Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Jan 15, 2012 Nikki rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, books-set-in-england, humor, fantasy, audiobooks

Forget Left Behind -- if you want a really good story about the Apocalypse, Good Omens is your book, or perhaps even better, audiobook, as read by Martin Jarvis. The writing style is largely Pratchett's, but the darker characters and episodes seem to come from Neil Gaiman. It's a great collaboration. The lighter characters are a bit more Pratchettian,but all are thoroughly engaging.

As demon Crowley (as I listened, I'm not sure of spellings) and angel Azurophel -- who are really the best of frien ...more

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Sep 28, 2010 jess rated it liked it

Shelves: 2010, audiobook-d, fiction

I read this for no particular reason except my queue of audiobooks at the public library is moving as fast as molasses in January and I start to get twitchy if I don't have my stories on my commute. I picked it up because I recall a vague affinity for Pratchett and Gaiman's work and because I like witches and armageddon and Hells Angels who are actually the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The storyline centers around Armageddon, an 11-year old Antichrist, an angel who deals rare books, a demon wit I read this for no particular reason except my queue of audiobooks at the public library is moving as fast as molasses in January and I start to get twitchy if I don't have my stories on my commute. I picked it up because I recall a vague affinity for Pratchett and Gaiman's work and because I like witches and armageddon and Hells Angels who are actually the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The storyline centers around Armageddon, an 11-year old Antichrist, an angel who deals rare books, a demon with a brilliant car, a witch and a witchhunter army. At the beginning of the book, there is a hospital run by a chattering order of satanic nuns (love the satanic nuns) who participate in a baby swap that is supposed to put the Antichrist in a specific family for the best possible doomsday-inducing childhood. Lo and behold, satanic nuns aren't that good at everything, the babyswap goes wrong, and the spawn of Satan ends up with quite a different sort of childhood. Quite frankly, it's something of a normal childhood, and his internal compass turns out quite humane -- not a good quality in the Harbinger of Horror.

There are a lot of characters and multiple story lines that tend to weave in and out, and minor characters in fleeting scenes receive almost as much description and development as the main characters through the whole story. It's a really rich and complex story - fun to read, but sometimes a lot to keep up with if you are commuting and you have a kid who sometimes talks over important parts of the audio book. I was definitely living in their world for the duration of the book. The humor is British, but still worth laughing out loud. The culmination of the story is sort of predictable but it seems totally nice and accurate despite the "of course" factor.

Adam Young is a sweetheart, but not entirely the point of the book. I loved Anathema Device, occultist and prophecy descendent. Partly I liked her because she's a lady, vaguely feminist and a witch, sort of new agey and sweet, but self-sufficient and smart. The only bad thing about her character is that her culmination is getting married and being a wife -- totally realistic, maybe, but when you're reading cuckoo fiction with an 11 year old Lord of Darkness, demons traveling through telephone cords, and an angel who runs a rare book store, maybe it's ok if the best female character has a destiny besides, like, being a wife (of a semi-unlikable dude, no less!). It's like the character got on the highway to feminism but exited for food and fuel, then missed the on-ramp to get back on. Also, she has an awesome name. At first I was like "OK what kind of a cracksmoking name is Anathema??" but by the end I was considering it for future daughters. Don't be surprised if I do it. ...more

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Oct 21, 2014 Krissy rated it did not like it

Shelves: book2film, buddy-read, audiobook, cover-color-black, lawlz, pgs-400-499

This book just didn't work for me. I'm not sure what I expected but I know I didn't get it. I found it mildly amusing at best. Which is far from the reputation it has of being one of the funniest books ever written. I did like that character of Newt though. But then again I have a soft spot for the shy and awkward. He was the only thing I really liked about the story. I'd rate it 1.5 stars.

**2015 Reading Challenge W/Josh: #17 A Book A Friend Recommended** ...more

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May 28, 2019 Amy Ellis rated it really liked it

This was a fun book—all about what happens when the anti-Christ is supposed to be raised by Satanists and instead, due to a bumbling nun, gets placed in a normal English household at birth. There are a lot of characters, side-plots, and misadventures as Armageddon dawns, but it stayed really funny and entertaining all the way through. I especially loved Agnes Nutter’s prophecies that were so accurate that nobody believed them and the little tidbits of pop culture references throughout the book. ...more

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Oct 19, 2009 Taryn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Well, I'm not going to lie. I went in with very high expectations and emerged slightly disappointed. Only slightly. I really enjoyed it and I thought it was pretty fantastic at most parts, but I didn't find it genius, which is the most popular adjective when it comes to reading reviews of this book.

First of all, I loved the characters Crowley and Aziraphale. They were easily the greatest parts of this book. I loved the description of Crowley in the cast of characters, where it's said that he's n ...more

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