Small Gods: (Discworld Novel 13) (Discworld Novels)

Product Information

Small Gods is the thirteenth of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, published in 1992. [1] It tells the origin of the god Om, and his relations with his prophet, the reformer Brutha. In the process, it satirises philosophy, religious institutions, people, and practices, and the role of religion in political life. Character Development: Over the course of the book, Brutha develops from a clueless novice into a wise leader, and Om from a selfish, uncaring and cruel god to a god who appreciates human life. Om even lampshades it, when it occurs to him that he never even thought about words like 'unfair' before he became a tortoise.

Vow of Celibacy: Evidently applicable, although never stated outright, for the clergy of Om. This caused Brother Nhumrod great difficulty. Church Militant: Vorbis. Ultimately he cares more about his personal power and the power of the church than the god it was supposed to be dedicated to. Part of what makes him frightening is how completely unaware he is of this; he believes he's following the commands of his god all the way to end, until he passes to the desert and finally learns that he's only been hearing himself. And now that's all the company he'll ever have... The gods, much like the Greek goddesses of history, have very exaggerated personalities and they are plagued with personal flaws and negative emotions despite they immortality and superhero-like powers. Beneath the temple, Urn and sergeant Fergmen made their way through the tunnels of the citadel using the kind of nonchalant walk which would draw detailed and arrow-sharp attention to them in seconds. Fortunately, the guards were all above ground at the ceremony." In such instances, you need an acolyte, and fast. Enter Brutha, the Chosen One - or at least the only One available. He wants peace, justice and love - but that's hard to achieve in a world where religion means power, and corruption reigns supreme...

Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Om at the beginning, angered by people ignoring him, says many creative curses, such as "Your intestines to be wound around a tree until you are sorry!" or "Your sexual organs to sprout wings and fly away!" Doomed Moral Victor: When Brutha is about to be executed, Simony argues that they can't save him, and if they do nothing, his death will become a "symbol for people". Urn is disgusted by this, telling him that now he thinks like Vorbis. He even muses that the most horrible thing about Vorbis is that he makes other people like himself. One of the twelve Titan Gods, Crios was known as the god of the heavenly constellations and the measure of the year. He was father to Astraeus, Pallas, and Perses.

Motive Decay: The battle at the end; Brutha goes up to the generals and explains that there's no reason to fight. They look at him like he's an idiot and say that when two sides hate each other enough, sometimes there just has to be war. Any justification will do, even no justification at all. Om had met a small god who had memories of prior greatness, but couldn't even remember its own name now that the worshippers were all gone. The temple may well have been to that same god. The God of a Howondalandish tribe which wiped out the nearby N'tuitif tribe at his signal (an unusually large flare from the Moon). Shortly after, this tribe was also wiped out by another tribe who worshipped the goddess Glipzo. Mentioned in The Last Hero. Guardian god of the ancient city Lamark, where wounded heroes could find comfort and heal after battle. He was the son of Aphrodite.You Can't Fight Fate - Subverted: Lu-Tze changes events, and the Discworld's usual Rubber-Band History does not come into play because the History Monks can just edit the books which contain the whole history of the world so it fits his changes. The abandoned temple that Om and Brutha find in the desert has a bas-relief that has mostly deteriorated, except for a few "strange designs that mainly consisted of tentacles." A few Ephebian philosophers mention that it's not a good idea to start pondering whether the gods exist or not, because the poor bugger who does gets hit with one that has a note tied to it saying "yes, we do".

Lean and Mean: Vorbis is tall, lean and ascetic, in contrast to the good-hearted and fleshy Brutha.

Synopsis

Brother Nhumrod, Master of the Novices. When Brutha comes to him asking about hearing the voice of Om, he lectures Brutha about demonic voices, on which he is an expert, hearing them constantly himself. Afterlife Angst: At the end of the book, Vorbis is revealed to have spent nearly a hundred years in "the desert", a place where some souls are seen to go for Judgement (according to Death) because he was afraid to go on. God of agriculture, leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans and father of the Titans. Not to be confused with Cronos, god of time. A fisherman who became immortal upon eating a magical herb, an Argonaut who may have built and piloted the Argo, and became a god of the sea. Several characters throughout the book, when they're killed and find themselves in the spectral desert of the afterlife which they must journey through, ask Death "what awaits at the end of the desert?", to which Death replies Judgement. At the end, there's a twist when Brutha does the same, considers for a moment, then asks: "Which end?"

When Om does regain a lot of die-hard believers, he's able to beat up Dunmanifestin's chief god Io because nobody believes in thunder gods all that strongly anymore. Om: A god lived here. A powerful God. Thousands worshipped it. I can feel it. You know? It comes out of the walls. A Great God. Mighty were his dominions and magnificent was his word. [...] And now no one, not you, not me, no one, even knows who the god was or his name or what he looked like. The Horseshoe Effect: The novel features an atheist character of such burning passion that their atheism works just like belief in the gods. It's Lampshaded as a Continuity Nod cameo by the narration noting that the scene doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the story - it's just nice to know it happened.A stage version of Small Gods was adapted in 2010 and performed between 17 and 19 February 2011 at The Assembly Rooms Theatre, Durham by OOOOK! Productions and members of Durham Student Theatre. All profits were donated to The Orangutan Foundation. The adaptation was written by Ben Saunders, a graduate of the University of Durham department of Archaeology. Deadly Distant Finale: A hundred years after the events of the main plot, Brutha, having become head of the Omnian Church and thoroughly reformed it, dies on the anniversary day of his crossing of the desert. Deus ex Machina: Played with. A god really does descend from the sky to save the day. Just not in the way you're picturing. Clueless Boss: The Cenobiarch, the High Priest of the Omnian Church, is this. He's just a senile old man who nods at anything said during meetings with the high-ranking church members, who tries to bless anyone nearby. Does This Remind You of Anything?: Urn and Didactylos' discussion re: armored turtles. Compare to discussions of doomsday weapons. Urn figures that if someone else builds armored turtles, he'll just build bigger ones.