2008 Woodie Awards
End of the world? That's so funny!
Angie Entenmann
Issue date: 1/16/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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PROS
Couldn't tell it was co-written; nice flow<
Several storylines going on at once
Hilarious
CONS
There is no sequel
Only 400 pages
Tame version of Armageddon
If the world were to really end like this, people would stop converting to Christianity and camp out in lawn chairs, eagerly awaiting Armageddon and the end of the world.
The version of the world's end found in the Bible in the book of Revelation is pretty much fire, brimstone, locusts, torture, loss and depravity. Good Omens proffers a version that is more British comedy, slapstick, humor, not-so-wicked witches, slightly rebellious angels, demons with a good streak and an adorable anti-Christ.
It would be tempting to call Good Omens the agnostic rebuttal to the popular End of Times series mass-produced and over-marketed by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. However, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman originally gave the world the gift of Good Omens in 1990. Omens' reissued version has some extras in the back that weren't worth the reprint unless you worship/stalk one or both of the authors.
For fans of Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch-and it has a cult following-the new covers justify sending this novel back out into the world. They can choose between a white copy with the Demon Crowley "chillaxing" on the cover or the black version with the angel Aziraphale. The dual covers also have the authors listed both alphabetically and not so that fans of one or the other can find the book on the shelf. This anomaly will no doubt prove a thorn in the side of Barnes and Noble booksellers as they stock.
For the fans of sci-fi books that incorporate battles and blood and some real action; put the book down and step away from the shelf. This is a carnage-free version of that end times battle of Good vs. Evil. Nothing between these pages satiates a healthy blood-lust.
Harry Potter fans won't find a favorite in Good Omens, either. Though the demons, angels, Satan, God and the Antichrist exercise their omnipotence occasionally and in colorful ways, they don't have as much fun with the supernatural as Granger, Potter and Weasley do.
From the moment the first page is scanned, nothing else in the world seems to matter as much as finishing Good Omens. If not for trivial things like hunger, dehydration, sleep deprivation, and Nature's call, it would be possible to read these 398 pages all the way through.
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