Small Gods is a MASTERPIECE!
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- čas přidán 12. 02. 2021
- My review of Terry Pratchett's Small Gods! A Discworld story.
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Yep. I’m not done yet, but I’m loving it. Monty Python meets fantasy!
And the rest is just as good. I got my parents back into fantasy with Discworld.
Is this Dad?
HI DAD!!
A nudge as is good as a wink to a blind man 👨🦯
Yeah I've used that comparison to describe it as well. Also I've used that to try and quickly explain Hitchiker's Guide to people. In fact, for some of my book reading scifi fans, I'll simply ask 'Are you familiar with Douglas Adams?" "Yes, love his books." "Ok cool so, it's basically like that, as far as tone and humor in a lot of ways, but D&D, instead of scifi" "Oh, ok I get it, cool! I'll go check it out!" *thumbs up from me* "Mission accomplished"
Hello Mr Greene!
The holy grail movie, and meaning of life are fantasy, ond mediecal fantasy but fantasy.
My mate once met Terry Pratchett at a convention and him and his dad ended up getting a curry with him. Surealist story for a surealist author :)
I COULD MURDER A CURRY
Met him once as well. It was his second signing of the day so he was a little run down.
It was a little mom and pop bookstore I drove almost 5 hours to get to. Got there super early and even helped set up for it, make a sign welcoming him and even helped stock shelves. Awesome people the owners.
I got to keep both the "editors edition" (signed) and publicity poster for Wintersmith they were sent.
He was as gracious as he was humorously snarky.
Had never gone to a signing before and haven't gone since.
Vorbis is such an incredibly chilling villain - and you never actually see him do all that much. It's his mind - that steel ball of a mind...and the realisation of where that mind wants to take humanity. And then the final scene with him and Brutha is one of the most quietly beautiful things I've read in Fantasy.
Also - another character who shows up in Small Gods as well other Discworld books is Lu-Tze. One of my favourites.
I agree.
One of my absolute favorite books, which is notable because I am a religious person ! I always refer to this book as a good example of criticizing religious institution without dismissing faith as a concept, it's also very funny and we should all be willing to have a laugh even about the most serious of things!
It's been a while since I read it though, perhaps it's time for a re-read!
Christian from a Catholic family here - yeah we all absolutely adore Small Gods (and Terry Pratchett honestly), its the best fictional commentary on religion I've ever read
I am not Christian and never have been (and not the most firm believer in my faith either), but one of the things I always found both delightful and touching is the atheist (Simon?) responding to a minor but fairly direct revelation of Om, and immediately becoming a fervent believer - as the character explains, before he had no evidence there was something out there, so it was simpler to believe in its absence. Now that he has seen the evidence, he would be foolish to reject it - and as I recall his belief in the existence and power of Om is so intense that _Om_ is unsettled.
@@fredricksimen personally I always loved the philosopher's reaction to being confronted with Om and Om's fury at his stoicness(english?). From personal experience, its a brilliant conversation that triggers thoughts in a young person starting to be skeptic about the religion they've been taught.
In contrast to the soldier who is aso ardent in his atheist that when he meets the gods he says its insultingly illogical of them to be there
The way that turtle curses is the funniest thing I've ever read!!!!
🤪🤪🤪🐢✌ yeah
Oh yes, his furiously impotent attempts to smite everyone around him are freaking gold.
You have to wonder just what Om would have to say about those who can't tell the difference between a turtle and a TORTOISE. I suspect smiting would be involved. And probably fire ants. And maybe figgins.
Let there be another leaf
Probably already mentioned by someone else, but the sweeper Lu-Tze shows up in other discworld stories too. I love that old man, and this book is just amazing. I went back and reread all of the discworld books over the summer, and it was so satisfying. So many gems.
I wanna finally get into Discworld. I read the Tiffany Achings books as a kid and Going Postal I enjoyed but wasn’t terribly enraptured by. Is there a specific way I should start reading the books?
