Bingo 16: Fauna
So for me, this book is basically what Good Omens would have been had it been set in 1999 (ie end of the world/millennium references abound) and written by Terry Pratchett exclusively. I have nothing against Neil Gaiman, but he definitely has the darker tone and less openly funny humor (ie no humorous footnotes). Before & After is essentially Good Omens, except it stars an approximately 500-year old history professor who may have used to the name Nostradamus in his earlier years, his student Deborah, and a cat named Aristotle as the main protagonists, so this would be both the Aziraphale/Corwley and Them roles combined. They have to prevent the end of the world which is set to be the war between Heaven and Hell’s forces. The book begins first with a scene demonstrating what the excerpt of “The Lost Prophecies of Nostradamus” cited at the beginning of the first chapter states: “The sheep shall be the first sign. Those that hop and frolic shall detonate with great concussions, The strongest glues will not hold them, their suffering will go unheeded, Until the Great Triangles depart.” The funny part is that that opening scene takes place from the perspective of the sheep involved.
There is also a parallel for the Shadwell stuff, the worst parts of the Good Omens (which should have been left out of the tv version) mostly works thankfully since it’s kind of split up between two inept anarchists in Wales and a handful of young men who keep trying to pick up Deborah who always refuses them. Thing is these college age and slightly beyond that (in the form of a tabloid journalist who gets on Nostrus’ trail after encountering the insurance agent bemoaning a massive loss due to a policy Nostrus took out concerning a rain of fish) are pretty accurate for guys who can’t take no for an answer and make themselves utter pests, and Deborah knows how to handle them. They also often seem to end up kidnapped by alien tourist guides/advertising executives (the real reason for the Pyramids by the way). There are also incompetent demons trying to stop Professor Nostrus and company, and the role Deborah has to play ends up similar to {spoilers} with a strong dose of Celtic lore.
Lest we think that the Fauna label is merely decorative and only on the cover, the sheep also get their say again in the conclusion of the book. Their predicament is mentioned at one point by some of the humans but doesn’t really feature for much of the central adventure; some of the side-characters end up kind of exploded too, but the mechanism for that is more conventional and known.
Anyways, this was a fun re-read. Especially if you liked Good Omens, you should check this out if you can find it. The sticker on the back says I must have gotten this not long after it first came out from a bookstore in Dublin, Ireland. Given that I haven’t heard of the author since, I’m thinking this may not still be in print. I haven’t checked so who knows…