I had tried Pratchett more than once on friends' recommendations but just didn't click with him--never got far into one of his books. I decided to give this book a hundred pages to see if it hooked me. I'm glad I did. I think it does take time to warm to this loopy flat world held up by four elephants standing on a turtle that swims in space. A world where Death talks in all caps. And the Ultimate Library has an orangutan librarian.
This novel is part of the Discworld universe that has 37 books to date, which A.S. Byatt called "more complicated and satisfying than Oz." I read this novel right after Wicked and have to say: if only Pratchett had written an alternate Oz, it would have turned out brilliantly, because Pratchett has what Maguire lacked (besides talent). An ability to be satirical without being bitter. To rub ideas together without being dry, tedious or preachy. As you might guess from the title, Small Gods deals with religion in an irreverent way, but unlike other books on I've read with religious themes never in a small-minded or heavy-handed way.
Brutha, a young novice, encounters his god Om in the form of a tortoise. This book is one of the strongest coming of age stories I've read. I grew to love Brutha I did--and there was a whole slew of unforgettable characters, including Vorbis, one of the best villains I've ever read. There were lots of great, quotable lines suitable for framing. In its eclectic zany imagination, historical and literary allusions and word play Pratchett reminded me of Fforde's The Eyre Affair--only much better done, in an engaging omniscient voice that is very distinctive, with a much better flow--even if with no chapters and frequent footnotes.
I wouldn't say I now worship at the shrine of Pratchett--it did take me almost all that hundred pages I was allowing to get into it, which is why I deducted half a star. But I did love the book by the end--and that ending was absolute awesomeness. I will be trying Guards! Guards! next. Or maybe Hogfather. Or Carpe Jugulum (skewers vampires!). Or Monstrous Regiment. One of those. After I read Good Omens, his collaboration with Neil Gaiman.
