# Good Omens: more Pratchett or Gaiman? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330 "2005-11-16T16:33:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/1 "2005-11-16T16:33:19Z")
Been a while since I’ve read any fiction. Loved Good Omens, so which of the authors should I be checking out (or were contributions about equal)? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/2 "2005-11-16T16:41:01Z")
I certainly thought it was properly leavened by Gaiman. I’ve never been able to read Pratchett’s stuff. I think his intros can be brilliant but the characters aren’t my cup of tea. _Good Omens_, however, was a truly great book all through. So I’m thinking Gaiman. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/3 "2005-11-16T16:49:16Z")
Pratchett by far (sorry, **Jon**! 😃 ) _Good Omens_ is much more a Pratchett-flavored book than a Gaiman. But later Pratchett…about the middle of the Watch books would be my guess. Search out the hundreds of Pratchett threads here in CS and pick a place to start. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/4 "2005-11-16T16:55:27Z")
Pratchett! I think the entire thing about Crawley & the angel was Pratchett. The kids were probably of Gaiman, since that seems unfamiliar to me. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/5 "2005-11-16T17:03:50Z")
Pratchett’s other books are more similar to Good Omens than Gaiman’s, in my opinion. The exception is Gaiman’s latest, _Anansi Boys_. Gaiman’s stuff tends to be alot darker and gorier than Pratchett’s. ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/6 "2005-11-16T17:06:59Z")
I recall reading and interview with Pratchett where he said that he did about 2/3 or 3/4 of the actual, physical writing because he had more time to devote to the project (as Gaiman was also working on _Sandman_ at the time), but that there were so many back-and-forth conversations and revisions that saying one or the other was responsible for more of the book would be wrong. Personally, I think you should check out both of the authors. The two authors are interesting, because they tend to address the same sorts of plotlines but from different perspectives - Pratchett from a lighter, more human mindset and Gaiman from a darker, more magical one. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/7 "2005-11-16T17:15:15Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Pratchett! I think the entire thing about Crawley & the angel was Pratchett. The kids were probably of Gaiman, since that seems unfamiliar to me. Odd. I thought the exact opposite. Crawley and the angel seem to me very like lighter versions of Gaiman’s many mythological characters, while the kids reminded me strongly of Pratchett’s Johnny Maxwell books. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/8 "2005-11-16T17:58:13Z")
You should immediately read **Sandman** , because everybody should read Sandman. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/9 "2005-11-16T18:14:16Z")
At the National Book Festival, I had the opportunity to hear Neil Gaiman, John Irving, and Tom Wolfe read (back-to-back-to-back!). Gaiman’s talk was the most crowd-pleasing of the three, too. At the talk, he said something about _Anansi Boys_, which was that people were having trouble with the idea of Gaiman writing something funny. He would protest, bringing up _Good Omens_ and they would counter with _American Gods_. Finally he said something to the effect of > [@paraphrasing Mr. Gaiman](#): > > …I understood what people thought my role had been in Good Omens. I had written a dark and brooding novel like American Gods and Terry had stood over my shoulders tossing jokes into the manuscript like a pixie sprinkling humor-dust. That’s not how it happened! I wrote some funny characters and Terry wrote some funny dialogue and then we worked to put them into a very funny novel. At least I think they were funny characters. We spent a lot of time polishing each other’s work. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/10 "2005-11-16T19:31:38Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Odd. I thought the exact opposite. Crawley and the angel seem to me very like lighter versions of Gaiman’s many mythological characters, while the kids reminded me strongly of Pratchett’s Johnny Maxwell books. 😃 I have read very little of Gaiman, and never read any Johnny Maxwell books. But Death and the other three horsemen seemed straight out of Discworld. Wheras, the kids bored me sometimes, and seemed kind of …slow and boring. I assumed this was because it was a writing style I was unfamiliar with! And Crawly also reminded me a lot of Discworld characters. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/11 "2005-11-16T20:18:05Z")
Death is clearly Pratchett’s Death, not Gaiman’s. And Gaiman certainly can be funny: there was a passage in _Anansi Boys_ that had me laughing out loud (about what Fat Charlie’s future Mother-in-Law might think was the type of language you heard in church). ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/12 "2005-11-16T21:37:30Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > You should immediately read **Sandman** , because everybody should read Sandman. > > –Cliffy Seconded. And I think the book’s a fantastic mixture of both (leaning more towards Pratchett’s style than Gaiman’s, admittedly). ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/13 "2005-11-16T22:22:39Z")
