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Good Omens

by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author), Terry Pratchett

4.27 of 5 stars 4.27 · rating details · 145,255 ratings · 6,953 reviews

Pratchett (of Discworld fame) and Gaiman (of Sandman fame) may seem an unlikely combination, but the topic (Armageddon) of this fast-paced novel is old hat to both. Pratchett's wackiness collaborates with Gaiman's morbid humor; the result is a humanist delight to be savored and reread again and again. You see, there was a bit of a mixup when the Antichrist was born, due in...more

Paperback, 367 pages

Published May 1st 1996 by Ace (first published 1990)

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Mar 28, 2013 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: well-i-think-its-funny, science-fiction, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, linguistics-and-philosophy, parody-homage, story-review, pooh-dante

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, the greater her bewilderment became....more

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Dec 30, 2012 Nataliya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, excellent-reads, pratchett, 2012-reads

In my personal hierarchy of books, this one comes a close second after Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. What can I say - like father, like son.

"It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people."

In a way, I can view this book as my own personal therapy session¹ - that is, in addition to it being a hilarious dry-humor tak...more
In my personal hierarchy of books, this one comes a close second after Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. What can I say - like father, like son.

"It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people."

In a way, I can view this book as my own personal therapy session¹ - that is, in addition to it being a hilarious dry-humor take on Armageddon and the ever-dual nature of humanity, its highs and lows and our ability to be both, frequently almost at the same time.

¹ As a kid, I had a habit of getting into the books clearly not meant for my age - like, for instance, The Omen, featuring the world's most infamous tricycle. My eight-year-old self was petrified. For months, I had nightmares, was scared of dogs, mistrustful of tricycles and had an irrational dislike of the number "666". Eight-year-olds with overactive imaginations are really not the intended audience of that book, after all.

WARNING: THERE WILL BE MILD SPOILERS. BECAUSE I CAN.

As predicted by the titular 17th century witch Agnes Nutter in her extremely ~~nice~~ accurate book of prophecies, handed down through centuries to her last living "professional descendant" Anathema Device, Armageddon is quickly approaching. The four Horsepersons of the Apocalypse have set out on their way - that must mean things are getting serious.

- You're Hells Angels, then? What chapter are you from?"[...]
- REVELATIONS, CHAPTER SIX.
-----------
“Death and Famine and War and Pollution continued biking towards Tadfield. And Grievous Bodily Harm, Cruelty To Animals, Things Not Working Properly Even After You've Given Them A Good Thumping but secretly No Alcohol Lager, and Really Cool People travelled with them.”

And this upcoming major event is a source of some serious worry for eternal-enemies-turned-reluctant-friends Aziraphale(An angel, and a part-time rare book dealer) and Crowley (An Angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards), the duo who, after six thousand years, have "gone native" and would infinitely prefer this world to the future where either side wins - the future (oh the horror!) without good music or bookshops or sushi restaurants. And so the unlikely allies decide to band together to prevent the end of the world.

"That's how it goes, you think you're on top of the world, and suddenly they spring Armageddon on you."

Except things do not go as planned.

...

(The lovely images above can be seen here and here).

You see, the young 'Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness', due to an unforeseen turn of circumstances, happens to grow up outside of the influence of either celestial/underworld force. Aptly named Adam, he grows up, as his name suggests, perfectly human, in a little corner of paradise - the English village of Lower Tadfield. But Agnes Nutter is never wrong, and as her prophesies suggest, shortly after Adam's eleventh birthday (on which he DOES get a much wanted ~~Hellhound~~ Dog) the events of the end of the world are set in their inevitable, ineffable motion.

But Adam's essential humanity puts a new spin on this old story:

"Something was happening inside his head.

It was aching. Thoughts were arriving there without him having to think them. Something was saying, You can do something, Adam Young. You can make it all better. You can do anything you want. And what was saying this to him was ... him. Part of him, deep down. Part of him that had been attached to him all these years and not really noticed, like a shadow. It was saying: yes, it's a rotten world. It could have been great. But now it's rotten, and it's time to do something about it. That's what you're here for. To make it all better."

