The Carpet People

The Carpet People is a comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett. First published in 1971 and written when Pratchett was 17 years old, it was later re-written by the author when his work became more widespread and well-known. In the Author's Note of the revised edition, published in 1992, Pratchett wrote: "This book had two authors, and they were both the same person."

The Carpet People contains a similar mix of humour and serious topics like war, death and religion, which later became a major part of the Discworld series. Before creating the Discworld, Pratchett wrote about two different flat worlds, first in this novel, and then in the novel Strata.

Characters

 * Glurk, chief of the Munrungs
 * Snibril, Glurk's younger brother
 * Pismire, the wise man of the Munrung tribe
 * Bane, a Dumii general
 * Brocando, King of the Deftmenes
 * Fray, a natural phenomenon wreaking havoc on the Carpet
 * Mouls, a power-hungry species
 * Wights, who remember the future
 * Camus Cadmes

Themes
The book explores the conflict between traditions and innovation. There is an established civilization, complete with bureaucrats, taxes imposed and collected, and permits; there are people who resent the establishment; there is a need for both groups to find common ground in order to save their collective civilization.