Good Omens

On paper Good Omens had the potential to become my favorite read of the year. The end of the world – heavy recommendations from friends – Britishness in general. So why didn’t it?

It was last year during one of my trips to London that I saw a friend of mine buy her 3rd copy of Good Omens, and somehow I felt like I couldn’t put off reading it for much longer. The forces of Good and Evil – but is there so much difference after all? – are gathering around the Antichrist who will set in motion the end of the world. However, they seem to have misplaced him.

First the good. I really liked the humor. It had all the British quirkiness that I was hoping for. The play-with-words and everything was really well done. Nice footnotes also. All of this would have really made me love the book if not for…

The Bad (or Less good in any case). So many POVs. At first I liked the shifting POV (and it does shift quite a lot) but after I while there were so many different lines running that they were all drowning each other and I was left feeling that none of them was worked out well enough. Also, when all these characters and powers were finally moving together I was expecting fireworks and a grand finale, but it sort of fizzled out. This was my first time reading Good Omens (and I haven’t seen the show yet), but about 20 years after publication it felt a bit dated with the ansaphones and how the Them spend their time etc.

Still a nice read though, and I can clearly see what other people like so much about it and the cult status it achieved. But with my high expectations, it failed to completely deliver.