The Carpet Makers

Anreas Eschback

1995

May, 2026

7.5/10

The first story worried me that this would be an anthology of disjointed stories within some arbitrary world. However, each story built off the previous with excellent execution. Together, each story advanced a more general plotline and painted a bigger and more complete picture of the world. Additionally, the writing itself was great with many deeper feelings expressed through such fleeting moments with the characters.

Using the fourth story, as an example:

Borlon looked at her as she stood there in the doorway, and suddenly he could see the young girl in her again, and he remembered another late afternoon many years ago when she had stood in this doorway, exactly like this. The memory sent a sharp pain through his heart. She had always been a good companion to him, and he hated himself for all the times he had done wrong by her or treated her badly.

He wanted to say something, he wanted to say how sorry he was and that he was ashamed, he wanted to talk about the pain tearing at his heart, but he couldn’t find the words. "I’m sorry," he said, and he left.

There were so many things he had always wanted to tell her and so many things he wanted to tell her now that he didn’t know where he should begin. Above all, he needed to make her understand that he loved her, that she had an unassailable place in his heart, and that it pained him that she didn’t want to fill that place. And … that none of these things had anything to do with Narana.…

This story captured the feeling of wanting to say something but not being able to despite knowing that it should be said — an example of the depth expressed in the book.

However, some stories are not very compelling, such as the flute and the competition. They felt either forced or very far removed. My one complaint with the book, therefore, is that it is so beautifully expansive and reveals the world at a slow, enchanting rate, but running into a story that felt “off” threw me completely out of the trance of the book.

The end of the book also disappointed me. All throughout were hints of uncomfortable sexualization, but the ending was simply overt and unnecessary. It was a plot device for the grand reveal, but that could have been done in other ways.

Apart from this, the book builds and builds this question: What is the meaning of this? What is going on? I think The Carpet Makers does a great job of providing just enough mystery with just enough clues to keep the story captivating.

The ending even made perfect sense. Given the buildup and all we learn along the way about the world and its inhabitants, the ending fits rather perfectly. The noted flaws in the book are a shame, because it could have otherwise been a must-read.