The problem with the Antichrist is that he, a human eleven-year-old boy, is fueled, unexpectedly, by Love and righteous indignation. He loves this world, and he, coming into his power, wants a very human thing - he wants to make it better. Don't we all? But do (and can?) his good intentions make any difference in the way things have been prophesied to go?

"It's like you said the other day," said Adam. "You grow up readin' about pirates and cowboys and spacemen and stuff, and jus' when you think the world's all full of amazin' things, they tell you it's really all dead whales and chopped-down forests and nucular waste hangin' about for millions of years. 'Snot worth growin' up for, if you ask my opinion."

If there is one thing this book gets through it's the belief in humanity. Not in its wickedness or goodness or anything like that. Just humanity, in all the multifaceted nature of it, in its righteousness and wretchedness, love and cruelty, strengths and weaknesses, stupidity and wisdom.

"And just when you'd think they were more malignant than ever Hell could be, they could occasionally show more grace than Heaven ever dreamed of. Often the same individual was involved. It was this free-will thing, of course. It was a bugger."

Sometimes, maybe, when left to our own devices, when not preached to in one way or another, we can perhaps develop into flawed but hopefully decent beings - like Adam, named after the first human in the prophetic fashion, after all. Because what makes life interesting, as a particular angel and demon would loudly attest to, is precisely the combination of good and evil, nice and nasty, mean and kind that we all possess, in the precarious and miraculous balance that is the true treasure of humanity. Because it makes us act like people.

"I don't see what's so triflic about creating people as people and then gettin' upset 'cos they act like people,” said Adam severely. “Anyway, if you stopped tellin' people it's all sorted out after they're dead, they might try sorting it all out while they're alive."

And maybe, just maybe, due to our always-balancing nature on the borderline between two conflicting universes that we, humans, inhabit, we will be able to eventually figure it out - without anyone messing with our heads, filling them with the Good or the Evil, endlessly preaching what they believe to be true - but simple letting us be ourselves. Maybe we will figure things out on our own.

"Adam stood smiling at the two of them, a small figure perfectly poised exactly between Heaven and Hell.

Crowley grabbed Aziraphale's arm. "You know what happened?" he hissed excitedly. "He was left alone! He grew up human! He's not Evil Incarnate or Good Incarnate, he's just ... a human incarnate."

==============================
....

....

The brilliant Pratchett/Gaiman duo provides everything these two authors are famous for - easy readability, dry intelligent sarcasm-infused humor, seamless plot that pushes the limits of imagination while staying perfectly grounded in (albeit fantastical) reality, and first and foremost, very apt observations about human nature, as well as (in a true Pratchett-like way) a complete irreverence for the set-in-stone beliefs and ideas. At times it's easy for those familiar with their respective styles to tell which one of them penned which part, at times it's impossible - but it doesn't matter as their writing styles blend together so well, so seamlessly, so seemingly effortlessly.

This is an excellent book - both funny and serious, at times utterly unpredictable, at times baffling, at times logical. It's a pleasure to read, and a pleasure to seriously reflect upon after having a good laugh. And for all of that it gets the ineffable five stars.

He stared down at the golden curls of the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness.

"You know," he concluded, after a while, "I think he actually looks like an Adam."

(less)

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Feb 21, 2008 Derek rated it 3 of 5 stars

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 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 realized tha...more

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Jun 04, 2008 Zerbe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 British aut...more 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 British authors were both relatively unknown at the time of their partnership, having met when Gaiman (working as a journalist at the time) interviewed Pratchett on the success of his first major novel, The Colour of Magic. The two became quick friends and proceeded to write the 398 pages of the now cult classic novel by sending floppy disks through the mail and calling each other on the phone. Of course, that story is all explained in the appendix, provided you don't pick up an original printing of the book (if you do do that, however, you can probably sell it for quite a bit of change, so don't be discouraged by your lack of author interviews).

