Good Omens Review by Adrian

    

    Good Omens was co-written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. I never heard of Terry Pratchett before reading Good Omens, but I was a big fan of Neil Gaiman because of his novel, Coraline. His writing in Coraline was very serious, so I was interested to see how a more lighthearted book would be written in his style.

    Good Omens is a world where both Heaven and Hell exist and the world was created 6000 years ago. In current day, the Antichrist, or the son of Satan, has been born and he is switched out with another baby from Earth. In 11 years when the Antichrist comes of age, he will start the apocalypse.

     The baby was placed on earth by a demon named Crowley, who's lived on Earth for a large part of his demon existence and isn't excited about Armageddon coming. His associate, an angel named Aziraphale, agrees to work with him to try and influence the Antichrist as he grows up so, maybe, he won't actually start the apocalypse.

    This book tends to lean towards satire, which makes it 100 times more enjoyable to read than if it was concerned with taking itself seriously. The book doesn't take the concept of Heaven, Hell, or humans seriously at all. Even the main characters sometimes poke fun at the higher powers. The two main characters are both entities that are non-human by default, but the writing shows that from living on Earth for thousands of years, they've both grown fond of the human race and don't actually want them to go extinct. There are lots of specific notes and details in this book, which sometimes works in its favor, endearing you to the characters.

    However, if you like only fast-paced novels who get to the point, sometimes all the side-notes can make it hard to read. Sometimes it can be hard to keep attention, but lots of the little details make the world feel more realized. Good Omens is great at worldbuilding and making Heaven and Hell feel fully believable. I would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy, Neil Gaiman, or satire.