Good Omens

Rating:
Summary: Hallelujah! (and I don't care if I spelled that wrong!)
Review: This book has been and continues to be one of those "secret treasures" Peter S. Beagle described in his intro to the Lord or the Rings. Time and time again I can return to it and revel in the zany and irrefutitably wise words of Pratchett and Gaiman. In the same way The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy spoke more eloquently about the human condition than any self help book or guide to spirituality, Good Omens is a jewel of a novel about many things found in the universe, not the least of them being the continual confusion created by the Book of Revelations for some of today's more toned down Bible readers.

I am not Christian, but I appreciated the book. In the end, I suppose whatever comments I have can be boiled down to the following:

_If there is a God, I'm betting it's the God from Good Omens. The only thing I can't quite figure out is, between Gaiman and Prachett, who wears the shades and who collects the books?_

:) Happy reading.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Introduction to Terry Pratchett
Review: I had never read anything by either of the authors when I bought this book, nor had I heard of Terry Pratchett, who is very well known for his Disc World books (which I later read and also highly recommend--all of them!). But I was soon engrossed in what was some of the best and funniest writing I have had the pleasure to encounter in many years.

The essential story is of two angels--one fallen and one not--who have been living on earth for ages, each doing their best to either damn or save souls. Over the millenia, they have developed a sort of professional understanding, and often meet for coffee, in a manner of speaking, to discuss world events.

Into this cozy arrangement comes startling news--the anti-Christ has been scheduled for arrival, which means the end of the world is imminent. The problem is, the two angels have grown to love the world and are not ready to have it end yet. They conspire together to thwart the plans, with quite amusing results that come to a head when the anti-Christ reaches the age of 11.

This is a very funny and intelligently written book. It has nothing in it to offend; my then-ten-year-old daughter not only loved having me read it aloud to her, but eventually absconded with the book so she could read it to herself.

There are rumors that the book is being made into a movie soon, so get a jump on the crowd and read it now. If the movie makers do justice to the book, it should be a great movie. Nonetheless, some of the best humor in the book is through the writing, and would not translate to the big screen. So read the book!

Rating:
Summary: Warning:
Review: Opening this book and reading a page may leave you unable to perform any other activities until you have finished it. It is very likely that it will become your all time favorite book, and you will be seized by an overwhelming compulsion to read all of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's other novels. You may find you yourself quoting entire passages to complete strangers, laughing out loud in public when you think of this book, and purchasing Best of Queen tapes at every convenient source. You may loan it out or buy copies for all of your friends and family one year, and start checking regularly on the internet for news of the Good Omens movie, directed by Terry Gilliam. And that's just the start.

A disclaimer is needed, for a book that is this much fun.

I read this book for the first time when I was eleven years old, and even though I didn't understand all of the jokes or references, I already loved it. I am now eighteen, and have re-read it many times since then. I still enjoy it just as much as I did reading it for the first time.

As for the storyline... well it all starts in the garden of Eden, where the first rainstorm is beginning to break. An angel (who has mysteriously misplaced his flaming sword) and a serpent of a very suspicious nature stop to have a chat, thus beginning a long and steady, if rather odd friendship.

This friendship follows the two angels, one fallen (Crowley)and one upstanding (Azeriphale), into the twentieth century where they must find the antichrist and determine the fate of the world. This isn't as easy as it sounds. The antichrist has been...misplaced, and the storyline is further complicated by prophetesses, a witch, witch hunters, satanic nuns, overly agressive management trainees, tibetans, troublesome children, motorcyclists, and...Elvis. On top of it all, Azeriphale and Crowley are starting to have doubts about whether or not the Apocalypse should happen at all...

so read this book and enjoy it immensely. You'll never be able to look at The Book of Revelations the same way again.

Rating:
Summary: About as far from "Left Behind" as you can get!
Review: I stood in the bookstore for hours reading this. I couldn't put it down until I knew how it was going to come out. I mean, you never know in these kinds of comedies whether they're going to destroy the world or not. You just know it will be funny.

