Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

16 years ago, Mssrs Pratchett and Gaiman unleashed this classic onto the world: Armageddon as folly. It's an amazing tale of two children switched at birth, one, destined to grow up happy in a small rural England town, the other to grow up to become the Antichrist and bring about the end of the world. The babies are to be switched at birth by an order of satanic chattering nuns, and unfortunately, some errors are made in their shell game. The Antichrist winds up destined for pleasant England, while the decoy child grows up in America (fairly happily, we can imagine). Adam Young, the boy who is to bring about the End Times, forms a gang with four other children, terrorizing their neighborhood, causing trouble, being kids (no more, no less).

Two Holy residents (one from above, one from below) have been waiting for this moment on Earth since the dawn of creation. They are to ensure that the final cogs are prepared to set the machine of battle in motion. Unfortunately, over the years, the angel Aziraphale and the Demon Crowley have become rather attached to the planet and its inhabitants, and aren't quite ready for the end. So, learning of the baby switch faux pas, they set out to find a way to stop (or at least stall) Armageddon.

It's a race against time as Adam discovers his burgeoning powers, a book of prophecies pops up to bring more trouble, an army of Witchfinders (well, actually only 2), the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and the Four bikers who follow them all converge in tiny Tadfield, England for the War to end all Wars. Will Adam's love for humanity override his desire to make the world a better place. Is fate written indelibly, or can the pages be edited (or erased, or ripped from the book)? How do Freddy Mercury and small dogs fit into all of this?

Good Omens is a rare comedic work. It takes a "What If" scenario and instead of making a story out of it, buries it inside of a supremely good story about choices, friendship, destiny, and courage. Heaven and Hell are not all that different, aside from the scenery. Both offer hardships and enticements, but the Human Spirit shines above it all.