isabellarobinson7's review against another edition
4.0
Rating: 3.5 - 4 stars
Small Gods is my third attempt at getting into Discworld (fourth if you count DNFing The Colour of Magic, and then picking it up again sometime later before finishing it) and I think it's the most successful yet. As always it was very funny, as good British humour often is, but this time my enjoyment went past a few chuckles every two or three pages.
My journey with this book went like this:
Page one: I'm going to like it. I will like it. You don't have any choice Me, you will like it.
100 pages in: This is so boring. No one is doing anything. They are just sitting around and talking. Uggh.
200 pages in: Woah! Actual plot progression! Really cool!!
300 pages in: A lot of commentary now. It's all slowed down and we just talking again. Grrrrrrr.
400 pages in: What the heck is happening. What is this. Huh?
450 pages in: That was kind of cool.
Last few pages: Oh... that's it?
My problem with authors like Terry Pratchett (who are master wordsmiths, in my opinion) is that I can't pick out anything fundamentally wrong about their books. I can't say "this was a bad narrative decision, they should have done this" or "this lacked character growth, this should have happened instead", because everything reads just as the author intended it to be read. Every word, character, event achieves its goal. ...But I just don't love it. It's a weird place to be in for me, who customarily finds enjoyment out of media that, on a technical level, is widely considered flawless (my brother once said, after I was critiquing one of his favourite movies, that he couldn't do it for me because all of my favourite movies are cinematic masterpieces). Yes there are some exceptions (I have a lot of guilty pleasures when it comes to my music, and I am utterly blind to faults in The Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time particularly), but more often than not my brain tends to correlate technical excellence with enjoyment (obviously, I know everything is subjective, and what one perceives as "technical" excellence is absolutely up for debate).
Pretty much anything else I can say about this book is summed up in the "journey" I wrote above, so I don't think I should ramble on any longer. While Small Gods is indeed intended to be taken satirically, there are some quite blatant jibes almost at certain religious organisations in our world. I wasn't too bothered by it, not having any ties whatsoever to said organisations, but others may be.
Anyway, now I'm on to Guards! Guards! as my next Discworld attempt. Wish me luck!
Small Gods is my third attempt at getting into Discworld (fourth if you count DNFing The Colour of Magic, and then picking it up again sometime later before finishing it) and I think it's the most successful yet. As always it was very funny, as good British humour often is, but this time my enjoyment went past a few chuckles every two or three pages.
My journey with this book went like this:
Page one: I'm going to like it. I will like it. You don't have any choice Me, you will like it.
100 pages in: This is so boring. No one is doing anything. They are just sitting around and talking. Uggh.
200 pages in: Woah! Actual plot progression! Really cool!!
300 pages in: A lot of commentary now. It's all slowed down and we just talking again. Grrrrrrr.
400 pages in: What the heck is happening. What is this. Huh?
450 pages in: That was kind of cool.
Last few pages: Oh... that's it?
My problem with authors like Terry Pratchett (who are master wordsmiths, in my opinion) is that I can't pick out anything fundamentally wrong about their books. I can't say "this was a bad narrative decision, they should have done this" or "this lacked character growth, this should have happened instead", because everything reads just as the author intended it to be read. Every word, character, event achieves its goal. ...But I just don't love it. It's a weird place to be in for me, who customarily finds enjoyment out of media that, on a technical level, is widely considered flawless (my brother once said, after I was critiquing one of his favourite movies, that he couldn't do it for me because all of my favourite movies are cinematic masterpieces). Yes there are some exceptions (I have a lot of guilty pleasures when it comes to my music, and I am utterly blind to faults in The Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time particularly), but more often than not my brain tends to correlate technical excellence with enjoyment (obviously, I know everything is subjective, and what one perceives as "technical" excellence is absolutely up for debate).
Pretty much anything else I can say about this book is summed up in the "journey" I wrote above, so I don't think I should ramble on any longer. While Small Gods is indeed intended to be taken satirically, there are some quite blatant jibes almost at certain religious organisations in our world. I wasn't too bothered by it, not having any ties whatsoever to said organisations, but others may be.
Anyway, now I'm on to Guards! Guards! as my next Discworld attempt. Wish me luck!
earthdungeon's review against another edition
5.0
This was insanely mind bogglingly good. COMPLETELY revamped my love for the fantasy genre. It's funny, great lore, great dialogue, great characters, perfect pacing, just all around the perfect book. I will absolutely be reading more discworld in the near future
olityr's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Extremely fun and extremely deep.
rebeccadoctor's review against another edition
5.0
This was a much better starting point with Terry Pratchett for me than The Colour Of Magic. Very funny and a worthwhile read for any dabblers in theology or fantasy
ampharos906's review against another edition
dark
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Murder, Violence, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, Death, and War
Minor: Slavery and Animal death
periodic0's review against another edition
5.0
You always learn something new about yourself when you find a new favorite book, this one is a great ending really does it for me. But don't get me wrong, Small Gods is not only great in its ending but in everything it does. There might be things I like more about the book but overall it's very cohesive and I'll be re-reading this next year for a proper review. I like to let great books simmer in glory on my head for a while before doing a review since it might be skewed. So wait for next year to see me pick apart this book and why I love it or if it was that good in the first place.
What I'm telling you now is that if you want to read Discworld, this is the best place to start.[b:Guards! Guards!|64216|Guards! Guards! (Discworld, #8; City Watch #1)|Terry Pratchett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431127356l/64216._SY75_.jpg|1128601] is good and [b:Mort|386372|Mort (Discworld, #4; Death, #1)|Terry Pratchett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388181166l/386372._SY75_.jpg|1857065] too but not on this level, trust me.
What I'm telling you now is that if you want to read Discworld, this is the best place to start.[b:Guards! Guards!|64216|Guards! Guards! (Discworld, #8; City Watch #1)|Terry Pratchett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431127356l/64216._SY75_.jpg|1128601] is good and [b:Mort|386372|Mort (Discworld, #4; Death, #1)|Terry Pratchett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388181166l/386372._SY75_.jpg|1857065] too but not on this level, trust me.
benchedforairbud's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
dani_reis's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
blehismyname's review against another edition
5.0
Terry Pratchett, I had assumed grew up in a monotheistic religion. I didn't know this, I just assumed it. But after reading this book, while I still don't know, I am convinced he knew a lot about all types of religion. A friend of mine suggested I should read this book next (after falling in love with Terry Pratchett through the Industrial Revolution novels), saying this is "him taking apart religion". But what I got was entirely unexpected. The book basically shows us that we got to believe in something. At the end of the day, when it comes right to it, we will believe in hand lotion if we have to. That seems like a major design flaw.
The descriptions of how the gods operate goes past religion, past books and past descriptions. It shows us how with every type of weapon, the wielder should know what they are wielding. My favorite passages of this book are just too many to list. I thought nothing could surpass the industrial revolution and the Terry Pratchett genre was done for for me. But this book gave me hope, that I will perhaps like the other books too. Ha! There I go believing in something again.
The descriptions of how the gods operate goes past religion, past books and past descriptions. It shows us how with every type of weapon, the wielder should know what they are wielding. My favorite passages of this book are just too many to list. I thought nothing could surpass the industrial revolution and the Terry Pratchett genre was done for for me. But this book gave me hope, that I will perhaps like the other books too. Ha! There I go believing in something again.
appleshoes's review against another edition
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
3.75