Small Gods: A Discworld Graphic Novel

Discworld Graphic Novels #4

by Ray Friesen (Adapter/Illustrator), Terry Pratchett

'Just because you can't explain it, doesn't mean it's a miracle.'

In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was: 'Hey, you!' This is the Discworld, after all, and religion is a controversial business. Everyone has their own opinion, and indeed their own gods, of every shape and size, and all elbowing for space at the top. In such a competitive environment, shape and size can be pretty crucial to make one's presence felt. So it's certainly not helpful to be reduced to appearing in the form of a tortoise, a manifestation far below god-like status in anyone's book.

In such instances, you need an acolyte, and fast: for the Great God Om, Brutha the novice is the Chosen One – or at least the only One available. He wants peace and justice and brotherly love. He also wants the Inquisition to stop torturing him now, please...

Now adapted into graphic novel form with new artwork by Ray Friesen.

Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Humor, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

128 pages, Hardcover

First published July 28, 2016

About the author

I was born not to long ago, and have spent the intervening time drawing cartoons. I think I'm getting pretty good at them! I am fond of flamboyant hats and chocolate"

Reviews

[Sublimacia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Určite poznáte tú radosť keď si kúpite nejakého Pratchetta. Pokiaľ nie, tak šup to napraviť!!!
Malých bohov som čítal niekoľkokrát. Vždy to bola jedna z mojich obľúbených Pratchettoviek. Nájsť ju ako komiksový počin bolo ako nájsť poklad (tým nemyslím nájsť poklad na opustenom ostrove keď človek stroskotá a posledné čo potrebuje je zlato a diamanty). Jasné, nieje tam všetko to čo v knihe, ale sú tam veci krásne pokreslené a pridávajú isté nové čaro už tak dokonalému príbehu.

Pokiaľ máte radi Pratchetta, a pokiaľ máte radi komiksy, tak nieje nad čím váhať, ja som si to neuveriteľne užil.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the artwork for this adaption to comic, this felt more like the colourful, happy artwork suitable for a Pratchett book. There's some Easter eggs throughout the pages referencing other Pratchett things.
Some of the characteristic comedy of Small Gods was present. I think a comic just can't encompass Pratchett's full ideas as the media isn't set up for it. This is a much better adaption than the previous comics.

[Jaya]

♥♥♥ I want this. Right. Now ♥♥♥

[Νατάσα Παυλίτσεβιτς · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful work, funny and touching.

[Reckless Serenade · Rating 4 out of 5]

¡Al fin!

Me demoré tanto porque lo he leído en inglés y de momento no leo muy fluido así, por lo que me he tomado mi tiempo buscando algunas palabras. Sé que si no hubiese conocido la historia de antemano probablemente no me hubiese gustado, es más seguramente me hubiese frustrado al no entender todo perfectamente.

Como adaptación me parece excelente, prácticamente no han cambiado nada, simplemente han omitido algunas partes. Como historia me ha gustado bastante, porque bueno Dioses menores es uno de mis libros (me atrevería a decir que mi favorito) de la saga Mundodisco. Por lo que tendría que haber estado muy mal hecho para que este cómic me disgustase.

[Kseniia Nosulenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Я читала (чи слухала) «Маленьких богів» років 10 тому і напротивагу захвату друзів мені не дуже відгукнулося (чи я не дуже занурилася?)
Ця ж графічна адаптація принесла мені 2 години задоволення. Дякую, сер Террі, за цей світ і ваш гумор.

[Beth Revers · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first discworld books I read. Hysterical irreverent and thought provoking. Perhaps I need to revisit it. Highly recommended.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes. Funny, philosophical, irreverent. Enjoyable artwork.

[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

B.R.A.CE. 2021 Είναι η ιδέα, είναι το πως πραγματοποιήθηκε, είναι ο συγραφέας και πως χειρίστηκε με τόσο ενδιαφέρον τρόπο ένα θέμα όπως η θρησκεία, είναι το σχέδιο που είναι του γούστου μου. Όλα μαζί 5!

