Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett --- 412 pages including Foreword, Afterword and two Authors' Essays.

Good Omens, originally published in 1990, represents the only collaboration we have by two giants of 20th/21st century comic fantasy: the late great Sir Terry Pratchett and the amazing multi-talented Neil Gaiman. The two British authors met in the early days of their careers and formed an immediate and lasting friendship, ended only by Sir Terry's too-early death on March 12, 2015.

The two had tried on several occasions over the years to write a sequel or bring the original book to the screen as a film or television show. Shortly before his death, Gaiman says, Pratchett urged him to try again.  This time Gaiman succeeded; he is overseeing the production of a six-part television series, a joint venture by the BBC and Amazon Prime due to premiere in early 2019.

To summarize the plot (briefly): In 1655, before she was burned as a witch, Agnes Nutter produced the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies right down to the End of the World. Which will occur on Saturday, just before dinner. As the Armies of Good and Evil are massing, everything appears to be going to plan: Atlantis is rising, the seas are on fire, fish are raining down. and the four Bikers of the Apocalypse on on their way to a rendezvous with the eleven-year-old Antichrist.

But a fastidious Angel and part-time rare book dealer named Aziraphale, and his opposite number Crawley, a Fallen Angel (who did not so much fall as saunter vaguely downwards), have spent the last 6,000 years assigned to Humanity. And find they've grown rather fond of their unpredictable charges. Also they are harboring a guilty secret: they managed to misplace the Antichrist at his birth and never got around to informing Heaven and Hell. So they're not really looking forward to the Rapture and the involved and tedious explanations bound to ensue.

The forthcoming series will feature Michael Sheen as Aziraphale and David Tennant as Crowley.  Jon Hamm will play the Angel Gabriel, and Frances McDormand will be God. Click HERE to see the First Look trailer.  Click HERE to read an interview with Neil Gaiman at the recent Comic-Con in San Diego.

Here's two reviews written when the book was first published in 1990.  Click HERE for the review from Publishers Weekly (which got it right) and HERE for the sanctimonious reviewer from the New York Times (who got it SO wrong).

And here's two reviews issued when the cult best seller was re-issued again (and again): Click HERE for a review from tor.com, and HERE for a review from Kirkus.

The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett

The Shepherd's Crown: A Tiffany Aching Adventure by Terry Pratchett --- 276 pages

So this is it: the final Discworld novel by the late, lamented Sir Terry Pratchett.

Fittingly, it is a book about growing up and growing old. About saying goodbye and going on. Like Tolkien, like all the great writers of fantasy, Terry Pratchett did not merely invent his world. He opened the way into a world that was always there, waiting to be explored. Thank you, Sir Terry, for bringing us to that place where the falling angel meets the rising ape.

The Shepherd's Crown is the fifth book in the Tiffany Aching YA series, which also includes: The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, and I Shall Wear Midnight.

Sir Terry Pratchett OBE, was the auhtor of more than seventy books, including the international best-selling Discworld fantasy series. His novels have been adapted for the stage and film, and he was the winner of multiple awards, including the Carnegie Medal. Sir Terry was diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy (early-onset Alzheimer's) in 2007. In January 2009, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his services to literature.  He continued to write until the summer of 2014 when he finished The Shepherd's Crown. He died in March 2015 at the age of 66, at his home in England.

Click HERE  to read a review of The Shepherd's Crown. (Warning: Spoiler Alert)

Cleick HERE to read a review and an appreciation of Terry Pratchett by author A.S. Byatt. (Warning: Spoiler Alert)