Worm is a self-published web serial by John C. "Wildbow" McCrae that aims to subvert and play with common tropes and themes of superhero fiction. As McCrae's first novel,[4] Worm features a bullied teenage girl, Taylor Hebert, who develops the superpower to control worms, insects, arachnids and other simple lifeforms.[6] Using a combination of ingenuity, idealism, and brutality, she struggles to do the right thing in a dark world filled with moral ambiguity.[7][8] It is one of the most popular web serials on the internet,[9][10] with a readership in the hundreds of thousands.[2]

Publication [ edit ]

Worm was first published as an online serial with two to three chapters released every week. It began online publishing in June 2011 and continued until November 2013,[11] totalling 1,682,400 words.

The story was written at a rate of up to 11,000 words per day,[10][7] comparable to a traditional book being published every month.[10] It followed a strict publication schedule,[10][4] with new chapters released every Tuesday and Saturday, and bonus chapters on Thursdays as rewards for donations.[12] These chapters generally were composed into "Arcs" that would cover one specific series of events and generally take place over six to twelve chapters. Every plot arc concludes with an interlude showing the point of view of a side character. The site's reader base grew entirely by word of mouth. McCrae originally assumed it would attract only a small readership, and never advertised.[7] It maintains a very high level of readership which peaked at over 80,000 unique visitors in June 2015,[13] nearly two years after it had been completed.

Worm is currently being edited, and McCrae plans to produce both an eBook version and a physical book via traditional publishing.[10] . A Worm fan made audiobook project was launched in June 2014 and completed on the same month in 2016.[14]

Backstory [ edit ]

Setting [ edit ]

Worm is set in a fictional, alternate universe known as 'Earth Bet'. The events of Earth Bet closely follow that of our own Earth until a naked, golden man named 'Scion' appears over the ocean in 1982. Following his appearance, a fraction of humans develop the ability to gain superpowers when placed in an incredibly traumatic and stressful situation, known in-story as a trigger event.

The arrival of parahumans in 1982 leads to a 'Golden Age of Heroism', during which the majority of people with powers work for the public good. In 1989, after a parahuman died trying to prevent a riot, superpowered serial killers, thieves, cults, and gang members began to increasingly threaten the safety of the public. In response, various governments worldwide create agencies to act as a counter against parahuman criminals. The governments of Canada and the United States cooperated to create the Parahuman Response Team, or 'PRT', a combined military and police force tasked with protecting the public from empowered criminals.

In 1992, a giant monster launches a devastating attack on the Marun Field, Iran. To adequately prepare humanity for future attacks, and to manage the growing villain population, four prominent heroes form the Protectorate, an organization dedicated to cooperation among superheroes and subordinate to the PRT. As time passed, two more monsters appeared and began attacking various cities across the planet. These monsters, named after the mythical creatures Behemoth, Leviathan, and Simurgh, were collectively referred to as Endbringers. Their attacks had led to the loss of millions of lives, as well as catastrophic and irreversible economic and geographic damage.

All of these events have led to a grim atmosphere. The threat of Endbringer attacks constantly looms over both the PRT and Protectorate, forcing them to use restraint in combating parahuman crime because they require the assistance of villains to combat Endbringers. Mired in bureaucracy and politics, the PRT is increasingly unable to cope with the growing frequency and brutality of parahuman crimes in cities.

The story is set in the fictitious city of Brockton Bay, a formerly wealthy port that has severely declined due to the collapse of the shipping industry caused by attacks from Leviathan. Due to the extremely poor economic conditions of the area, it has a higher number of parahumans per capita than any other American city, and a number of superhuman-led gangs vie for control over the city's criminal enterprises.

Powers [ edit ]

Individuals who possess powers in Worm are referred to either by the term "parahuman" or by the in-setting slang term "Cape", a term referencing the general habit of parahumans to establish an alter ego and go out in costume.

In order to acquire a power in Worm, one must suffer a trigger event: a moment of severe physical or psychological trauma. The properties of the power are influenced by the nature of the threat the individual faces and the individual's thought process at the time. When placed under extreme stress, some parahumans can trigger a second time, expanding and refining their powers to increase the odds of survival. In rare cases, multiple individuals may suffer a simultaneous trigger event. Individuals who have spent multiple years around capes will, on occasion, trigger with a similar power. These individuals are generally referred to as "second generation capes" as many are children of previous parahumans, although powers are not strictly speaking heritable.

Alternatively, powers can be acquired through Cauldron, a shadowy group which has discovered a method to artificially induce powers. This process carries a significant risk of deformation or mutilation, with the strength or safety of powers acquired varying greatly. Individuals who acquire powers via Cauldron and are mutated often have their memories wiped and are referred to as Case-53s.

Powers in Worm obey several arbitrary constraints. All powers can be used aggressively, regardless of manifestation. Thus healers are incredibly rare and often have other abilities as well. Another limitation is the 'Manton effect': a parahuman's abilities very rarely affect both organic and inorganic material, and both themselves and others.

Synopsis [ edit ]

Taylor Hebert is a “parahuman” – a person with superhuman abilities – who has developed the power to sense and control bugs following a traumatic event. She lives in the fictional city of Brockton Bay, a hotspot of parahuman activity. Taylor is bullied at school and seeks escape as a superhero, but on her first night out in costume, she is mistaken for a villain by other villains after defeating a gang leader. She joins a team of thieves known as the Undersiders, hoping to gain information and turn them in to the authorities. However, the heroes prove singularly unhelpful, and Taylor grows increasingly close to the Undersiders while drifting away from her father.

