Small Gods
Small Gods by Terry Pratchettby Terry Pratchett
Shares rank 13 of 36 fantasy novels by recommenders
People recommend it as a standalone fantasy novel that needs no other books and avoids typical elves and dwarves. Critics raised no caveats.
4 people recommended Small Gods by Terry Pratchett in Hacker News comments and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
2 of the 4 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “The Title Cards in Blade Runner Are Fucking Amazing”.
Summary written by Claude from 4 comments.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- mixed feelings
- 0
- warn against or regret it
- 0
The record
Recommended in 3 of 12 months
In 3 different threads.
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
- Recommended in 3 threadsNeeds 5 or more, not met.
- The biggest thread supplies 50% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 4 of the 4 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Standalone, no other books needed
“It is a standalone book that references but does not rely on any others”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Sam Vimes 'Boots' Theory of Socio-Economic Unfairness” “Small Gods is frequently recommended as a standalone”
Comment from 6 Aug 2026 in “The Title Cards in Blade Runner Are Fucking Amazing” Avoids typical elves and dwarves
“excellent choice, and not a whiff of Elves or Dwarves there”
Comment from 6 Aug 2026 in “The Title Cards in Blade Runner Are Fucking Amazing” Good random book recommendation
“If you needed a random book recommendation, this is it.”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “Unexpected things that are people”
Other fantasy novels people recommend
The four most recommended other fantasy novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Lord of the Ringsby J.R.R. Tolkien | 52 | 13 | 10 | 84% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Dungeon Crawler Carlby Matt Dinniman | 43 | 4 | 6 | 88% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Hobbitby J.R.R. Tolkien | 34 | 6 | 9 | 79% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationalityby Eliezer Yudkowsky | 15 | 4 | 17 | 47% | 7 | — | — |
| Small Godsby Terry PratchettThis page | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
Also compared with Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.
What people said
All 4 opinions about it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“excellent choice, and not a whiff of Elves or Dwarves there”
“Small Gods is frequently recommended as a standalone”
“It is a standalone book that references but does not rely on any others”
“If you needed a random book recommendation, this is it.”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.