Helpful Score: 1
I have just finished reading "Good Omens" for the third or fourth time, and am pleased to say that it remains as fresh and original this time through as it was the first time.
Bar none, this is the finest novelization of the Apocalypse ever written. Leave "Left Behind" under the short leg of your table, where it's actually useful; and never mind the attempts of other authors to cash in on Antichrist fever. If the End of Days doesn't happen the way authors Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett have described, there needs to be a do-over.
The bulk of the action takes place in what is supposed to be the last week of history as the armies of heaven and hell amass for the epic conclusion of their war, and the culmination of human history. There's only one little problem. The forces of hell accidentally misplaced the Antichrist shortly after he was born, and no one's really sure where to find him. As Judgment Day draws near, a demon and an angel who have been living on earth for so long that they can't bear to see it destroyed, join together in a desperate effort to find him and avert Armageddon.
Not surprisingly, the book is full of oblique references to "The Omen," which at the time was the most recognizable story to feature the Antichrist. The juxtaposition of that brand of horror with a life appropriate for Just William makes "Good Omens" a rollicking good read.
The fast-paced British humor that Pratchett and Gaiman bring to the book is one reason to return to this book again and again, and to be honest, it is reason enough. But these two are also intelligent writers, and there's enough meat in the book to draw me back long after the jokes will have worn out. (If that ever happens, which seems unlikely.)
Bar none, this is the finest novelization of the Apocalypse ever written. Leave "Left Behind" under the short leg of your table, where it's actually useful; and never mind the attempts of other authors to cash in on Antichrist fever. If the End of Days doesn't happen the way authors Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett have described, there needs to be a do-over.
The bulk of the action takes place in what is supposed to be the last week of history as the armies of heaven and hell amass for the epic conclusion of their war, and the culmination of human history. There's only one little problem. The forces of hell accidentally misplaced the Antichrist shortly after he was born, and no one's really sure where to find him. As Judgment Day draws near, a demon and an angel who have been living on earth for so long that they can't bear to see it destroyed, join together in a desperate effort to find him and avert Armageddon.
Not surprisingly, the book is full of oblique references to "The Omen," which at the time was the most recognizable story to feature the Antichrist. The juxtaposition of that brand of horror with a life appropriate for Just William makes "Good Omens" a rollicking good read.
The fast-paced British humor that Pratchett and Gaiman bring to the book is one reason to return to this book again and again, and to be honest, it is reason enough. But these two are also intelligent writers, and there's enough meat in the book to draw me back long after the jokes will have worn out. (If that ever happens, which seems unlikely.)
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