Book notes: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

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Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

Synopsis:

“The world will end on Saturday. Next Saturday. Just before dinner, according to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, the world’s only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655. The armies of Good and Evil are amassing and everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except that a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist. Put New York Times best-selling authors Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett together…and all Hell breaks loose.” -Audible

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Opening thoughts:

I honestly don’t know what to expect with this book but Neil Gaiman is a famous and well-renowned author and I enjoyed his other book The Graveyard Book. Also, this book has good reviews so I have some high hopes for it.

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Key notes:

In the Beginning

Eleven Years Ago

• The demons and fallen angels spend most of their time trying to do evil things to humans. But then one of them realized that humans do the worst things to themselves and it was increasingly hard to top that
• The demon couldn’t fathom how humans could be so much more evil than Hell but sometimes show more grace than Heaven
  • They postulated that it was because of this “free will” idea that allows them to choose and change

Wednesday

• The demon Crowley like many others was embarrassed by Satanists because the Satanists blamed the evil things they’ve done on Hell and Satan. In reality, the demons and Satan never had to make anyone do anything
  • Humans were plenty evil on their own

Thursday

• The group of 4 kids, led by Adam, were called The Them

Friday

Reader’s note: I didn’t take many notes on the Wednesday through Friday chapters. A lot of things were going on but I wasn’t sure how they all fit together until the last chapter Saturday. But essentially, several different groups with their own adventures finally intersected in the final chapter.

For example, Anathema and Newt became intertwined as she was a descendant of a witch and he was a witch hunter. Anathema possessed a book of prophecies written by her ancestor Agnes Nutter, which foretold the coming apocalypse.

The Them was a group of four schoolchildren led by Adam Young, the literal antichrist. He was placed into a normal home at birth by Crowley and Aziraphale as an experiment into human nature.

Mr. Shadwell was the last in a line of witch hunters, who came across Madame Tracy, his neighbor and a person who hosts seances.

Lastly, two of the main protagonists were Aziraphale the angel, and Crowley the demon. They have a friendly relationship similar to that of longtime coworkers turned friends. They found themselves in weird antics together throughout the story culminating in the apocalypse.

Saturday

• Anathema explained to Newt how her ancestor Agnes was a terrible prophet because she could see glimpses of the future but couldn’t really translate it well
  • But the glimpses usually related to her descendants so it was like a family heirloom of prophecies
• Aziraphale was summoned back to heaven and Crowley went to the bookshop to look for him. He ended up finding the book before the bookshop burned down 
• Some Hell’s Angels bikers met the actual 4 horsemen/bikers: War, Famine, Death, Pollution
• Adam told The Them that he could make the world as he wanted and control them
  • But then he instantly became aware of himself, his powers, and the state of the world. Then he asked for their help
• The 4 horsemen tried to start the apocalypse but Adam stopped them. Then all the characters met up in one spot to figure out what to do next
• Aziraphale and Crowley, as well as Adam, managed to stop or at least halt the apocalypse for now

Sunday

• Adam made everyone’s memory of the day before hazy and nobody really remembered. At that point, everyone’s lives pretty much continued on as it would have

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Closing thoughts:

I enjoyed this book and can see why a lot of others did too. It was a pretty fun story that seemed fun an quirky at times, but then turned into a high-stakes, world-ending story. The characters and their interactions with each other were pretty unique and fun to follow as well.

I think my favorite characters were Aziraphale and Crowley, as it was fun to follow their adventures interacting with the world and humans. Then seeing how their experiment went off the rails, but eventually worked itself out.

Overall, this was a solid read that I would recommend to anyone in the fiction and fantasy genre. Also, anyone who is a fan of Neil Gaiman would probably really enjoy this book.

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One Takeaway / Putting into practice:

Even though this was mostly a fun novel, I did get one takeaway from the book:

• Humans could be so much more evil than Hell but sometimes show more grace than Heaven

I understand that this was mostly a commentary on human behavior in this fictional world, but I think it’s a poignant thought that I feel like reflects our own world. People can be the source of the greatest evils in the world, but also be the source of the greatest love, kindness, and compassion. And I think the takeaway for me is that it’s our choice to be one or the other. Or rather, make decisions (big and small) that align with what we want to be.

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Nutshell:

An angel and a demon accidentally get involved in the apocalypse and have to figure out how to stop it.

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Similar books:

• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
• Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein

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Rating:

3.5/5

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