On a religious note: This is not the Bible. This is first-class entertainment. Don't take it as the Bible. And don't think they're belittling the Bible either. What do you think God gave us imaginations for?

Anybody will love this book. Even fundamentalists. Even people who live by Tim LaHaye. You just have to have a sense of humor.

Rating:
Summary: A real life laugh-out-loud book
Review: I have read many, many books, and some are funny the first couple of times through. But this book is still funny even after five years of re-re-reading it. I am still getting funny looks in public when I read it and snort-laugh in public. I have recommended it (never loaned out my copy, what if they kept it?) to several people and they all have bought it.

The humor is not the only important part of the book though. There are some serious moments, and some explanations of things I have long wondered about (Elvis, Queen, and Mother Shipton to name a few).

All in all, I think everyone, except fundamentalists, should read this book.

Rating:
Summary: An Outragiously Funny Book!!
Review: I decided to read this book after finishing 2 of Terry Pratchett's others books, Interesting Times and Feet of Clay, which were both great reads. I needed more of his hilarious writing style, so after hearing great reviews, I went out and got this, in my words, masterpiece. Even though I had never heard of Neil Gaiman, the co-writer of the book, I thought I might as well give it a try. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment as I devoured this superb "laugh-out-loud" (tragicomic?) book. Pratchett's and Gaiman's twisted humor really appealed to me as being remarkably funny.

The story begins with the misplacement of the Antichrist by a satanic nun, Sister Mary Loquacious of the Chattering order.

Warlock, the false Antichrist, gets raised by demons from hell to become the one who brings about the Apocalypse, and the great war between Heaven and Hell.

Crowley, the representative of Hell and Aziraphale, the representative of Heaven after many years of knowing each other, since the beginning of time, form a strong, yet awkward at times kind of relationship. Together they work to make life as good as it could be for them on Earth, and they don't want things to change..

Newt and Anethema, the witchfinder and the witch, are out to interpret the prophecies of Anethema's Great-great-great-great Grandmother Agnes Nutter, from her book, The wise and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter. When they figure out her prophecy about the Apocalypse, they get entwined into the quest to protect the Earth and all its people from destruction.

And finally there is Adam Young. He is a boy who lives in Tadfield England and when he is old enough will probably, well according to the prophecies, bring about the end. Together with the Them, the gang of 4 friends (including himself) that ultimately must try to fight Adams deep instinct to achieve what he was made for, and save the world.

After Adam reeks a Nuclear Assult on the world using a super computer at an airbase, the several groups come together to save themselves as well as the rest of the world.

When the impossible seems to be accomplished the characters as well as the readers that maybe their really isn't such a thing as faith, or that maybe that everything that happened, as unlikely as it may be is all part of the Ineffable Plan.

If you have not read this book yet than you should definitely go out and read Good Omens.

Rating:
Summary: Packs a punch like Bruce Lee; smiles like Lee Van Cleef
Review: Armageddon is in jeopardy. It seems that the Antichrist has been switched at birth. This bizarre beginning, seemingly straight out of a Three Stooges movie, is how Pratchett and Gaiman skillfully set up this engrossing comic parable.

Aziraphale (an Angel) and Crowley (a Fallen Angel, who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards) are in charge of finding the Antichrist, now an eleven year old boy. They are an unlikely pair, more loyal to each other than their respective afterworlds. Aziraphale owns a rare bookshop, specializing in books of prophecy and turning away customers. Crowley drives a vintage Bentley, whose stereo changes any inserted cassette into the music of Queen. These two were my favourite characters, perfectly epitomizing the cautious relationship between good and evil, Heaven and Hell. And they head an impressive Dramatis Personae of wonderfully conceived characters: there's Adam Young and his gang ("the Them") slowly coming to grips with his newfound powers; there's Newt and Shadwell, bungling witchfinders; and there's even Agnes Nutter, in absentia, who's seemingly having the most fun of the lot.

