Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett Novel - GOOD OMENS

I have borrowed Good Omens for a bookclub.

I havent read either writer so i hope this is a good starting place.

I have read Gaiman in Sandman vol 1 but thats it. Havent read him novels wise.

Most importantly i hope its as funny as people say it is. I need to read more funny books in the genre.
 
I like both Gaiman and Pratchett a lot, but I don't think that they are a good match. This book just wasn't as good as other Gaiman's or other Pratchett's books (at least to me).
 
Read Good Omens recently - and absolutely loved it! I thought the partnership worked really well. Does anyone know how they split the writing between them?
 
Patrick Mahon said:
Read Good Omens recently - and absolutely loved it! I thought the partnership worked really well. Does anyone know how they split the writing between them?
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There is a bit Terry talking about the writing on Lspace site, sounds fun:

The Annotated Pratchett File v9.0 - Words from the Master -

- On the writing of Good Omens.

"Neil and I had known each other since early 1985. Doing it was our idea, not a publisher's deal."

"I think this is an honest account of the process of writing Good Omens. It was fairly easy to keep track of because of the way we sent discs to one another, and because I was Keeper of the Official Master Copy I can say that I wrote a bit over two thirds of Good Omens. However, we were on the phone to each other every day, at least once. If you have an idea during a brainstorming session with another guy, whose idea is it? One guy goes and writes 2,000 words after thirty minutes on the phone, what exactly is the process that's happening?

I did most of the physical writing because:
1) I had to. Neil had to keep Sandman going -- I could take time off from the DW;

​
2) One person has to be overall editor, and do all the stitching and filling and slicing and, as I've said before, it was me by agreement -- if it had been a graphic novel, it would have been Neil taking the chair for exactly the same reasons it was me for a novel;

​
3) I'm a selfish ******* and tried to write ahead to get to the good bits before Neil.
​
Initially, I did most of Adam and the Them and Neil did most of the Four Horsemen, and everything else kind of got done by whoever -- by the end, large sections were being done by a composite creature called Terryandneil, whoever was actually hitting the keys. By agreement, I am allowed to say that Agnes Nutter, her life and death, was completely and utterly mine. And Neil proudly claims responsibility for the maggots. Neil's had a major influence on the opening scenes, me on the ending. In the end, it was this book done by two guys, who shared the money equally and did it for fun and wouldn't do it again for a big clock."

"Yes, the maggot reversal was by me, with a gun to Neil's head (although he understood the reasons, it's just that he likes maggots). There couldn't be blood on Adam's hands, even blood spilled by third parties. No-one should die because he was alive."
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I must look out for this one! Never read any Gaiman,probably because I mistakenly associate him with comics,but he's an author I'm curious about
 
Let's be honest - there's no such thing as a bad Pratchett novel - although some might take a second or third read to truly appreciate. Neil Gaiman is even more labyrinthine. Good Omens is one of my favorite novels but does strike me that an awful lot of sci-fi/fantasy these days is extremely referential. If you don't have a fairly extensive knowledge of folklore, classic sf/fantasy, classic films & tv, then you are going to miss a hell of a lot of the jokes. For example, Aleister Crowley, mountaineer on the 1902 K2 and 1905 Kanchenchunga expeditions and self-proclaimed "Great Beast 666". A friend of mine was watching "Paul" recently and just didn't get all the "five tones" references, having never seen CE3K. If you didn't like Good Omens, my advice is - live five more years and then go back to it. I re-read stuff like LoTR and Gormenghast every few years and find something new every time - for example the First World War interpretation of LoTR. But, for sheer enjoyment, try Pratchett's Vimes series or Gaiman's Neverwhere.

Winter is Coming
 
Neverwhere is indeed an excellent way to get into Neil Gaiman's unusual style. Although I suspect the most important thing to have in your head when reading Good Omens would be "The Omen" :)
 
TBPH, I could never get through it. Which is kind of odd, because it's not like the writing is difficult to read. I just found it pretty boring.
 
Welcome to the forums, Turq!

Absolutely loved Good Omens. The BBC radio adaptation is fantastic as well.
 
I love the book. I read it because I was a big Neil Gaiman comics fan and I had never read any of his books back then ( 2000 ). I later read most of his books, which I like more than GO, but it is still a very good and entertaining book.
 
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