I found out about this book in the letter column of the pages of Sandman. Now I had been a reader of both of their stuff for a while and was really excited about the book, but didn’t see how the two of them could merge. My friend was given an advance copy because he occasionally wrote reviews for a local paper and read to me some of the passages. I was shocked at how much of a merger it was. So I never thought it was more one or the other, it really is a meshing of their styles. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/14 "2005-11-16T23:40:55Z")
> [@Odinoneeye](#): > > I was shocked at how much of a merger it was. > > So I never thought it was more one or the other, it really is a meshing of their styles. I think so, too. My first impression was that it was Pratchett’s style superimposed on top of Gaiman’s ideas, but that was after I’d only read _The Sandman_ and maybe one of the Discworld books. The more I read of Pratchett’s stuff, the more it seems like a true collaboration. (And throwing in the spirit of Douglas Adams as a third collaborator). In the sense of the OP’s question, “If I like _Good Omens_, which would I prefer?” I’d say to read more of the Discworld books. Gaiman’s novels have always been a little bit more impenetrable for me. Pratchett’s novels are definitely easier to read (for me at least), so much so that I’d just dismissed them as well-plotted but disposable parody and satire. The more I read, though, the more I can see recurring themes and a larger world-view\*. I wonder if the fact that Pratchett’s books usually take one core theme and build the entire novel around just that, is what makes them more easily digestible. Gaiman seems to try to cram all of his ideas into a book and create an entire mythology with each one. \*Or actually, multi-verse-view. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/15 "2005-11-17T00:06:22Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Death is clearly Pratchett’s Death, not Gaiman’s. Well, it looks more like Pratchett’s Death, but personality-wise it didn’t seem all that similar to either. He comes across as much more villainous than the Death of the Disc or the Death from Sandman. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/16 "2005-11-17T00:29:35Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Well, it looks more like Pratchett’s Death, but personality-wise it didn’t seem all that similar to either. He comes across as much more villainous than the Death of the Disc or the Death from Sandman. Oh(Up yours, Binarydrone!), I don’t know… \*“You’re Hells Angels, then? What chapter are you from?” “REVELATIONS, CHAPTER SIX.”\* Sounds like our Death to me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/17 "2005-11-17T00:36:55Z")
Well, that’s just the thing. When has the Disc Death ever quoted scripture? In both Pratchett and Gaiman’s theology, Death is usually unconcerned with human dieties, except on the odd occasion when one of them dies. Also, Pratchett’s Death usually tries to _prevent_ the end of the world. The Death in Good Omens seem to be much more arrogant, and actively opposed to humanity. Certainly, his fellow horsemen seem to actually delight in causing misery to humans, where as their Disc counterparts are virtually human themselves. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/18 "2005-11-17T00:57:51Z")
Different Universe, though. Death may love the Disc and hate Earth for all we know. The _Good Omens_ Death does seem arrogant, but he also shows a concern for understanding, otherwise he wouldn’t have commented on Elvis the way he did. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/19 "2005-11-17T03:55:48Z")
I dunno, I’ve always thought the author you should check out if you like Good Omens was Douglas Adams… ---
**Author:** ![Blobbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Blobbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blobbo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330/20 "2005-11-17T04:07:17Z")
I think it was absolutely Pratchett-like in its plot and characters, but it feels like Gaiman did alot of the actual writing. For instance: Most characters in Good Omens could be described as “lovable/dopey person with a dash of evil/grumpiness/bad-family-history who’s desperately trying to play it by the rules set out for him, which constantly creates funny situations due to the differences between the role/thing he is supposed to play/do and what actually should be done according to prophecy/common sense”. This also happens to fit most characters in Pratchett’s Discoworld series too. Not to diss the series, I think they’re some of the funniest writing you can find. However, I just felt that the writing was very Neil Gaiman-like. I choose not to give any evidence to this because I’m lazy. In conclusion, though, the book was more Pratchett than Gaiman. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-more-pratchett-or-gaiman/331330.md?page=2)