@@britwww There are a few ways to start, it mostly comes down to personal preference. If you've read the Aching books then Wyrd Sisters might be good, it's the start of Granny Weatherwax and her little covens story, personally I started with The Watch books, the first of which is "Guards! Guards!" Because they have some really great characters you get attached to pretty quickly. When I reread them over the summer I did The Watch books, then The Witches stories which flow into the Tiffany Aching books, then the wizard's stories with Rincewind and Unseen University, followed by Death's stories, Moist von Lipwig's trilogy, and then the stand alone books. Small God's, and Pyramids are both great stand alones if you wanted to go that route. It's pretty much down to reader's preference which sub series to start with, hope I could help a little though, and that you enjoy. Also the Nac Mac Feegles in the Aching books were just gold. I loved them so much.
@@TheBrotherGrim Wow wow wow!! Thank you so much!! Screenshotting this and gonna go book hunting!
@@britwww No problem! I'm always happy to spread word of The Disc. They really are some amaaaazing stories. Have fun hunting!
@@TheBrotherGrim technically Equal Rites is the first Granny Weatherwax story, though rest of the coven does not appear. I would not recommend it for Discworld beginners, as it is a very early book, and has some early discworld quirks (though nowehere near as much as early Rincewind books)
I met him once, randomly in a pub. Bought him a drink, unfortunately I never got a pic with him but he let me try on his hat!
Hat off, a hell of a story to tell.
@@marocat4749 hat off indeed. Surprising no one recognised him. So I asked him quietly so as not to disturb
I bought this book yesterday on a whim, remembering what Daniel had said about it; so this video couldn’t have come at a better time.
It could have... it could have come once you’d finished the book haha. Then you’d know if you’d agreed or disagreed with him. (Spoiler: I think you’ll agree 😁)
This might be my favorite book of all time. This book is definitely for people who like a little philosophy.
"Guards, Guards!" got me hooked and fell in love with Pratchett's work. Gonna pick Small Gods up for sure
Guards Guards hooks you.
Small Gods pushes you down the Rabbithole.
Read them all
I started with "the wee free men" and "the amazing maurice and his educated rodents"
It was "Mort" for me. It took me while to get to "Small Gods", but it was so worth it!
Same
I've always loved disc world books, but my favourite is Going Postal, because i worked for the finnish post when i found it, and the way he writes So Accurately how that job feels. Of course there is a lot of carityring in there, but my colleagues and i were certain the author has had experience in our field of work. And that's probably the most i have ever related to a book in my entire life.
Going postal is absolutely incredible and a very underrated disc world novel
@@benjackson91 yes.
He was a journalist (he said he saw a corpse on his first day on the job as a teen), and an assistant librarian (as a schoolboy, mostly so they'd let him borrow more books), but I don't think he ever worked for the postal service.
@@armcie5080 well, then i would say he is a brilliant writer, to be able to make so many feel like i felt 😊 and in a different country to boot.
@@armcie5080 He used to say, based on the way he wrote characters like Fred and Nobby, cops and military veterans he met at cons would often assume he'd served in uniform. But nope, I think he just... had developed a way of paying attention to people and observing them without filtering the experience too strongly through his own assumptions and expectations. I imagine that would be a useful skill to cultivate for a career journalist, as I understand he had been before his hobby got so financially successful it was costing him money to go to work.
Small Gods has always been one of my personal favourite Discworld novels; right up there with Night Watch and Hogfather. Also, it honestly had so much influence on my personal opinions regarding religion
Eric is a fun one for a quiet afternoon, but it helps to know Rincewind first
Agreed!
This is my favourite book of all time and I should thank you, Daniel, for it.
You see, I'm from a religious family, in a country run by government whose ideology is -almost- completely based upon religion and tries SO HARD to be HOLY. I even went to a so-called religious school! For so long I considered myself a religious person- and honestly, a somewhat fanatic one of that. (Funny thing- I picked up this book during that time and was so offended by the idea that I quit reading it after just a few pages and then completely forgot about it.)
But, as I got older, I began to doubt all of it. I couldn't put these doubts into words and couldn't talk about them with anyone and I felt really ashamed and guilty because of them. Then, last year, I was introduced to Terry Prachett and his work by Good Omens, and I LOVED it. so I decided to read other books by him and that was when I watched your "Discworld- before you read" video in which you recommend this one as a good introduction to discworld and I picked it up and I was astonished by it. It was simply the most enjoyable thing I read last year -arguably in my whole life- and helped me A LOT with sorting and reshaping all my beliefs.
