BOOK REPORT: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Title:              Good Omens: 

                       The Nice and Accurate Prophecies 

                       of Agnes Nutter, Witch

Author:        Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Copyright Date:       2000  (my edition 2006)

My Rating:  5 out of 5 stars  ( Excellent and Funny )

Backcover Description

The world will end on Saturday. Next Saturday. Just before dinner, according toThe Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies written in 1655. The armies of Good and Evil are amassing and everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except that a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist.

My Thoughts

"You can't be certain that what's happening right now isn't exactly right, from an ineffable point of view"

When I mentioned my reading project to my gaming group, the consensus was that I needed to read Good Omens if I hadn't already.  Now, I've read 4 or 5 Pratchett books previously, and anyone who has read any of his books knows how funny and clever he is. His writing is simply a delight to read. It keeps you smiling, sometimes laughing out loud, and will make you think at times as well. 

For those not familiar with Neil Gaimon, he got his start as a graphic novelist, with The Sandman Series  being the most famous, and then expanded into other writing forms.  He wrote the books Stardust and Coraline from which successful movies were made and has a host of other Fiction and Young Adult Fiction in his portfolio. 

You can tell that Terry Pratchett had  much to do with the prose and style of the book.  That same wit is there, but Neil Gaiman brought a darker subject (how do you get darker than the soon to arrive Armageddon) that adds depth to the writing.  

This book was EXTREMELY well done. The story and characters of Good Omens are great.  As the back-cover description outlines, the Armageddon is on its way and the two main characters, an Angel named Aziraphale and a demon named Crowley, who are actually good friends, are reluctant players in the ineffable divine plan.  The four horsemen ride motorcycles with plague being replaced with pollution since the advent of vaccines. There are witches and witch-hunters and the Anti-Christ who was misplaced at birth and is being raised in the suburbs.  

"You do know you could find yourself charged with being a dominant species while under the influence of impulse driven consumerism, don't you?" 

I don't want to go too much more into the plot, but I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a light-hearted, funny read that is ineffably great.