Small Gods: Discworld Novel, A by Terry Pratchett (MOBI)

Description

The thirteenth novel in the Discworld series from New York Times bestselling author Terry Pratchett.Lost in the chill deeps of space between the galaxies, it sails on forever, a flat, circular world carried on the back of a giant turtle— Discworld —a land where the unexpected can be expected. Where the strangest things happen to the nicest people. Like Brutha, a simple lad who only wants to tend his melon patch. Until one day he hears the voice of a god calling his name. A small god, to be sure. But bossy as Hell.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I’ve read:Equal RitesMortThe Color of MagicThe Light FantasticEricWyrd SistersWitches AbroadSourceryReaper ManGoing PostalSmall GodsThus far, Small Gods is my least favorite. I enjoy reading Discworld’s spirited and a bit odd adventures. Small Gods was like trudging through a desert of negativity. It’s full of unamusing arguments and coercion. Arguments in other DW stories are usually between a couple of buffoons which brings about a chuckle while acts of coercion are met with a gulp and a tugging at the collar by the character being pressured. Instead of a fairytale villain, the SG antagonist is psychotic. For me, it was too negative. A downer of a story.

⭐I loved Diskworld when I was young but it’s been some years since I looked at my collection. While I’m not cracking up as I rereading them they can still bring a smile to my face and the clever ideas can make me nod.In Small Gods the great god Om tries to manifest himself as a mighty bull smiting the unrighteous only to find that he can only appear as humble tortoise. Worse yet, among his many worshipers only one can actually hear him, a simple novice known as Brutha. Together they must find out why Om cannot be heard by his worshipers and restore him to his rightful place. On the way they learn about the meaning of faith and the role of gods.And of course there’s slapstick and hijinks and inquisitions and wars and obscure philosophical jokes. I mean it is a Diskworld book after all.Among the fun and games Pratchett makes a point about what happens when a religion becomes ossified, when saying the prayers or going to temple becomes more important than belief or good works. And also the obligation of gods (and religious institutions) to focus on helping rather than hating. Feel free to apply that analogy to your favorite faith.Some of the jokes are strained, and the middle of the book drags, but overall it was a fun read to revisit.

⭐Small Gods is a novel of Discworld where the world is a flat disc, balanced on the backs of four elephants which are standing on the back of a giant turtle. There are many novels set in Discworld, and most of them are clever, witty, and rapid-fire novels. Almost all of the Discworld novels fall into different categories: Tiffany Aching, Rincewind, the three witches, Sam Vines and the guards, and Death. Each book in a group focuses on one of them, although they cross over and pop up in each others’ books all the time. This book is one of the few that stands alone. There are only the fleeting mentions or appearances of the familiar such as Ankh- Morpork (a familiar setting in Discworld), Lu Tse (an ancient monk), and the librarian from the Unseen University (an orangutan). Death has a more substantial appearance, but I would not consider this book to be a novel of Death. This is a story of faith, religion, philosophy, war, loyalty, and integrity. That sounds a bit highfalutin, but do not forget that this is a Terry Pratchett book so it is also satirical, absurd, and occasionally silly. Brutha, the main character, is a naïve novice monk in Omnia. Vorbis is a scheming high priest and head of state of Omnia who dominates through fear and directs their version of the inquisition. These story begins when an eagle drops a turtle in the garden where Brutha is working. The turtle is currently the manifestation of a small god (Om) who regains his consciousness on the descent. Only Brutha can hear the god speak. Antics, diplomacy, treachery, prayer, and great adventure ensue. There is method to the madness. Terry Pratchett does a wonderful job of maintaining the integrity of his absurd world and his characters while keeping everything fresh and creative. As always, the humor is wrapped around serious themes. The discussions of religion, faith, and philosophy are absurd, but thought provoking. Actually, there is a large cast of characters in this book with gods, philosophers, monks, priests, torturers, soldiers, sailors, a turtle, foreign leaders, a fisherman, and so on. I cannot read too many of them in a row, but when I need something different, a Discworld novel is the perfect metaphorical palate refresher. Like all the Discworld books, the tone is satirical and clever. While it makes sense to generally read the books in order, this book can stand alone. These books do not contain any scenes, language, or images that would rate even a PG-13 rating at the movies. If a reader does not have sufficient maturity, much of the book will be wasted, because you won’t get the jokes or understand the satire. It should be impossible to write such pure nonsense that ends up making great sense.