So~ thank you very much for this great recommendation😄 (and also sorry for the long comment and possible errors in it~ unfortunately speaking and writing in English is a lot harder that understanding its written and spoken form😅)
I've been reading Discworld books since i was about 10, and it's a great journey, of looking at those multilayered texts, where anyone could find something for himself. A comedy for a kid, brilliant characters for a young teenager, and the underlying themes for someone older. It's absolutely my favourite series, and my life without it wouldn't be the same.
I always considered Small Gods, Anansi Boys, and Good Omens to be kind of a collection. You can see Terry Pratchet's view on divinity, then see Neil Gaiman's, and finally the synthesis of their sheer brilliances (does this word exist? I'm not an native English speaker) as they combine their talent to produce Good Omens. Yes, those books were not produced in the other I mentioned, but when experienced like this, for me, they become something more than the sum of their parts.
The covers! Talks about the Discworld books' covers! I cannot stress enough how important Josh Kirby's wonderful covers were to the popularization of the Discworld books. And then, when Kirby died, Pratchett was lucky enough to find a completely different artist who was just as amazing- Paul Kidby. That has to be worth talking about.
I've met Terry several times, only to get a load of my first edition hardbacks signed. They are my pride and joy of collection. The man was a genius.
I still can't help but laugh when I remember Om asking what was Brutha's first memory, and Brutha's answer to that.
not om it was the 3 people in the room testing his memory. vorbis and the other 2. but it is such a good line. "there was a bright light, and then someone hit me"
@@nicholasgait3739 Good catch, it's been about 20 years since I read it, so I'm not surprised I messed up the details... But I love that line :D
Possibly one of the funniest books ever written.
Yeah you should read Good Omes if you haven't yet ;)
@@tilljagodzinski9331 I like Good Omens, I read most of Pratchett's work when I was a teenager. This is going to sound like sacrilege but... the Neil Gaimany bits put me off. I'm not a huge fan.
I know... I know... put down the pitchforks...
@@The_Reviewist No argument there I think Neil Gailman is a great author buthe is not that funny though. ANd I am a bit taken aback by his latest creative decisions...
And yet one 9f the smartes ones at the same time
This one and hitchhikkers guide to the galaxy
This and the witches are part of my favorite, also sam vimes is one of the best charcthers i ever read. The work he made is amazing.
Dad: did you wait for me to catch up on the tragedy of Terry Pratchett the wise?
Daniel: no
Dad: I thought not....
It's not a story the Jedi would tell you...
Yes, it is. Staggering how many good books Sir Terry cranked out before his much too early demise. Still can't bring myself to read the last one - there has to be one left. The thought there could not be, would just be too sad.
When you can bring yourself to crack it open, it has a chapter that at the very least will make you misty-eyed. The book was a fantastic way for Sir Terry to bid his readers goodbye
@@nealhoffman7518 Thanks, that is a nice outlook to whenever I read that book. It might be some decades yet, though.
Same here!! It’s literally sitting on my shelf and every so often I go pick it up, and then put it back down. Of course, it has another layer added to it that Sir Terry died about a week after my Mom died suddenly from cancer, so my brain has put the two together
As a practising Catholic, I still love this book and agree it's one of the best of Pratchett's Discworld. It would be great to hear your thoughts about some of your other favourites from the series! (Full disclaimer: the Night Watch and Death books also happen to be mine.)
This is and has been one of my absolute favorites from Terry, and definitely one that I got most into when I was maybe around 16 or 17....? When I was in high school, in any case. I actually used that book as a kind of a practice piece in that I translated the whole book -- partly to get better at English, partly because I was planning to become a translator at the time, and partly because I just really, really liked that book.
Thanks to Daniel i started reading wheel of time and stormlight archive and now im going to start reading disc world. Thank you man
Pyramids is also a good companion piece to Small Gods.