[Cristian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do yourself a favour and read the book. If anything, this underlines the power of Terry's writing and what a difficult endeavor it is to have to cut it down to what fits inside of a few speech bubbles in comic form.

At points the story almost made no sense, text jumping from idea to idea like they were running out of pages, half the jokes fell flat as the whole of the context around them was almost non-existent or diluted. It was difficult to go through it after reading the book (which I rated 5/5 mind you!).

The artwork is pretty cool and I liked the style, but unfortunately the text is written like they had a word limit.

Read Small Gods the novel, it is brilliant.

[Aiyana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost prefer it to the original. The artwork is so evocative. And I don't think I'll ever get over just how hilarious an angry tortoise can look!

[Lucian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore the art style for this adaptation and would love to see more from Friesen. Small Gods is one of the best Discworld books in the series but it has a lot going on. Adaptation of a novel to a graphic novel will never be perfect but in the case of this one it simply wasn’t long enough. Some important plot points are skimmed over and if you haven’t read the novel itself before then you might find yourself confused. Small Gods is an interesting examination of religion on the Disc, which mirrors all worlds, and gives the idea of belief creating gods. Still a lot of fun and I will definitely read it again and spend more time looking at the beautiful illustrations.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was beautiful, and a real privilege to read. Friesen did a great job of adapting the Discworld novel into a graphic novel even without Sir Pratchett’s influence, although they were at least friends beforehand and so I’m sure that helped.

I’m actually going to recommend this one to my girlfriend as a good place to get into reading Terry Pratchett. Sure, it’s not the chronological first in the series, but it’s great if you’re into graphic novels and I thought it would work well enough as a standalone. Plus there were a couple of Latin jokes in there, too.

[Tam · Rating 5 out of 5]

When life feels wrong you always bring me peace. Thank you, Terry.

[Essi · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite Pratchett books. The art took a while to get used to but I think it fit well in the end.

[Jennifer Gibb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny. Also includes very good art and very good lines.

[Raquel Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Não é dos meus preferidos do autor e não sou grande fã deste género. Mas os bonecos são giros e o livro é apelativo.

[Shima · Rating 4 out of 5]

For all the atheists with a great sense of humour and a childhood obsession with ancient Greece.

[Shagun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the artwork. It is humorous and invokes a food for thought now and then.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

*2.5 stars

[Olwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE ADORE very fabulous we love some philosophy thanks Terry thanks om

[Stefan Grieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, thoughtful and deep (and often dark) I found Small Gods to be a triumphant adaptation of a Discworld story.

Although the story can be quite dark and strikes at humanity's quest to relate to or seek out gods, the artwork isn't. It's cartoony and bright and colourful, which may not be the best way to depict this story, but it looks good and maybe made it funnier, lighter and possibly more accessible.

As usual Terry's wisdom, wit, sharp humour and deep knowledge seeps through the pages, and is relevant today, hundreds of years and even the future, as great satire should be.

It ends simply, and beautifully.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gods need people more than people need gods. When gods aren't believed in they cease to exist. People should believe in themselves as they actually exist, there's proof right there where they are. A nice adaptation with cute artwork. I'd recommend the source material first, but if this provides an entrance point for anyone to the comedic genius and actual genius genius of Terry Pratchett then have at it and enjoy.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Small Gods is one of my all-time fave books. This graphic novel adaptation is a lot of fun, but I would recommend only reading it if you have read the full book already, or you will miss out on a lot!

[Mike Portsmouth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the art work in this graphic novel, it is quirky and reminiscent of Sergio Aragones and other cartoonists from the late 70s and early 80s. The colours are vibrant, and this interpretation flows well, obviously it is shorter than the text novel, but I feel that they have done a good job.

[Marinda Koleva · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is terrible! How could the publishers of the Discworld even allow this?! How is it allowable to add text? To change the story? To change the characteristics of the main characters?! This is sacrilege. I understand that a graphic book must be abridged, but to change the text is unacceptable.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Discworld novels have been adapted into TV movies, animated movies, audio plays, and graphic novels. Many of those adaptations work pretty well because the stories are so good to begin with. This one works, too, but by necessity leaves out some of the text. That means that many of the very quotable quotes from the novel don't make it into this version. That is a real shame.

