The Carpet Makers
Ratings8
Average rating4.4
15
Ratings8
Average rating4.4
Since the time of pre-history, carpetmakers tie intricate knots to form carpets for the court of the Emperor. These carpets are made from the hairs of wives and daughters; they are so detailed and fragile that each carpetmaker finishes only one single carpet in his entire lifetime. This art descends from father to son, since the beginning of time itself. But one day the empire of the God Emperor vanishes, and strangers begin to arrive from the stars to follow the trace of the hair carpets. What these strangers discover is beyond all belief, more than anything they could have ever imagined... Brought to the attention of Tor Books by Orson Scott Card, this edition of The Carpet Makers contains a special introduction by Orson Scott Card. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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A desiccated and dusty planet where carpet weavers spend their entire lives hunched over a loom, weaving a carpet made of hair drawn from their wives. It takes a lifetime to produce a single carpet which is sold to line the Emperor's palace. The proceeds are passed to the son who will spend his life weaving his own carpet and so on through the generations.
In a single first chapter this entire system is outlined and explained with a beautifully strict economy of words. It's tightly woven (sorry) and was originally conceived as a standalone short story.
From here Eschbach pulls back the lens and each chapter introduces another character and furthers our understanding of this galaxy spanning system of fealty to the godlike Emperor.
I don't want to say much more. Each narrator is introduced and discarded and it's a credit to Eschbach that he is able to keep introducing new, fleshed out and realized characters without getting bogged down. The book is like a series of grim but wonderfully rendered and interconnected short stories.
I'm still not sure how I feel about the conclusion but getting there was so enjoyably readable.
Series
1 released bookCarpet Makers Universe is a 7-book series first released in 1995 with contributions by Andreas Eschbach, José María Faraldo, and Doryl Jensen.
