Small Gods
The Great God Om arrives on the temple steps in Omnia expecting thunderbolts and worship, and finds himself stuck in the body of a small, short-sighted tortoise because he has, without quite noticing, run out of actual believers. The only person in all of Omnia who still genuinely believes in him is a slightly dim-witted novice named Brutha, who has total recall and almost no guile, and who is now stuck carrying a talking tortoise across the desert while the Omnian Church of Om, under the quiet rule of the terrifying Vorbis and his Quisition, prepares a holy war. Terry Pratchett's 1992 Discworld novel is the series' sharpest standalone on belief, institutional religion, and the gap between God and the people who claim to speak for him.
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Also by Terry Pratchett
What you might want to know about Small Gods
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
The Great God Om has accidentally been reborn as a tortoise. Only one believer, a slow, kind, photographic-memoried novice named Brutha, can hear him, while the church Om built tortures heretics in his name.
Small Gods is the 13th Discworld novel and is widely considered one of the best entry points to the series. It is largely standalone, focused on religion and belief in Discworld through the god Om and the novice Brutha.
Yes, in fan polls. Small Gods is regularly named among the top three Discworld novels alongside Night Watch and Thud!. It works for new readers and is often the favorite among readers focused on Pratchett's philosophical themes.
Small Gods was written by Terry Pratchett, published in 1992 by Transworld Publishers Limited.
Small Gods is 350 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Small Gods takes most readers 5 to 8 hours to finish.
Small Gods is a standalone novel by Terry Pratchett, not part of a series.
Small Gods is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
