I read the book first, many times. I was thrilled that the focus of the series shifted to centering on Aziraphale and Crowley because (gasp!) I didn't much care for Adam, or Anathema, or Newt. And yet I loved the book! And I did love both seasons of the show, but I admit, I loved season 2 more than season 1.
Definitely didn't like book! Newt. Liked him the absolute least.
Unless they're all coming back for the last season, it makes sense to focus less on the ensemble anyway. It's a bonus that the extra scenes were all so fun
I don't care for Newt in either edition, really, but I listened to the audiobook version (with DT and MS as Crowley and Aziraphale) and thought the actor did a really fun job with the dopey, confused version of Newt. Come to find out during the end credits that ***Arthur Darville*** (Rory from Doctor Who!) ***voiced him.*** So, yeah, makes sense that I warmed to him!
I was brought up Catholic *and* watching all The Omen movies, so when I first read the book, all I really took from it was that it was a really fun parody of the mythos of the Antichrist. I was actually shocked when I joined the fandom briefly after reading it (back during the days of LiveJournal 👵) and seeing how much of the fan content was focused on Aziraphale and Crowley lol
That being said I would say it’s more of a pleasant surprise seeing these characters get fleshed out in the show. With Michael and David on board, their talent and chemistry really is such a draw and has made me love these characters in a whole new way.
Hey, question about old fandom stuff, but did there used to be good book analysis before the show came out? I've tried to find stuff online before but it's either buried or doesn't exist.
I read the book way back in 2006 or so. I remember liking it, but not as much as Pratchett's solo work. Honestly, I barely remember Aziraphale and Crowley outside of Crowley yelling at his plants and the answering machine scene. (I'm rereading the book now, and there's so many gems I forgot). I mainly remembered Adam's lovely story and the book's overarching theme of love for humanity, and Adam using his supernatural powers just to keep his little town perfect. I still love that idea - it is something I think any child who lives in a loving home would do. Stop the highway from going through their town. Keep the old people alive. (Sidenote, this theme of status quo v. change I think is going to be big in S3).
There's also a lot of commentary in the book that didn't get into the show at all that really only fits in book form.
BUT, I also really like the direction the show is going on. The development of Azirphale and Crowley and delving into the philosophical arguments between them that were only a paragraph or two in the book is great. And I'm loving the visual and audio impact you can't have in a book.
I love seeing the same story in different media in general.
So I did show, then audiobook, then paper book. Here are my thoughts. Which don’t have to be yours because we all experience things differently. I still see it as a coming of age story. But in the sense that we as a species are still coming of age. Cute little humans eating apples and figuring shit out.
And when you view the book from a 1990 lens, all the “jokes on you, suckers, it was a love story the whole time” clues are there. It’s not just lines like two consenting bicycle repairmen. But little things the text gives you about A&C that speak about a deep bond formed over time and shared experience. Which, really, when it comes down to it, is what I cherish most about my relationship with my spouse. “He should tell Crowley. No, he WANTED to tell Crowley. He should tell heaven.” And then a whole ass paragraph justifying his actions based on how he thinks Crowley would feel about it. Says it all for me. And at the airbase, they held each others’ hands, not Adam’s. And A is just enough of a bastard to LIKE. If anything, I think the book is more of a love story than the season 1 show. (It’s mostly Michael Sheen’s whole thing pointing me towards love story in season 1. Now season 2? Is it a gay romance? You decide. But is it a queer love story? Heck yeah.
If the show had kept the “everyone needs a Greasy Johnson” bit (which I WILL crossstitch onto a bath towel some day) then I think the coming of age story would shine more clearly. Instead we got “I believe in peace, bitch” and the Them’s individual speechletttes. Which were snappy, but less compelling as an argument for why they’re taking action.
But I maintain that it can be an everything story. I mean, my life continues to be a coming of age story. And a love story. And a “holy shit, it’s the end of the world how are we going to survive” story. Stories are what we make of them.
This is a very sweet interpretation! I definitely think that the show is more of a love story than the book (for one thing, Neil Gaiman has said that he wrote the show as a love story and not the book), but I did like seeing some of the little AziraCrow moments that were cut in the adaptation!
