3.5 Stars 
 "Don't think of it as dying," said Death. "Just think of it as leaving really early to avoid the rush." 
 This one's a bit of a cult classic--I can see how the reactions to it would be a bit polarized. 
 At its wildly varied point-of-view core, this is essentially a tale of two friends on opposite sides of the cosmic/spiritual spectrum--a demon, Crowley, and an Angel, Aziraphale. Both have been on earth long enough to get comfortable. As the apocalypse closes in, neither of them seems keen on the existential change it heralds. 
 "That's how it goes, you think you're on top of the world, and suddenly they spring Armageddon on you." 
 There are numerous side stories interwoven with this end-times comedy. The antichrist and his minions, the four horsemen of the apocalypse and a gaggle of bikers with delusions of grandeur... 
 At certain points we're given the perspective of Newton Pulsifer, a 'Witchfinder,' along with Anathema Device. Anathema is of course a witch, which adds to the heaping symmetrical irony of this story. It's only fitting that Anathema's distant ancestor, Agnes Nutter was burned at the stake by Newton's distant ancestor, Thou-Shalt-Not-Commit-Adultery Pulsifer. 
 "She was beautiful, but she was beautiful in the way a forest fire was beautiful: something to be admired from a distance, not up close." 
 Meanwhile, there's a complication in the grand evil design. It seems the antichrist was switched at birth, and inadvertently has become a graphic training aid for the nature vs. nurture debate. 
 Tongue firmly in-cheek, this book pokes fun at nearly everything that wanders in and out of its slightly erratic field of vision. The plotline and overall profundity didn't stand up as well as Pratchett's Thud, in this reader's opinion (which treats pure fantasy tropes with similar irreverence but more generalized fondness). But the dry wit, bantering dialogue, and overall acumen is still worth the read. 
 It's fitting that Terry Pratchett is credited for this book ahead of Neil Gaiman. The book feels like Pratchett through and through from the pithy humor to the characterization style, which leaves me vaguely perplexed over how much Gaiman contributed. (My guess would be that he had a heavier hand in the pseudo-biblical angle, but I have no proof outside of vague observation.) 
 Favorite quotes: 
 "People couldn't become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked." 
 "The Kraken stirs. And ten billion sushi dinners cry out for vengeance."