Did you spot Neil Gaiman's American Gods Easter Egg in Good Omens?
Watch out for a subtle nod to Neil Gaiman's other famous novel...
Blink and you'll miss it – but Neil Gaiman has managed to smuggle American Gods into Good Omens in a very sneaky way. (WARNING: SPOILERS!)
Look closely at the US soldier guarding the American airbase in episode five. Just before the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse arrive demanding entry (closely followed by four small children, an angel, a witch-finder, and a demon-possessed woman on a motorbike), he's enjoying a quiet shift and relaxing with a well-thumbed book.
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The book is none other than Neil Gaiman's 2001 fantasy novel American Gods. Take a look:
Of course, this moment does not come from Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's original Good Omens novel, which was published in 1990 – more than a decade before American Gods.
But it seems like an appropriate nod to Gaiman's other much-loved novel, which has already been adapted into an ongoing Amazon drama starring Ricky Whittle and Ian McShane. Work has now begun on season three.
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Of course, the inclusion of this particular book within Good Omens does raise an interesting question: if the author Neil Gaiman actually exists within the Good Omens universe, did he ever team up with a bloke called Terry Pratchett to write an apocalypse-based fantasy novel...?
Good Omens is available on Amazon Prime Video now, with a BBC broadcast following later in 2019