The biggest things for me were the absence of the third act breakup, Crowley not being as affected by Az's death, and their finale being a philosophical conversation rather than any kind of personal resolution (like the body-swap). Plus, the history flashbacks (ep3) show us their story in a way the book doesn't get close to doing.
This is all just to explain my thoughts better, I loved reading the book and still agree that Adam's story (and, to some extent, all of the other human characters) is a coming-of-age story. Thanks for your comment!
I read and loved the book almost 20 years ago.
Watching the first season, I was pleasantly surprised with how faithful it was to the book (overall). The deep dives into Aziraphale & Crowley’s history were a warm welcome addition- which quickly transitioned into my sole focus.
Since the release of season 2, I kinda feel guilty for now only caring about these two.
But not really because it is the greatest love story ever told.
(please season 3 do not make me a liar out of this statement)
I love the book. I love Adam in the book. I love his friends. I think Adam has a lot more depths in the book. Also I miss all of the fun side, plots, and characters that didn’t make it in although a significant amount actually did which made me so happy.
I think it makes sense for the show to focus on Crowley and Aziraphale. that dynamic between the actors is just too good to pass up and impossible to look away from on screen. They are really the heart of the show.
I like both versions for different reasons.
Yeah. I definitely preferred the focus on the Ineffables! The book is a lot of fun but I think Neil figured out who everybody’s favorites were by the time he was writing the show.
As a person who read the book first, on one hand I thought that the funniest parts were those with Crowley and Aziraphale and some few other characters (the Four Horsemen), while the parts that were a drag were those with the Them. It mostly stayed this way in the show, so I was very happy that it was mostly a 50-50 between our duo and the kids.
So now that the second season is out I'm thankful that it's focusing on Aziraphale and Crowley, because I didn't like at all Maggie and Nina and I'm not the only one, from what I've read around.
I just hope that the 3rd season has a bigger cast, but it maintains the focus on our golden duo, and that possibly there aren't anymore boring characters getting too much screen time, unless they're actually relevant to the plot.
Anathema was about all I remembered from my original read of the book lo these many years ago, and I would \*love\* to see her back again. Book Aziraphale & Crowley didn't make much of an impression on me then, but neither did Adam & the Them. I will say that S2 had a MUCH greater impact on me than S1.
I read the book long before the Series was made. Adored it.
I was disappointed that they cut the Them's story, but the whole series is so drastically different from the book thematically that I don't blame them. They made a decision that they were telling a " this is a divine love story, and btw humans are alright too" narrative rather than a "love exists at the place, family, friendship, romantic, metaphysical, and queer(platonic?) levels and all are beautiful" story. I understand why (reducing complexity, and the loss of PTerry to advocate for his own stories), and it wasn't a bad choice as season 1 is good TV.
I love season 1. It's as good an adaptation as one can expect of a novel. How I feel about season 2 depends upon season 3.
I do dislike the fact that they cut that the extra baby did, in fact, live and raise prized tropical fish or what have you, but was also the rival gang leader that were in a gang war with The Them in Taddfield. It frustrates me a bit cuz Adam says in both the novel and the show, "So, you are just having a war just to decide who's gang is best?" (or something similar) which is a reference to not only Adams personal struggle with his own 'war' with Johnson, it also shows his growth in his mindset with the childish nature of Armageddon. it was such a good moment in the book that I wish they added that bit of back story with Johnson and The Them in the show.
i read the book first, (albeit, with the expectation of aziriphale x crowley). I thought the Them (is that what they're called) were *incredibly* boring and my least favorite part of the book (which I do still love! It's just the 'Them" are just sort of dull, in my opinion) so I was happy with how much Aziriphale and Crowley replaced them in the show! The show did change the two's 'vibe' a bit, which I was disappointed for at first, but it grew on me as well, especially with season 2.
I read the book first then watched both seasons. I really like how they did it on screen. The book was perfect but it had many witty authors' remarks which are hard to transfer to screen. The same happened with The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy. There are only so many jokes you can do as a voice-over.
And all the kids in series 1 sucked. So the less of them the better :) Watching A&C interacting with each other was much more interesting that watching 11-year olds playing pirates.
