Small Gods (Discworld Novel)

"Small Gods" is the thirteenth book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, and was first published in 1992.

Omnia lies on the Klatchian coast, between the Klatchian desert and Howondaland's jungles. The country is run by religious fundamentalists, with the Cenobiarch officially in charge of both the church and the state. However, the real power lies with Vorbis, head of the Quisition - who most people expect to be anointed the Eighth Prophet. (It's been 200 years since the Declaration of the Prophet Abbys, which means that the time of the Eighth Prophet was at hand - Om tends to have very punctual prophets). Vorbis terrifies most people he meets, which is hardly surprising given his job title and his physical appearance probably helps - shaven all over and eyes of the deepest black.

The Omnians have very firm beliefs - that Om is the only god and that the Discworld is round, for example. Anyone who says differently, however, is branded a heretic and booked in for an appointment with the Quisition. Unfortunately the Omnians are entirely wrong - there is plenty of gods on the Discworld, with many of the more important deities living at Dunmanifestin. Furthermore, the Discworld is flat and is supported on the backs of four great elephants - which, in turn, are carried by the great turtle A'Tuin. Vorbis, however, isn't too happy that many people in Omnia have started to believe these heretical lies - with Ephebe being blamed as the source of the wicked rumours in question. Their righteous anger has been compounded by an attack on Brother Murduck, who was visiting Ephebe, and the burning of the Omnian fleet. (Those who live in Ephebe, however, considered that an act of pre-emptive defence, following Om's invasion and occupation of Betrek and Ushistan).

Things are going to get any better for Vorbis either - as it turns out, Om's eighth prophet is Brutha. On paper, he seems to be a strange choice : Brutha, after all, is only a novice who works in a vegetable garden. (However, given that Lu-Tze - the noted History Monk - is looking after him, it's no surprise Furthermore, he can't read, write or sing - although, thanks to his amazing memory, he knows the Septateuch by heart. Neither is Om's return as glorious as his flock would have expected. Instead of arriving as an eagle, a lion or a bull, as is traditional, he arrives as a tortoise. He can't manage anything better due to their lack of belief in him - people believe in the church, its rules and especially the Quisition...but as far as real, honest, genuine belief in Om goes, Brutha is just about the height of it. Unsurprisingly, it's only a matter of time before Brutha and Vorbis meet. In fact, Vorbis decides to bring Brutha along on a very important (and officially peaceful) mission to Ephebe. Brutha, in turns, secretly brings Om...

As usual, a very enjoyable book from Pratchett - and being one of his `standalone' novels, it's a good place to begin if you haven't read any other of the Discworld books. (For those who have read a couple of the Ankh-Morpork books, the appearance of a character called Cut-Me-Own-Hand-Off Dblah will probably raise a smile though). Om and Brutha prove to be very likeable characters, and they have a very good effect on each other. Om grasps the concept of fairness, rather than smiting just because he feels like it. Brutha, on the other hand, stops blindly accepting what has been written - largely because, when he quotes scripture, Om replies hasn't got a clue what he's talking about. (As it turns out, Om didn't dictate the holy books...Ossory managed to come up with one hundred and ninety three chapters when Om appeared as a pillar of fire and said "hey, see what I can do !"). Definitely recommended.

Just plain wonderful... (0/0 people found this helpful)

I have read twenty or so of Pratchett's books, and they are a bit of a mixed bag. Most of my favourites are of the non-discworld variety, with the exception of my absolute favourite, the wonderful Small Gods.

The main plot concerns the visitation of the country of Omnia by the not so great God Om. The main problem being that Om has only one true believer left, a dim witted but kind hearted novice called Brutha, and therefore manifests as a tortoise. Brutha and Om then travel with the arch manipulator Vorbis (Head of the Inquisition) to neighbouring Ephebe, which unlike omnia has embraced science and philosophy.

This book is full of challenging ideas and themes, some of which make you scratch your head and others which make your spine tingle. Vorbis's explanation of "The Fundemental Truth" is a particularly good example of this. Also the books central idea, that all Gods start off small and grow and deminish in line with the power and number of their believers, really makes you think about the nature of faith, fundementalism and organised religion.

There are also moments of great drama, darkness and exceptional dialogue.

Not a new book anymore, but in the days of Richard Dawkins and rising fundementalism of all varities, Small Gods has, like all great satire, maintained its relevance.

His best work. (1/1 people found this helpful)

This is definitely my favourite Terry Pratchett book, Discworld or otherwise.
His earlier Discworld novels were more concerned with subverting and pastiching sci-fi and fantasy clichés. Once his writing became a full time serious endeavour, his writing started to mature and show a greater ambition and the standard fantasy plotlines tended to disappear (I would say that Mort and Wyrd Sisters are 2 early examples of his more substantial work, and Guards! Guards!, Eric and Moving Pictures probably the final books to rely on more old fashioned sources of interest).

For me, Small Gods remains the best all round book Pratchett has written, and one of my favourite books by any author.

We visit for the fanatical religion country of Omnia for the first and, I think, only time in the Discworld books, where the country is run by the church in a brutal suppressive way. Brutha is the dim witted lad with a perfect memory who stumbles his way into becoming the saviour of his country and his religion.

