I’ve read a lot of fantasy over the years and there are some books that seem very difficult to get into, but once I did I actually enjoyed them. The Worm Ouroboros was one of those books. 

The plot revolves around the Lords of Demonland and their enemies the Lords of Witchlands; it’s a tale of conflict and political intriguing – as a high fantasy novel it has your atypical mystical quests, magic battles, heroes and villains. It contains everything you would expect from a fantasy novel and perhaps is one of the earliest examples of this genre that actually lasted beyond the few years since publishing.

It is a heavily stylized novel with fantastic descriptions that help you delve into the splendor – it’s very atmospheric and almost archaic at times – it sometimes reads more like a history book than a fantasy novel.

What makes this an enjoyable book for me is the way Edison looks at society – he sees the world as one where those in power use their subjects like toys – they enact huge battles simply because they can, and bask in the glory and the power victory brings – there is no human cost, because they simply don’t care – that is until one of those in power dies, then it is a tragedy. The lack of humanity seems to parallel our society in many ways.

The story is good, but the way it is written is what elevates this book to become a classic (at least in my eyes) – the writing is pretty difficult to get into because of the complex language and almost ‘olde English’ feel to it – but once you begin to understand the writing you’ll begin to appreciate the art – it’s amazingly descriptive – not just the lands or buildings  - but also the characters, their feelings and emotions.

Perhaps male oriented in a way as men are seen to be heroic ‘brother’s in arms’, and women are seen as beauty beyond imagination to be coveted, the book has a depth that is not seen in literature that often – it’s intense at times, boring occasionally but mostly it is fascinating. 

It’s hard work, but the effort pays off in the end.

Do I suggest everyone reads this book? 

Yes and No – if you are a fantasy scholar then this is a must read; if you like being challenged by complex and often archaic language then this is the book for you. If you tend to skip over descriptive work then you probably shouldn’t read this book.