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outcolder's review against another edition
3.0
"He kept a book of anachronistic words and phrases he found evocative (BL MS Eng. misc. e. 599) and crossed them off neatly as he found excuses to work them into his writing." - Young, Joseph. "The foundations of E. R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros." Extrapolation, vol. 54, no. 2, summer 2013, pp. 183+ Ha! I think that's hilarious! The same article calls the author an "amateur medievalist" a number of times and argues that it was Eddison's interest in fantasy that led him to an interest in Icelandic Sagas and medieval literature. He's got a bunch of songs and poems in here from people like John Dunne and Shakespeare.
Forewarned is forearmed, and I had read a slew of complaints and praise for this book before starting on it. When I borrowed it from Villa Fantastica, the SFF library in Vienna, Austria, the guys there said it was a "Klassiker." So I wasn't bothered by the goofy names, the sprawling plot, the half-assed framing device, or the overwrought and archaic language. Yeah, it's a klassiker and if you're into the history of fantasy you have got to read this, but it didn't blow my mind or anything. My favorite bits are about the personality clashes among the bad guys and the most interesting character is of course the traitorous Lord Gro... but did he have to have a large, hooked nose? Groan. The few female characters are all pretty great, except for the foundling of the gods but I guess several centuries trapped in a magic mountain will leave you kind of dull. To sum up: It's epic, but a little too epic.
Forewarned is forearmed, and I had read a slew of complaints and praise for this book before starting on it. When I borrowed it from Villa Fantastica, the SFF library in Vienna, Austria, the guys there said it was a "Klassiker." So I wasn't bothered by the goofy names, the sprawling plot, the half-assed framing device, or the overwrought and archaic language. Yeah, it's a klassiker and if you're into the history of fantasy you have got to read this, but it didn't blow my mind or anything. My favorite bits are about the personality clashes among the bad guys and the most interesting character is of course the traitorous Lord Gro... but did he have to have a large, hooked nose? Groan. The few female characters are all pretty great, except for the foundling of the gods but I guess several centuries trapped in a magic mountain will leave you kind of dull. To sum up: It's epic, but a little too epic.
cranberry__sauce's review against another edition
2.0
Unfortunately, this book was just not for me.
The Worm Ouroboros is written in the style of 16th-century Shakespeare, yet is set on Mercury. The character that introduces us to the story, Lessingham, is only mentioned in the first two chapters and never seen again after that. The "demons" from Demonland are mentioned to have horns, but this fact is also never mentioned again.
Also, I have to mention the fact that the main kingdoms, Demonland, Witchland, Pixyland, Impland, and Goblinland are all inhabited by humans. Not goblins, witches, demons, pixies, or imps; only humans.
Despite these flaws, the book is eminently quotable. The author [a:E. R. Eddison|1378543|E.R. Eddison|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1255094627p2/1378543.jpg] has a very smooth writing style (the archaic language notwithstanding), and one can see why both [a:J.R.R. Tolkien|656983|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1648968349p2/656983.jpg] and [a:C. S. Lewis|1069006|C.S. Lewis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1564671804p2/1069006.jpg] were inspired by Eddison and his book.
The Worm Ouroboros is written in the style of 16th-century Shakespeare, yet is set on Mercury. The character that introduces us to the story, Lessingham, is only mentioned in the first two chapters and never seen again after that. The "demons" from Demonland are mentioned to have horns, but this fact is also never mentioned again.
Also, I have to mention the fact that the main kingdoms, Demonland, Witchland, Pixyland, Impland, and Goblinland are all inhabited by humans. Not goblins, witches, demons, pixies, or imps; only humans.
Despite these flaws, the book is eminently quotable. The author [a:E. R. Eddison|1378543|E.R. Eddison|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1255094627p2/1378543.jpg] has a very smooth writing style (the archaic language notwithstanding), and one can see why both [a:J.R.R. Tolkien|656983|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1648968349p2/656983.jpg] and [a:C. S. Lewis|1069006|C.S. Lewis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1564671804p2/1069006.jpg] were inspired by Eddison and his book.
shardik9982's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Some beautiful prose describing landscape and nature, and some excellent prose for a wrestling match, but the book falls flat, with so much of the story being centered on people reacting to news rather than the interesting news itself.
Also, seeing when this was published is kind of disgusting, with this being released after the end of WWI and the heroes at the end having regret because they aren't going to have enemies to take up arms against.