But the real story at hand is, of course, the narrative of Good Omens itself--the tale of two friends, a demon named Crowley and an angel named Aziraphale who have spent all of human existence on earth and have rather come to like it, so when it comes time for the Apocalypse, they try to do whatever is in their powers to stop it. The cast of co-stars can only described as "vast," with some characters only popping in long enough for Aziraphale to take over their body or to go on a shooting rampage. The main other characters though, include: the Antichrist himself, a young boy named Adam, and his gang of friends; a witchfinder named Newton Pulsifer and his love interest, Anathema Device, who just happens to be a witch (and one whose ancestor, Agnes Nutter was burned at the stake by Newton's great-great-etc. grandfather, Thou-Shalt-Not-Commit-Adultery Pulsifer.

Perhaps you're beginning to pick up on that sense of humor I mentioned?

That's what makes this book so great. I'm sort of a sucker for religious humor (and religious horror movies), and I've read a lot of books about the End Days. This one has to rank near the top, maybe even as the downright finest. It's humor ranges from simple little comedic bits to social commentary on religion and the human race--but no matter how big or small the joke is, every one of them is attended to equally, and they are all funny because of that. Though some of the British jokes and references flew by me (a problem the authors usually account for in their humorous footnotes), I really did enjoy this book, all the way from the plot down to how it was written. It really is an impressive feat for a co-authored book to feel so seemless (this honestly almost puts shame to the excellent Stephen King/Peter Straub double-ups, The Talisman and Black House).

So let down your guard, pack away that condescension that your professors poured into you Lit class after Lit class, and resist the urge to turn up your nose at any novel you can buy in trade paperback form in airports for $7.99 (but higher in Canada--oh wait, not anymore!). I actually laughed out loud as I read Good Omens. A few times, to be completely honest. And that's pretty impressive for a cynical, jaded old bastard like me.(less)

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May 25, 2007 Keely rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, humor, novel, reviewed, contemporary-fantasy, uk-and-ireland

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 humor. Anythin...more

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Sep 07, 2007 asteroidbuckle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone except those with no sense of humor or those who take the Book of Revelations seriously

Shelves: funny-satirical

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.

And the antichrist's name is Adam,...more

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Dec 01, 2011 Kevin Xu rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: re-read, 35-until-becoming-an-aficionados

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.

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Mar 12, 2008 Kyle Nakamura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who doesn't take their spirituality too seriously

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-swapping procedure intended t...more

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Apr 14, 2008 Lena rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

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 very entertaining, it also ask...more

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Aug 16, 2007 Su rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Every intelligent human being with a sense of humor

Shelves: unforgettable-heroes, bl-friendly, greatest-books-ever, recommended

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 perfect and hilar...more 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 perfect and hilarious in their stereotypes and STILL manage to take on a life and shape of their own.

So, the story starts off back in the Garden of Eden, the evening after Adam and Eve's Fall. The serpent, Crawly (who, dissatisfied with Adam's creativity, changes his name to Crowley =P) is chatting with the angelic Guardian of the East Gate, Aziraphale, who is fretting over whether it was all right to give away his flaming sword to the wretched human couple as they were herded out of Eden ("well, they looked so cold, and she's expecting already, so..." ^^). Both are wondering if they've done the right (or, in Crowley's case, the wrong) thing and Crowley, musing about why God would put the tree of forbidden fruit directly in the path of the humans if he truly meant them not to partake of it, says joking, "Wouldn't it be funny if we both got it wrong? Maybe I did the *right* thing and you did the *wrong* thing. Wouldn't that be funny?" To which Aziraphale says stiffly, "No, not really."

So begins a centuries-long friendship(ish) between the demon and angel, who are both assigned the same "beat" on earth (England =P). When 1999 rolls around and they are both summoned to do their parts in the ending of the world at the coming of the Antichrist so that Heaven and Hell can have their final duke-out, both decide they like earth and would rather not destroy it, thank you, and do their best to influence the child (whom Lucifer sends to be raised on earth) to be completely neither good nor bad in hopes that this will lead him to call off the war.

