Jim Rion reviewed Die Haarteppichknüpfer by Andreas Eschbach (Bastei-Lübbe-Taschenbuch -- 24337)
Review of 'Die Haarteppichknüpfer' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
It's interesting to read a book like this in German because I thought they didn't really have a lot of good old fashioned SF there. I was clearly wrong, because this is good, old-fashioned SF.
This is a collection of connected short stories unveiling the history of an intergalactic empire with a rotten piece of madness at its core. We are introduced to the empire via the "hair carpet weavers" of the title-a generational caste of men who spend their entire lives weaving a single, immensely intricate, carpet out of the hair of the women in their families. It sounds silly, but in context it is monstrous, and as the stories add context and background, it becomes almost horrific.
At the same time, there is a lot of heroic rebelling and dimensional bubbles and space-men among the primitives stuff reminiscent of "golden age" SF in the US. And just like …
It's interesting to read a book like this in German because I thought they didn't really have a lot of good old fashioned SF there. I was clearly wrong, because this is good, old-fashioned SF.
This is a collection of connected short stories unveiling the history of an intergalactic empire with a rotten piece of madness at its core. We are introduced to the empire via the "hair carpet weavers" of the title-a generational caste of men who spend their entire lives weaving a single, immensely intricate, carpet out of the hair of the women in their families. It sounds silly, but in context it is monstrous, and as the stories add context and background, it becomes almost horrific.
At the same time, there is a lot of heroic rebelling and dimensional bubbles and space-men among the primitives stuff reminiscent of "golden age" SF in the US. And just like that SF, there is a kernel of contemplation at the heart of this book: contemplation of empire, and colonization, and what it looks like when absolute rulers are truly corrupted.
I liked the book, even if some events leading up to the "reveal" are questionable. It's equal parts grim and fun, which is a rare combo.
