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Title: The Worm Ouroboros by Eric Rucker Eddison, (E. R. Eddison), Keith Henderson (illustrator) ISBN: 0-7351-0171-X Publisher: Replica Books Pub. Date: November, 1999 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $22.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (30 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Old muckhills will bloom at last.
Comment: I first read this book about twenty years ago for a class called "Philosophy of Fantasy and Science Fiction." I talked with the professor a few years later and he said that he'd dropped the book because a lot of the students complained that the language was too difficult. If you're looking for a quick and easy read, look elsewhere.
That said, "The Worm Oroborous" is heroic fantasy at its best, and it's told in language befitting the subject matter. The heros are truly heroic, and the villains are truly villainous, but worthy adversaries. And it does as good a job as I've seen of presenting the classical warrior ethic. It's a somewhat difficult book, but well worth the effort.
On the down side, the names of the characters and the places tend to be silly and to detract from the overall presentation. It also probably wouldn't be a bad idea to start at chapter 2.
Rating: 5
Summary: The Highest of the "High Fantasies"
Comment: I reviewed this book some years back right here on amazon.com, though amazon seems to have washed that effort away long ago. In fact I read the book many years earlier still and so I'm a little tentative about returning here to review this book again. Can I do it justice after such a long remove? Will I even remember enough to talk about it? Still, since it's one of the great ones in the much-maligned (often deservedly so) fantasy genre, I feel I must. Readers here will certainly have heard of J. R. R. Tolkien, the father, if you will, of modern fantasy. And, presumably, those finding this page will also know something of E. R. Eddison, the author of this wonderful book. Suffice it to say that, in this book at least, Eddison outshines the estimable Professor Tolkien, despite this book's clumsy opening. Although he lacked Tolkien's comprehensive and detailed mind and was certainly not the scholar, or perhaps even the craftsman, Tolkien was, Eddison's WORM has a magnificent poetic sweep that even Tolkien's great trilogy of magic and adventure and ancient worlds decidedly lacked. Here is a tale of magical beings and high adventure set, oddly enough, on a mystical version (vision?) of the planet Mercury to which we are spirited in the form of an astral projection of one Lessingham, an adventurer and dreamer, who is taken one night on a journey by a spiritual guide in the form of a little bird. All very strange and distracting and, ultimately, unimportant. For Lessingham soon fades into the background of the narrative as the vision he sees on this strange world swells and surrounds and overpowers him and the reader both. We are soon caught up in the sweep of a tale that is a veritable medieval tapestry, never mind the awkward and almost childish nomenclature which Eddison relies on. This is the story of a Demon kingdom besieged by its enemies in Witchland and their evil ruler, King Gorice XII, who conspire to overthrow and consume the heroic Demons under the rule of heroic brothers and kinsmen. There is treachery and mighty deeds to redeem the fallen and great battles and an ending which is as surprising and strange as it is oddly satisfying. If Tolkien's trilogy is an epic fairy tale writ large, this one is a veritable medieval saga of heroic proportions. That it is ultimately magical and fantastic places it squarely in the fantasy tradition which Tolkien gave credibility and new life to. But Eddison came first (he wrote this tale in the mid-1920's I believe), though he is still little heard of today. He deserves better as does this book. (He's also the author of a straight historical novel which deserves to be read, STRYBIORN THE STRONG, based on the old Icelandic saga tradition which, to some degree, also influenced THE WORM. More, he did a translation of one of the original sagas, EGIL'S SAGA, which is one of the best of that literary tradition and among the best-known of the sagas -- though this translation is also hard to come by. For those here who are interested in the saga as novel, I've also done one of my own, though I doubt it is up to Eddison's STYRBIORN, though, of course, I certainly took my best shot! It's called THE KING OF VINLAND'S SAGA and can be found right here on amazon.com by searching its title.) -- SWM
Rating: 5
Summary: In response to the first review
Comment: Comparing Tolkein and Eddison is like comparing apples and oranges. True they're both masters of fantasy, but in different respects. You might as well match up Star Wars and the Matrix as two of the best Sci-fi stories.
It's hard to see, but the same amount of time went into both books, but in different respects. Whereas Tolkein spent his time writing languages, Eddison spent his time writing in colloquial speech and creating a version of the english language akin to old english. Basically they did the same thing, it's just that Tolkien wrote alphabets and dictionaries that had his new language, while Eddison wrote dialogue.
Whereas Tolkein wrote a perfect modern, dark fantasy tale, Eddison wrote a perfect old/romantic light fantasy tale. Basically, as literary works, they're practically equal, when taken for what they are.
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Title: The King of Elfland's Daughter by Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett Dunsany, Lord Dunsany, Neil Gaiman ISBN: 034543191X Publisher: Del Rey Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Gormenghast Novels: Titus Groan, Gormenghast, Titus Alone by Mervyn Peake, Mervyn Laurence Peake ISBN: 0879516283 Publisher: Overlook Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 1995 List Price(USD): $28.95 |
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Title: The Well at the World's End by William Morris, John Gregory Betancourt, Lin Carter ISBN: 1587150883 Publisher: Wildside Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.50 |
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Title: Mezentian Gate by E.R. Eddison ISBN: 0345272218 Publisher: Del Rey Books Pub. Date: 01 August, 1978 List Price(USD): $2.25 |
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Title: The Well at the World's End by William Morris, Lin Carter, John Gregory Betancourt ISBN: 1587150891 Publisher: Wildside Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.50 |
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