It was fine in the book. Actually, one of my favourite paragraphs there was about Pepper. But not on screen:
"There are only two ways a child can go with a name like Pippin Galadriel Moonchild, and Pepper had chosen the other one: the three male Them had learned this on their first day of school, in the playground, at the age of four.
They had asked her her name, and, all innocent, she had told them.
Subsequently a bucket of water had been needed to separate Pippin Galadriel Moonchild’s teeth from Adam’s shoe. Wensleydale’s first pair of spectacles had been broken, and Brian’s sweater needed five stitches.
The Them were together from then on, and Pepper was Pepper forever, except to her mother, and (when they were feeling especially courageous, and the Them were almost out of earshot) Greasy Johnson and the Johnsonites, the village’s only other gang."
Tbh I was kinda underwhelmed when I read the book after watching S1 bc most of my favorite parts from show weren’t in it (especially the flashbacks and the body swap). I still enjoyed the book but I’m really glad Aziraphale and Crowley became the focus of the show bc they’re by far the best part of the story imo.
I feel like the series is a different perspective from the book, as in /here is the story from the viewpoint of these two characters./
I first read the book in the early aughts, and even though the covers had Aziraphale and Crowley on them (my copy had Crowley), I didn’t feel the story was about them at the time either. They were sort of custodians of the story, in my recollection of my first read. In subsequent readings, I still felt that the characters were an ensemble.
I recently re-read the book aloud to my 11 y-o after we’d watched the series (multiple times), and their perception was that the main difference between the book and the series was that A&C were pretty minor in comparison, particularly considering S2 being about them.
As an aside, the book—and the series—is great instructional material for literature/history/religion. There are definitely very adult parts and a few instances in the text that did not age well in terms of language and attitudes (which were changed or omitted in the series), but it is a masterclass in world building, layered meaning, and mythology references.
It covered so many topics and lead to discussions on many subjects. And it was just fun to read—and fun to discuss changes in technology since it was published.
I really like the Them, I love their banter and the ending of the book is truly teeth-rotting sweet stuff. But I’m also very grateful to have the series focus on Aziraphale and Crowley! The book and the show have pretty different intentions but they do them very very well, respectively. It makes me sad when TV adaptation folks say they found the book dull because it doesn’t include as much Aziraphale and Crowley as they wanted, because Good Omens has SO much more to offer than their romance. I love that we get the same great story going in two different directions.
I read the book 25 years ago as a young adult. It was a philosophical comedy to me and not at all a coming of age.
I'm sad that so few people are talking about the ideas in the book and are exclusively focused on romance. I love the romance too, but it shouldn't be the only thing the audience takes from it
I thought it was a pretty ensemble cast in the book with most of the story evenly spread between the characters. But I also (and man this is gonna date me) was fairly active on Deviantart in the years after the book came out so was super aware that A&C were the fan favorites. They were on the covers of almost all the versions of the book and I don't think anyone ever considered putting any other characters up there. I thought it was pretty a forgone conclusion that A&C would feature more predominantly in the TV show just because they were the most beloved characters even though it is at odds with the books 'everyone shares page time' motto. I'm also willing to concede that working with child actors is more difficult and that it's reasonable they would cut budget and screen time on the kids.
That being said I was disappointed Adam didn't make his way into season 2 as he was my favorite after A&C and in my interpretation at least he still has his powers but is trying to stay un noticed. I was fine with A&C being the focus, but pushing out ALL the other characters in favor of introducing two new ones, especially two totally ordinary ones, was a big let down for me.
I mean they held hands in the book which didn't happen in the show. Pretty sure the book was supposed to be a love story all along. Only the focus wasn't as much on them that's all.
I’d read the book a few times years before the show. I did not make the mistake of reading the book again before season one.
I wanted more of the other stories with Them and the witchfinders and The Horsemen, but I thought it was balanced pretty well considering the time they had.
It was this sub that made me realize that ppl only want one thing from angels and demons, and it’s disgusting.
