Pratchett, Terry - Small Gods

[oyceter]

It was rather neat reading this right after meeting my first Omnian priest in the form of Mightily Oats in Carpe Jugulum! I only wish I remembered more of what Mightily Oats quoted Brutha as saying, to compare with what Brutha actually says.

The country of Omnia is currently engaged in religious wars against a host of other countries, the most notable being Ephebe, the Discworld equivalent of Greece and/or Rome. Alas, even though millions of people are dying in his name, the god Om is weaker than ever, and he soon appears to his Chosen Prophet Brutha.

But since this is Discworld, Brutha wasn't so much his first choice so much as his only choice, and he seems to be stuck in the shape of a tortoise and prone to making commandments about the evils of moldy lettuce.

I can see why I saw people make a few comparisons between this book and Nation, as both are about attempting to rebuild something out of the ashes of another, and both are centered around a humanism that denies many religious creeds. I think Nation is more cynical about religion than Small Gods, part of which is due to the darker subject of the former.

I'm not sure why, but I didn't become convinced by the book until near the end. Possibly the comparisons with Nation had me expecting higher stakes or something darker, and though Vorbis is frightening, I knew things would not end well for him in Discworld. But I do like the ending, and I like that there's an acknowledgment that an institution as large as a widely-believed religion can't be changed overnight, that reform is difficult and flawed and messy but still worth doing, that sometimes even the enemy needs a hand. And I'm impressed by how much Brutha changes over the course of the book.

Comments

[almeda.livejournal.com]

I love the cameo from the Time Monks in Small Gods -- had you seen them before?

[oyceter]

No, that was my first time seeing them! Although I have to admit, it was really weird seeing an almost-Chinese-philosopher name among more Buddhist-esque monks.

[almeda.livejournal.com]

You've got a lot of wonderful mysterious cameos in your future, then; I think the one in Small Gods is one of the most clearly-shown ones until Thief of Time, which takes place (at least in part) in their monastery.