Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman – Good Omens (Audio)

Title: Good Omens
Author: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Narrator: Stephen Briggs
Publisher: Isis Audio Books
First Published: 2006
Running time:
Format: Audio Book
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:
According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter - the world's only totally reliable guide to the future - the world will end on a Saturday.

Next Saturday, in fact.

Just after tea.

There will be seas of fire, rains of fish, the moon turning to blood and the massed armies of Heaven and Hell will sort it out once and for all.

Which is a major problem for Crowley, Hell's most approachable demon and former serpent, and his opposite number and old friend Aziraphale, genuine angel and Soho bookshop owner. They like it down here (or, in Crowley's case, up here).

So they've got no alternative but to stop the Four Motorcyclists of the Apocalypse, defeat the marching ranks of the Witchfinder's army* and - somehow - stop it all happening.

Above all (or, in Aziraphale's case, below all) they need to find and kill the Antichrist, currently the most powerful creature on Earth.

This is a shame. Because he's eleven years old, loves his dog even though it's really a Satanic hellhound under all that hair, really cares about the environment and is the sort of boy anyone would be proud to have as a son. He's also totally invulnerable, and a nice kid.

And if that isn't enough, they've still got Sunday to deal with. . .

* All two of them.

Review:
It is rare for two writers to be able to merge their skills and styles so seamlessly, but Pratchett and Gamain, both wonderful writers in their own rights, make for a formidable team, combining their sharp wit and sense of the absurd to create a book that requires the reader to have several changes of clean underwear.

Stephen Briggs, a well-known figure to all Pratchett fans, is an excellent choice of narrator with a pleasant voice that is easy on the ear, and a good eye for punch lines as well as the timing to pull them off, despite being terrible at the accents for the American characters.

Despite having read the book a good half-dozen times already, the laughs come so thick and fast that one can’t stop giggling, and even if the text if familiar, you’ll be chucking in anticipation when your favourite scenes approach.