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The Worm Ourorobos 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 Ourorbos was originally published in a very limited and now very rare edition in 1922 (a used first edition recently listed for $3,750). Eddison wrote three sequels set in roughly the same universe, but none of them have the sustained pacing and invention of Ouroboros.

Before diving in, there are a few things to be aware of. The rich language Eddison uses is based on Tudor and Jacobean English, with some modern anachronisms; it may take some getting used to, and occasionally a trip to the unabridged Oxford English Dictionary. The narrator, one Lessingham, who appears in a very brief framing sequence, disappears a few dozen pages in. The book is set on Mercury; however, keep in mind this is not science fiction, so this is not literally the planet Mercury. Eddison on several occasions in the body of the book calls the world 'Middle Earth', and the setting is recognizably the Midgard of the Norse myths and sagas, although for some unexplained reason the denizens worship the Greek pantheon. The cast of characters, like Tolkien, are principally masculine, albeit with a couple of standout female leads. And lastly the various nationalities (Demons, Witches, Pixies, Imps, etc.) are not really separate species as in Tolkien; they are all essentially humans.

Mezentius had ruled the Three Kingdoms with a firm hand, but his legitimate heir is a weakling, frightened of the power of his half-brother, Duke Barganax, and of that of the terrifying Horius Parry, Vicar of Rerek. As Parry and Barganax manoeuvre, intrigue and plot, it is clear that the new king isn't long for the world.

The key to the control of the Three Kingdoms lies with Lessingham, Parry's cousin, the only man both sides can trust. But then Parry decides that Lessingham must die. As heroes and villains clash, an even darker game is being played - for the Lady Fiorinda is testing her own powers to decide the fates of men...

Like Tolkien's Middle-Earth, Zimiamvia is a realm which mirrors our own world. But in it passions run stronger - life, love, and treachery are epic in their intensity . . . and magic is reality.

Foreshadowed in the famous THE WORM OUROBOROS, this trilogy is as C.S. Lewis said, "a new literary species, a new rhetoric, a new climate of the imagination . . . These books are works, first and foremost, of art. And they are irreplaceable.'

In this second book of the Zimiamvian Trilogy, the royal guests at A FISH DINNER IN MEMISON amuse themselves with the creation of a sadly flawed world . . . and in an instant spend a lifetime in it.

"It is very rarely that a middle aged man finds an author who gies him the sense of having opened a door on wonder. One had thought those days were past. Eddison's heroic romances disproved it. In a word, his books are works, first and foremost, of art." C.S. Lewis