| "The Wall of Serpents" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story byL. Sprague de Camp andFletcher Pratt | |||
 First book edition (1960) | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| Language | English | ||
| Genre | Fantasynovella | ||
| Publication | |||
| Published in | Fantasy Fiction | ||
| Publisher | Future Publications | ||
| Media type | Print (Magazine) | ||
| Publication date | June,1953 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| Series | Harold Shea | ||
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The Wall of Serpents is afantasynovella by Americanscience fiction andfantasy authorsL. Sprague de Camp andFletcher Pratt. The fourth story in theirHarold Shea series, it was first published in the June 1953 issue of the fantasy pulp magazineFantasy Fiction. It first appeared in book form, together with its sequel, "The Green Magician", in the collectionWall of Serpents, issued in hardcover byAvalon Books in 1960; the book has been reissued by a number of other publishers since. It has also been reprinted in various anthologies and collections, includingGreat Short Novels of Adult Fantasy I (1972),The Complete Compleat Enchanter (1989), andThe Mathematics of Magic: The Enchanter Stories of L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt (2007). It has been translated intoItalian andGerman.
The Harold Shea stories areparallel world tales in which universes where magic works coexist with our own, and in which those based on the mythologies, legends, and literary fantasies of our world and can be reached by aligning one's mind to them by a system of symbolic logic. InThe Wall of Serpents, Shea visits his fifth such world, that of theFinnish mythologicalepic poem theKalevala.
When Harold Shea's wife Belphebe, originally from the world ofSpenser'sThe Faerie Queene, was accidentally spirited off to that ofAriosto'sOrlando Furioso (The Castle of Iron), he came under suspicion by the police for her disappearance. While he was ultimately successful in retrieving her, two others, his colleague Walter Bayard and policeman Pete Brodsky were left trapped in the world ofColeridge'sXanadu. As Shea's skill in traveling between universes is still somewhat hit or miss, he decides to seek professional assistance in rescuing them, from the wizardVäinämöinen in the world of the Kalevala. Harold and Belphebe attain the right world but the wrong magician, ending up instead with the touchy and unreliableLemminkäinen, who tricks them into serving his ends. Persuading him they need their stranded friends' aid, Shea persuades the wizard to summon them. Later, after their quest with Lemminkäinen toPohjola goes sour, Bayard inadvertently transports them to the world ofIrish myth.
| Preceded by | Harold Shea Series The Wall of Serpents | Succeeded by |
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