53,822 books
—
208,992 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch” as Want to Read:
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
by
‘Armageddon only happens once, you know. They don’t let you go around again until you get it right.’
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. But what if, for once, the predictions are right, and the apocalypse really is due to arrive next Saturday, just af ...more
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. But what if, for once, the predictions are right, and the apocalypse really is due to arrive next Saturday, just af ...more
Mass Market Paperback, 491 pages
Published
November 28th 2006
by William Morrow
(first published May 1st 1990)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

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
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

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
The two British aut ...more

The Apocalypse is not off to a good start.![]()
“DON'T THINK OF IT AS DYING," said Death. "JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.”
Ten years ago, Crowley (a demon) brought the infant Anti-Christ to a group of Satanic Nuns who swapped the Anti-Christ with a human child.
For ten years, Aziraphale (an Angel) and Crowley educate the child on the finer points of good and evil.
“People couldn't become truly holy," he said, "unless they also had the opportunity to be definiti...more

Overall, this book was a huge disappointment for me. 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 that I jus
...more

(A-) 80% | Very Good
Notes: Not as funny as I'd anticipated, and at times it's a bit too absurd for my tastes, but a good ending and loads of charm. ...more
Notes: Not as funny as I'd anticipated, and at times it's a bit too absurd for my tastes, but a good ending and loads of charm. ...more

(A-) 80% | Very Good
Notes: A briny deep of Britishness, its canny humor's quirky-quaint, a road to war that plays with lore, and rich as oil paint. ...more
Notes: A briny deep of Britishness, its canny humor's quirky-quaint, a road to war that plays with lore, and rich as oil paint. ...more


Image source imdb.
Don’t be misled by those who class this as fantasy, humour, or just fiction.
This is actually a profound philosophical and theological treatise, exploring good and evil, nature versus nurture, free will, war, pollution, and organised religion. 😉
But it’s cleverly disguised as a madcap caper featuring angels, demons, the M25 motorway, Manchester, raining fish, dolphins, Atlantis, aliens, the Apocalypse, the young Antichrist, Americans, footnotes for Americans, tunnelling Tibetans ...more

literally every day I'm thinking about how this book was published in 1990 and in 2019 they finally made a miniseries and Neil Gaiman was like. hey. let's make this even more of a romcom than it already was just for the fuck of it
I keep trying to land on what I think is the objective Best Thing about this ridiculous book that I loved reading so much and I think I’ve landed on this paragraph from a delightful review of the 2019 miniseries:
I keep trying to land on what I think is the objective Best Thing about this ridiculous book that I loved reading so much and I think I’ve landed on this paragraph from a delightful review of the 2019 miniseries:
“Good Omens knows that you can’t look at a screen...more

One of my all-time favorite books. Up there with Hitchhiker's Guide.
...more

I knew from the first page that this book would not work for me.
I slogged through about half of it and gave up. I lost the thread of the plot long before due to my lack of interest in everything this book is. It all felt forced, like the themes and ideas were shoved into the narrative and that the plot had to adapt to fit them in. It was trying too hard to be funny rather than actually being funny. Life is far too short for books I don’t enjoy.
And I could never enjoy this. It felt like it was w ...more
I slogged through about half of it and gave up. I lost the thread of the plot long before due to my lack of interest in everything this book is. It all felt forced, like the themes and ideas were shoved into the narrative and that the plot had to adapt to fit them in. It was trying too hard to be funny rather than actually being funny. Life is far too short for books I don’t enjoy.
And I could never enjoy this. It felt like it was w ...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 (diabolical) father, like (infernal) son. 
In a way, I can view this book as my own personal therapy session¹ - that is, in addition to it being a ...more
"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 ...more

Jun 07, 2019
Emily (Books with Emily Fox)
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audiobooks
This book has been recommended to me for years. Everyone has been telling me how funny it is and...
Nope.
Didn't laugh. Didn't smile. Didn't even blow air through my nose. Not once.
I eventually continued it as an audiobook otherwise I wouldn't have finished it.
It felt like a kid story. Maybe I don't get the British humour (I feel like I usually like it tho). But I just couldn't get myself to care.
Meh. ...more
Nope.
Didn't laugh. Didn't smile. Didn't even blow air through my nose. Not once.
I eventually continued it as an audiobook otherwise I wouldn't have finished it.
It felt like a kid story. Maybe I don't get the British humour (I feel like I usually like it tho). But I just couldn't get myself to care.
Meh. ...more

