412 pages
English language
Published March 1, 2006
According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner. So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist . . .
This was a light and mostly funny read with some (to me) novel ideas, but not hilarious or deep. I was hoping for either. I would probably have enjoyed this book more 20 years ago at the end of my teens.
I recently read American Gods by one of the authors (Neil Gaiman). That book made a much bigger impression with more interesting ideas.
I read this about 20 years ago and liked it then, so I thought I'd give it a re-read. It's nothing like I remember.
I was a little surprised by this one. Maybe I’m not the right target audience but I found it all just a tiny bit too whimsical for me. I still thoroughly enjoyed it though, just not 5 stars enjoyed it
Funny and sarcastic view of the world at the very end.
This collaboration represents the first foray by Neil Gaiman into novel writing (as opposed to graphic novel writing, in which field he was already famous for Sandman). It doesn't feel like a Gaiman book at all, though. The mass of one-line jokes, repeated jokes and bad puns seem entirely Pratchett and they are unrelenting. The weird thing about them is that they didn't seem that funny. Not unfunny, just for the most part mildly amusing, rather than raucous belly-laugh inducing. I remember the other Pratchett novels I've read as funnier than that - but that was many years ago; maybe my taste has changed or my memory is faulty.
The funniest aspect of the book is the plot which involves the imminent Apocalypse, as predicted by the sub-titular Angnes Nutter. This book is mildly subversive (if you are Christian) in its suggestion that humans can create enough evil for any …
This collaboration represents the first foray by Neil Gaiman into novel writing (as opposed to graphic novel writing, in which field he was already famous for Sandman). It doesn't feel like a Gaiman book at all, though. The mass of one-line jokes, repeated jokes and bad puns seem entirely Pratchett and they are unrelenting. The weird thing about them is that they didn't seem that funny. Not unfunny, just for the most part mildly amusing, rather than raucous belly-laugh inducing. I remember the other Pratchett novels I've read as funnier than that - but that was many years ago; maybe my taste has changed or my memory is faulty.
The funniest aspect of the book is the plot which involves the imminent Apocalypse, as predicted by the sub-titular Angnes Nutter. This book is mildly subversive (if you are Christian) in its suggestion that humans can create enough evil for any purpose without requiring any external supernatural influences. Such thinly disguised "messages" also remind me of the other Pratchett novels I've read. Whatever contribution Gaiman made, it didn't show up as distinctively his at all.