I did my summer book report on this book junior year of high school and still get warm fuzzy feelings thinking about it. RIP Terry Pratchett.
watched this review many months ago and had to come back after finally getting around to reading it. Gorgeous book all the way through but especially towards the ending WOW, quite glad to have chosen this as my discworld introduction
Everything by Terry Pratchett is a masterpiece. Change my mind.
Some of his kids stuff is a bit pants and his early Rincewind stuff is spoofing a kind of fantasy that isn’t current. Having said that the consistent quality of his books is incredible, especially taking into account the volume of work he produced. Nation is also criminally underrated!
Get a copy of A Blink Of The Screen. It's a collection of lesser known shorts by Sir Pterry, and while none of them are awful, a lot of them are clearly very raw and lacking polish.
Some of his works are super masterpieces.
Nope. Not even trying to change your mind
You read Strata? There's a not so good Pratchett work.
Absolutely agree - 'Small Gods' is an excellent place to begin Discworld.
There's something so unbelievably special about how Terry Pratchett writes dialogue, I've never read anything like it! These interactions can be read repeatedly, yet it's really tough to figure out why they endlessly entertain.
And, yes - his works are all about bullying, inequality, and how people can be petty, yet he subverts his anger about these issues and writes with kindness. I really don't know how he pulled this off.
Thank you for the review!
Yesssssssss.
Definitely a good first discworld. It is a great stand alone.
I think I started with Mort which was great too. After that it was just whatever discworld book was available in the bookshelf at the back of the English classroom.
I will say for high schoolers who have recently had to study Macbeth and or hamlet, the Witches are also great starting points with Wyrd Sisters.
7:44
I love how casually you can say “or some of the death books”
I found this channel only yesterday and have been binging ever since. Love your work, keep on going and please never stop making videos on the wheel of time.
Vorbis is such an interesting character. I love Terry's ability to make archetypal characters that always feel like they are utterly unique. Ive never read a Terry Pratchett novel and thought that i could actually predict what a character was like, even if i actually could!
One of my favorite ways he describes Vorbis in the book is "a man who kills people to see if they die" that had me laughing for a solid minute.
My first Terry Pratchett book. Since then I have devoured his work. Nostalgia googles may be in play, but it's my favourite of his.
Start listening after i posted and find you recommend this to be the best entry point top his work....dare I say great minds think alike?😋 Great, thoughtful review.
Same here. Small Gods was my first, and I fell in love with Discworld right from the very first page. :)
Daniel I just have to tell you how much I enjoy your channel. And this coming from a newbie to the genre having only read from the cosmere thus far. I will be taking many of your recommendations to heart!
Lu-Tze also appears in other books, i believe a night guard novell.
most notably thief of time
also, D'blah!
I finished the book just now. I must say that with the first 4 discworld novels under my belt so far, this felt different. Jokes aside, this would fit perfectly as one of the books in the bible.
As a catholic and with how my old country has an obsession with religion, I must say I can really relate with what was being discussed in the book. I can relate to Brutha's upbringing being her grandmother doing things similar to what my grandmothers used to do. Also the progress of the story kinda feels like how my eyes have been opened with religion and what my past experiences have felt like.
All in all a great book and I like its way of discussing religion and the way it is presented in a light hearted way. Makes you really ponder your existence.
PS: I wish I have that fancy pants edition you got. Checked their site and sadly it is our of stock 😭
Pratchett's writing is unmatched. He can make you laugh with one line and be moved the next. Small God's is my favorite of his books. Thank you for talking about this one, it means a lot.
Great review! I started Discworld thanks to your vid from last year that discussed the best entry points for the series.
It makes me so happy how you went from not being super interested in Discworld (after reading the first or first two books I believe) to giving it another chance and ending up loving it!
I saw your video about how to begin Discworld. Took your advice about starting with Small Gods.
Sweet Om, what an amazing read.
Sir Terry Pratchett is a genius. A true mad genius.
was*, unfortunately...
@@frostblizzard8499 Terry Pratchett is eternal and timeless. Is, was and shall be.
@@frostblizzard8499 a genius even in death
@@pattheplanter GNU Terry Pratchett
I'm always here for Discworld content 😍
Small Gods is certainly one of Pratchetts best!
