What can I say about Terry Pratchett.
I love his work.
He has such a unique way of writing that you know it's him before you finish the first sentence.
I had read several of his books before I started this (I deeply love his Death collection- Death is in my opinion one of the greatest characters put to page) and Small Gods is my girlfriend's favourite of Pratchett's books. After several years of suggesting I read this I finally decided to follow her advice.
The book follows the story of Brutha, a sweet but somewhat dense novice who is working in a garden when he meets his god. The great god Om has become stuck in the form of a tortoise and been dropped into the garden by an eagle that has become a tortoise eating specialist.
Brutha inadvertently becomes Om's chosen one and spends the story trying to help him regain his power. At the same time he is under the watchful eye of the terrifying deacon Vorbis.
As always, this book had Pratchett's classic humourous style, there were moments where I found myself laughing out loud and interrupting whatever my girlfriend was doing to read her lines.
A personal favourite was: 'Thou shalt not submit thy god to market forces.'
But beyond the humour this is a wonderful look at human nature, the role of religion, and the way belief can corrupt or empower people.
As usual characters from Pratchett's other Discworld novels make appearances, including Cut-Me-Own-Throat-Dibbler.
For me this is a must read, and if you're worried about the amount of books in the Discworld series this works perfectly as a stand alone novel.
Rating: 8/10
I'll leave you with an image of my steadily growing Pratchett collection.
'The Turtle moves.'
Terry Pratchett, Small Gods
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