Small Gods (1992)

The more Discworld novels I read, the more I respect Pratchett and his pisstaking ways.

This time, he goes after both religion and philosophy (...but mostly religion). It's fantastic in that he skewers it from all sides...those that push the religion, those that follow it blindly, and the gods themselves.

What makes me respect him is, he's never (pardon the pun) preachy, and he always gets guffaws from me. I have to say, staring down 41 books can be intimidating, but now, at about a third of the way through, I'm so glad I've taken the plunge. ( )

I struggled at the end of this book but that may have been because of Dad’s death. Didn’t connect much with this book probably because I’m not a religious person ( )

The turtle moves.

Small Gods is a bit odd in the greater Discworld universe, being one of only a handful of one-off stories (Pyramids and Amazing Maurice are the other two if you count the Industrial Revolution subseries as a series) and being relatively early in the reading order. So with the exception of offhand references (such as to the Great God Om), it's one of the books you could easily read anywhere in your reading order.

That being said, the story is interesting enough. It's basically a story about one of the Discworld Gods (specifically Om) getting stuck in a mortal form and having to deal with the religion that has grown up around his name, to the point that even he doesn't really recognize what he's supposed to have done any more.

It's an interesting enough take on the idea that I've seen in a few other books--that gods have power in relation to how many believers they have--combined with how religions tend to grow more strict as they gain more and more laws over the years.

It's well done and an interesting enough take on the topic, but I feel like it's been done better otherwise. Still worth the read for completeness sake and it would probably work as a pretty good introduction to the world of Discworld (although I think the City Watch books do a better job of that).

Quote for thought:

Just because you can explain it doesn't mean it's not still a miracle. ( )

Pratchett gives organized religion a sharp stick in the eye in this farce. The city-state of Omnia is ruled by a theocracy, and deacon Vorbis, who helps torture unbelievers to help them find enlightenment. A young acolyte Brutha is the protagonist: he is simple, yet complex. He hears a voice that no one else can, coming from a tortoise, who is actually the Great God Om. Together or apart, they seem to mitigate the polarizing nature of religion. I found this one too long although it was quite funny at points. ( )

Lessons Learned: Be careful how you get people to believe in you. Otherwise they might just believe in what you said and not you. ( )