The City of Dreaming Books

Protagonist Optimus Yarnspinner (Hildegunst von Mythenmetz in the German text) is a Lindworm (a species of bibliophile dinosaurs) who inherits a perfectly written manuscript from his mentor. Its author went to Bookholm, the center of the Zamonian book trade, and was not heard of again.

Seeking adventure as well as inspiration for his own writing, Optimus travels to Bookholm in search of the mysterious author. A publisher directs him to Pfistomefel Smyke, who controls the book trade by means of musical hypnosis. Smyke pretends to help, but then reveals that he hates art and that a truly gifted author would raise the bar and hurt the market for mass-produced fiction. Smyke drugs Optimus and transfers him to the catacombs of Bookholm.

The catacombs are a labyrinth of old, disused shops and storerooms beneath the city. They are inhabited by all kinds of monsters as well as bookhunters, brutish mercenaries who only care for the high prices that rare old books can fetch on the surface. As Optimus tries to navigate the labyrinth, he falls victim to a bookhunter’s trap and almost gets eaten by a spider-like sphinx. A bookhunter saves him, only to try and to sell Optimus’ body parts as trophies to fans of lindworm literature. The hunter is killed by an unseen force.

By means of hypnosis, Optimus is guided to the cave of the booklings, a race of one-eyed creatures who live by reading and memorizing books. There he finds some respite, but when the cave is attacked by bookhunters, Optimus has to flee again.

Optimus comes to Shadowhall Castle, home of the Shadow King, a giant who is the mortal enemy of bookhunters. The Shadow King takes a liking to Optimus and tutors him in the art of writing. Eventually he reveals himself to be the mysterious author of the manuscript. Many years ago, he showed his manuscript to Smyke and was transformed into a golem made of an alchemistic paper that is nearly indestructible but will catch fire if exposed to natural light. He was banished to the catacombs and Smyke put a price on his head, leading to the Shadow King’s feud with the bookhunters.

The Shadow King takes Optimus close to the surface where they are ambushed by the bookhunters. The booklings save them by hypnotizing the bookhunters so that they kill themselves. The Shadow King confronts Smyke and kills him, then commits suicide by stepping out into the sun. The resulting fire destroys Bookholm. Optimus flees with a copy of the antique and fearsome Bloody Book and embarks on his own literary career.[2]

The names of many of the authors listed in The City of Dreaming Books are anagrams of famous authors. Below are a few listed in alphabetical order by the last name of the real-world author:

• Ojahnn Golgo van Fontheweg = Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
• Ergor Banco = Roger Bacon
• Lugo Blah (a Zamonian Gagaist) = Hugo Ball (a German Dadaist)
• Hornac de Bloaze = Honoré de Balzac
• Rashid el Clarebeau = Charles Baudelaire
• Bethelzia B. Binngrow = Elizabeth B. Browning
• Trebor Snurb = Robert Burns
• Selwi Rollcar = Lewis Carroll
• Auselm T. Edgecroil = Samuel T. Coleridge
• Asdrel Chickens = Charles Dickens
• Evsko Dosti = (Fyodor) Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Doylan Cone (Author of Sir Ginel) = Conan Doyle (author, among other works, of Sir Nigel)
• Samoth Yarg = Thomas Gray
• Dolreich Hirnfiedler = Friedrich Hölderlin
• Ugor Vochti = Victor Hugo
• Honj Steak = John Keats
• Melvin Hermalle = Herman Melville
• Gramerta Climelth (Author of Gone with the Tornado) = Margaret Mitchell
• Perla la Gadeon = Edgar Allan Poe
• Inka Almira Rierre = Rainer Maria Rilke
• T. T. Kreischwurst = Kurt Schwitters
• Aliesha Wimperslake = William Shakespeare
• Elo Slooty = Leo Tolstoy
• Rasco Elwid = Oscar Wilde
• Wamilli Swordthrow = William Wordsworth
• Rimidalv Vokoban (author of "Love and the Generation Gap") = Vladimir Nabokov (author of Lolita, about the paedophilic passion of a middle-aged European professor for the eponymous heroine)
• Gofid Letterkerl = Gottfried Keller
• Ertrob Slimu = Robert Musil

The City of Dreaming Books also contains fictional words, found in most of Moers' work. Some are onomatopoeic; others are amalgamations of existing words or Indo-European roots; still others are created by the author. Many such words can be found in Chapter 60. A sample of these are listed below:

• "fructodism:" the sensation experienced when squeezing an orange until it becomes soft.
• "rumbumblion:" the sound produced by a volcanic eruption.
• "indigabluntic:" one of a number of derogatory epithets.
• "nasodiscrepant:" a person whose nostrils are notably different in size.
• "glunk:" a sound some animals — including lindworms — can make with their teeth, indicating pleasure or satisfaction, particularly with a certain food