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The Carpet People

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This book had two authors, and they were both the same person

The Carpet People is the story of Snibril, the Dumii empire, the terrible mouls, the Munrung tribe, and above all - the fearful, unstoppable Fray. It is the tale of the mystical Wights, mining varnish from Achairleg; Pismire the philospher; the mysterious soldier Bane; adventure, heroism, money and politics. It is the story of the Carpet. Where the resources come from a fallen sugar cube, a matchstick, and a penny, and the greatest city is the size of a .

The Carpet People is the earliest published novel by Terry Pratchett. It is actually best read before The Bromeliad Trilogy, as it introuces the concepts (especially the Nomes) that he later develops and writes much better. In Strata he wrote science fiction and introduced the idea of a flat world - the Discworld, or one of its relatives. And then came The Colour of Magic and the Discworld series. But The Carpet People came first. He originally wrote it in 1971, at the age of seventeen. Years later he rewrote the book and republished it. The revised edition was published in 1992 by Doubleday; and republished by Corgi in 1993.

Contents at a Glance

The Carpet People
Terry Pratchett and the Discworld Series
Rate it, if you dare...
An Excerpt
Top Ten Quotes from The Carpet People
Terry Pratchett's Artwork: The 1971 Edit...

'The Lord of the Rings on a Rug'

The Carpet People was published in 1971, It had a lot of things wrong with it, mostly to do with being written by someone who was seventeen at the time.
And it sold a bit, and eventually it sold out. And that was it.
And then about seven years ago the Discworld books began to sell, and people would buy them and say, "Here, what's this book The Carpet People by The Same Author?' and the publishers got so fed up with telling people that there was no demand for it that they decided it was time for a new edition.
Which was read by Terry Pratchett, aged forty-three, who said: hang on. I wrote that in the days when I thought fantasy was all battles and kings. Now I'm inclined to think that the real concerns of fantasy ought to be about not having battles, and doing without kings. I'll just rewrite it here and there...
Well, you know how it is when you tweak a thread that's hanging loose...
So this is it. It's not exactly the book I wrote then. It's not exactly the book I'd write now. It's a joint effort but, heh heh, I don't have to give him half the royalties. He'd only waste them.
You asked for it. Here it is. Thanks.
Incidentally, the size of the city or Ware is approximately ->.

Terry Pratchett
15 September 1991

Carpet People

by: Terry Pratchett

Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 05/30/2012)
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The Carpet People is worth reading if you

1. Have never read his books and want a light comic fantasy to read, or give to someone.
2. Are between the ages of 7 and 108
3. Are a fan of Terry Pratchett
4. Want to try Terry Pratchett but are scared of the sprawling monster that is the Discworld series

While the ending comes too soon, and it appears set up for sequels, The Carpet People is a fun and interesting read and displays Pratchett's typical comic and insightful turn into humanity. It's not as good as many of his later books (for many obvious reasons) but as has been said by many and often: the worst of Pratchett is far, far better than the best of most others.

Terry Pratchett and the Discworld Series

More about the Author and his books

Whether you're a fan of Terry Pratchett's writing, or if you've never heard of him, you may be wondering who he is or what other books he wrote.

These two lenses have compiled all the relevant information on his books and himself, link to other lenses, and give overviews of the series - including recommendations of where to start reading.

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An Excerpt

Read part of The Carpet People below

"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 their 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."

Top Ten Quotes from The Carpet People

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On the fifth day the Governor of the town called all the tribal chieftains to an audience in the market square, to hear their grievances. He didn't always do anything about them, but at least they got *heard*, and he nodded a lot, and everyone felt better about it at least until they got home. This is politics.
-- Carpet politics are very similar to Discworld politics

SquidLit

The Carpet People

This book had two authors, and they were both the same person

Contents at a Glance

Contents at a Glance