Good Omens
From AwardAnnals
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| Author(s) | Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett |
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| Publisher | Ace Books |
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| “Good Omens has a dire tale to tell. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are riding. The Antichrist is discovering his supernatural powers. An army of witchfinders is trying to find him and kill him. And an angel from heaven and a demon from hell are trying to make certain everything happens according to the ineffable plan. So why is this such a funny book? Because the Four Horsemen are really the Four Motorcyclists of the Apocalypse; the Antichrist, through a mix-up at birth, has been raised by a middle-class family, and is really just a nice, normal kid;… | |
“Good Omens has a dire tale to tell. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are riding. The Antichrist is discovering his supernatural powers. An army of witchfinders is trying to find him and kill him. And an angel from heaven and a demon from hell are trying to make certain everything happens according to the ineffable plan. So why is this such a funny book? Because the Four Horsemen are really the Four Motorcyclists of the Apocalypse; the Antichrist, through a mix-up at birth, has been raised by a middle-class family, and is really just a nice, normal kid; the army of witchfinders consists of only two rather bungling men armed with stickpins. As for the angel and demon, they are drinking buddies who aren’t really sure they want the world to end. A riotous good laugh.” —Orlando Sentinel
Honors
Reviews
Amazon.com
Pratchett (of Discworld fame) and Gaiman (of Sandman fame) may seem an unlikely combination, but the topic (Armageddon) of this fast-paced novel is old hat to both. Pratchett’s wackiness collaborates with Gaiman’s morbid humor; the result is a humanist delight to be savored and reread again and again. You see, there was a bit of a mixup when the Antichrist was born, due in part to the machinations of Crowley, who did not so much fall as saunter downwards, and in part to the mysterious ways as manifested in the form of a part-time rare book dealer, an angel named Aziraphale. Like top agents everywhere, they’ve long had more in common with each other than the sides they represent, or the conflict they are nominally engaged in. The only person who knows how it will all end is Agnes Nutter, a witch whose prophecies all come true, if one can only manage to decipher them. The minor characters along the way (Famine makes an appearance as diet crazes, no-calorie food and anorexia epidemics) are as much fun as the story as a whole, which adds up to one of those rare books which is enormous fun to read the first time, and the second time, and the third time…
