Review of Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett is the story of a dimwitted novice priest of the god Om, named Brutha, with an eidetic memory who becomes a prophet rather against his will. Unfortunately when Brutha meets his god, Om happens to be trapped in the form of a tortoise and is almost powerless. It's up to Brutha to help Om figure out why this happened and to help restore his god to his former glory. In the process Brutha learns the truth about his religion and that much of what he had been taught was false.

This is a very funny religious satire. It made me grin a lot and at times even laugh aloud. I'd definitely recommend this book to Discworld fans as well as anyone who enjoys British humor, provided you aren't sensitive about the subject matter.

Review of Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle

Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle is about twin brothers who accidentally tamper with their father's experiment and get sent back in time to biblical prehistory where people live for hundreds of years and mythological creatures are commonplace. They are unprepared for the extreme desert climate and suffer from extreme sunburn and heat stroke. Some natives, who turn out to be the family of the biblical Noah, help nurse them back to health. After the twins realize where and when they are, they must race against time to figure out a way to get home before the flood waters come.

I really enjoyed this book and especially liked how the author drew from non-traditional religious sources such as The Book of Enoch. I also really liked some of the spiritual themes in this book which seemed universal even if it is based on a Judeo-Christian story.  I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys biblical fantasy or enjoyed the author's other books. Although this book was written after A Swiftly Tilting Planet, it actually takes place before that book. I personally prefer to read these books in chronological order, but I would only recommend that others do so if they don't mind taking a break from the main characters that feature in the first three books of this series.

Review of Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

Pyramids by Terry Pratchett is a hilarious satire about ancient Egyptian mythology with some Greek satire thrown in as well. Young Teppic, the heir to the Djelibeybi desert kingdom, is sent off to be educated as an assassin because it is one of the professions that provide the most all round education. Shortly after he graduates his father dies and he goes home to take his place as the new king. Wanting to be a dutiful son he decides to build a pyramid for his father that is twice as big as any previously built. The pyramids tend to generate weird quantum energy and the sheer size of the new pyramid being constructed starts to do some strange things to time and space. This book made me laugh a lot and as always I really enjoyed the humorous footnotes.

Review of Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips is about Greek gods/goddesses living in modern London and all the antics they get up to. It wasn't as funny as I expected it to be, but it had its moments and I enjoyed reading it.

Review of And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer

For those that don't know, And Another Thing... is the 6th book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series that was written after the death of Douglas Adams.

At first I was a little put off reading it because it felt as if I was reading fan fiction(which I suppose it technically is) due to the style not quite meshing with that of the original books. It also felt like it was written for a younger audience which I guess is somewhat understandable given that the author has mostly written books for young adults. There were a few other minor things that annoyed me such as the use of abbreviations and nicknames that were never used in the original books. An example of this is that pan galactic gargle blasters were often shortened to just gargle blasters.

However, the book seemed to get much better after the third chapter as far as style and reading level goes and the annoying abbreviations/nicknames were also much reduced in frequency. So I'd say that overall I rather enjoyed the book and gave it a 4 star rating, though I was quite disappointed that Marvin did not make an appearance in this story.

I would definitely recommend this book to those that are fans of the original five books especially since this one has a much less bleak ending than Mostly Harmless. As a side note, I am glad I decided to read The Salmon of Doubt before I read this book as it helped me to get a joke made regarding something that happened in the childhood of Douglas Adams. It's a rather minor thing though and it is by no means necessary to read The Salmon of Doubt before And Another Thing...