Reading the previous 12 Discworld novels, you see Sir Terry Pratchett's style mature and his concepts become more complex. Some of those 12 are great (like Reaper Man), some... merely okay.

Small Gods is the first Discworld novel that feels truly original and well crafted from page one. It's still Discworld, which means there are still correlations to the real world, but for the first time it feels like the story is told entirely in Discworld terms, rather than bringing in images from the real world to lend to the comedy or absurdity of the story.

This book was just flat great. I loved the characters, I loved the philosophy, the rationality of the story. It's really an examination of how belief is formed, is important, and how it's shaped for better or worse. How words can be twisted from intention and removed from context. This book really made me feel like the Discworld was an actual place far removed from the sort of one-to-one Europe-but-not-really tropes that dominated the previous works to a greater or lesser extent.

Other Discworld novels I would recommend to current fans. This book I'd recommend to anyone.