Naturally, due to several comedic intervensions like 3 golden-haired babies being born in the same hospital on the same night, Crowley and Aziraphale end up coaching the wrong child, and it's a mad race for everyone to find the real Antichrist (who is, by then, a rambunctious 11-year-old boy in Lower Tadfield, England) by the Judgment Day. Unsurprisingly, madness of the funniest order ensues. :)

I really take my hat off to our sharp-witted authors for managing to present the gray-toned (and, on ocassion, utterly topsy-turvy) moral make-up of all their characters, despite how connoted figures like angels, devils, and the Antichrist are in our minds. They make use of parodic oxymorons enough to put even a narrower-minded reader at ease in accepting the ultimately good (or perhaps, humanly good) actions of certain "diabolical" characters in the end. ^^

As you can probably guess, I loved this book the way I haven't loved a book in years, and I HIGHLY recommend it to all! ::huggles Crowley and Aziraphale to death:: ^____^(less)

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Dec 24, 2012 Simona Bartolotta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-and-co

Infine disse: «Non vedo cosa importa se è scritto o no. Non se riguarda le persone. Si può sempre cancellare».
La base aerea fu spazzata dalla brezza. Le schiere che si erano raccolte nel cielo che la sovrastava si dissolsero, come un miraggio.
Per un attimo, regnò lo stesso silenzio che doveva essersi respirato il giorno prima della Creazione.
Adam [l'Anticristo] rimase fermo a sorridere, una piccola sagoma in perfetto equilibrio tra Paradiso e Inferno.
Crowley afferrò Azraphel per un braccio. «Ti

...more

Infine disse: «Non vedo cosa importa se è scritto o no. Non se riguarda le persone. Si può sempre cancellare».
La base aerea fu spazzata dalla brezza. Le schiere che si erano raccolte nel cielo che la sovrastava si dissolsero, come un miraggio.
Per un attimo, regnò lo stesso silenzio che doveva essersi respirato il giorno prima della Creazione.
Adam [l'Anticristo] rimase fermo a sorridere, una piccola sagoma in perfetto equilibrio tra Paradiso e Inferno.
Crowley afferrò Azraphel per un braccio. «Ti rendi conto di quel che è successo?» sibilò agitato. «Lo hanno abbandonato! E' cresciuto come un essere umano! Non è l'incarnazione del Bene né del Male, è solo l'incarnazione di un essere... umano...»