A question to the audience (and Daniel too): How many know of the book "Dark Side of the Sun"? Pterrys excursion into SciFi. Maybe not as humorous (though light hearted) but very very interesting concept-wise! (though the idea became more popular later, I won't spoil it here).
It feels like nobody ever talks about it.
As someone who grew up in an ultra-religious household, now I want to start discworld!
Do it
Discworld is so nostalgic for me. I LOVED it when my dad read the Colour of Magic to me, when I was about 10-11, and got absolutely hooked. I really should pick the series up again.
I love Small Gods; it gains from reading other Discworld books but is complete in itself, like Monstrous Regiment. I read the Carpet People first, but had no memory of the author or the title, actually. So Small Gods was first for me, then Thud (love trolls), The Last Hero, The Wee Free Men, and then started in on it chronologically.
The best noticeable part of Sir Terry’s writing is his ability to describe characters in a single sentence: Mort, the Luggage, Rincewind, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Greebo and all the rest. One sentence was always enough to get me hooked again.
So useful! I’ve been wanting to re enter dis world and this sounds like a great place to start. Thank you!
It really is a treasure. I love how Terry Pratchett can critique our world while not coming off as malicious and mocking.
As a side note I read Guards guards second. My first Discworld book was Mort.
Thank you, Daniel, because of you I've finally discovered my possibly favourite series, currently finishing Guards Guards! and what a ride it is)
I read Small Gods after you recommended it as a good starter for the Discworld series. It's now one of my all time favourite books! Had to wipe away a tear after I finished it
Awesome! Discworld!!!
And yes, as an entry point it is excellent if only on how self-contained it is compared to the other books.
I am currently reading this (for the first , certainly not the last, time!). I am a huge Discworld fan and have been for years. I'm not sure why I'd not read this one before. But I am absolutely loving it!! Yes, to everything you've said in this video, and I have already begun to recommend it as a "jumping in" point to friends!
People interpret dnd rules the way they see fit just to be a little more effective, imagine a huge religion with complex texts and not so clear statements
Definitely. Most religions have issue with this. That's also the reason why is christianity reborn in cycles. Customs and traditions start suppressing original ideas and BAM! Another reformation.
The audio book is available on Audible now, and it's fantastic! Andy Serkis narrates, and there are a few other big names attached to it (specifically the voice of Death, its perfection).
I just finished it today and really enjoyed it! It was my first time reading anything Pratchett (also the video on Discworld starting points influenced my decision to pick Small Gods, so a big thank you for that) 😁😁
Absolutely LOVE STP. You are correct. This is one of my favorites, along with Guards Guards.
Just read this a couple weeks back! Once discworld gets its hooks in you just cant stop.
Great take on one of the best Discworld books. Great work. The Turtle Moves!
Nice video Daniel. Small Gods is definitely one of my favorite Pratchett novels as well. As an atheist I agree with your comment about how it's a good book to illustrate why a lot of people take issue with religion or spirituality in general, through a lens that isn't hard to digest. Keep putting out the good content man, and The Turtle Moves!
Monstrous regiment is also a good Book to get people interested in Discworld.
I loved this book! I read it back in late December after watching your video about how to approach the Discworld books. The dynamic between Brutha and Om was by far my favorite part about the book--the combination of the brattiest character being a tortoise and poor Brutha having to pack him around was so funny to me. I plan to read more Discworld in the future, maybe I'll start with the Death novels.
Yess!! Love Small Gods!
One of my favorites!
My 3 go to starting suggestions are-
Mort
Guards, Guards
Small Gods
Love this book, we read it on our podcast and really enjoyed it!
I'd already read colour of Magic and found it to be fine, but once I saw you'd released this video, I bought a copy of Small Gods, got through it in about a week, and now I'm back!
Completely agree with the pro's, the chemistry between Brutha and Om is just great and what made the point of the book for me was the sarcasm. Great book! Your video was a great incentive.
Brutha is basically Discworld's answer to Samwise Gamgee, a true hero.
Daniel had his future self record himself reading the book aloud and send it back in time for the audio book
Havent read this book in years. Youre making me want to go back and do a reread
This makes me so happy😊
Yesss! More Sir Terry reviews damnit!!! Thanks for this one!!
