Good Omens

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

A few years ago I was perusing a bookstore and picked up Good Omens to flip through while I waited for my girlfriend to finish whatever the hell it was that she was doing, and I didn't put it down for 45 minutes. The whole time I was in this store I was snickering and trying not too laugh to loud because for some reason bookstores feel that they have the same sanctity as do libraries, which, of course, they don't (next time yr in Barnes and Noble play Marco Polo with your friends- they won't throw you out- honest!).

Basically it's the story of the Apocalypse by way of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The two main characters are an angel and a demon that over the millennia have become friends because they realized that they have more in common with their immediate enemies than they do with their far-off comrades. The Antichrist is 11 years old; his upbringing by simple British parents the result of disorganized, chattering, satanic nuns. The world is coming to and end and there are signs and portents: geese flying backwards, surly green aliens giving terse messages of peace, confused Tibetan tunnelers, and Death rides a Harley.

There's footnotes scattered throughout the book, a la most of everything that Terry Pratchett has ever written, but having Gaiman around meant that the characters are meatier and the story is better paced than Pratchett's other books.

Ruthless Ratings

• Monty Python British humor points: 9

Points of Interest:

• Rumor is that Good Omens is the next Terry Gialliam movie.
• The footnotes thoughtfully explain seemingly arcane British references to their American audience.