If I were to pick a setting for a comedy, I’m not sure it would be Armageddon. However, in the talented minds of Pratchett and Gaiman, it’s the perfect setting. Another disclosure, I’m a sucker for British humour – give me Monty Python, Douglas Adams, Benny Hill, Red Dwarf, and even Rickey Gervais and I’ll right larf out loude! It’s just the right mix of clever, deadpan, sarcasm, innuendo, and self-deprecation for me.
I wanted to get this read before I watched the new Amazon Prime series. It’s a ...more
I wanted to get this read before I watched the new Amazon Prime series. It’s a ...more

"That's how it goes, you think you're on top of the world, and suddenly they spring Armageddon on you. The Great War, the Last Battle. Heaven versus Hell, three rounds, one Fall, no submission. And that'd be that. No more world. That's what the end of the world meant. No more world. Just endless Heaven or, depending who won, endless Hell."Has the world ended yet? Oh! Right, it hasn't as I'm still babbling away and giggling silly all by myself. Thank heavens I didn't listen to this audiobook ...more

The year is 2114 and in an upstairs apartment in Lower Tadfield, Oxfordshire, England four people – Marge, Ron, Neville and Madam Tracey – sit around a table. They are gathered for a séance.
Madam Tracey: I can feel my spirit guide approaching.
Marge: Ooooo, this is exciting!
Madam Tracey: [In a dark brown voice] How! [Then in her normal voice] Geronimo is that you? [And again in the deep voice] Yes, this’n is me.
Neville: This is just like in that old book by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good O ...more
Madam Tracey: I can feel my spirit guide approaching.
Marge: Ooooo, this is exciting!
Madam Tracey: [In a dark brown voice] How! [Then in her normal voice] Geronimo is that you? [And again in the deep voice] Yes, this’n is me.
Neville: This is just like in that old book by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good O ...more

This novel spoof of THE OMEN is absolutely hilarious. From the four bikers of the apocalypse to adorable hell hounds, it's my absolute favorite offering from Terry Pratchett -- his humor mixed with Neil Gaiman's is absolute win in my opinion.
***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew ...more
***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew ...more

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
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

I read American Gods not too long ago, and while I liked it, it didn't turn out to be as amazing as I had hoped. So I wondered if maybe I shouldn't go back and check this one out. You know, see if it was really as good as I remembered?
Huh.
It was actually better. Hilarious!
The 5 star rating stands!

Good Omens is going to go down as one of my favorites. I wouldn't say that I laughed out loud, but I snorted once or twice and smiled the whole way through. Who would have thought the apocalypse could ...more
Huh.
It was actually better. Hilarious!
The 5 star rating stands!

Good Omens is going to go down as one of my favorites. I wouldn't say that I laughed out loud, but I snorted once or twice and smiled the whole way through. Who would have thought the apocalypse could ...more

*** 4.75 ***
"... “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.” ..."
Loved every second of it! A book about free choice and nature vs nurture, some good old ponderin ...more
"... “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.” ..."
Loved every second of it! A book about free choice and nature vs nurture, some good old ponderin ...more

What on Earth did I just read? I think I'll be shaking my head for a while trying to fathom this one...
...more

Mar 12, 2008
Kyle Nakamura
rated it
it was amazing
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
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

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
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

2019 UPDATE The miniseries on Amazon Prime gets 4.5 out of five, and a strong encouragement to go watch it. I mean, what is all this kerfuffle about the ending?! Episode 6 ended perfectly, with the loveliest touch of smarm and some real guffaws...wise choices indeed. The series misses on one count, we could do with more of the Them, but really now! Child labor laws and all that. Episode 3's epic cold open is, by itself, worth subscribing to Prime for. Episode 4's delight is Gabriel's red red rob
...more

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (1990) is a World Fantasy Award-nominated novel written as a collaboration between the British authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
It is the coming of the End Times: the Apocalypse is near, and Final Judgement will soon descend upon the human species.
This comes as a bit of bad news to the angel Aziraphale (who was the guardian ...more
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (1990) is a World Fantasy Award-nominated novel written as a collaboration between the British authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
It is the coming of the End Times: the Apocalypse is near, and Final Judgement will soon descend upon the human species.
This comes as a bit of bad news to the angel Aziraphale (who was the guardian ...more

