Neil GaimanGood Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (Cover may vary)

This book is an absolute gem! Good Omens combines the best of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s humor, wit, and storytelling prowess. The story of an angel and demon teaming up to prevent the apocalypse is both wildly entertaining and thought-provoking.The characters are wonderfully quirky, and the writing is filled with laugh-out-loud moments and sharp satire. I couldn’t put it down and found myself rereading passages just to savor the clever wordplay.The copy I received arrived quickly, and though the cover design varied as noted, it was beautifully printed and high-quality. If you enjoy books that blend humor, fantasy, and a touch of the absurd, you’ll love Good Omens. A five-star masterpiece!

The Kindle edition of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett that I downloaded was a 2011 reprint edition from William Morrow (publisher) sold by Harper Collins Publishers. At four hundred thirty-three pages, the novel is such a huge collection of very funny stuff and observations that it is best read in segments. While you are reading something else. If you get bogged down in something a bit too serious (even a book!) you would have the comfortable knowledge that you have a collection of absurdities in reserve that can pull you out of dull situations.It is a cult classic and I am not going to waste a bunch of time trying to come up with superlatives not yet used. It is worth reading the reviews such as the ones I found on Amazon. The novel is not everyone’s cup of tea; there are many negative ones. Most of the negative ones I read were of Neil Gaiman and those reviewers complained about a difference in the Gaiman style as compared to his other works. I felt those reviewers were unfair. I can safely bet there are a bunch of Christian religious fundamentalists (not extremists) which would not even attempt to see the humor in the naming and depictions of various members of the holy (and unholy) establishment. Who would have the temerity to suggest that War, Death, and Famine could keep their original Four Horsemen names but Pestilence was going to have to accept an upgrade to Pollution due to the demands of technology?Back to two complaints I have about the edition I read. (1) Who cares about publisher and publishers and reprint editions and the “when” of an edition? Me, when the novel becomes hard to read. Throughout this edition, there were symbols that looked like this * throughout the novel. I couldn’t initially find what they referred to. The story was moving along nicely at its usual speed of light and ignoring the symbols didn’t hinder its movement at all. Then I found all the referenced items at the end of the novel. And they were interesting. But at that point, there were no page references and I couldn’t easily go back to what they referred to. Grrrr! So, for a better reading experience, click on the tiny symbols. They will take you to the reference. Then click the back button on the Kindle App and it will take you back to the page you were on … maybe. I don’t know how it works when you are reading the novel on several devices at once and synchronization kicks in. That is what caused me problems.(2) This book was written by two authors in sort of a back-and-forth style. If one couldn’t get past a certain point (make it funny) the other kicked in new ideas. Through lots and lots of conference calls, they came up with this. Of course, Gaiman’s style was different! I am sure both he and Terry Pratchett made compromises in their final submission. I found many of the negative reviewer comments irrelevant.Now a bit about content. Here are some of the lines I found attention grabbing. Having read these, no way I could put the book down. After reading the subtitle I was hooked. “The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.” How could I walk away from that? It quickly became apparent that Agnes had written a book predicting the Apocalypse, the end of Days. And, looking at the table of contents (of this novel, not the one by Agnes) we can see that it is going to be very soon. It is a matter of days. Certain events and signs must happen first (re: the four Horsemen) but a lot of subordinate characters, angels and lesser angels, demons and lesser demons, Witchhunters, and innocent bystanders go in search for the missing ingredient, the Antichrist. The Antichrist, appropriately named Adam, has not exactly gotten sidetracked in his mission. He was never informed of the mission. He grew up as a “normal” boy. Although he always seemed to be the leader of any group, the one with the best ideas, and the ability to bend everyone else to his will, he did not act knowingly as the Antichrist. He is simply known by his nickname “The Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness. (p. 27). At least that is what Crowley, Satan’s representative on Earth, calls his soon-to-be-master.This is a hilarious, sarcastic, cynical, and absurd look at the fragility of human nature. For those who want to relate absurd happenings to literal happenings in present day reality, there is lots of material to allow a reader to do that.But I couldn’t stop laughing and didn’t want to spoil it with reality. I will read more novels with the Gaiman name. And I will take care of them. I will not treat them in a way described at the beginning of this novel. “If we run across a shiny new copy, it’s usually because the owner’s previous five have been stolen by friends, struck by lightning or eaten by giant termites in Sumatra. You have been warned. Oh, and we understand there’s a copy in the Vatican library.” (p. 2).