Neil Gaiman e Terry Pratchett: mi inchino di fronte all'Accoppiata Vincente. Sono sempre stata abbastanza scettica nei riguardo dei libri scritti a quattro mani perché se c'è una cosa che non sopporto è lo stile rattoppato e il ritmo oscillante che potrebbero derivarne. Ebbene, in Buona Apocalisse a tutti! abbiamo l'esatto contrario. Le penne di Gaiman e Pratchett sembrano fatte per scrivere assieme (ma anche da sole non se la cavano affatto male), riuscendo a creare una storia ricca e affatto banale.
Lo sviluppo della trama è ineccepibile, colpi di scena si susseguono a colpi di scena senza mai risultare eccessivi o pacchiani, e tutto a favore della smaniosa curiosità di sapere come andrà a finire che accompagna il lettore sin proprio alla fine. Quando all'una di notte forzavo i miei occhi a restare aperti per leggere almeno un altro capitolo, ciò che più mi spingeva a tenere duro era il voler scoprire di quali altre genialate sarebbero stati capaci 'sti due folli. Insomma, c'è un limite alle belle trovate, no? Con G&P no. Loro Possono. Punto.
Per non parlare dei personaggi, uno più particolare dell'altro, in primis il demone Crowley, che abbiamo già visto in un certo libercolo chiamato Genesi, non so se conoscete. In quell'occasione interpretava il serpente. Già, bei tempi.
Ma, come se tutto questo non bastasse per dar vita ad un libro come si deve, il punto forte del romanzo è un altro: l'ironia. Un'ironia spesso critica, sempre spassosa, che funziona un po' da filo conduttore. In certi punti mi sono messa addirittura a ridere. Non sorridere, capite, quello accade relativamente spesso, ammesso che si abbia il libro giusto tra le mani. No, io parlo proprio della risata felice e liberatoria di una lettrice che sa che si sta divertendo leggendo qualcosa che il cervello lo attiva, piuttosto che mandarlo in letargo. Perché se credete che l'unico scopo di Buona Apocalisse a tutti! sia farvi fare due risate, vi sbagliate di grosso. Se, voi che lo avete letto, credete di esservi sognati l'alieno che in piena crisi pre-armageddon arriva sulla Terra e dice al primo che passa «Il livello d'anidride carbonica è sopra lo 0,5 per cento. Lo sa che potremmo farvi una multa in quanto specie dominante sotto l'influenza di istinto consumista, vero?» vi dico, che no, sta proprio scritto nel libro e anche se questo personaggio non ricomparirà mai più, state pur certi che ha fatto la sua parte. Se credete che il fast-food di Carestia sia semplicemente una cosina originale messa lì ma senza nessun significato specifico, secondo me dovreste proprio rileggerlo, questo romanzo, e scavare un po' più a fondo.
(Per chi invece non l'ha letto e mi sta insultando perché non sta capendo un tubo, bé, l'unica cosa che potete fare e andare subito a comprarlo, prenderlo in prestito, scaricarlo, quello che volete, perché di certo io non starò qui a spiegarvi tutto. E se ve lo state chiedendo, sì, sto cercando di fare tutto il possibile per convincervi a leggerlo.)
Ma poi, vogliamo parlare della bellezza del finale? Non intendo fare spoiler, ma il finale è bellissimo. Per quanto si potesse intuire, per quanto si possa ritenere scontato, è bellissimo. E' reso proprio bene, non so come altrimenti dire. Di una poesia ineffabile.

E' inutile che cerchi di profondermi in altri elogi, non sarei comunque capace di comunicarvi quanto sia importante e tangibile ciò che questo romanzo mi ha donato. Spero solo che se l'avete letto, sia stato lo stesso per voi, e se lo dovete ancora leggere, che io abbia stuzzicato almeno un po' la vostra curiosità.(less)

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May 15, 2012 Kaethe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: strong-smart-female-protagonist, age-ya, beloved, witches, death

1990 June 8
1997 Jun 01
1998 Jan 30
1999 Jun 17
2002 Jan 31

It's my favorite book. I picked up a copy at the first and only BEA I ever attended. I didn't know either of the author's names.

And because it's my favorite book, I made it a point to read it aloud to both of the Offspring during their first weeks of life. They've always liked me reading to them.

***

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Nov 02, 2009 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews, trt-gold-star-award-winner, jen-owns

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 and over. Un...more 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 and over. Until I gave it to my boyfriend, before we were dating. And still, I read it at his house. When he forgot and gave it back to me, I cruelly didn't correct him. (It came back to me! It must be fate!) Now, there's a new edition out, with comments by the authors. I have to go get it.

I'm obsessed. It's unhealthy. I know. Come join me. It's the best apocalypse you'll ever survive.

Crowley and Aziraphale have been locked in the battle between good and evil since, well, at least the beginning of time. In fact, it's been so long that it's become more of a debate then a battle. Actually more of a conversation. Aziraphale is an angel, and part-time rare bookseller. It's a front; he really collects the books for himself. Crowley is sort of a fallen angel; well, as the book says "an angel who did not so much fall as saunter vaguely downward". So he's a demon, ish. Mostly he's an instigator. These two have been enemies for so long that they've become pretty good friends.

But that's all going to end. Everything is going to end. Next Saturday. That's when the apocalypse has been scheduled for. The final battle between good and evil. What's an angel, or demon, to do when it comes time to end the world, but they really don't want to?

