Yoohoo Bibliofriends,
After reading Atomic Habits by James Clear [review here] and deciding that I needed to try and listen to Audiobooks more, part of my new, determined habit-goals-self decided to listen to them each morning as I was getting ready to go to work. One of the first ones I started with was Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
I have been a long-time fan of Neil Gaiman and read a majority of his works but Terry Pratchett is totally new to me. As a massive fantasy fan, I know I should be trying to read more of his works as he is a large part of the genre. After listening to Good Omens, I’m definitely going to be investing more of my interest into his writing! It was so much fun!
Book: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett (Audiobook) / Martin Jarvis (Narrator)
Genre: Fantasy
Publication Date: (First Published) May 1st 1990
Publisher: Harper Audio
Duration: 12 hours 33 minutes (approx.)
Rating: 📚📚📚📚📖
Synopsis (from Goodreads)
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.
My Musings
Wow, wasn’t this one go the greatest audiobooks to get me back into the habit of listening to them?! First up, Martin Jarvis is an exceptional narrator. He gets so into the characters and his accents and voices were on-point! I definitely could have rated his part as 5 stars!
The in-jokes and humour that poured out of every chapter were hilarious. There were some really witty one-liners about politics or pop-culture and also some long-running jokes throughout the whole story – the Queen mix-tape and all of their equivalents was one of my favourites! In fact, I was so intrigued about all of the Queen references in the book that I did my own digging and found a new appreciation for it based on this article on Cinemablend (book spoilers if you click the link!).
I didn’t think I would really appreciate the humour in a fantasy-style book as there aren’t many books that I actually do find funny – perhaps I’m just not reading the right ones or perhaps it was the joys of this as an audiobook that made some of those jokes and quips stand out a lot more. It was definitely an interesting mix to have fantasy and comedy but I couldn’t think of two better authors who are well-equipped to bring that off.
The characters were well thought-out and created. For me Crowley and Aziraphale really steal he show as they bring the most action and quirkiness to the dialogue. Anathema Device also had a brilliant role to play in communicating the the prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, to the reader – I’m officially adding that book to my TBR by the way! 😉
Favourite Quotes:
Just a selection as there are waaaaayyyy too many!
“DON’T THINK OF IT AS DYING,” said Death. “JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.”
Aziraphale collected books. If he were totally honest with himself he would have to have admitted that his bookshop was simply somewhere to store them. He was not unusual in this. In order to maintain his cover as a typical second-hand book seller, he used every means short of actual physical violence to prevent customers from making a purchase. Unpleasant damp smells, glowering looks, erratic opening hours – he was incredibly good at it.
Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.
“It’s like you said the other day,” said Adam. “You grow up readin’ about pirates and cowboys and spacemen and stuff, and jus’ when you think the world’s full of amazin’ things, they tell you it’s really all dead whales and chopped-down forests and nucular waste hangin’ about for millions of years. ‘Snot worth growin’ up for, if you ask my opinion.”
Why Should I Read This?
For the witty characters and their quips.
For a fresh uplift on the classic fantasy tale of angels, demons and the antichrist.
For the excellent audio skills of superb narrator, Martin Jarvis.
Have you read Good Omens? What is your favourite Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett book? As always, drop me a comment to chat!
T xx
thebiblioshelf.com 
Nicely written
Stay wealthy healthy safe and happy
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Thank you! Stay safe too! 😊
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