Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

Overview
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch is a 1990 comic fantasy novel written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Witty, irreverent, and affectionate, it follows the improbable alliance between an angel, Aziraphale, and a demon, Crowley, who have both grown fond of Earth and are determined to prevent the coming Armageddon. The novel blends satire, mythic stakes, and everyday English eccentricity into a fast-moving tale about destiny, choice, and the pleasures of being human.
The narrative plays with religious and apocalyptic clichés while humanizing celestial beings and giving ordinary people unexpected importance. The authors' contrasting sensibilities, Pratchett's broad comic instincts and Gaiman's darker, mythic touches, combine to produce both laugh-out-loud moments and surprisingly tender scenes.

Main Characters
Aziraphale is a fussy, book-loving angel who runs an antiquarian bookshop and values the comforts of cultured existence. Crowley, once the serpent who tempted Eve, drives a vintage Bentley, enjoys earthly vices, and delights in subverting expectations, but proves stubbornly attached to his adopted home. Their friendship is the emotional center of the novel, and their joint reluctance to see the world destroyed fuels the plot.
The misplaced Antichrist, Adam Young, grows up as an ordinary boy in an English village called Lower Tadfield. Surrounded by his gang, known as Them, Adam's emerging reality-bending powers threaten to trigger the End Times. Other pivotal figures include Anathema Device, a sensible witch descended from the prophetess Agnes Nutter, and Newton Pulsifer, an inept witch-hunter whose stumbling courage becomes crucial. Agnes Nutter's centuries-old, terrifyingly precise prophecies haunt and guide the characters.

Plot Summary
A celestial bureaucratic mistake swaps the newborn Antichrist, placing him with an unsuspecting English family. As the apocalypse approaches, Heaven and Hell mobilize lists, armies, and paperwork, while the physical manifestations of the Four Horsemen, War, Famine, Pollution (a modern recasting of Pestilence), and Death, converge. Aziraphale and Crowley, each having enjoyed 6,000 years on Earth, attempt to covertly sabotage the End Times by delaying key events and misdirecting agents on both sides.
Parallel threads follow Anathema using her ancestor's eccentric prophecies to track Armageddon's progress and Newt's awkward but earnest attempts to help. Adam, raised with suburban comforts and a strong moral education, unconsciously shapes reality with his childhood games and beliefs. The crisis culminates when Adam must decide whether to accept his role as the Antichrist or to embrace the messy, loving life of the village he calls home. His choice, and the improvisations of allies and erstwhile enemies, determine the outcome.

Themes and Tone
Good Omens skewers institutional religion, celestial bureaucracy, and the human tendency to take moral categories too literally, while celebrating compassion, curiosity, and free will. The novel posits that good and evil are less tidy opposites than states people drift into, often out of habit, comfort, or misunderstanding. Humor arises from absurd juxtapositions: angelic and demonic officiousness, anachronistic prophecies, and the mundane priorities of ordinary people facing cosmic danger.
The tone is both comic and warm. Sharp, playful narration and sly footnotes puncture grandiose moments, but the book frequently slips into sincere affection, for friendship, for small acts of kindness, and for the unpredictable resilience of human beings. Its satire never entirely abandons hope.

Legacy and Reception
Good Omens established a devoted readership and became a touchstone of late-20th-century fantasy satire, frequently praised for its humor, inventive plotting, and memorable characters. It has inspired stage adaptations, audiobooks, and a well-received television series that introduced the story to new audiences. Its enduring appeal rests on the chemistry between Aziraphale and Crowley, the smart blend of wit and heart, and a persuasive argument that the world's salvation might hinge on ordinary human decency.