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A shipwrecked A. Clarence Shandon (aka Silverlock) is washed ashore in the mythical land of Commonwealth. He is befriended and guided through this land by a fellow named Golias, who seems to specialize in drinking beers and composing and singing ballads. The main fun of the novel is for the reader to identify the various literary and mythological characters who populate Commonwealth, as Silverlock encounters them. Unfortunately, there is not much of a story arc, other than a sequence of encounters with one character after the other, until the final section of the book. For example, I think Golias is actually Bishop Golias, famous from the satirical 12th century latin poem "Apocalypse of Golias ", which should give an idea just how obscure some of these characters are. (Thank goodness for Wikipedia).

In the final section, Silverlock is obliged to follow a quest that takes him to Hell, in the company of Faustopheles. Given the raving introductions, and stories about the book, written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle for this edition, I think it might be safe to say that this is the inspiration for their 1976 collaboration novel Inferno. With its drinking and filksongs, this book has been kept alive, in and out of publication, by its popularity among hard core fandom.