Good Omens

Name: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

Author: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Published: 1990

Song: Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones

‘The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch’ is the only accurate prediction to when the end of the world will be. And according to her predictions, it will be on a Saturday. Next Saturday actually, after tea…

You could spend this limited time left drowning your sorrows or trying to laugh it off in the hope that it is (hopefully) just another hoax. Or you could try and do something about it.

And that’s precisely Aziraphale, a somewhat fussy angel, and a punk rock demon called Crowley, intend to do. They have both been around since The Beginning and would quite like to keep it that way! However, as Hell’s minions rise and certain Angels begin to fall, they discover that this may be harder than it sounds.

Oh, and somebody seems to have misplaced the Antichrist…

‘Armageddon only happens once, you know. They don’t let you go around again until you get it right.’

‘Good Omens’ is the funniest book I’ve read this year. Hands down. (Just ignore the fact that it’s still January.) It was just so cynical and hilarious and British! Sooooo many books are written by American authors and set in America, which is totally fine, but it just felt really nice to have jokes about the weather in Manchester (woo) and traffic jams on the M6 and not having to count on your fingers what year 8th Grade is. Honestly though, can someone please explain to me how the American grade things work! And even though it was British satire through and through; I 100% recommend it to anyone with a sense of humour.

‘Don’t think of it as dying,’ said DEATH. ‘Think of it as leaving before the rush.’

Some things never get old, like 80’s rock ballads and Twighlight hehe. But Good Omens was written in 1990 and sometimes it showed; there was one or two too many ‘ansaphone’ jokes for my Gen Z brain. My other slight niggle with the book is that sometimes the, admittedly very funny, jokes got in the way of the actual plot line and I got a bit confused about what was going on. And lastly, this book is about Armageddon. The end of the world, the Apocalypse, you name it. It’s pretty major! And I felt like the ending was just a bit anticlimactic.

‘Crowley: an Angel who did not Fall, but Sauntered Vaguely Downwards.’

However, the book totally made up for it with the characters! They were so adorable and detailed (with sometimes slightly too much detail) but I loved how Good and Evil were represented. My favourite character had to be Witchfinder General Shadwell, or Agnes Nutter: no green skinned, wart nosed witched in this book! The ‘Bikers of the Apocalypse’ were hilarious and I loved Aziraphale, even though his name is literally impossible to spell, and Crowley – I totally ship them. (If you want to know what the hell I’m on about, READ THE BOOK! You won’t regret it!)

So, in 2019, Good Omens was made into a miniseries on Amazon Prime, but it’s just gone onto BBC Iplayer and is 100% on my to-watch list – straight after watching Friends for the fiftieth time. It looks so cooool. I’m so excited that David Tenant plays Crowley, Nativity and Doctor Who are literally my entire childhood; he looks amazing in it! Here’s the trailer…

So yeah! Good Omens is sarcastic, totally British (a bit blasphemous) but absolutely hilarious. It’s a cult classic. If you want to laugh until you cry, know whether Good or Evil created Macclesfield and why every CD left in a car for longer than a month turns into a ‘Queen’s Greatest Hits’ Album… read this book! And whilst some parts may be slightly outdated, Good Omens will never die. I’ll make sure of it.

Have you read this book? Got any recommendations? (song recommendations also excitedly accepted) Please like and tell me in the comments section!