This has to be one of my favourite books of all time! The show is also amazing, but of course I prefer the book as it’s the original piece. I will admit that in the past, especially when reading books by Terry Pratchett, I have not been the biggest fan, however this book has to be an exception. The humour embedded throughout the story is just right, and doesn’t take away from the actual substance of the book, which I have seen happen on occasion in other novels.
The Armageddon being the focus of the storyline is really interesting because when the four horsemen arrive, it is seen that they are all problems relevant today which could end up affecting the world dramatically, and potentially causing a disaster similar to that in the book. Despite this being written in 1990, the ideas seem like they would still apply today, which is something that could be considered quite worrying seeing as not much has improved since the year of release.
One thing I’m not the fondest of in this book is some of the language used. I do understand that it was written in the 90s and so this way of speaking/writing was more normalized and not something considered extremely wrong. The instance I’ve specifically got in mind when writing this is when Aziraphale is performing magic at Warlock’s 11th birthday and one of the attendees calls him the ‘F’ slur. This is obviously something that wouldn’t have caused many questions back when it was written, although it has not aged so well and is something I find slightly distasteful.
There were many separate narratives in this book, and while I usually am not in favour of this, I did quite enjoy it. Each storyline was its own different thing and they were all fun to read. I didn’t find myself getting bored when I reached one and longing for another, which I was very glad of as it meant I didn’t become unmotivated to finish the book. I will admit that the storyline of the four horsemen was a little confusing, yet that didn’t stop me from enjoying myself, and towards the end of the book when everything came together, I did understand what had been happening.
Speaking of everything coming together at the end of the book, this was another thing I appreciated more after looking back on it. In the moment, I didn’t realise that each narrative was explaining the respective characters journeys to the place of Armageddon and how they all individually played a part in the final outcome.
Aziraphale and Crowley are some of the most well-written characters I think I’ve read in a while. They seem extremely realistic in the ways they act, and although they are technically an angel and a demon, they seem very human. The subtleties of their characters and small details about them described in the book make it really easy to empathize with them, and their love for one another is extremely evident without it having to be explicitly stated once.
Adam, Pepper, Brian and Wensleydale were amazing characters! I think that the intention for these characters was to show how the world should be progressing, in contrast to all of the other characters who were fine with the way things were going. Seeing as the book was written over 30 years ago, and the problems portrayed by the foils of the Them are still a huge problem in society, it’s seems clear that people knew in the past that we would face war, pollution, famine and death in the future, yet did nothing to help the situation. Although this book initially seems to be a light-hearted fantasy/comedy, it does illustrate the many issues of our world, which were present in the past, and are worsening now, and will likely continue to do so in the future.
Overall, everything in this book adds up to create what I would call a masterpiece. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman made an absolutely incredible world in this piece of writing, and I don’t think any review could properly do it justice. There is so much to talk about and you can tell how much thought went into everything, even if it isn’t clear on the surface. I urge anyone who hasn’t, read this. I did and I can say I became slightly obsessed, although I’m not complaining
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