Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch Paperback – March 5, 2019

The Kindle edition of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett that I downloaded was a 2011 reprint edition from William Morrow (publisher) sold by Harper Collins Publishers. At four hundred thirty-three pages, the novel is such a huge collection of very funny stuff and observations that it is best read in segments. While you are reading something else. If you get bogged down in something a bit too serious (even a book!) you would have the comfortable knowledge that you have a collection of absurdities in reserve that can pull you out of dull situations.It is a cult classic and I am not going to waste a bunch of time trying to come up with superlatives not yet used. It is worth reading the reviews such as the ones I found on Amazon. The novel is not everyone’s cup of tea; there are many negative ones. Most of the negative ones I read were of Neil Gaiman and those reviewers complained about a difference in the Gaiman style as compared to his other works. I felt those reviewers were unfair. I can safely bet there are a bunch of Christian religious fundamentalists (not extremists) which would not even attempt to see the humor in the naming and depictions of various members of the holy (and unholy) establishment. Who would have the temerity to suggest that War, Death, and Famine could keep their original Four Horsemen names but Pestilence was going to have to accept an upgrade to Pollution due to the demands of technology?Back to two complaints I have about the edition I read. (1) Who cares about publisher and publishers and reprint editions and the “when” of an edition? Me, when the novel becomes hard to read. Throughout this edition, there were symbols that looked like this * throughout the novel. I couldn’t initially find what they referred to. The story was moving along nicely at its usual speed of light and ignoring the symbols didn’t hinder its movement at all. Then I found all the referenced items at the end of the novel. And they were interesting. But at that point, there were no page references and I couldn’t easily go back to what they referred to. Grrrr! So, for a better reading experience, click on the tiny symbols. They will take you to the reference. Then click the back button on the Kindle App and it will take you back to the page you were on … maybe. I don’t know how it works when you are reading the novel on several devices at once and synchronization kicks in. That is what caused me problems.(2) This book was written by two authors in sort of a back-and-forth style. If one couldn’t get past a certain point (make it funny) the other kicked in new ideas. Through lots and lots of conference calls, they came up with this. Of course, Gaiman’s style was different! I am sure both he and Terry Pratchett made compromises in their final submission. I found many of the negative reviewer comments irrelevant.Now a bit about content. Here are some of the lines I found attention grabbing. Having read these, no way I could put the book down. After reading the subtitle I was hooked. “The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.” How could I walk away from that? It quickly became apparent that Agnes had written a book predicting the Apocalypse, the end of Days. And, looking at the table of contents (of this novel, not the one by Agnes) we can see that it is going to be very soon. It is a matter of days. Certain events and signs must happen first (re: the four Horsemen) but a lot of subordinate characters, angels and lesser angels, demons and lesser demons, Witchhunters, and innocent bystanders go in search for the missing ingredient, the Antichrist. The Antichrist, appropriately named Adam, has not exactly gotten sidetracked in his mission. He was never informed of the mission. He grew up as a “normal” boy. Although he always seemed to be the leader of any group, the one with the best ideas, and the ability to bend everyone else to his will, he did not act knowingly as the Antichrist. He is simply known by his nickname “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. (p. 27). At least that is what Crowley, Satan’s representative on Earth, calls his soon-to-be-master.This is a hilarious, sarcastic, cynical, and absurd look at the fragility of human nature. For those who want to relate absurd happenings to literal happenings in present day reality, there is lots of material to allow a reader to do that.But I couldn’t stop laughing and didn’t want to spoil it with reality. I will read more novels with the Gaiman name. And I will take care of them. I will not treat them in a way described at the beginning of this novel. “If we run across a shiny new copy, it’s usually because the owner’s previous five have been stolen by friends, struck by lightning or eaten by giant termites in Sumatra. You have been warned. Oh, and we understand there’s a copy in the Vatican library.” (p. 2).

