Book Anatomy · The Worm Ouroboros
The Worm Ouroboros: Pace
16 lenses on pace for The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D11 D12 D13 D14 D15 D16
D1. Chapter length in words, as a chart. Count
56 chapters, median 3,056 words. See the full lens on the book page.
D2. Mean sentence length per chapter. Count
Mean 22.1 words. See the full lens on the book page.
D3. Paragraph length per chapter. Count
Paragraphs average 67 words.
Mean paragraph words, chapter by chapter
D4. Scene against summary: how much is shown live? AI
Most of the book is shown live in scenes with dialogue and action. Chapters 1 to 13 and 42 to 56 are primarily scenic. Chapters 14 to 41 mix extended summaries of journeys with key scenes, especially the mountain climbs in 22 to 25.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 14, Ch 22, Ch 42, Ch 51
D5. Action against reflection, per chapter. AI
Early chapters (1 to 13) balance action and reflection equally. Middle chapters (14 to 27) lean toward reflection and description during the Impland quest. Late chapters (42 to 56) return to action with reflection on its meaning, especially 54 to 55.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 14, Ch 25, Ch 42, Ch 54
How vain a thing is ambition. This was Gaslark’s bane, whose enterprises of such pitch and moment have ended thus, in a kind of nothing. (Ch 12, para 45)
Would they might give us our good gift, that should be youth for ever, and war; and unwaning strength and skill in arms. (Ch 55, para 4)
D6. Tension score per chapter (1 to 5) as a curve. AI
Peak 5 of 5, mean 3.8. See the full lens on the book page.
D7. Emotional arc of the whole book, matched to the six shapes. Count
Icarus (rise then fall). See the full lens on the book page.
D8. Chapter endings: cliffhanger, question, reveal or quiet close. AI
41 of 56 chapters end on a hook. See the full lens on the book page.
D9. Chapter openings: in scene, in summary, or after a time jump. AI
Most chapters open in scene or with immediate action. Chapters 14, 16, 22, 27, 42 open with summary or time jumps. Chapter 56 is pure document. The pattern shifts: early chapters favour in-scene openings; middle chapters use summary to cover long journeys.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 14, Ch 16, Ch 22, Ch 42, Ch 56
D10. Do chapters and sentences get shorter near the climax? Count
In the last fifth, chapters run at 0.96 times the length of earlier ones, and sentences at 1.0 times. So the end does not speed up by these measures.
D11. Dialogue density against pace. Count
Link between dialogue share and chapter length: 0.3 (1 is a perfect match, 0 none). Between dialogue share and tension: 0.08.
Dialogue % per chapter, chapter by chapter
D12. Time jumps and how they are signalled. Both
14 time jump phrases in the narration, such as 'next morning' or 'years later'.
| Where | Phrase |
|---|---|
| c9p8 | next morning |
| c17p18 | next day |
| c19p50 | Next morning |
| c20p18 | next day |
| c21p29 | next day |
| c23p12 | next morning |
| c23p29 | Next day |
| c24p8 | next day |
Time jump phrases, chapter by chapter
Ch 9, para 8: The next morning following that night when King Gorice XII. sat crowned in Carcë as is aforesaid, was Gaslark a-sailing on the middle sea, homeward from the east. …
Ch 17, para 18: On such wise passed three days by, Zeldornius waiting with his army on the hill, and the Demons supping with him nightly. And on the third day he …
Ch 19, para 50: Next morning the Lord Corund sent an herald and bade the Demons again to a parley. And now he spake only to Brandoch Daha, bidding him deliver up …
Ch 20, para 18: “Mine invention,” said Gro, when on the next day they took counsel together, “hath yet some contrivance in her purse which shall do us good, if it fall …
Ch 21, para 29: That night they slept on the fell under the stars, and next day, going down into the woods, came at dusk to an open glade by the waters …
Ch 23, para 12: That knoll Juss named Throstlegarth, after a thrush that waked them next morning, singing in a little wind-stunted mountain thorn that grew among the rocks. Strangely sounded that …
Time jumps are signalled by summary passages and chapter breaks. Chapter 22 skips four months of training with a single sentence. Chapter 27 notes a full year has passed. Chapter 45 summarises the fleet's journey. Chapter 56 provides a complete chronology.
Chapters: Ch 22, Ch 27, Ch 45, Ch 56
And it was now a full year gone by since first the Demons came up into Koshtra Belorn (Ch 27, para 19)
D13. Info dump spots: long runs with no action or speech. Both
12 stretches of 900 words or more with no speech at all. These are where description, summary or backstory pile up.
| Starts at | Words | Paragraphs |
|---|---|---|
| c50p27 | 1346 | 9 |
| c56p1 | 1339 | 51 |
| c45p11 | 1335 | 10 |
| c53p37 | 1321 | 12 |
| c31p10 | 1198 | 14 |
| c35p15 | 1188 | 9 |
| c22p51 | 1177 | 5 |
| c11p47 | 1087 | 6 |
Long info dumps occur in chapters 25 to 26 where Queen Sophonisba explains Gorice's immortality and the hippogriff's nature. Chapter 15 contains council discussion of routes. Chapter 54 is largely descriptive of treasures and lands without action.
Chapters: Ch 15, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 54
Rightfully, having such a timeless life, this King weareth on his thumb that worm Ouroboros (Ch 26, para 14)
D14. Reading time per chapter. Count
About 11.4 hours to read at 250 words a minute. The longest chapter takes 13.8 minutes.
Minutes per chapter, chapter by chapter
D15. Micro tension in quiet scenes. AI
Quiet scenes gain tension through dialogue and unspoken conflict. Chapter 12's banquet builds dread through veiled remarks and the King's withdrawn manner. Chapter 40 creates tension through Gro's internal struggle and Mevrian's wariness. Chapter 54 uses melancholy and foreboding.
Chapters: Ch 12, Ch 40, Ch 54
I am in love with peace and the soft influence of the evening air. (Ch 5, para 39)
For sundry nights and days abode Gro and Mevrian in that place, hunting at whiles to get their sustenance, drinking of the sweet spring-water, sleeping a-nights she in her cave beneath the holly bushes and the rowans beside the waterfall (Ch 40, para 40)
D16. Section breaks per chapter. Count
0 section breaks marked in the text, in 0 of 56 chapters.
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