SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: Fall 2021] Small Gods
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Small Gods satirizes religion. On the Disc, it is common understanding that gods exist because people believe in them. They come into existence when someone begins to believe and they grow more powerful the more people believe. But some gods have few followers and they are known as the small gods.
One such god is Om. Om once had a huge following, there was even a town named after him, Omnia. But over the years, people started fearing the religious leaders who enforced the “rules of Om” or out of habit.
Om has been depicted in statues as a massive scary creature. But when Om decided to manifest himself this time, he came as a turtle.
There’s a fascinating side bit about how eagles are the only animals that can kill turtles. They bring a turtle very high in the air and drop it on a rock. The eagle plagues Om throughout the book.
The one true believer that Om has in Brutha. He is a Brother in the Omnia religious order. He is very sincere and has a infallible memory, but he has never advanced past this introductory level because he’s not all that smart and he can’t read. However, once Vorbis, head of the Quisition learns about Brutha’s amazing memory, he decides to bring Brutha with him on his campaigns.
This campaign is off to Ephebe. Vorbis believes that anyone who does not practice the rules of Om (ie. everyone outside of Omnia) is a bad and therefor dangerous person. He intends to convince them of their wrong ways. It is actually a preemptive strike, because he is quite aware that the Ephebes will attack them as soon as they get close (past experience is a useful thing).
In an earlier book, Pratchett had a little fun with philosophers, but here he both pokes fun at them but also makes the uncannily useful. Their ability to question things they believe and to believe things with no proof blows Brutha’s mind. (As does the fact that it is not uncommon for a philosopher to run out of his bathtub stark naked to run across town to tell his new ideas).
Ephebe has a labyrinth which is impossible to traverse without the help of the Ephebian guards. But with Brutha’s memory he is able to retrace the safe way through the maze multiple times. This allows him to escape the sight of Vorbis and to bring useful information into and out of the city.
Vorbis is determined to read the scrolls in the Ephebian library (the Ephebian scholars have made some very impressive war machines which Vorbis definitely should not see). So one of the philosophers, Didactylos sets fire to the library. It’s up to Brutha to read all of the scrolls (he can’t read but he can memorize) before they are burnt up.
Since all libraries are connected, The Librarian of Unseen University becomes aware of the fire and travels through L-space to rescue many of the scrolls. L-space is a fun conceit that pops up throughout the books in small doses.
The route back to Omnia is through the desert and it is a tough journey. Mostly because Brutha rescues a catatonic Vorbis and carries him with them.
This book introduces the phrase “The Turtle Moves.” This is a password for rebels against Vorbis and his dictatorial ways. Vorbis believes that the world does not move through space on the back of a turtle.
A great battle ensues over the sanctity of Om and it gives Pratchett an opportunity to talk about how religion is intended to benefit people but usually only benefits the people at the top of the pyramid. And of course, how religion is most primarily used to hurt people. There’s also a visit to Dunmanifestin as we watch the gods mess around with the fates of people on the Disc.
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