13 Small Gods This novel asks all kinds of questions about God, philosophy and religion; questions that everyone thinks about, and other ideas that we probably haven’t thought of. It examines belief in particular for, on the Discworld at least, belief is everything to a god, without belief he/she/it is nothing – a god cannot exist without believers. This story takes the reader far away from the familiar Ankh-Morpork to Omnia, a desert place on the coast of Klatch dominated by the priesthood of the Church of Om. In this hot, dry land the Quisition works night and day to ensure the faith is upheld. Literally thrashing the sins from the none believer, and the slightly suspicious; the Quisition only needs the merest sniff of something out of the ordinary to prove someone is guilty. Sadly though, for the god Om, ritual, religion and floggings have replaced true belief; the poor god’s powers are dwindling due to a lack of real faith in Om’s existence; he has spent the last three years imprisoned within the body of a one-eyed tortoise, a manifestation of the amount of Om’s current level of power. Yet all is not lost, though a god could easily be forgiven for thinking it is when your only true believer is a man named Brutha, a novitiate of the Church and not the brightest spark in the fire… hardly a god’s first choice for a prophet, but one-eyed tortoises can’t be choosers. | | | |
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