Good Omens - a cult classic, like those movies, books and albums from the other side of the 90's that have millions of followers, but yet the name is not yet common knowledge. No more I say! This book deserves the title of classic, just like any novel by Jane Austen or Ernest Hemingway.
Good Omens is not a religious book. It’s the story of the apocalypse, the coming of the Anti-Christ, the great last war. But nothing goes the way it needs to for Adam, the unknowing, and unwilling, Anti-Christ, to bring all that about.
Adam isn’t the main character though. That title would jointly fall to the characters of Aziraphale and Crowley, an angel and demon respectfully, that have been around since Adam and Eve were in Eden. They don’t want the world to end. They’ve grown pretty attached to it.
So they try and stop the Apocalypse.
Some feat, right? Well, they’re not the only ones who’re trying to do the same thing. There’s also a witch guided by her ancestor who’s been dead for centuries and the hapless witch hunter trying to catch her. Even Adam, who without knowing it is bringing about the Apocalypse, is quite against all of it. He’s a nice kid. He got mixed up and went to the wrong family when he was born and grew up with a set of strong morals. He wants the world to stay just as it is too.
You see all those fantastic characters I’m talking about? They're so wonderfully fleshed out that you could swear this was an autobiography not a work of fiction. There’s the massive amount of humor, on every page there’s something to make you laugh out loud. Literally. Trust me. I’ve experienced it. And don’t worry about the authors being British; they’ve left us Americans footnotes to help us through some of the jokes written for the people on the other side of the Atlantic.
As for the humor, they are making fun of different parts of the Christian religion, but not spitefully. They’re doing it from a place of love and understanding of the Bible with its nuances. It’s just little things about the Bible and the Christian religion that any practitioner, or not, can get a laugh at. I mean Satan speaking to Crowley through the voice of Freddie Mercury? What’s not to love?
Gaiman announced earlier this year that the series is to play on BBC in the upcoming year, no exact date as of yet. There are also no words as of yet towards its premiere date in the United States, though considering the normal period of time it takes, it should only be a couple months later than its British premiere.
So, start hitting the books! It’s a good and easy read that’ll give you something to laugh about after that hard test you just took. Relax, get a cup of coffee and enjoy the wonders that are the writing of the masterminds Gaiman and Pratchett.
Image Source: http://www.neilgaiman.com/works/Books/Good%20Omens/ed/141/