⭐As always Terry Prachett’s storytelling is phenomenal.This book is a master piece of satire. It’s equal parts hilarious and horrifying. Horrifying, in reflecting the current reality of human belief.The satire on organize religion is horrifying and delightful in its darkness. We all know what happens when a religion is hijacked by the righteous, who think they know better than anyone. Honor killings, oppression, crusades, witch burning, relocation of pedophilic priests and endless wars on the infidels. The ugliness of organized, almost mechanical belief is the erosion of spiritualism.I loved the light ribbing on scientists and their mindless invention of destructive weapons in the name of stopping war. If you invent and use the technology, your opponent will acquire it sooner or later. Just like nuclear warfare.Lastly, the book was hilarious! There is so much philosophy and humor packed into one little book.Prachett is truly one of his kind.

⭐As others reviewers have mentioned, this is an unusual Pratchett book in that it’s set (apparently) centuries prior to the other Discworld stories, and therefore doesn’t feature any of the usual characters. Some reviewers didn’t like this, and that’s understandable: Pratchett’s carefully-drawn characters are 90% of the appeal, and if you’re like me you’ve bought his books just to find out what happens next to Rincewind, Sam Vimes, or Esme Weatherwax. Even so, I’d say this is a well-crafted story that doesn’t deserve the markdowns that others have given it.True, the villain is a rather generic Pratchett villain (if you’ve read several other books, you’ll find him irritatingly familiar), but there is little else to find fault with. As with many of his stories, Pratchett manages to weave in some trenchant observations on human nature, and a bit of philosophy, without messing up the plot or finger-wagging. I really have only one criticism: torture, even in the hands of a black-comedy master, is never funny. Particularly when it references real-world historical events. The violence in other Pratchett books tends to be slapstick and cartoonish, but here it’s a bit too close to the bone.

⭐Viborn would be a prime mover in Brexit, the chaos, the destruction of society, the smiting of unbelievers in the increasingly fascist doctrines of Tory Iams and preachers. Sadly no Tory MP would ever read this book and understand their vision of the post Brexit UK is for a born again Omnia where fear deprivation and hatred of anything not English in origin is the norm.Sadly there is never an eagle or a tortoise around when you need them.

⭐This was one of those Discworld books I was looking forward to, albeit with a degree of apprehension. This was commonly portrayed as the ‘angry’ Discworld book, the exception to the rule of gentle, affable wit that otherwise runs through the seriesIn truth, it has its moments of pointed social commentary, some perhaps more pointed than others. Overall though, and what really elevates this material is how well it sticks to the good-natured tone whilst exploring the sharp end of theocracy, dogma and absolute bloody-mindedness in the face of better alternatives.Its an exploration of mindsets. In the belief of hierarchies over gods, the subjective nature of belief and the innate need to believe in something over nothing. It’s hefty stuff but never reads like a thesis on theology, psychology or culture.In short it’s quite the piece of work and a definite high point of the series. Gods large and small may impose themselves upon it’s events but as is usually the case with these books it’s the fundamental humanity of it’s characters that always shines through. A solid recommendation.

⭐I remember enjoying this book a lot when I was younger, and for the first half of the book I wasn’t disappointed.However, much of the second half became quite chatty and irrelevant – lots of focus on steam-powered inventions that were neither entertaining not even involved with the plot.In the end, this book still has strengths, but I noticed the weaknesses more this time around.

⭐Imagine a country where Religion is part of the state, and vice versa. Where the Religion has gone slightly mad…Oh? You can? Then this the book for you, especially if you are fond of tortoises. This is Terry Pratchett on a soapbox, so it has dark tinges, but is still full of fun. A young novice in the One True Religion (aren’t they all?) is sent out with a nefarious mission to a heretic (aren’t they all?) neighbouring country. His survival is uncertain. The main question, though, is whether the truth can survive. A masterpiece by Terry Pratchett (aren’t they all?). Lettuces also figure largely. And exploding steam-boats.

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