E. R. Eddison

Keith Henderson

"The greatest and most convincing writer of 'invented worlds' that I have read." J. R. R. Tolkien. Written in the best traditions of Homeric epics, Eddison's masterpiece recounts compelling tales of warriors and witches. "

The Worm Ouroboros

Edgar Rice Burroughs

H. G. Wells

Mark Twain

David Lindsay

A Nebula Award winner presents tales that shaped modern science fiction and fantasy—five complete novels by Mark Twain, H. G. Wells, and more. In this handpicked collection, New York Times–bestselling author Greg Bear travels back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when novelists let their imaginations soar beyond conventional boundaries of time and space and contributed to the emergence of imaginative new literary genres. In 1889, Mark Twain introduced Americans to time travel in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, in which a hard-headed New Englander is sent back through history to the age of chivalry. Six years later, H. G. Wells propelled an intrepid inventor into the far future via The Time Machine; there, our fearless hero discovers a nightmarish evolutionary scenario in which technologically advanced but mutated Morlocks dwell underground, preying on the innocent aboveground Eloi. In 1912, long before Ray Bradbury or Star Wars, Edgar Rice Burroughs imagined the first wildly popular alternative fantasy/alien culture with A Princess of Mars, transporting readers from Arizona to the red planet, where Confederate soldier John Carter is swept up in another kind of civil war and seduced by a gorgeous red-hued princess. In 1920, Scottish novelist David Lindsay presented A Voyage to Arcturus, an interstellar quest for truth as well as an inquiry into the nature of good and evil that inspired generations of fantasy writers to come. And in 1922, E. R. Eddison turned the planet Mercury into a fantasy version of Earth where demons and witches wage war on a Homeric scale in The Worm Ouroboros. With an insightful introduction, Bear celebrates the writers who first swept readers away to other times and worlds—and blew their minds in ways that altered our literary landscape and collective imagination forever.

5 Classic Novels of Science Fiction and Fantasy

Journeys Through Time & Space

The lost classic masterpiece of magical realms, admired by Tolkien and the great prototype for The Lord of the Rings and modern fantasy fiction.

The Worm Ouroboros: The Prelude to Zimiamvia

This is the book that shaped the landscape of contemporary science fiction and fantasy. When The Lord of the Rings first appeared, the critics inevitably compared it to this 1922 landmark work. Tolkien himself frankly acknowledged its influence, with warm praise for its imaginative appeal. The story of a remote planet's great war between two kingdoms, it ranks as the Iliad of heroic fantasy. In the best traditions of Homeric epics, Norse sagas, and Arthurian myths, author E. R. Eddison weaves a compelling adventure, with a majestic, Shakespearean narrative style. His sweeping tale recounts battles between warriors and witches on fog-shrouded mountaintops and in the ocean's depths-along with romantic interludes, backroom intrigues, and episodes of direst treachery. Generations of readers have joyfully lost themselves in the timeless worlds of The Worm Ouroboros.

Large Print

Worm Ouroboros

Egil's Saga

The Worm Ouroboros is considered to be one of the foundational texts of the high fantasy genre, influencing later authors like J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Ursula K. Leguin, and James Branch Cabell. It is most frequently compared to The Lord of the Rings in its epic scope set against a medieval, magic-laced backdrop—a world called “Middle Earth” by Eddison, thirty-two years before Tolkien’s—and in its almost mythical portrayal of larger-than-life heroes and villains. The plot begins simply enough: The Lords of Demonland, a group of heroic warriors enjoying a strained peace, are called upon by an emissary of the warlock king of Witchland, Gorice XI. The emissary demands that Demonland submit to the King of Witchland—but the proud Demons refuse, setting off an epic war that spans their entire world. The heroic struggles of the Demons and their allies against the Witches reflect the circular nature of human history: the snake eating its own tail of the title. The novel is written in a purposefully archaic, almost Jacobean style. The rich, surprising vocabulary and unusual spelling are testaments to Eddison’s expertise at reading and translating medieval-era texts. To this day, it remains perhaps unique in fantasy literature in the accuracy and precision of its highly affected prose style, perhaps matched only by the out-of-time strangeness of the prose in Hodgson’s The Night Land. But where critics often find The Night Land’s prose obtuse and difficult, they have nothing but praise for Eddison’s beautiful, quotable style. Eddison had already imagined the story and its heroes as a child, and drawings he made as a youth of events in the book are preserved in the Bodleian library. While the novel is without a doubt the work of a mature and skilled writer, and while some of the events and characters are portrayed differently in the novel than they were in his youthful sketches, the names of many of the characters and places remain unchanged. Some of his contemporaries, like Tolkien, wondered about the strange naming style; others criticized it as taking away from the more serious subject matter. The Worm Ouroboros remains one of the most influential works in the high fantasy genre to this day, and traces of the foundation it laid can be still be found in genre books a century after its publication.

