Greetings from the End of the World [Essay]

Sooner or later, all good things must come to an end. Personally, I hope when it’s time for humanity to clock out, we go with a bang. Nothing so harsh as nuclear war—I would like to leave a habitable planet behind for the world’s other lifeforms to enjoy—but something with a little zing is in order. Maybe a string of catastrophic volcanic activity or another asteroid crashing into the Gulf of Mexico. Or perhaps some higher being out there is planning a showstopper of an Armageddon for us, replete with spirits, demons, and bikers. Whatever eventually wipes us out, I just hope it’s half as interesting as the end times of Good Omens.

This little work of apocalypse fiction came from Neil Gaiman, the man behind Coraline, and Terry Pratchett. It began as a parody of Richmal Crompton’s William the Antichrist, which Gaiman came up with while working on a biography for Douglas Adams, author of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but soon grew into much more than a play on the Christian apocalypse with a spatter of tongue-in-cheek humor. Gaiman and Pratchett crafted a vision of the end of the world that pokes fun at several other interpretations while still presenting a unique and interesting take.

The book begins in a hospital where a woman has just given birth to a little boy. Unbeknownst to her and her husband, a Satanic cult and their demon pal Crowley switch her child with the son of the Devil. The new parents take their little demon spawn home, where they care for and nurture him for eleven years until he’s ready to start a war between the armies of Heaven and Hell. In the meantime, Crowley and his angel friend Aziraphale hang out in England, where they do very little. The demon will occasionally tempt a soul; the angel engages in small acts of kindness—nothing earth-shattering. This section of the book focuses primarily on the friendship between the demon and the angel and how that relationship is affecting each of them. We find that Crowley has grown to like it on Earth and maybe even appreciate humanity in some regards. Aziraphale, on the other hand, has let go of some of the rigid do-right attitude of Heaven, although he still spends the entire novel with a stick up his ass. Crowley and Aziraphale get to talking and realize neither of them wants the world to end, so they go to the child’s parents and secure jobs as a nanny and a groundskeeper. Their new roles provide them access to the child, which they use to influence him in the hopes they can help him grow up to not become a heartless monster that destroys the world.

On the child’s eleventh birthday, he is due to receive a hellhound as a companion, but it never shows up. At this point, we jump to a different part of England, where a different young boy, Adam, is enjoying his eleventh birthday, only to find himself suddenly the owner of a new dog. Crowley and Aziraphale realize there was a mistake when swapping the babies and that the child they’ve been watching is not the antichrist. So begins a race to find the real son of Satan. However, Crowley and Aziraphale aren’t the only ones looking for the boy; also searching is a witch, Anathema, and a witch hunter she befriends named Newton. Adam, whom we as the reader know to be the little devil, is unwittingly using his powers to bring paranormal things he reads about in a sci-fi magazine to life. His powers grow as the day the apocalypse is supposed to start draws near. The four horsemen assemble and accidentally recruit some local bikers for a ride to Tadfield, where they are supposed to help Adam start the end. The hosts of Heaven and Hell ready themselves for war. The big day comes, and everyone converges in Tadfield for the showdown. Nearly too late, Adam decides he doesn’t want the world to end. Luckily, he manages to stop it just in time. Adam warps reality to make it so that none of the destruction that went on over the course of the book ever happened, and everyone moves on with their lives. 

I appreciate the comedy in this book. There is no doubting that it is a child of Hitchhiker’s Guide, as the humor is almost exactly the same. The jokes are in your face but not in a slapstick way; it’s more in tune with the humor of a smart-mouthed college kid. I say it’s almost exactly the same because I think it is done better in Good Omens than in Hitchhiker’s Guide. I’ll say it, and I’ll say it with my chest; Hitchhiker’s Guide sucked. The jokes in that book are either flat-out not funny or being used as a way to make up for poor writing. Why think of a way for your characters to escape sure death when they can just pull out some piece of sci-fi tech with an ironic name and cheese their way out of the situation? I also liked the way the writing progressed over the course of the book. The beginning is pure Gaiman, fantastical and whimsical with a touch of grit. As the story goes on, the silly attitude of Douglas Adams comes in and takes over, which helps take some of the tension off once people start dying. 

As much as I loved this read, I do have to say that there is a pretty rough lull in the middle. During this part, Adam is learning about his powers, which boils down to him screwing around with his friends and accidentally growing a new rainforest in South America. Quite frankly, this part is boring, but it’s a relatively small section of the book, so it’s not too hard to get through. The only other negative thing I can say about Good Omens is that the story can be slightly clunky at times. There are many characters and story lines going on at once in this book; they all converge into one at the end, but up until that point, it’s a lot to keep track of. With a length of just three hundred sixty-six pages, it’s a little too cramped. I think another hundred pages to flesh out some of these characters and stories would have done the book good.

Once again, Neil Gaiman knocked it out of the park. His stories never let me down, and Good Omens was no exception. He parodies several other works of apocalypse fiction, but it never feels like he’s just copying someone else's story. His take on the Christian apocalypse and theology was fascinating and unlike any other interpretations I have seen before. The book is a fantastic read for anyone who likes dark comedy. It’s funny without being over the top and scary without doing anything that could alienate younger readers. 

If you’ve never tried any of Gaiman’s books before, this would be an ideal place to start. If you’re in the mood for something spooky but can’t handle the likes of The Omen, this is a great substitute. It’s long enough to sink your teeth into but not so short you can’t make it last a few days, although the story will make you want to tear through it in an afternoon. It may not be the absolute best thing Gaiman ever put out, but it will be worth every cent of the four dollars you’re going to pay for a mass market paperback. So, what are you waiting for? Go get your keys and run over to your local used bookstore. I guarantee they have a copy with your name on it.

Dusty Hayes is an essay writing intern with LHF winter internship program. Look out for more essays from them over the coming months!