Bought as a gift, no complaints.

I honestly enjoyed the plot although it seemed a little bit slow at the beginning. The ending was pretty neat, however it requires full attention and focus since it introduces many characters no matter of they are or not relevant to the story.

The Earth was created October 21, 4004 BC, around 9 AM (fossilized dinosaur skeletons being a joke paleontologists haven't seen yet). "That went down like a lead balloon," said Crawly the serpent - "I mean, first offense and everything. I can't see what's so bad about knowing the difference between good and evil." It was then that he changed his name to Crowley and became the devil's representative on Earth.Over the next 6000 or so years, Aziraphale (the good angel) and Crowley worked out a comfortable arrangement. It seems that agents of all sorts have more in common with their competitors than with their superiors (whom they rarely see). If they unspokenly agreed to a non-interference clause, they could both demonstrate to their masters that they were making remarkable headway against their clever adversaries. When the Apocalypse was announced, they agreed to a secret meeting at the duck pond, along with all the other spies.Summary of characters:Sister Mary Loquacious - A Satanic nun from the Chattering order of St. Beryl, her assignment being the newborn nursery baby switch. When she first met the Anti-Christ AKA the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan and Lord of Darkness - she talks sweetly to him and plays with his toesywosies.Newton Pulsifer - A witchfinder and descendant of the witchfinder, Thou-Shalt-Not-Commit-Adultery Pulsifer (names were more descriptive in those days). He'd like to believe in a Supreme God, although he would prefer a half-hour chat with Him before committing himself, to clear up a few points.Adam - The 11 year old Anti-Christ who grew up in a normal home as a normal kid (despite his powers) because of the botched baby swap by Sister Loquacious. He says, "I don't see what's so triffic about creatin' people as people and then gettin' upset 'cos they act like people...Anyway, if you stopped tellin' people it's all sorted out after they're dead, they might try sorting it all out while they're alive." The Megatron's (Voice of God's) face begins to take on the look familiar to all those subjected to Adam's idiosyncratic line of reasoning.Madam Tracy - A loveable tarot card expert (she took all the evil cards out of the deck) & medium who was forced into partial retirement from prostitution by age. She lived next door to witchhunter Shadwell and brought him cookies.Shadwell - The witchhunter whose teeth were bad enough to make the tooth fairy take retire her wand. On Sundays, Madam Tracy left a plate of food outside his door...she couldn't help but like him. For all the good it did, though, she might as well be flicking bread pellets into a black hole...in Shadwell's simple world anyone wearing sunglasses who wasn't actually on a beach was probably a criminal.Crowley - A snappy dresser who always wore sunglasses, Crowley was a demon who rather liked people, even though his job, which he did well, was to do his best to make them miserable. Usually, however, he couldn't think up anything half as bad as stuff they thought up themselves...and just when you'd think they were more malignant than ever Hell could be, they would occasionally show more grace than Heaven ever dreamed of. "God does not play games with his loyal servants," said The Megatron. "Whooo-eee," said Crowley, "where have you been?"Aziraphale - Angelic representation on earth. Although he was, of course, neutered, some thought he was gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide. Scrupulously good, but not pompous enough to carry a righteous demeanor, his cover was book store owner, and his hobby was collecting Infamous Bibles with errors in typesetting.The Four Bike Riders of the Apocalypse - joined by a group of mortal Hell's Angels and commissioned by Satan himself to find the lost Anti-Christ on the fateful day of Armageddon.Crowley and Aziraphale take you on a wonderfully paced journey full of insights and witty observations on life. Pratchett and Gaiman don't let you down as their eccentric cast converges for the climactic scene. Mark Twain, author of "Letters From The Earth" would approve of "Good Omens," the funniest version of the Apocalypse ever written. Highly recommended.