Incredible. I've read all of the discworld novels. Most of them several times, and I'm going to read them again. It's just something else. Noone can possibly create something this potent and funny and even believable (for absurd fantasy), not even close. Death, Watch, Witches, Technical revolution, von Lipwig, Rincewind, wonderfull. There are some lower points on some (few) books, but damn. It's just so exciting.
My favorite Discworld book and one of my favorite books of all time.
Where. Can. I. Get. That. BEAUTIFUL. Special. Edition.
Thank you for this! My recommendation is start with Pyramids then Small Gods. Starts with the beginning of time and other books build off these.
I may have to take a little Dresden break to read this. I am on Dresden book 7 and can’t put it down. The first handful were okay but they get so good and I know you’ve said they get super good later too.
They do but try doing one dresden and then a disc world
I've always been a bit intimidated by discworld, but you've intrigued me. I'm going to give it a go.
Hi Daniel. I'm a fan of the channel and an ordained minister through my church (non-denominational). If no one else has offered, I'd love to have that dialogue you talked about in the video with you
Well, I just bought it second-hand, and you name-dropping Monthy Python like that only makes me more excited to read it!
This is the first book that opened my eyes to Terry Pratchett writing commentary on real world topics and not just some funny fantasy. This book really made me read his books in a new way and take way more than I was taking from them before. Since then there are many I love more than Small Gods but gee golly I love it and it's truly one of the best books to enter the Discworld.
Lots of love here for this book, just wanted to chime in that the audiobook is indeed excellent, having read the book first years ago and listened to the book a few months ago.
Interesting that you should come out with this review now!
I just bought basically every Discworld novel and have started from the beginning. I know you advised against it, but thus far I think it was the right move for me.
Finished Sourcery today (that's the 5th published out of 41), and am on to Wyrd Sisters in a moment. I'm enjoying these books so much that the prospect of reading 36 more is exciting rather than daunting. A great series thus far and due to get even better - especially knowing Small Gods and Guards! Guards! are just around the corner.
Appreciate what you do, Daniel, keep it up! Hope you put in for a few more Discworlds, so I can hear your thoughts on those as well.
Just finished it. Loved it so much.
I've read it because of your recomendation and oh I loved it soo much. I am currently on Going Postal and while I still enjoy the style very much I somehow feel that the Small Gods are unmatched, well maybe I should try other stories to get me hyped up on the series
that was such an understated review. lots of good to talk about, and oh yeah 10/10. peace!
One of the funniest and profound Discworld novels. Pratchett has such a beautiful way of conveying ideas.
"there are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal, kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do."
Love fancy but never tried Pratchett, but will definitely but this on my reading list now!
I LOVE Terry Pratchett, he is one of the greatest fantasy authors (definitely absurdist) there is and was. RIP Terry, we miss you.
I love Discworld, though I sadly haven't done a full reread since Sir Terry passed. The Glass clock stopped at that point.
That being said, Shepherd's Crown is the absolute best goodbye from an author knowing that his time was nigh
Wasn't it just! I sobbed. For hours.
Small Gods, Guards Guards, Mort, Moving Pictures, Theif of Time, Night Watch, Reaper Man....i could go on. Terry was arguably the best writer of his generation. And his work will be discovered on and on by people for generations to come. Full of wisdom and wit, silliness and satire, beautiful moments, awseome characters.
Absolutely one of his best works! I feel like I have re read this one and night watch the most out of the series. Can't deny the man was a genius, and is sorely missed GNU Sir Terry Pratchett
Dude! Its brilliant, i love it🎉
I chose this book quite randomly at the local library one fateful day in middle school. That was my introduction to Discworld and my life was changed for the better!
I just finished reading this last night. It's the first time I've read Pratchett, and I love it.
YES! ANOTHER DISCWORLD VIDEO!
Always would love more Discworld
One of my personal favourites. The Ephebians are just wonderful.
Thank you. I'll read this next.
I found your channel a little bit ago and is loving it. I wanted know what you think of audiobooks? For the most part I only listen to audiobooks and read only one or two a year (audiobook two month).
My roommate gave me this book to get me into Disc World and 20 years later it’s still for both of us one of our all time favorites.