Good Omens By Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett Discussed June 2003 Buy Good Omens

Questions

1. Collaborations are interesting when you consider who possibly contributed what to joint work. Both writers with Good Omens are fairly well published and have their own distinctive style. What in the book seems distinctive to Pratchett and what seems distinctive to Gaiman? Can one tell?
2. Along similar lines, the reading group read Neil Gaiman's American Gods (2002 Hugo winner best novel) last year. Although published more than 10 years after Good Omens - are their any similarities or parallels that one can make between the two works? Can one see similarities or differences from Pratchett's many fantasy works such as the The Color of Magic?
3. Good Omens explicitly deals with various religious subjects (Good/Evil, Free Will, the Question of God, Angels and Devils, Heaven and Hell) though in a humorous way. This leads to a few questions.

   1. What views do the authors seem to support in the book on these topics (either through the view expressed by characters or the situations that are created)?
   2. To what extent do these views depart from traditional Judeo-Christian theology? To what extent do they actually remain close to Judeo-Christian theology? In short how really radical are Gaiman's and Prachett's treatment of these topics?
   3. Specifically with the presentation of Good and Evil, would you agree with the way the authors define these concepts?
4. How would you interpret the ending of the book, specifically, the decision of Adam Young regarding his ultra human heritage?