Good Omens

Angelic or Devilish?  You decide!

Good Omens is a book by Neil Gaimen and Terry Pratchett.  It was published in 1990 and the two authors were friends before and after they wrote it. In fact, the whole writing of this was done basically to see who could make the other laugh more.  For this reason, this book is comedy gold.

Soooo.... What's Good Omens about anyhow?

Well, it's about the end of the world, which will end on Saturday, in fact, "next Saturday... Just before dinner."  The full title is Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.  The book sums up the events that set in motion the end of the world (the birth of the Antichrist) and then flash forward eleven years to the days leading up to the end of the world.  Most of the time you are either following the Antichrist as he goes about his life or an angel and a demon who are actively trying to prevent the apocalypse.  The rest of the time, you peek over the shoulders of : the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, some Hell's Angels bikers, the Them (friends of the Antichrist), a hell hound, Agnes Nutter's descendant, the last witch hunter, and a lot more random people than I want to go into.

It's a lot of fun.  Why?  Well, first, there's Crowley (a demon that "didn't so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards") and Aziraphale (an angel).  They've lived on earth a long time and they've come to like it a lot.  Both got credit for the Spanish Inquisition (Crowley checked it out and promptly got himself drunk from the horror).  Both have come to realize that humans are capable of way more good than angels can come up with and way more evil than any demon could properly imagine.  So, the two came to the conclusion that spending on their time arguing over souls was pointless and have come to enjoy Earth for what it is.  The play between the two who are supposed to be enemies is just fun.  From the very beginning you get the feeling that Aziraphale isn't exactly good enough to be an angel, and Crowley isn't exactly evil enough to be a demon.  They just got put into their jobs because... stuff happens.  So, they do their jobs, they enjoy the planet and generally encourage humans to whatever ends they want.

Second, there's the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse and Associated Affiliates.  Basically, you first meet a mailman who's dropping off strange packages to various people.  Just so you know, the Four Horsemen in this book are: War, Famine, Death and Pollution (you find out what happened to Pestilence in the book).  Without giving too much away, some other people join them along the way as they head to the place where the world is supposed to end.  It's hilarious.

Well, everything in this book makes me laugh so hard, sometimes I can't breath when reading it.  I own the white book, but a friend has borrowed it (I made him) and haven't gotten it back yet.  I better get it back because this book is special.  It's a book that's just wonderful.  I want each of you to go out, get a copy and read it RIGHT NOW.

I'm not joking.  This is a book you will regret not reading when the end of the world does come because all these angels and demons will be telling Good Omens jokes and they'll be really miffed you aren't in on it.  So READ IT.  NOW.

DO IT!