The Carpet People was Terry Pratchett’s first novel, written when he was 17. It was printed, it sold, no new print run was planned. End of story.

Well, not quite. Some time passed, and Pratchett wrote Strata. This explored the idea of a planet that was actually a disc – flat. Some more time passed, and Pratchett wrote The Colour of Magic - the first Discworld novel. More time passed, more Discworld books appeared, and Pratchett’s popularity soared. And so it was that people began to say to themselves: ”Wasn’t ‘The Carpet People’ by this same author?” And thus it came about that they asked the publisher of this book. And the publishers would continually tell people that there was no demand for a reprint. But people kept asking, and eventually the publishers felt that it would be easier to just do a reprint than keep telling all these people who were interested that there was no interest.

But then a funny thing happened. Pratchett, by now a famous and successful author, wasn’t too impressed with his first novel. So he decided to extensively edit The Carpet People, refining it using his now famous brand of fantasy humour. Now at the age of his editing The Carpet People, Terry happened to be 43 years of age. And Terry saw what he had done, and was glad.

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Or he should be, anyway. The Carpet People is a fine little book, and a hugely enjoyable read. You might have guessed the basic premise – little people living in a carpet. Well, little is perhaps an understatement – microscopic is probably more accurate, what with a major town (Ware) being about the size of a .

(In case you thought I’d cut off my sentence there, I meant the size of a full stop – that’s a period to you guys in the States who insist on calling things your own names rather than the proper ones :-P)

The story revolves around two brothers, Glurk (strong and seemingly not too bright - a natural leader) and Snibril (more of a thinker). Glurk is chief of a small nomadic tribe called the Munrungs. When it appears that the mythical force Fray is on the move again and their camp gets destroyed, they move off for the city of Ware , and safety – so they think. Tagging along are a philosopher called Pismire (not particularly true to his profession – he actually gives you answers you can understand) and a mysterious man called Bane (who is not all that he at first seems). Their adventures bring them to realise that something’s going on in the carpet – and that Fray may not be their biggest enemy after all…

Although the language and plot development in The Carpet People is rather less complex than in some of his Discworld novels, it’s not really (as I’d first imagined) a children’s book – though older children are certain to enjoy it (at least, as certain as this sort of thing ever can be). It’s written with energy and gusto, and while not complicated, Pratchett’s penchant for describing human idiosyncrasies is as obvious here as in any of his writings. It comes close to being a 5-star book but fails (marginally) because although many parts did make me laugh, it’s really not as funny as classic Pratchett, and doesn’t have quite the same kind of bite as his best satire. The characterisation was also a little shallow by his standards, but taking into account that this was his first attempt at writing a novel (albeit augmented by his later literary expertise), it’s a great achievement.

It actually suffers from being so short – though the ending suggests that it was probably set up for a sequel (or many sequels), you just get the feeling that there is so much more that could have been done with this setting than is done in the book. It is also quite interesting trying to work out if the various creatures in the carpet (they all have names given to them by the carpet people) are fleas / other tiny creatures known to us – or if they’re just completely made up. Certain objects do fall on the carpet people (not directly, one would hope) ”from above” - such as a matchstick, which forms a barricade many miles long to them. Some things are named as we would name them – like the mystical chairleg, where the Wights melt varnish in the great cauldrons. There are some very clever pieces of writing in this book, but overall it still falls slightly short of brilliance – especially the sort of brilliance that Pratchett is capable of.

Without giving too much plot away, here are some highlights from the book:


“Ware’s important,” said Snibril. “We’d just be simple hunters if it wasn’t for the empire.”
The munrungs looked at one another.
“We are simple hunters”, said Plint.
“Yes, but at least we know what we are,” said Snibril. “Anyway, we’ve got more complicated.”
“That’s true,” said Crooly Wulf, who was nearly as old as Pismire. “People don’t hit one another over the head with clubs as much as they did when I was a boy. There’s more arguing.”
“That doesn’t mean we’re better people!” said Plint.
Crooly Wulf rubbed his head. “I dunno,” he said. “People are taller now. They don’t groan so much, either.”

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The Dumii had built their Empire with swords, but they kept it with money. They’d invented money. Before money, people had bought things with cows and pigs, which were not very efficient for the purpose because you had to feed them and keep them safe all the time and sometimes they died. And suddenly the Dumii turned up with this money stuff, which was small and easy to keep and you could hide it in a sock under the mattress, which hardly ever worked with cows and pigs. And it could be cows or pigs. Also, it had little pictures of the Emperors and things on it, which were more interesting to look at. At least, more interesting than cows and pigs.
And, Pismire had once said, that was how the Dumii kept hteir Empire. Because once you started using Dumii money, which was so easy and convenient and didn’t moo all night, you started saving up for things, and selling things in the nearest market town, and settling down, and not hitting neighbouring tribes as often as you used to. And you could buy things in the markets that you’d never seen before – coloured cloth, and different kinds of fruit, and books. Pretty soon, you were doing things the Dumii way, because it made life better. Oh, you went on about how much better life was in the old days, before there was all this money and peacefulness around, and how much more enjoyable things were when people used to get heavily-armed in the evening and go out and make their own entertainment – but no-one was anxious actually to go back there.
“Economic imperialism!” Pismire had once said, picking up a handful of coins. “A marvellous idea. So neat and simple. Once you set it going, it works all by itself. You see, it’s the Emperor who guarantees that the money will buy you things. Every time someone hands over or accepts one of these coins, it’s a little soldier defending the Empire. Amazing!”
No-one understood a word of what he meant, but they could see he thought it was important.

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So to sum up (after a rather longer quote than usual), I can tell you that if you read this book, you will enjoy it. It’s well-written and funny. It’s not brilliantly written or hysterical, but it’s getting there. Be warned though – if this is the first Pratchett book you ever read, you may never stop reading his work…

Thanks for reading / rating / not attacking me with a large kumquat.

CaptainD

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Note – all links will open in a new window, so click on as many as you like! ;-P

Reviews of Discworld Novels:

The Colour of Magic
The Light Fantastic
Sourcery
Mort
Reaper Man
Moving Pictures
Pyramids
Soul Music
Small Gods
The Hogfather
The Last Continent
The Fifth Elephant
Thief of Time
The Truth
Nightwatch
Monstrous Regiment

Reviews of Pratchett’s Books for Children:

The Wee Free Men (a novel set in Discworld but not an actual Discworld novel – if you see what I mean…)
Diggers
Only You Can Save Mankind

Before Discworld, there was…

Strata

Reviews of Discworld-related Computer Games

Discworld: Noir



Recommended: Yes