Small Gods
 Graphic novel adaptation, 2016 | |
| Author | Terry Pratchett |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Tony Robinson (Corgi) Nigel Planer (Isis) Andy Serkis (Penguin) |
| Cover artist | Josh Kirby |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Series | Discworld |
Release number | 13 |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Gollancz/Corgi |
Publication date | 1992-05-21 |
| Preceded by | Witches Abroad |
| Followed by | Lords and Ladies |
Small Gods is the thirteenth Discworld book and one of the most popular. It’s a standalone novel, later clarified to be set about a century before mainstream Discworld continuity, about the monotheistic nation-state of Omnia and its newest (and most reluctant) prophet, Brutha. While characters from the book do not reappear, members of the Omnian faith do, and Om himself returns for a brief cameo in a much later book.
Blurb
In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was: 'Hey, you!' This is the Discworld, after all, and religion is a controversial business.
Everyone has their own opinion, and indeed their own gods, of every shape and size, and all elbowing for space at the top. In such a competitive environment, shape and size can be pretty crucial to make one's presence felt.
So it's certainly not helpful to be reduced to appearing in the form of a tortoise, a manifestation far below god-like status in anyone's book.
In such instances, you need an acolyte, and fast: for the Great God Om, Brutha the novice is the Chosen One – or at least the only One available. He wants peace and justice and brotherly love. He also wants the Inquisition to stop torturing him now, please...
Podcast episodes
Major appearances
These are episodes primarily devoted to discussing this book, or the graphic novel adaptation.
| Date | Show | Episode | External link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-08-23 | Radio Morpork | “Nobody Expects the Omnian Quisition” | radiomorpork.wordpress.com |
| 2019-02-08 | Pratchat | “He Ain't Heavy, He's My Vorbis” | pratchatpodcast.com |
| 2019-10-15 | The Death of Podcasts | “Small Gods” | aalgar.com |
| 2019-11-24 | Desert Island Discworld | “Kieron Gillen and Small Gods” | desertislanddiscworld.com |
| 2020-02-28 | Wyrd Sisters | “Small Gods” | wyrdsisters.podbean.com |
| 2020-12-21 | Who Watches the Watch | “Two Dogs in Full 69” (1/3) | pinecast.co |
| 2021-01-01 | Who Watches the Watch | “Workin' in the Content Mines” (2/3) | pinecast.co |
| 2021-01-07 | Who Watches the Watch | “Real Life Book Chat” (3/3) | pinecast.co |
| 2020-12-29 | The Compleat Discography | “Small Gods” | compleatdiscography.page |
| 2021-01-10 | Teaching My Cat to Read | “Small Gods: I For One Welcome Our New Tortoise Overlords” | Episodes list[1] |
| 2021-02-01 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | “Extra Melons” (1/3) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2021-02-08 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | “Thematic Themes” (2/3) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2021-02-15 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | “Wake Up Geeple” (3/3) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2021-03-02 | Nanny Ogg's Book Club | “Small Gods” | fireside.fm |
| 2022-03-10 | Fiction Fans | “Small Gods by Terry Pratchett” | www.fictionfanspodcast.com |
| 2021-04-20 | Disc Coverers | “Small Gods” | fireside.fm |
| 2022-04-05 | Northern Wind Fantasy Podcast | “Small Gods by Terry Pratchett - A Discworld Book Overview” | spotify.com |
| 2023-06-04 | Teaching My Cat to Read | “Mini Ep - Small Gods” | teachingmycattoread.wordpress.com |
Other appearances
Episodes where there's significant discussion of the book, but it's not the focus of the episode.
| Date | Show | Episode | External link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-11-27 | Media-eval | “Discworld”[2] | soundcloud.com |
| 2023-01-20 | The Turtle Reads | “Small Gods and Dolphins with Down Syndrome”[3] | captivate.fm[4] |
| 2023-02-27 | The Turtle Reads | “Small Gods Smack a B%tch”[5] | captivate.fm[4] |
| 2023-10-21 | MEOWcore | “Deep Purple”[6] | rss.com |
Adaptations
- There are three Small Gods audiobooks: the abridged Corgi version read by Tony Robinson; the unabridged one from Isis read by Nigel Planer; and the unabridged Penguin audiobook narrated by Andy Serkis, with Bill Nighy reading the footnotes and Peter Serafinowicz as the voice of Death.
- Small Gods was adapted as a full-cast audio drama by Robin Brooks for BBC Radio in 2006. It was directed by Gordon House and produced by Claire Grove, and starred Carl Prekopp as Brutha, Patrick Barlow as Om and Alex Jennings as Vorbis, with narration by Anton Lesser.
- Small Gods was adapted into a graphic novel in 2016 by Ray Friesen.
External links
- Small Gods at the L-Space Wiki
- Small Gods on Wikipedia
Footnotes
- ↑ This episode does not have a dedicated page on the show's site, so this link is to the episode list page.
- ↑ Also discusses Wyrd Sisters.
- ↑ Listed in this section because the conversation is only intermittently about the book.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Link direct to the audio file since there’s no website for the show.
- ↑ This seems to be a re-post of the previous The Turtle Reads episode about Small Gods, but with the new theme song added. It doesn’t appear to be available on Spotify. Also, a content warning - the revised episode’s description says it contains discussion of suicide.
- ↑ Host Lora tells co-host Panya about the bands she loves, and in return Panya talks about cats and books.