Small Gods
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| Terry Pratchett The Discworld series 13th novel – 3rd individual story  | |
| Outline | |
| Characters: | Brutha Om |
| Locations: | Omnia Ephebe |
| Motifs: | Religion, Philosophy |
| Publication details | |
| Year of release: | 1992 |
| Original publisher: | Victor Gollancz |
| Hardback ISBN: | ISBN 0060177500 |
| Paperback ISBN: | ISBN 0552138908 |
| Other details | |
| Awards: | |
| Notes: | |
- This article is about the novel "Small Gods"; for the concept of Small Gods within the Discworld, see Discworld Gods
The character of Vorbis is one that may interest any reader interested in questions regarding institutional religion, heresy, and the direct communication between God and Man. Vorbis has a reputation for being a man touched by destiny (and 'perhaps something else') and as being one of the most devout Omnians in the Empire ('Vorbis could humble himself in a way that made the posturings of power-mad emperors look subservient') yet in the end the reader finds that the only voice Vorbis has been listening to is his own.
This book is the source of some controversy among Discworld fans, as they cannot decide whether it takes place 100 years before all the other books, or takes place in the same timeframe save for the ending, which is 100 years after. Pratchett himself has never really clarified the issue, and indeed seems to get some amusement out of deliberately not answering. Something of an explanation was provided in Thief of Time, where it is suggested that two centuries became enmeshed during that period, and so the question is actually unanswerable. It is worth noting, however, that in Carpe Jugulum, a discussion between Omnian priest Mightily Oats and the witch Granny Weatherwax suggests that the events took place several generations ago. In addition, a number of the Discworld books feature Constable Visit, an Omnian-turned-policeman; if the events of Small Gods had happened in a similar timeframe to the other Discworld books, Constable Visit's presence would have been dubious. However, Small Gods features some philosophers that also feature in the book Pyramids, and Pyramids features the same head-of-the-assassins-guild as Men At Arms, implying that it does indeed feature in the same time frame as some of the other books.
In 2006 the book was adapted as a serial on BBC Radio 4. [link]
Translations
- Малки богове (Bulgarian)
- Malí bohové (Czech)
- Kleingoderij (Dutch)
- Väikesed jumalad (Estonian)
- Pienet jumalat (Finnish)
- Les Petits Dieux (French)
- Einfach göttlich (German)
- Kisistenek (Hungarian)
- Små guder (Norwegian)
- Pomniejsze bóstwa (Polish)
- Маленькие боги (Russian)
- Mali Bogovi (Serbian)
- Dioses menores (Spanish)
- Små gudar (Swedish)
External links
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