January 31, 2009 by Mathew Ferguson
If you don’t feel like reading my awesome and altogether brilliant book review of Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen then perhaps some videos reviews suit you better.
What is with the black and white? Urgh.
She does eventually get to the review
Category Comedy, Fiction, Video reviews | Tags: Comedy,Fiction,must buy,Neil Gaiman,Terry Pratchett,video book review | No Comments
January 16, 2009 by Mathew Ferguson
Buy this book before the meteorite comes and wipes us all out!
Good Omens is one of those books that once you start reading it you are suddenly struck down with the fear of “what if I had died before reading this?”
It is simply so good it is possible it could alter the fabric of space and time and if you’re not careful, thoughts from you now might travel back in time, distract you and you’ll die in some bizarre milk-related accident.
Good Omens tells the story of Adam, a 12-year-old boy destined for a starring role in the Apocalypse if various demons and angels have anything to do with it. Of course, the angels and demons (Aziraphale & Crowley) have spent so long on Earth doing their respective jobs that maybe they don’t want the Apocalypse right at this moment.
Add in the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a book containing the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nice the Witch, a Witch-finder, A Painted Jezebel, some Satanic Nuns of the Chattering Order of St Beryl and, as the book says, a full chorus of Tibetans, Aliens, Americans, Atlanteans and other Rare and Strange Creatures of the Last Days … you get the idea. It’s crazy and fun and brilliant all wrapped together with the kind of Englishness of comedy that, well, only the English can write.
For those who are Pratchett fans, you’ll recognise the style and the humour (and some of the ideas he has repeated in future novels). For Gaiman fans … hmm … I’m honestly not sure. I’ve read some Sandman graphic novels and Coraline but I get the feeling Pratchett’s style overwhelmed Gaiman’s a little. Not that it matters – both of them are amazing writers and Good Omens is perfection.
A sample:
“The only things in the flat Crowley devoted any personal attention to were the houseplants. They were huge and green and glorious, with shiny, healthy, lustrous leaves. This was because, once a week, Crowley went around the flat with a green plastic plant mister, spraying the leaves and talking to the plants. He had heard about talking to plants in the early seventies, on Radio Four, and thought it an excellent idea. Although, talking is perhaps the wrong word for what Crowley did.
What he did was put the fear of God into them.
More precisely, the fear of Crowley.
In addition to which, every couple of months Crowley would pick out a plant that was growing too slowly, or succumbing to leaf-wilt or browning, or just didn’t look quite as good as the others, and he would carry it around to all the other plants. ‘Say goodbye to your friend,’ he’d say to them. ‘He just couldn’t cut it…’
Then he would leave the flat with the offending plant, and return an hour or so later with a large, empty flower pot, which he would leave somewhere conspicuously around the flat.
The plants were the most luxurious, verdant, and beautiful in London. Also the most terrified.
If you can’t buy Good Omens go to the library and borrow it right now before the end of the world comes.
How I got Good Omens: Mine is a second-hand copy so I’m presuming a second-hand shop. I first read it when I was twelve and my mum borrowed it from the Horsham library. It can be hard to find second-hand (Pratchett books usually are because people keep them).
Websites:
Neil Gaiman website and journal
Happy reading,
Mat
what if you are allergic to panda and don’t know it?
–
Follow me:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mathewferguson
Category Comedy, Fiction | Tags: Comedy,Fiction,must buy,Neil Gaiman,Terry Pratchett | 1 Comment