One of my favourite sequences involves the introduction of the Four Horsemen... er... Horsepersons... or rather Bikerpersons of the Apocalypse. It's a very subtle and beautifully conceived scene that doesn't come right out and explain who we are being introduced to. We are not formally presented with DEATH, War, Famine and Pollution (Pestilence retired in 1937). Rather, we are slowly given clues as to what the scene is about, and who the important characters are. It's a fantastic scene that rewards the reader who pays close attention to detail. And on top of that, it leads into a ludicrously comic scene about four other bikers -- Hell's Angels, the human kind, there to witness the Four's reconvening -- who decide to tag along. They also decide to give themselves appropriate names:

Big Ted screwed up his face with the effort of thought. 'GBH,' he said, eventually. 'I'm Grievous Bodily Harm. That's me. There. Wott're you going to be?' 'Can I be Rubbish?' asked Skuzz. 'Or Embarrassing Personal Problems?'

It goes on and on like this, and is terribly funny.

A helpful hint: When reading excerpts from Agnes Nutter's prophecies, pay special attention to the margin notes. There is much humour in these random thoughts from Anathema's (the keeper of the book) ancestors. Further proof that Gaiman and Pratchett really know how to pack substance into their marginalia. Other instances of this: varied fonts are used to indicate the authority of certain speakers (DEATH speaks in capitals, while Aziraphale trapped in the body of a medium speaks in italics); the goofy and tangential footnotes that crop up every once in a while, and are a ridiculous treat.

At times, the narrative felt a little too broad, almost unfocused. This problem is neatly tied up in the end, but for awhile I wondered if the two authors had problems deciding on a consensual plot. This is my first time reading a book of dual authorship, and overall I'd say they did a good job of keeping the story (which could very well have careened off into a messy shambles) quite coherent. And this is a good time to ask those with more information than me: how much of this is Pratchett and how much is Gaiman? It is my understanding that the Douglas-Adams-style bits are the work of Pratchett (and it does hold up well against Adams' work), and the Armageddon-on-acid parts are Gaiman's. Regardless, there is enough evidence here to suggest that I'll enjoy my first foray into Pratchett's 'Discworld', coming soon.

And watch for the charmingly brief cameo by God, feeding ducks by a pond.

Rating:
Summary: very amusing
Review: I picked this book up after reading Stardust and Neverwhere and it is certainly as good as those two. The relationships between the characters draws you into the book even more. The scenery is well setup and you get a good feel for what is happening in the story. Anyone who likes good fantasy books or just wants a funny read should pick this one up.

Rating:
Summary: Good Omens - good book
Review: This book is really clever. It balances the different plots and characters very effectively, has some brilliantly funny parts, and yet makes you think. It does make fun of religion but not in a totally out of order way, the outcome of Armageddon makes sense without being disappointed. The humour also arises without being forced and I can't stop rereading the book.

Rating:
Summary: I apologize for commenting twice...
Review: but not enough can be said about this devourable book!

It's fabulous. That's the line at the bottom. :) It's impossible to read it only once. I borrowed the copy I have from a friend, who told me many jokes ahead of time (and I still found them funny when I read them, and when I reread them!), and is in fact the only reason I even knew about it! For an entire weekend, everything we did was "sauntering vaugly downwards." Anyway, the copy I have is borrowed, and I do have some intention of returning it to her...

Some of the footnotes are go on for longer than they really should, but only because of one of them do I finally understand the brittish currancy system!

The Them are great counterparts to the Four Bikers, who in turn have other counterparts: the OTHER Four Bikers of the Apocalypse!

If you want to veiw an angel and a demon drunk together, I don't know of a better place than here this book.

I love just going back through the books and looking at the jokes: my copy has a bunch of sticky notes in it, marking my favorite parts. There is a LOT of them.

I think it was the San Diego Tribune who put it best: "A steamroller of silliness that made me giggle out lout."

Anyway, now I feel I've said enough. Read this book!

Have a nice doomsday.