The Carpet People - Terry Pratchett

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 ...  Read the complete review

I got into reading Terry Pratchett a couple of years ago, and have been reading his books ever since, you may be aware of his incredibly successful discworld series, well I stared to read all of the series from beginning, having read the latest five first. At the moment there are about 27 ish discworld novels, so I've been alternating between Terry Pratchett novels and other fiction. Now mostly I've been trying to get these novels second hand, having reached a point where I need the next book and wanting something to read, I decided to read one of his other books, which I'd bought second hand some time ago and as you may have guess it was, The ...  Read the complete review

Thank goodness Terry Pratchett saw fit to dig this one out, dust it off, and let us have a look. It is a book he wrote as a seventeen year old, and decided to rewrite now that he is a multi-kajillion best-selling genius. And while this sound like someone trying to make money with minimum effort, because he knows we will read anything with his name on it, this book is, in fact a brilliant story in its own right. Even the Author's note, in which he explains how he came to be revisiting the book, had me laughing, and I didn't stop until the end. The story deals with a people called the Munrungs, who, as the rather clever title suggests, live in a carpet; ...  Read the complete review

“The Carpet People” by Terry Pratchett is a book with a strange history. First published when Pratchett was only seventeen in 1971 to moderate success it sold out and there was no intention to republish. Following the success of the Discworld Series the version in my possession is an edited version in that Pratchett has re-written it to reflect the change and hopefully, the improvement in his writing. As such this novel was written by a seventeen-year-old and then re-written by the same person only twenty-five years older and republished in 1992. Such a strange book is certainly deserving of such a history. “The Carpet People” is the story of a group of ...  Read the complete review

I've read the original by Pratchett aged 17 and the new one that hs been 'improved' by Pratchett aged 40 something and have to say that I found the original the best. Thsi is simply a brillaint book. Suitable for children it is also imminently suited for adults as all the best children's books are. Telling the story of Snibril Orkson, a member of a tribe of people who live in the outer edges of an empire in a carpet. Pratchett keeps things close enough to a real carpet with hairs, wood walls, the rug men, varnish holme ( a varnished skirting board I imagine) and other details to make things very recognisable and ignores reality when it gets in the ...  Read the complete review