THE DRAGON OUROBOROS - A BOOK THAT INSPIRED TOLKIEN. With Original Illustrations. The Dragon Ouroboros was first published in 1933 under the title "The Worm Ouroboros". Professor J.R.R. Tolkien read the story, and praised it in print, writing in a letter that he enjoyed Eddison's books for their sheer literary merit. Eddison, he stated, was the greatest and most convincing writer of "invented worlds" he had ever read. Tolkien's close friend and confidante C.S. Lewis was also an admirer. This heroic high fantasy novel has been compared with Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", which was written many years later. Readers will swiftly become accustomed to Eddison's archaic language and find themselves swept away by the imagery, which is frequently beautiful. It is easy to see why Tolkien was impressed with Eddison's unusual, sprawling and imaginative work, a literary predecessor to "The Lord of the Rings".

With Original Illustrations

The Dragon Ouroboros - a Book That Inspired Tolkien

The Sources of Lord of the Rings and The Children of Hurin by J.R.R.Tolkien, Series I: The Worm Ouroboros J.R.R. Tolkien's books did not come out of thin air. Tolkien, an academic linguist, drew on the following source materials to inspire him. The Worm Ourorobos by E.R. Eddison is second only to the Lord of the Rings in the pantheon of 20th century English fantasy. E.R. Eddison, who moved in the same literary circles as Tolkien, was praised by Tolkien as "The greatest and most convincing writer of 'invented worlds' that I have read." The Worm Ouroboros is a thoroughly enjoyable book which will satisfy anyone who has finished the Lord of the Rings and wants to discover a new universe.

The Sources of Lord of the Rings and the Children of Hurin by J R R Tolkien, Series I

We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive classic literature collection. This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts, We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. Also in books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy. We use state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. The eastern stars were paling to the dawn as Lessingham followed his conductor along the grass walk between the shadowy ranks of Irish yews, that stood like soldiers mysterious and expectant in the darkness. The grass was bathed in night-dew, and great white lilies sleeping in the shadows of the yews loaded the air of that garden with fragrance. Lessingham felt no touch of the ground beneath his feet, and when he stretched out his hand to touch a tree his hand passed through branch and leaves as though they were unsubstantial as a moonbeam.The little martlet, alighting on his shoulder, laughed in his ear. "Child of earth," she said, "dost think we are here in dreamland?"

Pocket Edition

"An eccentric masterpiece" {u2014} Ursula K. LeGuin "A new climate of the imagination" {u2014} C.S. Lewis "A masterpiece" {u2014} James Stephens This is the book that shaped the landscape of contemporary science fiction and fantasy. When The Lord of the Rings first appeared, the critics inevitably compared it to this 1922 landmark work. Tolkien himself frankly acknowledged its influence, with warm praise for its imaginative appeal. The story of a remote planet's great war between two kingdoms, it ranks as the Iliad of heroic fantasy. In the best traditions of Homeric epics, Norse sagas, and Arthurian myths, author E.R. Eddison weaves a compelling adventure, with a majestic, Shakespearean narrative style. His sweeping tale recounts battles between warriors and witches on fog-shrouded mountaintops and in the ocean's depths {u2014} along with romantic interludes, backroom intrigues, and episodes of direst treachery. Generations of readers have joyfully lost themselves in the timeless worlds of The Worm Ouroboros. This new edition, magnificently illustrated with the classic original images, continues the enchantment.

King Gorice of Witchland and the Lords of Demonland in an imaginary world of Mercury The Worm Ouroboros is a heroic high fantasy novel which describes the protracted war between the domineering, The story begins with a dwarf ambassador from Witchland arriving in Demonland to demand that the chief lords of Demonland — the brothers Juss, Spitfire, and Goldry Bluszco, and their cousin Brandoch Daha — recognize King Gorice XI of Witchland as their overlord. Juss and his brothers reply that they and all of Demonland will submit if the king (a famous wrestler) can defeat Goldry Bluszco in a wrestling match. The match is held in the neutral territory of the Foliot Isles, and Gorice is killed. His successor (or reincarnation) Gorice XII is a sorcerer who banishes Goldry to an enchanted mountain prison, by means of a perilous sorcery requiring the help of the devious Goblin traitor Lord Gro. Juss and Brandoch Daha start an expedition to rescue Goldry Bluszco from his terrible prison which leads to a great war.