In the beginning, there were a few words, and the words were with Neil Gaiman, and he saw that they were good words, so he passed them on to Terry Pratchett, so that he could make light of them. And it was morning (and Neil slept and Terry wrote) and it was night (and Terry slept and Neil wrote) - the first chapter.
Thus (or similarly, for the book in the book is only rarely cited directly!) spoke Agnes Nutter, the nice and very accurate prophetess.
She would also have said (if she had been bles ...more
Thus (or similarly, for the book in the book is only rarely cited directly!) spoke Agnes Nutter, the nice and very accurate prophetess.
She would also have said (if she had been bles ...more

I won't lie: I read this because it has a) Crowley in it, and b) it's an adult book and I was adulting. (That was exhausting though. Please, lead me back to the children's aisle. That's where I belong.) I totally enjoyed it though because it's HILARIOUS. Yeah maybe the story is a bit waffly in places and there are some useless tangents it runs off on, but it is downright funny. Why? Oh, oh keep calm. I'll show you.
First of all, it is SO like the Supernatural TV series. What can I say? I'm a ...more
First of all, it is SO like the Supernatural TV series. What can I say? I'm a ...more

This is the third time I've read this book. Once I read this edition, once I listened to the BBC radio dramatisation and now I alternately listened to the audiobook and read the hardcover.
This, by the way, is my edition of the print book, the old Gollancz edition and I love the quirky design very much.

What you see beneath the book are the two badge pins I couldn't resist buying a while ago.
The reason for the re-read is that Amazon Prime is gonna show the adaptation in 2019 (no exact date is give ...more
This, by the way, is my edition of the print book, the old Gollancz edition and I love the quirky design very much.

What you see beneath the book are the two badge pins I couldn't resist buying a while ago.
The reason for the re-read is that Amazon Prime is gonna show the adaptation in 2019 (no exact date is give ...more

Jun 30, 2017
Althea | themoonwholistens ☾
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
anybody looking for humor and friendship between an angel and a devil
Recommended to Althea | themoonwholistens ☾ by:
Jasey
// This is my book for the "Recommend a Book" challenge//
FORMAT READ: Paperback & Audiobook (Recommended)
SIMILAR VIBES: Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
READ FOR: themes and devils/angels/hell/heaven/world-ending humor
READING LEVEL: Level 4-5 out of 5
⟹ MY BLOG ⟸
⟹ SUP ...more
”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 evil, but by people being fundamentally people.”
FORMAT READ: Paperback & Audiobook (Recommended)
SIMILAR VIBES: Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
READ FOR: themes and devils/angels/hell/heaven/world-ending humor
READING LEVEL: Level 4-5 out of 5
⟹ MY BLOG ⟸
⟹ SUP ...more

Re-read 12/21/18:
Winter Solstice! Well, certain reads and re-reads lend themselves well to anniversaries and horsemen. :) And YES I was forced to re-read this because I was told I must be crazy to only give this a three-star rating and LOOK! It's about the be on the tele! So I agreed to give it another shot.
I'm adding a half star.
Why only that? Because all the things I love most about Pratchett, in general, is done better in his Discworld books. Because Gaiman's iconoclastic use of mythology an ...more
Winter Solstice! Well, certain reads and re-reads lend themselves well to anniversaries and horsemen. :) And YES I was forced to re-read this because I was told I must be crazy to only give this a three-star rating and LOOK! It's about the be on the tele! So I agreed to give it another shot.
I'm adding a half star.
Why only that? Because all the things I love most about Pratchett, in general, is done better in his Discworld books. Because Gaiman's iconoclastic use of mythology an ...more

hard to say which i could use more at the moment: anything written by neil gaiman, or a good omen.
i'm going with both! ...more
i'm going with both! ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
YA Buddy Readers'...: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman -- Restarting April 12th 2021 | 67 | 235 | 16 hours, 18 min ago | |
2021 Reading Chal...: Good Omens | 7 | 28 | Apr 12, 2021 01:14PM |
Born Terence David John Pratchett, Sir Terry Pratchett sold his first story when he was thirteen, which earned him enough money to buy a second-hand typewriter. His first novel, a humorous fantasy entitled The Carpet People, appeared in 1971 from the publisher Colin Smythe.
Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, i ...more
Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, i ...more
Articles featuring this book
A comforting balm. A much-needed diversion. Time spent with an old friend. Childhood memories and annual traditions. We asked the...
50 likes · 23 comments
37 trivia questions
1 quiz
More quizzes & trivia...
1 quiz
“DON'T THINK OF IT AS DYING, said Death. JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.”
—
3118 likes
“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.”
—
2445 likes
More quotes…