The story is still a good one, and in comics format it can be read more quickly than the original novel. It could be a good introduction to discworld for those who are intimidated by a shelf of 41 novels. You do not need any familiarity with the other novels to fully understand this one. In fact, that is true of all of the novels. But this one is even more independent than most since none of the characters or locations in this one appear in any of the others. (Except for DEATH, but everyone knows who DEATH is.)

That independence is a liability, too, though, since one of the great things about the novels is the colorful characters that you enjoy seeing over and over. None of the characters in this one really needs to be seen again. (OK, maybe one of the philosopher characters could be fun to see again.)

Most discworld novels are satirizing something. This time it is organized religion, especially authoritarian, state-sponsored organized religion, partly, but not only, the Catholic church. Since authoritarian religions deserve to be satirized, this works. But it is almost too easy of a topic for satire, so there isn't much new insight. I appreciated the nice bits of smaller jibes at philosophy, science, and democracy in here, too.

[Panda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to either read the books or listen to the audio version of most discworld novels.

This was the first graphic novel I found for Terry Pratchett in the local bookshop so naturally I grabbed it and read it over a cup of coffee (ok so a pot of coffee, IT'S A LEGAL AND SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE ADDICTION DAMNIT!)

The artwork is beautiful and has a nostalgic touch to it. For some reason it reminded me of the Horrible Histories books, the styles are different but something about them is similar.

Now for the story itself I'd recommend reading the actual book or listening to the fantastic Audio over the graphic novel.

Terry Pratchett's jokes tend to range from unexpected to so subtle that you might not get it in the first reading. The subtle one didn't translate well in this edition. Infact I wouldn't have caught it if I hadn't re-read this particular book multiple times already. Alot of the little things were cut out altogether which is a shame since they were the parts that made me smile and made the story so enjoyable.

A fun novelty item to own none the less. Fun, philosophical and entertaining from beginning to end. Sadly it's just a taste of what the book has to offer you.

[Tiina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terry Pratchetti "Väikesed jumalad" oli raamat, mille ma lugesin läbi mitu aastat tagasi ja mis oli üks neist kettamaailma raamatutest, mis minu jaoks veidi segaseks jäid. Niisiis polnud küsimustki, mida selle punkti alla lugeda, kui avastasin, et selle raamatu põhjal on tehtud ka graafiline romaan.

Kettamaailmas jumalatest puudust ei ole. Efeebes on neid omajagu, kuid Omnias on ainult Suur Om. Om valib oma uueks prohvetiks välja noviits Brutha, kellele ta ilmutab ennast väikese kilpkonna kujul. Sest jumalatel on vaja, et neisse usutakse, kuid juhtumisi on inimeste usk Omi vähenenud üsna märkimisväärsel määral. Omi ilmumine lükkab käima sündmustejada, milles on omajagu seiklusi ja maailma avastamist.

Väga vahva oli seda raamatut lugeda koomiksina. Minu jaoks aitas see visuaalne tugi osadest raamatus olnud kohtadest paremini aru saada ja mul on selle üle nii kohutavalt hea meel! Nüüd hindan selle raamatu algteksti ikka palju rohkem. Siin oli kohti, kus teksti oli natuke palju, kuid ka selliseid kohti, kus teksti oli just parasjagu - kus pildid olid justkui illustratsiooniks tsitaadile. Väga mõnus oli.

[Eliatan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this for my teenage son as a religious primer (hint, we are an atheist family) and also as intro to Terry Pratchett, who I knew he'd love (he's a big Douglas Adams fan), if only he would pick up one of his novels off our well stocked shelf. Success! Boyo loved the graphic novel, which I promptly devoured after him, and is now stuck in to The Colour of Magic.

Terry Pratchett should be required reading for all teenagers, particularly those who have well meaning school religion inflicted upon them. Small gods in need of human believers, indeed.