Following a monster attack on the city, in which a number of named characters die, Taylor – now known by the supervillain name "Skitter" – re-joins the Undersiders in earnest. She operates as a makeshift warlord in the ruined city, protecting the citizens of her territory. A girl with the ability to see the future reveals that one particularly notorious villain is going to destroy the world if not stopped. Taylor fights a number of particularly powerful villains, some of whom reveal corruption within the hero teams. The situation escalates and Taylor's secret identity is revealed. As a result, conflicts between the Undersiders and the authorities grow ever more heated, culminating in the death of the heroes’ leader and Skitter surrendering to the authorities.

After surrendering, Taylor joins the heroes as the probationary superhero "Weaver". Soon afterward, there is a timeskip where she works her way through their ranks, and two years pass. Weaver leads several teams of both heroes and villains to attempt to prevent the world from ending, first at the hand of the prophesied villain, and then at the hand of the world's most powerful hero, found to secretly be responsible for all other powers. A series of epilogues follow detailing the fates of various characters, including Taylor.

Themes [ edit ]

Hal Wierzbicki of entertainment site C0ws observed that

If I had to identify a theme running through all of Worm, it’s Taylor wanting to make the world a better place, a safer place, for herself, her family and her friends. If I had to pick a second theme, it would be that those good intentions aren’t enough. Taylor seems to make the best decision at any possible moment, the decision that gets her out of a losing fight, the decision that saves the lives of her friends, the decision that wins a battle. Yet, in doing so, things just get worse.[11]

Gavin Scott Williams suggested that the story contains an "undercurrent" of the idea that "sometimes you have to go outside the rules to do the right thing".[15] Several authors have compared the story to Alan Moore's Watchmen,[16][17] as well as the character of Spider-Man and his themes of responsibility,[16][18] although McCrae has stated in interviews that no one author has heavily influenced him.[4]

The title Worm has multiple potential meanings. It has been connected to the protagonist's character development, as a "lowly, overlooked" person who is nonetheless useful and dangerous; drawing a parallel with the protagonist's power to control worms and other bugs.[15][18] The arc titles also generally have double meanings.[19]

Several reviewers have described the serial as an exercise in repeatedly escalating the stakes of the story.[16][20]

A number of reviewers have noted the characters' ingenuity, and the original and creative use of superpowers in the narrative.[11][18][20] Author Adam Sherman described one of the recurring themes of the story as "that powers don’t really make the person, it's the person who makes the power". McCrae has described how he would regularly write himself into corners, so that "the desperate gambits we see are echoed by my writerly desperation to figure out a way to keep things going."[4] G.S Williams drew a parallel between the protagonist's power being seemingly underwhelming, and her being overlooked in her civilian life, and the broader theme of things being overlooked.[15]

Reception [ edit ]

Worm has received almost entirely favorable reviews.[19][18][21] It received substantial attention following a favorable review by author Gavin Scott Williams roughly six months into publication, which praised the story's themes and originality.[7][15] Readership doubled when it was recommended by author Eliezer Yudkowsky on his website while the story was in its final months.[4]

Critics favorably compared it to the similar-length book series A Song of Ice and Fire.[1][17] Matt Freeman of Daly Planet Films praised the story's originality, noting that it works as a science fiction story to a degree not found in most works of superhero fiction.[16] Media site Toolsandtoys.net published a review by Chris Gonzales, who described it as "one of my favorite stories ever written". However, he also noted that it was "dark", warning "definitely don’t hand this to a kid to read". Chris Ellis of Ergohacks.com noted that the story "managed to hit every single trigger warning we have listed", but called it "among the best books and universes I’ve ever read."[22]

Reviewers have praised the story's realism and use of consequences, contrasting it favorably with the tendency for characters to return from the dead in superhero comic books and films.[6][16] Many praised the story's originality and creative use of superpowers.[11][18] Several reviewers commended the detail, consistency, and depth of the setting.[23][24]

Several reviews praised the story as being highly addictive.[1][16]

The story also possesses a sizable online fanbase. It receives 40-60 visitors a day from TV Tropes alone.[7] Fans of the story have collaborated to create a complete audio book, as well as other projects, such as the We've Got Worm podcast, a weekly arc-by-arc podcast with a first-time reader and a Worm expert.[25][26] Fan art relating to the novel has been published on DeviantArt, as well as a large amount of fan fiction[1][10] There is an IRC chatroom established for readers to comment and discuss the story, which is constantly active, as well as communities of fans on a number of online forums.[7] Worm, along with McCrae's other completed works Pact and Twig, as well as the in-progress Worm sequel, Ward, are consistently among the highest-rated works on ratings site TopWebFiction,[1] and Worm is the highest-rated work on several websites that collect serial fiction.[10][12] Worm has an average rating of 4.67 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, with over 3000 user rankings.[27] Of these users, 99% liked the book.[27]

Several publications have discussed Worm within the context of the increasing popularity of web serials,[2][11][16] and compared to the work of authors such as Charles Dickens and Mark Twain, who also wrote in the serial format.[2][16] Authors Olivia Rising and Adam Sherman have credited it as a decisive influence on their work.[9][28]

A number of companies have approached McCrae to discuss adapting Worm, as well as another of his serials, Twig. However, McCrae takes a pessimistic view of whether it will be successfully adapted.[19]

Sequel [ edit ]

In October 2017, McCrae announced on his blog that a sequel to Worm would be released.[29] The interim story arc, Glow-worm, was released beginning October 21, 2017,[30] and the sequel, Ward, featuring protagonist Victoria Dallon, began serialization on November 11, 2017.[31] The sequel is set after the events of Worm.



