Terry Pratchett is one of my favorite writers ever. His massive Discworld series is some of the most charming, engrossing, fiercely intelligently written fiction I've ever read in my life, and gave us maybe the most well-realized fantasy setting anywhere outside of Tolkien.
He was also lifelong friends with Neil Gaiman, a similarly accomplished writer and (alleged) monstrous sex criminal who assaulted women for decades. That's just something I have to try and reconcile for myself. Did Pratchett know about it? If he did, why did he stay silent? Pratchett died in 2015, long before these allegations came to light, so there's no way to know for sure, which leaves the entire thing in a sort of uncomfortable limbo.
Even more uncomfortable is the way Gaiman proceeded to appoint himself as something of a steward of Pratchett's legacy. When the time came to adapt Good Omens, a novel the two writers collaborated on, into a TV show at Amazon, Gaiman immediately found himself in a production role making decisions on his deceased friend's behalf. Someone had to, I suppose, but the entire thing puts a bad taste in my mouth in light of all the women who have come forward about him despite all the hush money he's handed out.
Someone at Amazon was evidently also skeeved out by the whole thing, because production of Good Omens' third season was abruptly dropped when the story first broke. In the years since, it's been restructured into a shorter, more condensed mini-season purely to cap off the story, which we just got an extended look at. Gaiman isn't involved, thankfully.
Celestial bureaucracy! Gay angels! The second coming of Jesus Christ! All things dedicated fans of cosmic drama need to ignore Gaiman's shadow looming over it. Hopefully he's not getting any royalties.
