Recently, however, rumors whisper that the Emperor is dead and the empire is no more. So it has been for tens of thousands of years. Traders take the carpets to the spaceport, where they are loaded aboard Imperial ships and conveyed to the Emperor’s palace. Since a carpet-maker can have only one heir, he is obliged to kill any surplus male children. Carpet-makers take several wives, each chosen for the beauty and color of her hair. He then sells the carpet, earning enough money for his son to live on while he completes his own carpet. So intricate is the work that a carpet-maker can complete only one carpet during his lifetime. The planet’s entire economy is organized around skilled artisans who knot carpets made from their wives’ hair. On Planet G-101/2 in the Gheera galaxy, reverence for and fear of the immortal Emperor Alexander is drilled into all citizens as children.
"Andreas Eschbach is incontestably the shooting star of the German SF scene.Eschbach, now one of Germany’s leading SF lights, debuts in English with a novel that unfolds as a series of interlocking stories in which certain characters recur. "Eschbach: take it and read it." - Frank Schirrmacher, FAZ on The Carpet Makers
"Andreas Eschbach is a phenomenon." - Lesen & Leute on The Carpet Makers "Andreas Eschbach is one of the most acclaimed sf writers to emerge in Germany in the past decade." - The Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy on The Carpet Makers "With his first work Eschbach shows that the German SF is not dead." - Olive Faulhaber on The Carpet Makers Eschbach is likely to become an international phenomenon." - Booklist Despite being broken into short episodes, the novel is one fluidly integrated story. "Enthusiastically introduced by no less than Orson Scott Card, this far-future novel does credit to everyone concerned, starting with its German author. "A considerable achievement, and one that suggests the presence of a world-class SF voice that we ought to know about." - Locus "Eschbach's first novel will blow you away.
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