★★★★☆ Pratchett takes serious things seriously, for a little while

Small Gods

Terry Pratchett

Readers of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series have frequently heard an opinion expressed on the subject of justice

There is no justice. There's just us.

This opinion is expressed by Death. It therefore came as surprise to me to read, in Small Gods,

‘There will be justice,’ said Brutha. ‘If there is no justice, there is nothing.’

Brutha is the hero of Small Gods, and he is in fact, a hero. Death also has something to say on the subject of justice in Small Gods

Brutha: There's no justice!
Death: There's just me.

Justice, however, is not what Small Gods is about -- it's just a serious subject taken seriously that arises in the course of a scathing discussion of the main subject, religion.

Small Gods is all about religion. Religion is pretty clearly not presented as a Good Thing. In fact, at its worst it is evil and horribly destructive. I suspect it is not incidental that "at its worst" means monotheism. I will complain, however, that I did not receive a clear message from Small Gods. To be fair, one must not demand that the central theme of a novel be capable of expression in a simple sentence. If you could replace Small Gods with a sentence, there would be no reason to write a whole bloody novel to get the point across.

Still, I do get the feeling that Pratchett is trying to tell me something. What that is, I didn't quite figure out. My fault, probably, but There It Is.

Small Gods is well stocked with the usual Pratchettian fireworks. If you, like me, have an appetite to see religion brutally mocked (without however, mocking any specific religion you're likely to see practiced on Earth), then you will enjoy it.

Small Gods on Amazon

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