When I voted for this book to read for my goodreads Science Fiction and Fantasy reading group selection I thought that it would be non-stop laughs but I soon discovered differently. This was the most funny and boring book that I have read so far is year but I don't want to mislead you and have you thinking that it is a bad read, on the contrary, it is a very good read. It was funny but not so much the in your face kind of funny that I was looking for because - my mind needed time to interpret the information as written in the language of the authors. You'll see what I mean as you read on.
I liked the characters Aziraphale,who is "an angel, and part-time rare book dealer", then there is Crowley, "an angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards". I guess after living around humans for thousands of years you got used to us. The apocalypse is inevitable but Aziraphale and Crowley is determined to stop it while still obeying orders from their respective leaders from Heaven and Hell. The only problem with their plans is that the apocalypse was doomed from the start. The Anti-Christ was misplaced as a baby! Famine is a multimillionaire corporate genus who works in the food industry - hilarious! And then there is Dog, a "Satanical hellhound and cat-worrier" when you read about his transformation you will laugh out loud...it's just plain sad. And wait until you meet the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, DEATH, War, Famine, and Pollution (Pestilence retired after Penicillin was invented). These guys are badass and ride as "Hell's Angels" on motorcycles - way too funny. You will find that you can identify with one or more things going on in the story for example, Famine has dinner at a trendy restaurant with his accountant where they serve meals that is nothing more then a well presented slice of grilled chicken, a pea, and a green bean at top dollar. The story is funny, well written, and a classic. I gave it 5 stars because it had me laughing every time I thought about it days after I finished it.
What I didn't like was the slow pace I used to read the book because my mind got hung up on labels. For example in the book a parking lot is called a car-park and what I call a highway is called a carriageway. I always thought of mopeds as motorbikes but in the book a motorcycle is a motorbike and an answer phone is an answering machine or voice mail in my speak. I am one of the Americans referenced by the author who really needed an interpreter to move the story along but since I didn't have one I worked my way through it with a smile. It was still a good read and well worth the 5 stars that I gave it. I would read it again.
Overview...
There is a distinct hint of Armageddon in the air. According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (recorded, thankfully, in 1655, before she blew up her entire village and all its inhabitants, who had gathered to watch her burn), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, the Four Bikers of the Apocalypse are revving up their mighty hogs and hitting the road, and the world's last two remaining witch-finders are getting ready to fight the good fight, armed with awkwardly antiquated instructions and stick pins. Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. . . . Right. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan.
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