Book Review: The Worm Ouroboros by E R Eddison

Juss, Spitfire, Goldry and Brandoch are the four lords under King Gaslark; when King Gorice XI of Witchland is defeated trying to gain power of Demonland by defeating Goldry, his successor imprisons Goldry using magic on the peak of Mount Zora Rach. A war start and horrible war begins between Witchland and Demonland as the trio of remaining lords attempt to reach and free Goldry.

This starts the battle to climb the mountain and set the lands free….

I note that this is a pretty sparse synopsis as it is really difficult to write more about the plot without giving too much away.

Many have heard of Lord of the Rings, but only a few hardened Fantasy fans or literature fans will have heard of Eddison’s The Worm Ouroboros.  This book is a true heroic fantasy masterpiece that was published in 1922.

Written in Shakespearean style English, it is a challenge to read, but if you perceiver you will find one of the most detailed and best fantasies of all time that challenges Lord of the Rings for the title of best fantasy ever written.  It is flawed and one must ignore these flaws, especially the descriptions and introduction if you are to get anywhere with this book;  also you have to ignore the inconsistencies such as the fact that the action takes place on Mercury, despite the fact that Mercury does not have the same atmosphere to sustain human forms of life. You also have to throw out everything you know about folklore as the races in this book do not compare to what you will already know and understand.

 There are other glaring problems, but you simply must put them aside! Oh and then there’s the way it is written – it is written in Olde English and this does make it harder to read!

OK enough said on the flaws – firstly, Eddison has the ability to tell a story; he does this in such a great way that despite the flaws you are sucked in and cannot wait to find out what happens. This is a heroic fantasy and as such does have the feel of a Norse Epic; the characters have that Nordic quality that sets them apart and makes them heroes. The setting and feel of the story could be taken directly from Norse Legend. This actually makes the book a lot more convincing; if it had been based on a ‘new’ mythology, then it would have lost a lot of its power.

When you look at the actual story, it really is grand – with huge battles, quests, heroism, villainy and other inspirational ‘D&D’ type stuff – although to link it to D&D really does not do it justice.

Once you get into the writing style you really will be amazed by the prose; some of the descriptions are simply stunning, equivalent to Tolkien at his very best. You really can envision the scenes and settings he is describing and this really brings the novel to life.

The same skill describes the battles and quests and it is this stunning prose that really enhances the story telling, making it a true classic.

This is one of those books that you have to take your time with and forgive the flaws. It is not an easy read, but with the richness of prose and the sheer heroic quality of it, it really is worth finishing. You can certainly see how fantasy as whole has been influenced by this early work, and I am sure that Tolkien would be overjoyed to know that his work is often compared to the Worm Ouroboros.

If you have to read one or two fantasy novels, then make this one and Lord of the Rings the other – everything else pales in comparison with the exception of a few.