altheaann

The comment below says "very generous!" regarding my three stars.

OK, I have to admit that's true. Honestly, this is more like a 2.5 - and that mostly because certain things about this book really appealed to me. I'm sure that many kids have, in play, fantasized that their living room carpet was actually a forest, full of who-knows-what adventures and goings-on. Certainly I did, and this book brought me back to that memory in a way that I probably would have forgotten forever if not for reading this.

I also enjoyed its similarity in feel to 'The Hobbit.'

However, this does in many ways feel like a first effort. It was initially written when Pratchett was a teenager, and while it's a good idea, both the plot and the execution leave something to be desired. Certainly there are some funny scenes - I really did love the philosopher/shaman Pismire - and some strikingly imaginative bits. But overall, it doesn't cohere as well as it might've.

The 'author's note' lets us know that Pratchett edited it before re-release. I rather wish he hadn't - I would've been more interested to see the book in its original form, as a historical record of Pratchett's early writing - because edited or no, it's not as good as his later work.

I received this book through Goodreads' First Reads giveaway. THANK YOU!