Imagine an angel and a demon becoming unlikely best buds because they actually like Earth. They don't want to see the world destruct, so they team up to try and stop the End Times. It's like if "The Office" met the Book of Revelation, and it actually worked. The writing is pure chaos, but in a good way. There are tangents, footnotes, and the most random characters ever – witchfinders, biker gangs, the Four Horsemen… it's like someone shuffled a deck of insane ideas and was like, "Let's make this a book." You'll either love how out-there this book is, or you'll think it's trying too hard. There's a LOT of British humor , so if you're not familiar with that, some jokes might land flat. And if you're expecting a really serious take on religion, this ain't it. It definitely pokes fun though.Overall, I'd say "Good Omens" is a blast if you like your books quirky, unexpected, and a little bit absurd.

Crowley is a demon and Aziraphale is an angel. Despite their differences, for example Crowley likes to drive fancy race-cars while blaring rock music (that somehow always turns into a "Best of Queen" album) and Aziraphale prefers more classic vehicles and music, and being on opposing sides of an universal war, Aziraphale and Crowley have remained friends. They've actually been friends since almost the beginning of creation when Crowley took the form of a serpent to tempt the first humans and Aziraphale lost the flaming sword that he was supposed to use in defense of the Garden of Eden. More than each other, they have both become accustomed to the human universe in which they live.Then Crowley gets the word that the time has come for the arrival of the Anti-Christ. He can't believe it's all going to end, but like a good demon he does his duty. Unbeknownst to him, though the Satanic nuns at the hospital where he delivered the child had a minor mix-up and the Anti-Christ ends up going home with a working class English couple instead of the American diplomat he was supposed to. In this novel, prophecy move along regardless of the circumstances (probably foretold in the "The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch") and neither side discovers the error until eleven years later when a hellhound is released and never appears at the appointed place. By that time things are in a major uproar because the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse (who prefer to ride Harley's instead of horses), Death, Pestilence, Famine, and War have already started going about trying to destroy most of the world while most of the hosts Heaven and Hell are preparing for battle in the upcoming Armageddon.Things don't look very well. Yet, there's an eleven-year-old boy in England who has visions of UFOs, a hollow Earth, and tunneling Tibetans that suddenly start happening. Things just aren't what they used to be. As the only two creatures who seem to have a clue what is going on, it's up to Crowley and Aziraphale to try to put things right before the world ends.I thoroughly enjoyed GOOD OMENS. The book was full of classic Brittish wit coloured with good-old American humor and pop culture references. I have never read anything by Gaiman (though I have heard of his SANDMAN works) or Pratchett and picked up this novel after hearing that Terry Gilliam was wanting to turn the book into a movie. I've enjoyed many of Gilliam's other works and wanted to stay ahead of the game and read the book ahead of time (the movie is in limbo right now, though).My only negative complaint is that the book has several characters, so at times it is a bit difficult to keep up with what is happening to whom and where. I know that there are also some who would be offend by the misuse of the Biblical elements used to form the foundation of the story. I usually tend to view things such as the Apocalypse, Armageddon, and the end of the world in a serious light myself. However, I knew before reading this book that these writers weren't going to that and I ended up enjoying the book immensely. It made me laugh many times.Just watch out for those good omens. They rarely are that good.

One of the cleverest, most hilarious books I have ever read. First one I *immediately* started to re-read - absolutely spectacular!!!

Excelente opción de lectura

Comprei para meu filho que está aprendendo inglês, já conhecíamos a história, as obras do Neil Gaiman são ótimas.

Fue un regalo para mí hijo que tiene nivel avanzado de inglés. Según me cuenta es de fácil comprensión y muy ameno. Tardó un poco en llegar imagino q al parecer hay que pedirlo a la editorial. Muy recomendable para personas q tengan nivel C1 de inglés.

My original copy of this book is 30+ years old and falling apart, so while I want to keep it, this beautiful hardback is now going to be the read-copy.Such an incredible book, a wonderful collaboration between two talented writers that deserves the recognition it gets. Clever writing, amusing and satirical situations that also serve as a commentary on human nature (good and bad), it's the nature vs nurture argument in fictional form!