Portrait of the Fantacist as a Young Man: Carpet People

The Carpet People, written and illustrated by Terry Pratchett.  Clarion, 2013, 261 pages.  Age/interest level: 11-up

Sir Terry Pratchett, grand old man of fantasy/science fiction, began his career at the age of seventeen, with this very book (the original version is included in the appendix of this edition).  He revised Carpet People while in his forties (he’s now 65), but last fall’s re-release, with the original illustrations, is its first publication in the US.  Fans of Pratchett’s Discworld series—over forty volumes set in an alternative world composed of a huge revolving disk positioned on the backs of four elephants—will be fascinated to find the seeds of that flatland nestled way down in the warp and woof of Carpet.  In the beginning there was nothing but endless flatness.  Then came the Carpet–a universe of towering fibers, powered by a Force that wove the current tiny inhabitants from dust.  Now there are many races and civilizations who have their own ideas about the gods and dominion, and some press the latter while others are content to be left alone.

The Munrungs, for example, live peacefully as farmers and herdsmen until something like an earthquake rocks their village.  There’s a destructive force afoot, probably inspired by the malevolent spirit Fray and driven by wild four-footed creatures.  Chief Gluck and his brother Snibril, accompanied by the village shaman Pismire and the Dumii warrior Bane, are launched on a quest to discover their attackers and deal with them.  It soon appears that a more highly-developed tribe, the Mouls, have taken advantage of Fray’s disorder to grab power for themselves, and the reader will sense a big battle shaping up. 

If you’re not a Discworld aficionado, Carpetworld take a little getting used to, not least because of the multiplicity of characters and the lack of emotional connection with them.  None appear to be especially well-rounded, but that’s probably the teenage Pratchett trying out his novelist chops.  The middle-age Pratchett adds more of his trademark humor, sly puns, and unexpected comparisons–such as this description of a spoiled young ruler, who probably “had been given too many sweets when he was young and not enough shoutings-at . . . [he was] used to having life with the crusts cut off.”  Some characters wax philosophical: “Nothing has to happen.  History isn’t something you live.  It is something you make.  One decision.  One person.  At the right time.  Nothing is too small to make a difference.  Anything can be changed.”  As a scientific humanist, Pratchett is tolerant of religion in a vaguely patronizing but not offensive way.  This might be a good choice for a young science-fiction writer—Look what a 17-year-old can do after a few hours vacuuming up dust bunnies and threads (actually, I don’t know what gave Pratchett the idea for this story, but it makes me think I could have used my own vaccuming time more productively).      

RETRO READ: In 2007 Pratchett won a Prinz Honor medal for Nation, an alternative-history account of the mid-19^th century destruction of the British Empire.  Refugees from Great Britain are wrecked on an island in south Pacific and gradually begin to build a new nation on enlightened scientific principles.  It’s an interesting exploration of dominion, religion, and science, as long as the reader doesn’t let Pratchett’s scientific humanism get in the way.

For other worlds and alternative histories, see “Is Historical Fiction Dead?” as well as our reviews of The Hungry Cities Quartet, Above World, Origin, and Water Castle.