Terry is dedicated to the bit. More than anything he is committed to creating absurd worlds that feel real. His work has aged beautifully because the world we live in is as absurd as it’s ever been and it’s only getting more absurd from here on out.

Small Gods is about an autistic savant (pour a drink every time Terry Pratchett includes an autistic character in one of his Discworld books) named Brutha who is a lowly priest/monk in the church of Om. Hijinks ensue.

It turns out that Brutha is the only true believer of Om (everyone else only believes in the rules, the hierarchy, the organisation of the church, everything except the actual deity). And so, when Om finds himself reincarnated as a turtle (because only one person believes in him), he can only communicate with Brutha and no one else.

The unlikely pair form a bond and travel together as Brutha, using his eidetic memory, helps Vorbis, the head of the Quisition, with his plan to conquer the blasphemous Ephebians (Greek-esque philosophers).

Along the way, Brutha and Om meet a bunch of wacky characters with whom they discuss religion and philosophy giving Terry Pratchett ample opportunity to poke fun at both.

I enjoyed Small Gods quite a bit. After reading about half a dozen of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, I can say that they feel consistently well written and familiar to me but manage to avoid being formulaic.

There’s something about the way he writes that leaves me with a constant smile on my face. Small Gods is not my favorite of his books (Going Postal is really really good y’all) but it comes pretty close.