The books deals with the familiar issues of religious and racial intolerance, and how organised religion becomes so bogged down in the dogma, rituals and laws that the actual origin of the belief is lost, and of course mocks many of those beliefs - the Gods on Discworld are every bit as argumentative, petty and selfish as the people, and are all just desperate for power.

Of course, we get all the usual Pratchett ingredients - effortlessly funny, larger than life characters (Vorbis, Didactylos), parodies of Earth events and figures (Spanish Inquisition/Quisition; the Omnian church believes that the Discworld is spherical; St Ungulant/Simon Stylites), and an easy ability to point out the innate ridiculousness of almost everything.

What marks Small Gods out, however, is the genuine power behind the narrative. The issues being dealt with here are pretty weighty, and some of the passages are every bit as heavyweight as you will find from 'serious' authors - when Om meets the other small gods, General Fri'it and Brutha's journeys 'across the desert', they really carry great resonance which means that this book transcends its pigeonhole as fantasy and instead is simply a great book for anyone to read - I don't think anyone could read this book and not feel a great sense of satisfaction at having done so.

Unusual and thought provoking, a good one even for non-Pratchett fans (0/0 people found this helpful)

Of all the many stories Pratchett has written set on the fictional Discworld, 'Small Gods' stands out. It's something of a one-off, rather different from anything else in the series. For this reason, even those who haven't enjoyed other books by the author (and let's admit, it's not everyone's cup of tea) might find this one worth reading. Meanwhile those who are fans of Pratchett are likely to find it similar enough to his other work to still enjoy.

'Small Gods' is a novel about religion and can be read on various levels. On the one hand, it's an entertaining story with enough plot and action to keep readers looking for no more than a diverting read happy. But, being a story about religion and belief, those looking for more depth should find plenty to think about here. It would also be a good book for a reading group or English literature class.

The story focusses on Omnia, a religious state dedicated to the great god Om. Religion is compulsary in Omnia and there is a brutal Inquisition to stamp out any heresy. But when Om himself decides to make an appearance, he is horrified to discover that despite all the pomp and circumstance aimed at his glorification, only one person remains who actually believes in him. In other words, the routine and ritual of the religion have replaced the actual belief and worship.

Incarnated as a small tortoise (the only form available to the enfeebled God), Om and his one supporter (a novice monk named Brutha), set out to rekindle belief and save the country from the grip of cruel Deacon Vorbis. This involves meeting up with philosophers in the laid back neighbouring kingdom of Ephebe, surviving shipwreck and desert, and preventing a war.

Omnism isn't meant to represent any particular religion, rather all religions in general, and the points that are made could apply to any belief system where things are carried to fundamental extremes. By setting the story on the established fantastical world of Discworld, Pratchett is able to make many points that would be very hard to make otherwise. I don't think the story is offensive to people who hold religious beliefs - it challenges the way humans behave in the name of religion, rather than criticising it per se. Any relgious person who enjoys debate and discussion should have no problem with this book.

I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in questions of religion and belief (very relevant in modern times), even if they are not normally a fan of Pratchett or fantasy writing in general. This isn't a fantasy novel in the true sense of the genre, so don't be put off if you aren't keen on 'goblins 'n' elves' style fantasy. The book stands alone so there is no need to have read any other Discworld stories.

'Small Gods' is a thought provoking and original story and transcends the traditional fantasy genre. I would encourage readers to give it a fair chance, even if it doesn't appear to be their normal type of reading.

My favourite Discworld novel (2/3 people found this helpful)

I read all the Discworld novels (except "Wintersmith") and liked almost all of them ("Monstrous Regiment" and "Thud!" being those which I liked a little less), but this is my favourite number one (followed very closely by "Hogfather", "Interesting Times" and "Guards, guards!"). Now, this book goes after religion and really it doesn't take prisoners (well, actually the philosophy is treated with the same ruthlesness). Without revealing too much, let it be said that this is basically a history about the gread god Om, who has a considerable existential problem - in the entire universe there is only one man left who actually believes in him, notwithstanding the fact that he still has hundreds of temples and a ferocious clergy leading a vast theocratic warlike empire.... Because of this lack of true believers he is deprived of almost all his powers and forced to travel the world under the form of a little turtle, carried and helped by his only true believer who happens to be a very honest but a little slow minded teenager.... The great travel will take them together through a large part of the Discworld and will be full of danger, adventures and especially hilariously funny gags and conversations. Now, I actually am Christian and believe in God so there are moments in this book when I was laughing with a little bitter aftertaste, but still I couldn't resist the appeal of "Small Gods". In fact, the more you know about the Bible and Christianity, the more you will probably appreciate this extremely intelligent and merry book. The usual appearances of DEATH are as always short, but significant and totally comical. The last 50 pages or so are particularly magnificent, especially considering, that when handling such a touchy subject it is always hard to find a satisfactory and smart ending. And here it was done very well. I warmly encourage you to give it a try and have a really good laugh with this masterpiece of Terry Pratchett.

Small Gods (Discworld Novel)

Terry Pratchett

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Reader Reviews:

The Turtle Moves (0/0 people found this helpful)

Just plain wonderful... (0/0 people found this helpful)

His best work. (1/1 people found this helpful)

Unusual and thought provoking, a good one even for non-Pratchett fans (0/0 people found this helpful)

My favourite Discworld novel (2/3 people found this helpful)

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