| Good Omens | |
|---|---|
1st edition cover |
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| Author(s) | Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy Comedy |
| Publisher | Gollancz (UK) / Workman (US) |
| Publication date | May 1, 1990 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | 288 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-575-04800-X |
| OCLC Number | 21299949 |
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (1990) is a World Fantasy Award nominated[1] novel written in collaboration between the English authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
The book is a comedy and a quasi-parody of the 1976 film The Omen (as well as other books and films of the genre), concerning the birth of the son of Satan, the coming of the End Times and the attempts of the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley to avert them, having become accustomed to their comfortable situations in the human world. A subplot features the gathering of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—War, Famine, Pollution (Pestilence having retired in 1936 following the discovery of penicillin), and Death—the last of whom is characterised in a manner reminiscent of the personification of Death in Pratchett's Discworld novels and calls himself Azrael before his final exit.
Contents |
It is the coming of the End Times: the Apocalypse is near, and Final Judgment will soon descend upon the human race. This comes as a bit of bad news to the angel Aziraphale (who was the angel of the Garden of Eden) and the demon Crowley (who, when he was originally named Crawly, was the serpent who tempted Eve to eat the apple), respectively the representatives of God and Satan on Earth, as they have become used to living their cozy, comfortable lives and have, in a perverse way, taken a liking to humanity. As such, since they are good friends (despite ostensibly representing the polar opposites of Good and Evil), they decide to work together and keep an eye on the Antichrist, destined to be the son of a prominent American diplomat stationed in Britain, and thus ensure he grows up in a way that means he can never decide between Good and Evil, thereby postponing the end of the world.
Unfortunately, Warlock, the child everyone thinks is the Anti-Christ is, in fact, a perfectly normal eleven-year-old boy. Due to mishandling of several infants in the hospital, the real Anti-Christ is Adam Young, a charismatic and slightly otherworldly eleven-year-old who, despite being the harbinger of the Apocalypse, has lived a perfectly normal life as the son of typical English parents and as a result has no idea of his true powers. As Adam blissfully and naively uses his powers, creating around him the world of Just William (because he thinks that is what an English child's life should be like), the race is on to find him—the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse assemble and the incredibly accurate (yet so highly specific as to be useless) prophecies of Agnes Nutter, seventeenth-century prophetess, are rapidly coming true.
Agnes Nutter was a witch in the 17th century and the only truly accurate prophet to have ever lived. She wrote a book called The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, a collection of prophecies that did not sell very well because they were unspectacular, cryptic and, ironically enough, all true. She, in fact, decided to publish it only so that she could receive a free author's copy. There is only one copy of the book left, which belongs to her descendant Anathema Device. Agnes was burned at the stake by a mob (because that is what mobs did at that time); however, because she had foreseen her fiery end ("Ye're tardy; I should have been aflame ten minutes since") and had packed 80 pounds of gunpowder and 40 pounds of roofing nails into her petticoats, everyone who participated in the burning was killed instantly.
Anathema teams up with Newton Pulsifer, the descendant of the man who initiated the burning of Agnes, to use the prophesies and find the Antichrist. Unfortunately, that is exactly what everyone else is trying to do, and time is running out.
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams is referenced several times in Crowley's bad memories of the 14th Century. In Dirk Gently, Professor Chronotis says, "Most of the fourteenth century was rather grim." In 1988, Gaiman authored Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion.
The character names "Nutter" and "Device" are names of actual persons accused of witchcraft in the 1612 Pendle witches trial.
Gaiman and Pratchett had known each other since 1985 and it was their own idea, not that of their publisher, to collaborate on a novel.[2]
Neil Gaiman has said:
while Terry Pratchett has said:
The United States edition of Good Omens had numerous alterations to the text. The most significant alteration to the main text is the addition of an extra 700-word section just before the end, dealing with what happened to the character of Warlock, the American diplomat's son, who was swapped with Adam.[4] The American edition also adds numerous footnotes not found in British editions.
The Dutch translation of Good Omens contains a preface by the translator wherein he asserts that no extra footnotes were added to clarify matters that might be unclear to a modern audience—annotated with footnotes explaining omen and Crowley.
In the French version, some characters were given French-sounding names. Agnes Nutter became Agnès Barge (barge is French for nutter), Anathema Device became Anthème Bidule (Bidule being French for Device). More interestingly, Crowley became Rampa, after the infamous author of The Third Eye, T.L. Rampa. It is to be noted that the French publisher of Good Omens (J'Ai Lu) was also the French publisher of the T.L. Rampa books.
668—The Neighbour of the Beast was slated as the title for a sequel to Good Omens, but after Neil Gaiman moved to the United States, Terry Pratchett expressed doubt that a sequel would be written.[4] Neil Gaiman later affirmed this in one of his essays, titled Terry Pratchett: An Appreciation.
A film, directed by Terry Gilliam, was planned. As of 2002 Gilliam still hoped to make the film with its already completed script,[5] but by 2006 it seemed to have come to nothing. Funding was slow to appear and Gilliam moved on to other projects. The film was removed from IMDB. There was a rumour that Johnny Depp was originally cast as Crowley and Robin Williams as Aziraphale. However Neil Gaiman has said on his website, "Well, Robin's worked with Terry Gilliam before as well, of course, most famously in The Fisher King. But I have no idea about Good Omens casting (except for Shadwell. Terry told me who he wanted to play Shadwell. I immediately forgot the man's name, although I can assure you that it wasn't Robin Williams)."[6] According to an interview in May 2006 at The Guardian Hay Festival, Gilliam is apparently still hoping to go ahead with the film.
Even in 2008, Gilliam was still hopeful about the project. Neil Gaiman's Stardust and Beowulf were successful as films in 2007, which has given the Good Omens adaptation a better chance to get picked up. A Gilliam quote from an Empire interview: "And I thought with Neil, with Stardust and with Beowulf and there’s another one – an animated film, a Henry Selick thing he’s written Coraline, I was thinking he’s really hot now, so maybe there’s a chance. I mean it’s such a wonderful book. And I think our script is pretty good, too. We did quite a few changes. We weren’t as respectful as we ought to have been. But Neil’s happy with it!"[7]
The history of this project and similar experiences with Gaiman's various other works (including The Sandman series) have led to his cynical view of the Hollywood process, a view which occasionally surfaces in his weblog[8] and in some of his short fiction. Terry Pratchett shares a similar opinion, and has been quoted as saying, "The difference between me and Neil in our attitude to movie projects is that he doesn't believe they're going to happen until he's sitting in his seat eating popcorn, and I don't believe they're going to happen."[9]
Terry Pratchett has had many of the same issues with Hollywood 'suits',[10] but he, too, would love to see the film made.
In February 2011, it was reported that a television adaptation may be produced, with Terry Jones and Gavin Scott being "in talks" to write the series.[11]
On March 19, 2011 Neil Gaiman announced on his website that a television series adaptation of his novel Good Omens "is in the works from Terry Jones." with a link to Terry Pratchett's webpage confirming the news.[12] According to imdb.com the series is set to be released in 2013.