Small Gods is a book that both argues for the importance of personal faith and piety and vehemently against people using their religious beliefs to impose fear, pain and death on others. And you barely notice, because the story itself is extremely taut, well-told and brilliantly characterised with Pratchett's occasional bursts of silliness kept to a minimum in favour of flashes of wry and at times angry humour. With Small Gods, published in 1992, Pratchett took the more serious ideas he'd been rummaging around with, put them up front and centre, remembered to bring a moderate number of laughs, and wrote arguably his masterpiece*.Īt its core, Small Gods, from its first page to its last, is a lengthy, sustained and inordinately clever examination of religious fundamentalism and blind faith and their conflict with reason, argument and science. More serious topics had started appearing in the series, but only as an underlying theme. He proclaims himself the One True Prophet.By the early common wisdom, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series was a series of amusing comic fantasies parodying other genre works and then facets of everyday life, like the movie business, law enforcement and shopping malls. However one philosopher, Didactylos, is prepared to stand up to him.ĭeacon Vorbis has returned triumphantly to Omnia. The Great God Om, who is stuck in the body of a small tortoise, is going with him in a little wicker basket.Įphebian philosophers argue violently among themselves but they're no match for Deacon Vorbis. Novice priest Brutha has been selected by Deacon Vorbis to go on a secret mission to the infidel city of Ephebe.
Great God Om appears before a novice monk - and is soon coming out of his shell. Terry Pratchett's four-part comic Discworld fantasy - set in a complex state of beliefs.įirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2006. On Discworld, gods need people more than people need gods, for belief is the food of the gods. Each small god lies in wait, desperately seeking to make someone believe in him. There are gods everywhere on Discworld - you can't swing a simian librarian without hitting one - except, of course, only a few people can see them. Radio adaptations of the award-winning fantasy author's novels, including the Discworld series.
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