Book Review

The Carpetmakers
by Andreas Eschbach

I don't read a lot of sci-fi. But I saw this in Pandemonium a coiuple of months ago and thought it sounded interesting. Then apintrix said it was good. So when I saw it in the library last week, I grabbed it.
The Carpetmakers is fascinating. It's about a world in a backward, marginal portion of an ancient intergalactic empire. The economy and culture of this world are arranged around the manufacture of intricate carpets made of knotted human hair. Each carpet requires an entire lifetime to make. Eschbach does a great job with the world-building and the pacing. The structure of the novel is a bit unusual - it's more or less a series of vignettes that slowly reveal the nature of the world and what's really going on there. The story shifts around a lot, so that there are no central characters or single plot line that the narrative follows. Yet it's all very coherent and moves inexorably toward the ending and its revelation.