Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Small Gods by Terry Pratchett ::
by William the Bloody
The thing you need to know about gods is that not all of them are gigantic figures looking down at us from the high heavens. No, in fact most gods at least start out small. They get people to believe in them and then they grow. And grow. The Great God Om has 2 million followers in the church run nation of Omnia. Om decides it's time to once again take form and speak to a prophet; lay down some new commandments, all that. He figured he'd take on the form of a great white bull to speak to the Chosen One, you know, something impressive. Unfortunately, even though Om has an entire nation of followers, it seems he only has one actual believer, and that tiny amount of belief is enough to give him the shape of... a tortoise. A tortoise in the middle of nowhere. It takes him three years to reach the Citadel, the center of Omnia's church activity, where he finds Brutha, a priest in training and his one true believer. Brutha listens and absorbs information like a sponge. He cannot read or write, and some say he is stupid or naive because he believes everything he is told; he accepts everything as truth, and thus he believes in Om completely and utterly. Om at first cannot accept that out of this entire church he has only one believer and tries to find the head of the church, the Cenobiarch, only to discover that its people may follow Om, but they believe in the Church, which has gotten corrupt, in no small part by its head Quisitor, Deacon Vorbis. Vorbis is laying the seeds for war with the other nations, because he truly believes those who do not follow Om are heathens and should be tortured into conversion or killed trying. So, Vorbis kills a missionary who had gone to a neighboring city to recruit new followers and tells everyone that the missionary was killed in the other city for believing in Om. Brutha, who was promoted to Vorbis's secretary due to his ability to absorb and retain information, discovers that Vorbis lied and is trying to start a holy war based on a falsehood, begins to see the world in a new way, a way that isn't always the truth. He realizes the Church has to be toppled and started anew, brought back to what it was all supposed to be about in the first place. But, what can one priest in training and a small tortoise do?
The Good: This is the first novel written by Terry Pratchett that I've ever read (not including Good Omens, of course which was a group effort with Neil Gaiman) and let me just say how impressed I was. Pratchett doesn't seem to believe in chapters, instead providing breaks in between scene changes, and the scenes are never really long which makes it the perfect book for being able to set down at a moment's notice and easily resume later. The writing style is very conversational, making it easy and fast to read. There is naturally the occasional foot-note which provides added information and jokes. Speaking of which, the book is quite funny and its ideas on gods, religions and philosophies are interesting and fun. The characters are quite good, from Om stuck as a tortoise whose only smiting ability is conjuring lightning as potent as the static electricity charge you get when petting a cat, Brutha the naive and innocent who eventually learns the one real, hard truth, Didactylos the blind philosopher, Urn, his inventing protégé, Simony the honourable fighter who believes combat can solve any problem, Vorbis, cold, hard, and calculating, and of course, DEATH. The novel has quite a few moral messages woven into it centering on the Omnian church, which is not necessarily a jab at the Catholic church, but ANY large religion, government, or organization and how easy it is for it to lose its way and remember its true and original purpose, but it is done in an entertaining way, and isn't how it ought to be done?
The Bad: Regarding my last statement, some could possibly argue that book is in fact too preachy. I don't think it is, but some could make a case for it.
All in all, this is a novel in Pratchett's famed Discworld series, and it has sufficiently intrigued me. No previous knowledge of the series is needed in order to enjoy this novel and enjoy it you will. It's a funny book (who knew the goddess of wisdom had a penguin?) with great characters, premise and ideas that's an easy, light read. Highly recommended!
A+