The apocalypse is aided and thwarted, alternately, by angels, demons, and an assortment of other ridiculous, hilarious, pitiful characters. Newton Pulsifer, Witchfinder, armed with a stickpin. Anathema Device, Witch and owner of the only accurate book of prophecy to ever be written, until she lost it. Agnes Nutter, author of said book, semi-illiterate, or maybe just a really bad speller, and dead. The Chattering Order of St. Beryl, satanic nuns who really just like to wear black. Dog, who was, or is, or should have been a hellhound. Adam, the anti-christ, depending on how the day goes. There's a lot more, but I don't want to ruin the fun. Let's just say that good, evil, and prophecy are all ideas that leave a lot of room for interpretation. And I'll never leave music in my car for too long again. (less)

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Aug 04, 2008 Ken rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 an...more

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Jan 22, 2008 Robert Beveridge rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: finished, cle-pub-lib

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 are they couched in a...more

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Jul 25, 2010 Harun Harahap rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: punya, fiksi, terjemahan

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

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Jan 20, 2011 Zeek rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites-all-time, fantasy-modern, laugh-out-loud, kindle

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 hold a conversati...more

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Sep 15, 2007 E.H. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who likes to be happy

Shelves: theboxmarkeddone

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 idea what it was, I added, "It's abo...more

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May 11, 2007 Aaron rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone.

Shelves: fantasticliterature

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

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Oct 31, 2007 Jen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

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 tiresome, and the o...more

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Aug 18, 2010 Lady Eilonwy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dark-fantasy, classics, post-apocalyptic, humor

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

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Aug 26, 2008 Christina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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

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Apr 27, 2013 Jon added it · review of another edition

Recommended to Jon by: Amy Hageman

Shelves: fiction, fantasy, read-in-my-40s, loved-it

4 stars

This was a hoot!

And it's today's Nook Daily deal so snatch your copy for just under $2 now!

Due to the acquisition of GoodReads by Amazon on March 28, 2013 and my existing and continuing boycott of all things Amazon, the review I wrote after reading this book now resides, safe and secure, at my blog. You can read it by following this link: http://bit.ly/ZTOmnH

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Nov 12, 2012 Gunner McGrath rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-in-audio, own-in-hardcover

I'd been waiting 15 years to read this book but never got around to it. It should be right up my alley as I've enjoyed books by both authors as well as Douglas Adams. But I slogged through the first half of the book with little more than a couple of chuckles, and wanted to give up long before I did.

Technically it's still on my to-finish list, but with so many other books on my shelf waiting to be read I may wait another 15 years before I try it again.

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Mar 24, 2009 SomePig rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 my bias is becau...more

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Mar 04, 2013 Lenore rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourite-authors, great-britain-my-love, fantasy, funny, the-blond-one-approves

24 October 2012 - Re-read with Jenn.
______________________
How come I haven't rated this book? I HAVE read it and I bloody loved it!

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Jun 18, 2010 Ivon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: penggemar parodi

Shelves: 3rd-pov, humor, satire, fantasy, it-s-inspiring, religion

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)

2,5. Karakter-karakter lain: s...more

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Apr 12, 2012 ame lee rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I never knew there will be the day when I rate 2 stars a book by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett..

Honestly, I was torn between 2 or 4 stars.. extreme, I know. But probably 'extreme' (and 'torn up') is the right word to describe how I feel about Good Omens.

The first quarter this book was funny as hell. Really.
Especially the part when Crowley seduce Aziraphale to join his plan to stop the Armageddon. Oh you sneaky snake you! ;)
I literally can't put this book down, which made this book almost fall...more

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Jul 09, 2009 Richard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of clever silliness.

Recommended to Richard by: SciFi & Fantasy Group 2009-07 SciFi Selection

Shelves: scifi-apocalyptic, bookclub, scifi-fantasy

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, I get that it is funny, but I can't overlook flaws that other f...more

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May 26, 2009 Colleen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, humor

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 on these characters, and th...more

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“DON'T THINK OF IT AS DYING, said Death. JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.” — 1,060 people liked it

“God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.” — 1,010 people liked it

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