Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman: a review

Years ago, I listened to the radio adaptation of this book and I knew I wanted to read the book. I did not read the book. Earlier this year, I watched the TV adaptation and, once again, got the urge to read it. I even bought a really lovely copy to encourage me to read it. It took me months to get into reading it. I knew I’d love this book, so I don’t know why it took me so long.

            Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman follows a multitude of characters in the 11 years after the birth of the Anti-Christ. There’s the ethereal conflict of Heaven and Hell, but there’s also wonderful views into childhood and growing up. It isn’t so easy to sum up the plot completely because there are many different plot threads.

            As a lover of Terry Pratchett’s work, I’m so glad the footnotes are a huge part of this book. Knowing that they are a huge signature of his work, I assumed they would be featured, but I am so happy to see them so heavily featured in Good Omens.

            When I started reading this book, it was one of the first books I read without audio narration. I never felt like I needed it, and that was so refreshing. Sometimes, with books with this length, I start to get to a point where I struggle to continue without audio, but here I never felt like I needed it. It felt really good. It was really compelling.

            Many of the books I’ve been reading have been for class, or a quick read. This taking some time felt good to pick up every now and again. It was nice that this took a little time to read. I only read for about an hour at a time, and only a once or twice a week, so it did take me rather a while to read. I liked that though. It good was to have something to repeatedly go back to.

            ““Upbringing is everything. Take it from me”” is a really heart-breaking line from Crowley. It shows that him falling (or sauntering) from grace was a case of necessity. The angels rarely treat their own any better than their enemies. Crowley’s skills were better placed with Hell because they respected his work (or what they perceived as his work).

            Of all the Horsemen, Famine was the worst one to read about. The diet plans were truly grotesque, and seems to me the sort of thing that has Gaiman’s signature on it. While Pratchett makes social commentaries, they lack that sense of nausea that Gaiman so frequently brings to his work. Similarly, later on in the novel, there’s a scene in a call centre that made my skin crawl. I nearly was sick reading that. The bugs crawling through people was truly revolting. It’s masterful work, but it is appalling if you’ve just eaten.

            A line that I feel more likely comes from Pratchett’s hand, however, is:

            “Most books on witchcraft will tell you that witches work naked. This is because most      books on witchcraft are written by men.”

It’s a bloody beautiful line, and I think it might just be one of my favourite lines of the book.

            Early on in the book, there’s a baby swap that occurs with three children. We learn the fate of two of them, very quickly, but the third isn’t given much. There’s a bit that tells you to imagine what becomes of the boy, but that’s about it during that early scene. Later on, we get a footnote from Pratchett that gives just a little explanation about that third baby, and it’s a really nice little tie-in.

            I loved seeing all the little signs leading up to Adam becoming the anti-Christ. I’m sure that, when I inevitably read it again, I’ll spot even more. It’s foreshadowing done really elegantly. It doesn’t feel forced at all. When I read R.S Belcher’s Shotgun Arcana, I felt like the foreshadowing was really forced. There was little to no subtlety to it. It wasn’t something that I noticed later on as things came together. With Good Omens, the foreshadowing was done so well. There were ongoing themes that only made more sense the further it went on. Adam’s anti-Christ personality was shown subtly in little ways, so its final form had real impact and worked so well. The less subtle parts were knowingly not subtle. Belcher’s work felt like it might have supposed to have been subtle, but didn’t quite manage it. Pratchett and Gaiman’s knowing lack of subtlety works really well. In particular, I’m thinking of any scene with the Horsemen in it (either the actual horsemen or the other horsemen).

            Speaking of the Four Other Horsemen, I think they might be some of my favourite characters in the whole book. The name choices and subsequent frequent changes are so funny. There isn’t a single scene with them in that I didn’t enjoy.

            This is a book I wholeheartedly recommend. It’s so much fun, and such a brilliant showcase of both authors’ styles. If you watched the show or listened to the radio production, and never read the book, absolutely get onto it. It is so good. Definitely find yourself a copy.