7 Books to Read While You Wait for Good Omens to Hit the Small Screen

Grasshopper Jungle, by Andrew Smith
Few have imagined the End Times quite like this. And few have a voice like sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba, of Ealing, Iowa, who just happens to have caused the end of civilization by unleashing a plague of six-foot-tall praying mantises. The action is astoundingly funny, but Austin also lends an earnestness to the proceedings, narrating his internal struggles with his blossoming bisexual identity while the world around him falls apart.

Spontaneous, by Aaron Starmer
High school sucks for most of us, but at least our classmates aren’t exploding. For Mara, senior year introduces a horrific new plague: one by one, her peers are spontaneously blowing up. Mara is forced to navigate these tumultuous waters as romance blooms between her and an ice-cream truck driver. Populating this zany ride is a bizarre set of scene-stealing characters that fits right in with the Good Omens cast.

Hellhole, by Gina Damico
Max Kilgore does a slightly bad thing at the beginning of this book—and there is literally hell to pay. A couple of bad decisions lead to an encounter with a devil, who attaches himself to Max, his couch, and all of his many snack foods. To exorcise the devil from his life, Max enlists the aid of goth girl Lore, forming an unlikely duo reminiscent of Gaiman and Pratchett’s Anathema Device and Newton Pulsifer.

The Awesome, by Eva Darrows
At seventeen, Maggie Cunningham is determined to lose her virginity, but not for any reason you might predict: she can’t join her mother as a true vampire hunter until she does. For a home-schooled monster hunter, this may be a tougher job than any of the ghouls and goblins she’s encountered before. With a gonzo mix of fantasy and contemporary story, Darrows’ book is a perfect heir to Good Omens’ race to the End Times.

Labyrinth Lost, by Zoraida Córdova
Humor, heart, and heaps of mythos are the secret sauces of Good Omens, and they’re also what fuel Córdova’s Brooklyn Brujas series. If given the chance, who wouldn’t want to be a powerful witch? Well, Alex, who’s on the verge of coming into her full powers as the latest in a long line of brujas. After a spell backfires, she’s forced on a journey to the in between realm of Los Lagos to rescue her family.

Bleeding Violet, by Dia Reeves
As it turns out, there are things even darker than the apocalypse. For proof, visit Portero, Texas, where Hanna washes up, on a search for the attention and affection of her estranged mother. But that’s not what she finds. Long plagued by hallucinations, Hanna finds herself uniquely prepared for Portero’s brimming portfolio of demons, monsters, and other unsavory creatures. The result is a chaotic, thrilling ride.

We Are the Ants, by Shaun David Hutchinson
The fate of the world rests on Henry Denton’s shoulders. Henry has a nasty habit of getting abducted by aliens, a pattern that ends in an ultimatum: the world is scheduled to end, but Henry can stop it all with the push of a button. The problem is, after a life of numerous traumas (not including the alien abductions), Henry isn’t so sure Earth is worth saving. As he weighs this dilemma, we’re treated to a story at once dark, touching, and bitingly funny.