll just round down because it wouldn't feel right giving this a 4. Anyway. Good book, funny, witty, charming (its greatest attribute, no doubt), but, in the end, nothing great. It's easy to pick up and get lost in, but it's also just as easy to put down and forget for a few days. Classic Pratchett and Gaiman, and a joy to have both together in one book (and you wonder what might have happened, if these two had kept collaborating on More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Sep 15, 2007

Platoeatssouls rated it:

So, funny story. I was reading this book (re-reading, really) during a recent training session for my job (a fairly tedious process - the training, that is - which involves sitting in front of a computer for long hours listening to boring presentations about the software). The guy who was sitting next to me was reasonably attractive and rather chatty, and he looked over and said, "What are you reading?"

"Good Omens," I said, and seeing that he obviously had no id More...

0 comments like (12 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Aaron rated it:

I blame this book for my poor performance in Philosophy 101 at OSU. I picked up a copy of it to have something to read at lunch one afternoon from the now defunct Long's Bookstore. A book about the end of the world seemed to be appropriate light reading at the time. It had me from the first pages where it listed the dramatis personae. It introduced Hastur, a fallen angel and duke of hell. Then, Liguer, a likewise fallen angel and duke of hell. Then, Crowley, an angel who didn't so much fall as s More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Jen rated it:

I actually feel a little bad giving this 2 stars, since I see so many reviews of people who loved this book. Unfortunately, I'm just not one of them.

I usually like Pratchett's work, and there are a few comic touches that I liked here, but overall the unbelievably slow pace of the latter half of this story nearly drove me bonkers. It skips over about 10 years in a few chapters, and then camps out at 6 hours 'til doomsday for hundreds of pages. The dialogue of the children was tiresom More...

1 comment like (12 people liked it)

Aug 18, 2010

Lady Moorchild rated it:

Don't get me wrong. I understand this is a surprisngly low review, and I was given nothing but positive reviews on this book; and while I admit it's quite good, the humour never seemed to appeal to me. I am a fan of Gaiman's work and I was highly anticipating my chance to listen to Good Omens on a lonely roadtrip. While I had a few laughs here and there, I cannot say I found it as hilarious as Hitchhiker's Guide, or as charming as Gaiman's other fantasy pieces. The world was appealing, the siuta More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Aug 26, 2008

Christina rated it:

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett are pretty kick-ass as individuals. When they get together, though...holy crap. I've read this book five or six times over the years and it always makes my face hurt from laughing so hard. It's even better if you've read the Bible, especially the Book of Revelations. Here's an example: what if the Antichrist was switched at birth with a normal human kid and grew up in a normal British middle-class family? The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse become the Four Motorcy More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Mar 24, 2009

SomePig rated it:

Warning: Contains mild spoilers

When I first started reading this book, it reminded me incredibly of Hitchhiker's Guide, as far as its sensibility and humor. However, as I continued to read, I discovered that I like it far better than Hitchhiker's. In all fairness, I haven't read Hitchhiker's in years and perhaps, when I did read it, I wasn't old enough to catch its subtleties. Perhaps I am biased because of the subject of the spoof: I far prefer the apocalypse to sci-fi. Perhaps More...

5 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 06, 2011

Ivon rated it:

Sejujurnya, aku bingung kenapa buku seperti ini bisa terbit, kurasa beberapa alasan diantaranya adalah:
1. Isi buku yang meledakkan tawa; nyaris seperti membaca sebuah fanfiction yang ditulis oleh seseorang yang berpengetahuan luas namun setengah serius menulisnya (selayaknya fanfiction dimanapun)

2. Karakter si malaikat dan iblis, mudah sekali menjadikan salah satunya sebagai karakter favorit (atau keduanya sekaligus; dan aku jadi ingin menggambar kedua karakter ini)

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0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jul 09, 2009

Richard rated it:

This was the SciFi selection for the Goodreads SciFi and Fantasy Book Club for the month of July 2009. Visit this link to see all of the discussions, group member reviews, etc.

I feel a little bad giving this only three stars, seeing how fond many people are of it — but three stars is "liked it", and I can't dredge up the enthusiasm for "really liked it."

There is a certain kind of "funny" that I often don't "get" — or more precisely, More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Apr 22, 2011

± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± rated it:

I really wished I liked this book as much as other people. I wish I found it "uproariously funny", as I recently heard it called.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the book - far from it. But it's just not my one of my faves from either contributor. And there was one thing I noticed in rereading it that I'm not entirely sure I picked up on the first time - none of the characters, aside from the Them, are really necessary for the climax. All this time and energy is spent o More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 07, 2008

Amy rated it:

This is one of those books that really needs the half star rating - I gave it 5 stars, but it probably should be a 4.5. I decided to round up...
This is a fun book. Anything that pokes fun at Revelations and Armageddon is right up my alley - I've noticed a lot of comparisons to Douglass Adams, and this was reminiscent of the Hitchhiker's Guide, with quirky British humor and bizarre scenes.
This was very much a character-driven book - and the characters were all balanced in a strang More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 11, 2008

Icats rated it:

I had the honor of getting to go see Eddie Izzard last week (awesome!) and his show and this book complimented each other nicely.

Good Omens is a story about Armageddon, demons, angels, and prophecies. The world is going to end this Saturday; the Divine Plan has been set in motion. However, you know that old saying “The best-laid plans of mice and men/often go awry,” or in this case “The best-laid prophecies of the Almighty and the Prince of Darkness for the end of the world may not More...

5 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 18, 2007

Martine rated it:

I have to admit I prefer Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett when they're each doing their own thing, but even so this collaborative effort is heaps of fun. It's about Armageddon, or rather the prevention thereof by a fussy angel and a cool demon. Needless to say, the angel and the demon aren't actually supposed to avert Armageddon, but they kind of like living on Earth and don't want to jeopardise their comfy lives, which would probably come to an end if the world itself were to do so. So when they More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 14, 2007

Jill added it

When a scatterbrained Satanist nun goofs up a baby-switching scheme and delivers the infant Antichrist to the wrong couple, it's just the beginning of the comic errors in the divine plan for Armageddon which this fast-paced novel by two British writers zanily details. Aziraphale, an angel who doubles as a rare-book dealer, and Crowley, a demon friend who's assigned to the same territory, like life on Earth too much to allow the long-planned war between Heaven and Hell to happen. They set out to More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 20, 2007

Beboots rated it:

Good Omens is a comedy about the apocalypse, written by my two fantasy author overlords: Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. It is sheer brilliance; from Mr.Gaiman, we have all the wonderful mythological references and sheer creativity, and from Mr.Pratchett we have all the humour (and humourous footnotes) you could ever want, and even more sheer creativity.
It switches between several groups of people; my favorite of which are The Them (a group of four young children collectively called as s More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 30, 2007

Beckett rated it:

This book was without a doubt one of the funniest books I've ever read. Not only that, but it's theology and philosophical world view is incredibly profound. I've not read many books (if any) that have been able to incorporate such a high level of humor juxtaposed with a deep and meaningful plot that sheds light upon so much spiritual darkness. The story is about an angel (the flaming-sword weilding guard at the entrance to Eden) and a demon (the snake in the garden - who many theologians agr More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)