Must Read Classics

The Worm Ouroboros Volume 1 By E. R. Eddison This is the book that shaped the landscape of contemporary science fiction and fantasy. When The Lord of the Rings first appeared, the critics inevitably compared it to this landmark work. Tolkien himself frankly acknowledged its influence, with warm praise for its imaginative appeal. The story of a remote planet's great war between two kingdoms, it ranks as the Iliad of heroic fantasy. In the best traditions of Homeric epics, Norse sagas, and Arthurian myths, author E. R. Eddison weaves a compelling adventure, with a majestic, Shakespearean narrative style. His sweeping tale recounts battles between warriors and witches on fog-shrouded mountaintops and in the ocean's depths-along with romantic interludes, backroom intrigues, and episodes of direst treachery. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

The Worm Ouroboros Volume 1

This is the book that shaped the landscape of contemporary science fiction and fantasy. When The Lord of the Rings first appeared, the critics inevitably compared it to this landmark work. Tolkien himself frankly acknowledged its influence, with warm praise for its imaginative appeal. The story of a remote planet's great war between two kingdoms, it ranks as the Iliad of heroic fantasy. In the best traditions of Homeric epics, Norse sagas, and Arthurian myths, author E. R. Eddison weaves a compelling adventure, with a majestic, Shakespearean narrative style. His sweeping tale recounts battles between warriors and witches on fog-shrouded mountaintops and in the ocean's depths--along with romantic interludes, backroom intrigues, and episodes of direst treachery.

The Worm Ouroboros Volume 2 By E. R. Eddison This is the book that shaped the landscape of contemporary science fiction and fantasy. When The Lord of the Rings first appeared, the critics inevitably compared it to this landmark work. Tolkien himself frankly acknowledged its influence, with warm praise for its imaginative appeal. The story of a remote planet's great war between two kingdoms, it ranks as the Iliad of heroic fantasy. In the best traditions of Homeric epics, Norse sagas, and Arthurian myths, author E. R. Eddison weaves a compelling adventure, with a majestic, Shakespearean narrative style. His sweeping tale recounts battles between warriors and witches on fog-shrouded mountaintops and in the ocean's depths-along with romantic interludes, backroom intrigues, and episodes of direst treachery. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

The Worm Ouroboros Volume 2

This is the book that shaped the landscape of contemporary science fiction and fantasy. When The Lord of the Rings first appeared, the critics inevitably compared it to this 1922 landmark work. Tolkien himself frankly acknowledged its influence, with warm praise for its imaginative appeal. The story of a remote planet’s great war between two kingdoms, it ranks as the Iliad of heroic fantasy. In the best traditions of Homeric epics, Norse sagas, and Arthurian myths, author E. R. Eddison weaves a compelling adventure, with a majestic, Shakespearean narrative style. His sweeping tale recounts battles between warriors and witches on fog-shrouded mountaintops and in the ocean’s depths—along with romantic interludes, backroom intrigues, and episodes of direst treachery. Generations of readers have joyfully lost themselves in the timeless worlds of The Worm Ouroboros.

The English author E. R. Eddison wrote epic fantasy novels, including the seminal work ‘The Worm Ouroboros’ (1922) and the ‘Zimiamvian Trilogy’. His books are composed in a meticulous Jacobean prose style, supplemented throughout with poetic fragments from world classic literature, exhibiting an aristocratic sensibility. His high fantasy works drew strong praise from J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. This eBook presents Eddison’s complete works, with numerous illustrations, rare texts and informative introductions. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Eddison’s life and works * Concise introductions to the novels and other texts * All 5 novels, with individual contents tables * The complete Zimiamvian Books * Images of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Excellent formatting of the texts * Rare Norse Books available in no other collection * Includes Eddison’s non-fiction, including the revealing memoir of his college friend and poet Philip Sidney Nairn * Ordering of texts into chronological order and genres Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles CONTENTS: The Zimiamvia Books The Worm Ouroboros (1922) Mistress of Mistresses (1935) A Fish Dinner in Memison (1941) The Mezentian Gate (1958) The Norse Books Styrbiorn the Strong (1926) Egil’s Saga (1930) Other Works Poems, Letters, and Memories of Philip Sidney Nairn (1916) Profiteering (1922) Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles or to purchase this eBook as a Parts Edition of individual eBooks

Delphi Complete Works of E. R. Eddison (Illustrated)

Egil's Saga is the tale of the long and brutal life of Egil Skallagrimsson, the tenth-century warrior-poet: a morally ambiguous character who was both the composer of intricately beautiful poetry and a physical grotesque capable of staggering brutality. It recounts Egil's progression from youthful savagery to mature wisdom as he struggles to avenge his father's exile from Norway, defend his honour against the Norwegian King Erik Bloodaxe, and fight for the English King Athelstan in his battles against Scotland. Translated from Icelandic by the great fantasist, E R Eddison, and accounted by many to be the greatest of the Icelandic sagas, Egil's Saga is a fascinating depiction of a deeply human character.

The first volume in the classic epic trilogy of parallel worlds, admired by Tolkien and the great prototype for The Lord of the Rings and modern fantasy fiction.

E. R. Eddison

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