Small Gods: Discworld Novel 13: A Discworld Novel (Discworld Novels) [Paperback]

The basic theme is a simple, but rarely recognized, truth. Gods are created by people. The fewer the believers, the smaller and weaker the god. When belief fades or believers eliminated, the gods cease to exist. Once mighty, the god Om has been relegated to the body of a tortoise. He retains but one true believer: Brutha, a novice in the Citadel of Om. Brutha makes frequent reference to segments of the "holy book" Om supposedly authored. Mystified by attribution to himself of these writings, Om wonders who really wrote them. And why they were written. What has been perpetrated in His Name?

Brutha, who has a photographic memory, is conscripted into a religious crusade against neighbouring Ephebe. The Omnian Church wants to erase Ephebe's false belief that the world is a disc riding on the backs of four elephants standing on a turtle swimming through space. According to Vorbis, head of the Quisition, such false doctrine must be erased, erasing the Ephebians in the process, if necessary. Besides, Ephebe's on the best trade route to the Turnwise coast. Tucked away in Brutha's pocket, Om is taken along. But how does Vorbis expect to conquer mighty Ephebe, home of philosopher kings, with a token force of fifty soldiers?

Pratchett is as direct as Vorbis is devious. There's an old saying that runs "I'm not a bigot, I hate everybody". Vorbis doesn't hate anybody, just those following false doctrines. Nor does Pratchett hate anyone, but his scathing wit in this book leaves few untouched . There are some light passages, but this book is deadly serious. It's not small gods, but small minds that Pratchett targets and he hits the mark unerringly [He's nearly prescient about Christian reaction to J.K. Rowlings' Harry Potter books]. Pratchett holds the mirror before us to consider our beliefs. What do we have faith in, and what sustains that faith?. If it proves false, how do we respond? What an experience it would be to visit Pratchett when one of the evangelicals arrives at the door! If he's as verbally devastating as he is with the printed word, there'd only be a smudge on the doormat.

There's a young novice called Brutha, in the church of the great god Om - a fierce god that usually manifests as some powerful creature such as a bull or an eagle. Brutha is a quiet, gentle lad with some pretty harsh, religious fundamentalist ideas, at the beginning of this story. The Omnian church is powerful, expansionist, rules with a rod of iron and has an on-going inquisition, so anyone who doesn't believe the dogma in precisely the way the church presents it, is tortured and killed. Then Brutha actually meets his god, in the form of a creature far less fearsome than Om's accustomed to, and Brutha is enlightened by revelation after revelation. Things are not what he'd imagined. He starts having dangerous thoughts that he'd better not utter. Where do gods come from? How do they become great gods? Can't people just be nice to each other and live in peace? That sort of thing. The seeds of sedition! Deacon Vorbis, Exquisitor - Head of the Quisition, would have to stamp on that sort of thinking. There's already rebellious rumblings from those infidels who try to convince people that the world is flat when church teaching is very explicit on that: it's most definitely a sphere!

This is not like any of the other Disc World books I've read (about 8 so far). It's not quite so funny but it's even more than usually thought-provoking. There's a dark under-current that the author carefully draws attention to whilst not dwelling on excessively. There are people being tortured and slaughtered in the name of a god that, it turns out, hardly anyone really believes in - wars are fought and people suffer. A man betrays his friends to save his father (who committed the terrible crime of nailing a horseshoe on his wall) from the inquisition. Terry Pratchett has managed to get all this horror into a very entertaining Disc World novel. I'm impressed.

I recommend this book, and if you haven't read any disc world books before, this is not a bad place to start.

That last point just changed - thanks you so much darling Liz - and she started me off with "Small Gods". I enjoyed it so much that I read it in stolen moments during two working midweek days, and now I curse the stupidity that made me wait this long.

This is a very clever book. Pratchett uses his mythical Discworld and its inhabitants to say far more about our world than he does theirs. This is a savage indictment of organised religion which will at the same time leave you holding your sides in pain as you try to stop laughing. It's most definitely not suitable for the Pope's Christmas stocking.

It may be a paradox, but if this world was a little bit more like Pratchett's, things would actually make more sense here than they do measured against accepted rationality.

I can't imagine there could be a better introduction to this author - an engaging and hilarious romp across another world, and a penetrating spotlight on an aspect of this one. Buy it!