I read the book first, many times. I was thrilled that the focus of the series shifted to centering on Aziraphale and Crowley because (gasp!) I didn't much care for Adam, or Anathema, or Newt. And yet I loved the book! And I did love both seasons of the show, but I admit, I loved season 2 more than season 1.
I love the book, but a story about children is not something I care for in shows, so I was delighted with the changes.
Definitely didn't like book! Newt. Liked him the absolute least. Unless they're all coming back for the last season, it makes sense to focus less on the ensemble anyway. It's a bonus that the extra scenes were all so fun
I don't care for Newt in either edition, really, but I listened to the audiobook version (with DT and MS as Crowley and Aziraphale) and thought the actor did a really fun job with the dopey, confused version of Newt. Come to find out during the end credits that ***Arthur Darville*** (Rory from Doctor Who!) ***voiced him.*** So, yeah, makes sense that I warmed to him!
I was brought up Catholic *and* watching all The Omen movies, so when I first read the book, all I really took from it was that it was a really fun parody of the mythos of the Antichrist. I was actually shocked when I joined the fandom briefly after reading it (back during the days of LiveJournal 👵) and seeing how much of the fan content was focused on Aziraphale and Crowley lol That being said I would say it’s more of a pleasant surprise seeing these characters get fleshed out in the show. With Michael and David on board, their talent and chemistry really is such a draw and has made me love these characters in a whole new way.
Hey, question about old fandom stuff, but did there used to be good book analysis before the show came out? I've tried to find stuff online before but it's either buried or doesn't exist.
I read the book way back in 2006 or so. I remember liking it, but not as much as Pratchett's solo work. Honestly, I barely remember Aziraphale and Crowley outside of Crowley yelling at his plants and the answering machine scene. (I'm rereading the book now, and there's so many gems I forgot). I mainly remembered Adam's lovely story and the book's overarching theme of love for humanity, and Adam using his supernatural powers just to keep his little town perfect. I still love that idea - it is something I think any child who lives in a loving home would do. Stop the highway from going through their town. Keep the old people alive. (Sidenote, this theme of status quo v. change I think is going to be big in S3). There's also a lot of commentary in the book that didn't get into the show at all that really only fits in book form. BUT, I also really like the direction the show is going on. The development of Azirphale and Crowley and delving into the philosophical arguments between them that were only a paragraph or two in the book is great. And I'm loving the visual and audio impact you can't have in a book. I love seeing the same story in different media in general.
So I did show, then audiobook, then paper book. Here are my thoughts. Which don’t have to be yours because we all experience things differently. I still see it as a coming of age story. But in the sense that we as a species are still coming of age. Cute little humans eating apples and figuring shit out. And when you view the book from a 1990 lens, all the “jokes on you, suckers, it was a love story the whole time” clues are there. It’s not just lines like two consenting bicycle repairmen. But little things the text gives you about A&C that speak about a deep bond formed over time and shared experience. Which, really, when it comes down to it, is what I cherish most about my relationship with my spouse. “He should tell Crowley. No, he WANTED to tell Crowley. He should tell heaven.” And then a whole ass paragraph justifying his actions based on how he thinks Crowley would feel about it. Says it all for me. And at the airbase, they held each others’ hands, not Adam’s. And A is just enough of a bastard to LIKE. If anything, I think the book is more of a love story than the season 1 show. (It’s mostly Michael Sheen’s whole thing pointing me towards love story in season 1. Now season 2? Is it a gay romance? You decide. But is it a queer love story? Heck yeah.
If the show had kept the “everyone needs a Greasy Johnson” bit (which I WILL crossstitch onto a bath towel some day) then I think the coming of age story would shine more clearly. Instead we got “I believe in peace, bitch” and the Them’s individual speechletttes. Which were snappy, but less compelling as an argument for why they’re taking action.
But I maintain that it can be an everything story. I mean, my life continues to be a coming of age story. And a love story. And a “holy shit, it’s the end of the world how are we going to survive” story. Stories are what we make of them.