Also, seeing when this was published is kind of disgusting, with this being released after the end of WWI and the heroes at the end having regret because they aren't going to have enemies to take up arms against.
massmassmarket's review
adventurous
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
drewid's review against another edition
4.0
Slow, but beautifully written. Good characters and interesting plot developments later in the book
sophietica's review against another edition
1.0
I went through a few stages with this book. First it was: omg, what is this faux Jacobean nonsense? Extremely verbose, lots of description and adjectives. But I got over that and started to enjoy the stories...for a bit. And then I realised that although the disjointed narrative and flowery old-timey language weren't necessarily deal breakers, the stupidity of the stories was. Characters were taking completely idiotic decisions, seemingly only to create exciting scenarios, which then solved themselves in equally unrealistic ways (one guys falls down the unclimbable cliff, as does the other after having the flesh torn off the lower part of his leg by a manticore, and yet they manage to hike for a few days after...right). It is the book equivalent of a Michael Bay movie.
zach_collins's review against another edition
3.0
Compared to fantasy classics like The Hobbit and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Worm Ouroboros is a different kind of fantasy novel. In fact, calling it a novel might be a little misleading; the long, descriptive passages, arcane language and themes of conflict and glory make Ouroboros feel more like an Old Norse epic than a modern fantasy novel. Some may consider this a bad thing, but I think this was my favorite part about reading Ouroboros. Fantasy stories are supposed to take part in fully formed worlds different from our own, and even though I didn’t particularly like the ending, I found myself wanting full immersion into this alternate world of heroes, legends and gods.
But this book isn’t flawless, and these flaws do a lot to keep the audience at arms length. Ouroboros starts with a bizarre dreamlike sequence where a man goes to sleep in a special bedroom and is transported to the planet Mercury where a talking bird informs him that he is invisible before narrating the events of the story as they unfold. However, not three chapters into the story, Eddison suddenly stops identifying the two narrators. The man, the bird and the special bedroom are never mentioned again in the entire novel, not even a hint is given to suggest the ultimate fate of the transported man and the talking bird.
The biggest complaint I have is over Eddison’s choice of names for the characters and places in Ouroboros. The kingdoms in Ouroboros are called of Demonland, Witchland, Goblinland, Impland and Pixieland, but they are all inhabited by surprisingly normal humans called Demons, Witches, Goblins, etc. The Demons of Demonland have small horns, the king of Witchland casts spells and some people have tails but never once was there an actual demon, witch, goblin, imp or pixie. It took a while to get used to reading about clashes between armies of Witches and Demons that had no trace of a demon or a witch, and it took even longer to get used to the good guys (well, not really good guys, but the protagonists) being called Demons. Also, the characters themselves have incredibly dumb names like Gro, Sriva, Spitfire, Vizz and Bradoch Daha. Something as superficial as names shouldn’t detract too much from a book, but when the book sometimes reads like a long list of names, bad names can quickly become grating.
If the rest of Ourodoros wasn’t so ornate and meticulously detailed, I’d accuse Eddison of being sloppy and careless, misplacing narrators and making up names on the fly. The fascinating language and grand scope went a long way toward making The Worm Ouroboros an enjoyable fantasy story, but the weak points are huge distractions.
But this book isn’t flawless, and these flaws do a lot to keep the audience at arms length. Ouroboros starts with a bizarre dreamlike sequence where a man goes to sleep in a special bedroom and is transported to the planet Mercury where a talking bird informs him that he is invisible before narrating the events of the story as they unfold. However, not three chapters into the story, Eddison suddenly stops identifying the two narrators. The man, the bird and the special bedroom are never mentioned again in the entire novel, not even a hint is given to suggest the ultimate fate of the transported man and the talking bird.
The biggest complaint I have is over Eddison’s choice of names for the characters and places in Ouroboros. The kingdoms in Ouroboros are called of Demonland, Witchland, Goblinland, Impland and Pixieland, but they are all inhabited by surprisingly normal humans called Demons, Witches, Goblins, etc. The Demons of Demonland have small horns, the king of Witchland casts spells and some people have tails but never once was there an actual demon, witch, goblin, imp or pixie. It took a while to get used to reading about clashes between armies of Witches and Demons that had no trace of a demon or a witch, and it took even longer to get used to the good guys (well, not really good guys, but the protagonists) being called Demons. Also, the characters themselves have incredibly dumb names like Gro, Sriva, Spitfire, Vizz and Bradoch Daha. Something as superficial as names shouldn’t detract too much from a book, but when the book sometimes reads like a long list of names, bad names can quickly become grating.
If the rest of Ourodoros wasn’t so ornate and meticulously detailed, I’d accuse Eddison of being sloppy and careless, misplacing narrators and making up names on the fly. The fascinating language and grand scope went a long way toward making The Worm Ouroboros an enjoyable fantasy story, but the weak points are huge distractions.
cimorene1558's review against another edition
4.0
A strange and fantastic book, full of beautifully dense prose and beautiful (but not original) poetry. I thought until the last paragraph that the title was ridiculously inappropriate (the Worm Ouroboros could not be said to be a major character), but in fact, it's the only possible title.