YMMV / Small Gods

• Applicability: Prachett got letters from both Christians and Secular Humanists (of which he was a proud member) who found the book a respectful representation of their worldviews.
• Genius Bonus:
  • When Om re-ascends to full godhood, it's described as "theophany", Ancient Greek for "the appearance of a God". Which it certainly is.
  • Ephebe is a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Greece. The name of the country derives from the Greek word for an adolescent boy, making it a sly reference to the Greek practice of pederasty (It's the root word for "Ephebophile").
  • "Septateuch" is a reference to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, sometimes called the Pentateuch.
  • Brutha has the nickname of the "Dumb Ox" - as did St. Thomas Aquinas, known for bridging Christian theology and Greek philosophy.
• Growing the Beard: While there's naturally some disagreement among fans about when the series really became its best, this is the latest book you're likely to hear named as that moment.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Om, sometimes. He's a selfish prick, but it's hard not to feel occasional sympathy for him given what he faces if he loses his last believer, and he does become a significantly better person (well, god) through Character Development.
  • Simony. Also a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds, at least until he gets called out on it, but given what Omnia is like to its own citizens a person from a conquered nation would have a very hard life. And he was only a kid at the time.
• Moral Event Horizon: Vorbis, being head of the Quisition, seems to have crossed this point well before the start of the book. The death of Brother Murduck happened quite a while ago, and his plan to get through the desert, clearly costing a lot of lives, was even before that.
• Nightmare Fuel: The Iron Turtle torture device that Vorbis invents is very simple in its nastiness. It's simply a massive iron turtle sculpture with the victim manacled on its back that is heated by a fire from underneath, very gradually working up to the temperature where the prisoner will be roasted alive. And Brutha was going to be executed on it, if Om hadn't saved him.
• The Woobie: Brutha, very much so. Also an Iron Woobie, since he goes through all of that without losing his good nature or morality.