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The Wurms of Blearmouth is the fifth published novella in the Bauchelain & Korbal Broach series by Steven Erikson. Chronologically it is set directly after The Lees of Laughter's End.[1]

The novella is also included in The Second Collected Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach.

Publisher's summary[]

Tyranny comes in many guises, and tyrants will thrive in palaces and one room hovels, in back alleys and playgrounds. Tyrants abound on the verges of civilization, where disorder frays the rule of civil conduct, and all propriety surrenders to brutal imposition. Millions are made to kneel and yet more millions die horrible deaths in a welter of suffering and misery.

But we'll leave all that behind as we plunge into escapist fantasy of the most irrelevant kind, and in the ragged wake of the tale told in Lees of Laughter’s End, our most civil adventurers, Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, along with their suitably phlegmatic manservant, Emancipor Reese, make gentle landing upon a peaceful beach, beneath a quaint village above the strand and lying at the foot of a majestic castle, and therein make acquaintance with the soft-hearted and generous folk of Spendrugle, which lies at the mouth of the Blear River and falls under the benign rule of the Lord of Wurms in his lovely keep.

Make welcome, then, to Spendrugle’s memorable residents, including the man who should have stayed dead, the woman whose prayers should never have been answered, the tax collector everyone ignores, the ex-husband town militiaman who never married, the beachcomber who lives in his own beard, and the now singular lizard cat who used to be plural, and the girl who likes to pee in your lap. And of course, hovering over all, the denizen of the castle keep, Lord –

Ah, but there lies this tale, and so endeth this blurb, with one last observation: when tyrants collide, they have dinner.

And a good time is had by all.

Dramatis Personae[]

A

  • Ackle, the Risen, mostly dead ne'er-do-well[2]

B

C

  • Scribe Coingood, recorder of Lord Fangatooth's legacy[8]

D

E

F

G

H

K

L

M

P

R

S

T

W

Plot Summary[]

Trivia[]

  • In 2010, Erikson began work on a Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novella called Excesses of Youth.[21] But by 2011, he mentioned that work on the novella "was not grabbing me", and so instead he began writing The Wurms of Blearmouth.[22]
  • Erikson says the novella is partly inspired by the film adaptation of The Raven starring Boris Karloff and Vincent Price as two wizards. He "lifted" a scene featuring a sorcerous duel between the two actors for a similar scene with Bauchelain and Fangatooth Claw.[23]

Notes and references[]

  1. http://www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.ca/2012/07/wurms-of-blearmouth.html
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 4
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 3
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 11
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 18
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 6
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 39
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 1
  9. 9.0 9.1 The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 29
  10. The Healthy Dead, Section 20
  11. The Healthy Dead, Section 26
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 2
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 13.8 13.9 The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 30
  14. The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 12
  15. 15.0 15.1 The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 28
  16. The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 40
  17. 17.0 17.1 The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 10
  18. The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 27
  19. 19.0 19.1 The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 7
  20. 20.0 20.1 The Wurms of Blearmouth, Section 5
  21. New Bauchelain and Korbal Broach Novella on the Way
  22. Steven Erikson Answers Your House of Chain Questions
  23. Novellas (and more) with Steven Erikson - Smiley's Podcast - See 42:25
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