Small Gods

Discworld, Book 13

By: Terry Pratchett

Narrated by: Andy Serkis, Bill Nighy, Peter Serafinowicz

Brought to you by Penguin.

Over 1 million Discworld audiobooks sold – discover the extraordinary universe of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld like never before

The audiobook of Small Gods is narrated by the BAFTA award-winning actor and director Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings; Planet of the Apes). BAFTA and Golden Globe award-winning actor Bill Nighy (Love Actually; Pirates of the Caribbean; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) reads the footnotes, and Peter Serafinowicz (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace; Shaun of the Dead) stars as the voice of Death. Featuring a new theme tune composed by James Hannigan.

'You should do things because they're right. Not because gods say so. They might say something different another time.'

Religion is a competitive business in the Discworld. Everyone has their own opinion and their own gods, of every shape and size - all fighting for faith, followers, and a place at the top.

So when the great god Om accidentally manifests himself as a lowly tortoise, stripped of all divine power, it's clear he's become less important than he realised.

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...

'An intriguing satire on institutionalized religion corrupted by power . . .' Independent

'Deftly weaves themes of forgiveness, belief and spiritual regeneration' The Times

You can listen to the Discworld novels in any order, but Small Gods is a standalone.

The first book in the Discworld series - The Colour of Magic - was published in 1983. Some elements of the Discworld universe may reflect this.

©1992 Terry and Lyn Pratchet (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

'Deftly weaves themes of forgiveness, belief and spiritual regeneration....While other writers gnaw at violence, sexuality and rootless despair'

'An intriguing satire on institutionalized religion corrupted by power, crackling with one-liners while obliquely suggesting that maybe gods are only as powerful as the beliefs of their followers'

'Spectacular inventiveness make the Discworld series one of the perennial joys of modern fiction'

Stunning performance, difficult subject matter

This was an outstanding performance by some of my favorite artists, however the book wasn’t my favorite of Sir Terry’s. It’s incredibly intelligent, poignant, and highly relevant, but perhaps not what *I* needed in terms of a Terry Pratchett fix. This shouldn’t deter anyone, it’s just a heads up that this novel deals with some serious examples of religious persecution, torture, and warfare that are extra serious to me as a historian because many more atrocities of this nature actually have taken place in the past and, in some places, are taking place today.

That being said, Pratchett wrote beautifully on the subject and brilliantly used his skills to shed light on the nature of religious extremism and persecution. Definitely relevant, definitely intelligent, just darker and more “real” than I perhaps wanted.

Great talent

I was amazed at the talent of Andy Serkis, he completely dissolved into every character with a unique voice for each

Decent fantasy novel but not enough to want to read the rest of Discword

The story allows for some decent laughs about the absurdity of religion. Reminded me of some Neil Gaiman, maybe Neverwhere (which I didn't like as much rereading as an adult as I did a teenager) crossed with American Gods.

I realize that this book is pretty much in the middle of the epic but I felt like it wasn't cohesive enough for me to want to go to the beginning in the Disc World series, but most of that is because of how epic the epic is -- ain't got time for that.

Narration was great.

perfection

The genius of Pratchett paired with an incredible performance by Andy Serkis. Loved every second.

Wonderful telling of one of Pratchett's best

I've loved this book since it came out. It's one of the best Discworld novels. I was very happy to know that it was finally going to get the performance it deserved. The reader absolutely did it justice, with solid voices for all characters. Maybe not always the voice I thought (especially Didactylus) but it absolutely worked. Loved it.