Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Small Gods

“Belief, he says. Belief shifts. People start out believing in the god and end up believing in the structure.”

Small Gods is not a part of any of the Discworld subseries. Instead it examines the roles of religion on the disc (although the round earthers will insist that the earth is a globe and not flat). The god Om has lost most of his believers (although they still believe and insist that they believe) and was unable to return in one of his more impressive form (like white bull that crushes infidels). Instead, he returns as a tortoise (there's good eating on one of them) and even forgets that he is a god until he picked up out of the desert by an eagle and dropped near Brutha, who is a low level member of Om's temple. Om quickly realises that belief in his religion is not the same in belief in him and Brutha starts to question everything he has been taught, both through his god and through being exposed to a world outside of the temple.

It's been a little while since my last Pratchett, but this was definitely a good one. In typical Pratchett fashion, this book is smart and funny. I loved the tongue in cheek commentary about religious indoctrination and about how religion can so easily be corrupted by people. Even Om is upset about how his name has been used, his role twisted and how he has been used to justify things he never said (the prophets made up things to suit their needs). I can see similar trends in modern religion - amongst certain groups religion has become more about hate rather than the love it preaches. I don't see this is not an attack on religion or spirituality itself, but rather on the bigots who use their religion to justify their views. That being said, I can see why some more deeply religious people wouldn't love the message. Although some (especially those born into it and possibly questioning it) would benefit. I loved seeing Brutha's growth as he was exposed to a greater world and learned to be his own person. I also enjoyed the dropped mentions of other gods and character that have been mention before (like Offlar the crocodile god or The Librarian). And Cut-Me-Own-Hand-Off Dhblah? Proof that these kinds of people simply appear where needed (as Pratchett has previously stated with regards to Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler).

I think this is one of the darker Discworld novels (so far). While it still remains humerous, it explores themes such as cult-like religion, religious indoctrination, war about beliefs and the like. That being said, it's a great book and oneI'd definitely recommend (although maybe not to those die hard religious types who take offense at everything and believe we're all going to hell, simply for existing). And since it doesn't link closely to any other Discworld books, it can definitely be enjoyed regardless of whether you have read an of Pratchett's other works, and of whether you plan to read any others.

Some notes on the content warnings:

Religious bigotry/ gaslighting (also cults):
People do bad things in the name of religgion, make up things about their god (which he is surprised about) and keep their followers from expanding their horizons
Slavery:
Ironically the actual slaves are treated much better than those who work for the temple. They are allowed time off and allowed to run away each year (go on holiday). They also, supposedly, get freedom and their own slaves after a set number of years of service. At least the main one we meet seems to be well treated.
War/ fire:
There is a war in the name of religion. It includes a fire. No details about people being injured, but a library is burned down
Drowning (not an option)

Content Warnings

erikwmj's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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woweewhoa's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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bluejayreads's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No

3.25

This is one of the few Discworld books not part of a sub-series. Since I’ve read at least one book of each sub-series at this point, it’s a little weird to be with completely new characters in a completely new place with none of the tiny overlaps I expect from Discworld books (except for some of it being in the city of Ephebe, which I’m pretty sure was also mentioned briefly in Pyramids.)

The protagonist of Small Gods is Brutha, a novice in the service of the Great God Om. Brutha has an eidetic memory – meaning he can recall everything he has ever seen, heard, or done all the way back to the moment of his birth – but he can’t read because he lacks the intelligence to connect spoken sounds with written symbols. He doesn’t mind hard work, never complains, and believes wholeheartedly in the Great God Om with an innocent, childlike faith.

There’s not a whole lot of plot actually involved in this story, and a lot of that is because Brutha is quiet, unintelligent, and unambitious. Everything that happens to him is due to the machinations of the Great God Om (currently a tortoise and desperate to not be a tortoise anymore) and a particularly ambitious and ruthless leader of one church department. He talks to some philosophers in Ephebe (Discworld’s ancient Greece), treks across a desert, and pretty much meanders through a plot that other characters set up for him.

The point of the story seems to be a satire of organized religion, especially Catholicism. It has:

The big, multi-tiered church structure with one old guy at the top who’s at least 75% figurehead
A bunch of prescribed prayers, Important Days for feasts or fasts, and rituals that have lost any connection with the reason they are done (if they had any reason to start with)
An all-powerful, all-knowing deity who speaks only through appointed prophets
Scriptures, written by said prophets directly from the mouth of god (supposedly), which form the backbone of all doctrine; knowledge and memorization of these is essential to religion
A Quisition that tortures confessions (true or not) out of heretics, complete with believing that suspicion = crime because Om wouldn’t let them have a suspicion if it wasn’t true
And the strong conviction that their religion is the only true religion, their god is the only one that exists (which is demonstrably false in the Discworld), and the best way to deal with disbelievers is to conquer them and force Omnianism upon them

So it’s not exactly a subtle analog of organized religion and Catholicism/Christianity in particular. The disappointing thing was it didn’t really make a commentary on any of it. The Omnian church was an obvious caracature of the Catholic church, but that’s as far as it went. The idea seemed to be, “What if god, in a lowly form, came down to a caricature of the Catholic church, and also he was an asshole?”

Personally, I found it interesting enough. I think that’s mainly because I am interested in deities and religion in general, though. Brutha may not have been a spectacular character and the plot might have been weak, but there were plenty of interesting bits about Omnianism and some new tidbits about how the small gods of the Discworld work, and that was enough to keep me reading. Someone with less of an interest in religions, though, would probably find this one of the less enjoyable entries in the Discworld canon.

Content Warnings