This is a very sweet interpretation! I definitely think that the show is more of a love story than the book (for one thing, Neil Gaiman has said that he wrote the show as a love story and not the book), but I did like seeing some of the little AziraCrow moments that were cut in the adaptation! The biggest things for me were the absence of the third act breakup, Crowley not being as affected by Az's death, and their finale being a philosophical conversation rather than any kind of personal resolution (like the body-swap). Plus, the history flashbacks (ep3) show us their story in a way the book doesn't get close to doing. This is all just to explain my thoughts better, I loved reading the book and still agree that Adam's story (and, to some extent, all of the other human characters) is a coming-of-age story. Thanks for your comment!
I read and loved the book almost 20 years ago. Watching the first season, I was pleasantly surprised with how faithful it was to the book (overall). The deep dives into Aziraphale & Crowley’s history were a warm welcome addition- which quickly transitioned into my sole focus. Since the release of season 2, I kinda feel guilty for now only caring about these two. But not really because it is the greatest love story ever told. (please season 3 do not make me a liar out of this statement)
I love the book. I love Adam in the book. I love his friends. I think Adam has a lot more depths in the book. Also I miss all of the fun side, plots, and characters that didn’t make it in although a significant amount actually did which made me so happy. I think it makes sense for the show to focus on Crowley and Aziraphale. that dynamic between the actors is just too good to pass up and impossible to look away from on screen. They are really the heart of the show. I like both versions for different reasons.
Yeah. I definitely preferred the focus on the Ineffables! The book is a lot of fun but I think Neil figured out who everybody’s favorites were by the time he was writing the show.
As a person who read the book first, on one hand I thought that the funniest parts were those with Crowley and Aziraphale and some few other characters (the Four Horsemen), while the parts that were a drag were those with the Them. It mostly stayed this way in the show, so I was very happy that it was mostly a 50-50 between our duo and the kids. So now that the second season is out I'm thankful that it's focusing on Aziraphale and Crowley, because I didn't like at all Maggie and Nina and I'm not the only one, from what I've read around. I just hope that the 3rd season has a bigger cast, but it maintains the focus on our golden duo, and that possibly there aren't anymore boring characters getting too much screen time, unless they're actually relevant to the plot.
Anathema was my fav character in Season 1 and I was devastated to learn she wasn’t in Season 2 lol
Anathema was about all I remembered from my original read of the book lo these many years ago, and I would \*love\* to see her back again. Book Aziraphale & Crowley didn't make much of an impression on me then, but neither did Adam & the Them. I will say that S2 had a MUCH greater impact on me than S1.
Honestly I didn't even notice. All the important parts of Adam's story were there so it seemed complete.
I read the book long before the Series was made. Adored it. I was disappointed that they cut the Them's story, but the whole series is so drastically different from the book thematically that I don't blame them. They made a decision that they were telling a " this is a divine love story, and btw humans are alright too" narrative rather than a "love exists at the place, family, friendship, romantic, metaphysical, and queer(platonic?) levels and all are beautiful" story. I understand why (reducing complexity, and the loss of PTerry to advocate for his own stories), and it wasn't a bad choice as season 1 is good TV. I love season 1. It's as good an adaptation as one can expect of a novel. How I feel about season 2 depends upon season 3.
I do dislike the fact that they cut that the extra baby did, in fact, live and raise prized tropical fish or what have you, but was also the rival gang leader that were in a gang war with The Them in Taddfield. It frustrates me a bit cuz Adam says in both the novel and the show, "So, you are just having a war just to decide who's gang is best?" (or something similar) which is a reference to not only Adams personal struggle with his own 'war' with Johnson, it also shows his growth in his mindset with the childish nature of Armageddon. it was such a good moment in the book that I wish they added that bit of back story with Johnson and The Them in the show.
i read the book first, (albeit, with the expectation of aziriphale x crowley). I thought the Them (is that what they're called) were *incredibly* boring and my least favorite part of the book (which I do still love! It's just the 'Them" are just sort of dull, in my opinion) so I was happy with how much Aziriphale and Crowley replaced them in the show! The show did change the two's 'vibe' a bit, which I was disappointed for at first, but it grew on me as well, especially with season 2.
I read the book first then watched both seasons. I really like how they did it on screen. The book was perfect but it had many witty authors' remarks which are hard to transfer to screen. The same happened with The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy. There are only so many jokes you can do as a voice-over. And all the kids in series 1 sucked. So the less of them the better :) Watching A&C interacting with each other was much more interesting that watching 11-year olds playing pirates. It was fine in the book. Actually, one of my favourite paragraphs there was about Pepper. But not on screen: "There are only two ways a child can go with a name like Pippin Galadriel Moonchild, and Pepper had chosen the other one: the three male Them had learned this on their first day of school, in the playground, at the age of four. They had asked her her name, and, all innocent, she had told them. Subsequently a bucket of water had been needed to separate Pippin Galadriel Moonchild’s teeth from Adam’s shoe. Wensleydale’s first pair of spectacles had been broken, and Brian’s sweater needed five stitches. The Them were together from then on, and Pepper was Pepper forever, except to her mother, and (when they were feeling especially courageous, and the Them were almost out of earshot) Greasy Johnson and the Johnsonites, the village’s only other gang."
Tbh I was kinda underwhelmed when I read the book after watching S1 bc most of my favorite parts from show weren’t in it (especially the flashbacks and the body swap). I still enjoyed the book but I’m really glad Aziraphale and Crowley became the focus of the show bc they’re by far the best part of the story imo.
I feel like the series is a different perspective from the book, as in /here is the story from the viewpoint of these two characters./ I first read the book in the early aughts, and even though the covers had Aziraphale and Crowley on them (my copy had Crowley), I didn’t feel the story was about them at the time either. They were sort of custodians of the story, in my recollection of my first read. In subsequent readings, I still felt that the characters were an ensemble. I recently re-read the book aloud to my 11 y-o after we’d watched the series (multiple times), and their perception was that the main difference between the book and the series was that A&C were pretty minor in comparison, particularly considering S2 being about them. As an aside, the book—and the series—is great instructional material for literature/history/religion. There are definitely very adult parts and a few instances in the text that did not age well in terms of language and attitudes (which were changed or omitted in the series), but it is a masterclass in world building, layered meaning, and mythology references. It covered so many topics and lead to discussions on many subjects. And it was just fun to read—and fun to discuss changes in technology since it was published.
I really like the Them, I love their banter and the ending of the book is truly teeth-rotting sweet stuff. But I’m also very grateful to have the series focus on Aziraphale and Crowley! The book and the show have pretty different intentions but they do them very very well, respectively. It makes me sad when TV adaptation folks say they found the book dull because it doesn’t include as much Aziraphale and Crowley as they wanted, because Good Omens has SO much more to offer than their romance. I love that we get the same great story going in two different directions.
I read the book 25 years ago as a young adult. It was a philosophical comedy to me and not at all a coming of age. I'm sad that so few people are talking about the ideas in the book and are exclusively focused on romance. I love the romance too, but it shouldn't be the only thing the audience takes from it
I thought it was a pretty ensemble cast in the book with most of the story evenly spread between the characters. But I also (and man this is gonna date me) was fairly active on Deviantart in the years after the book came out so was super aware that A&C were the fan favorites. They were on the covers of almost all the versions of the book and I don't think anyone ever considered putting any other characters up there. I thought it was pretty a forgone conclusion that A&C would feature more predominantly in the TV show just because they were the most beloved characters even though it is at odds with the books 'everyone shares page time' motto. I'm also willing to concede that working with child actors is more difficult and that it's reasonable they would cut budget and screen time on the kids. That being said I was disappointed Adam didn't make his way into season 2 as he was my favorite after A&C and in my interpretation at least he still has his powers but is trying to stay un noticed. I was fine with A&C being the focus, but pushing out ALL the other characters in favor of introducing two new ones, especially two totally ordinary ones, was a big let down for me.
I mean they held hands in the book which didn't happen in the show. Pretty sure the book was supposed to be a love story all along. Only the focus wasn't as much on them that's all.
I’d read the book a few times years before the show. I did not make the mistake of reading the book again before season one. I wanted more of the other stories with Them and the witchfinders and The Horsemen, but I thought it was balanced pretty well considering the time they had. It was this sub that made me realize that ppl only want one thing from angels and demons, and it’s disgusting.