Mythago Wood

by Robert Holdstock

Overview

Myth and Terror in the Forest Deeps

The mystery of Ryhope Wood, Britain's last fragment of primeval forest, consumed George Huxley's entire long life. Now, after his death, his sons have taken up his work. But what they discover is numinous and perilous beyond all expectation.

For the Wood, larger inside than out, is a labyrinth full of myths come to life, "mythagos" that can change you forever. A labyrinth where love and beauty haunt your dreams. . .and may drive you insane.

"Utterly enthralling."
--Times Literary Supplement

"Robert Holdstock's is one of the voices at the very heart of modern fantasy."
-Guy Gavriel Kay

"One of the strangest, most beautiful and most compelling fantasies I have ever read. A marvel of a book." --Keith Roberts

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765307293
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/01/2003
Series:	The Mythago Cycle , #1
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.74(d)

About the Author

ROBERT HOLDSTOCK (1948-2009) was widely regarded as one of the greatest fantasists of his time. Mythago Wood (1984), the novel that made his reputation, won the World Fantasy and BSFA Awards. Among its several sequels, Lavondyss (1988) won the BFSA Award. His interest in Celtic and Nordic mythology was prominently reflected in his accalimed Merlin Codex trilogy, consisting of Celtika, The Iron Grail, and The Broken Kings, published between 2001 and 2007.

Editorial Reviews

Holdstock's fantasy of a surviving primeval forest where legends and tribes of different ages coexist draws power from the myths, archetypes and literary conventions it embodies. The long, Wellsian introduction to the Huxley family and their fascination with Ryhope Wood slowly moves toward a civilized British confrontation with the wilderness and savagery. Unaware of the consequences, Steve Huxley falls in love with the latest incarnation of beautiful Guiwenneth of the greenwoodas his father and brother had before him. When she is kidnapped, his attempt to find her becomes a quest leading to the heart of the mysterious wood. Although it takes its time getting started, and occasionally reminds us that it was expanded from a short story, this is a winning novel with a fine feeling for the interface between airy dreams and sweaty reality. Science Fiction Book Club main selection. Foreign rights: Ellen Levine. November 20

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Fans of literate horror will welcome the trade paper edition of Caitlin Kiernan's Low Red Moon, published in limited hardcover by Subterranean (Forecasts, July 21). PW called it "a memorable expansion of the author's unique fictional universe." Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

A classic of the literature of fantasy . . . Ryhope Wood [is], like so many other people and things, bigger and strangers and much more alive and dangerous the further you go.”—Neil Gaiman

“One of the defining fantasy novels of the last 50 years . . . A writer whose work matches the power of J.R.R. Tolkien, without being either a copy or a simple reaction.”—The Guardian

“A powerful and profound work of creation which I believe will be read, not merely in the present, but in a hundred years' time.”—Brian Aldiss

“Utterly enthralling.”—Times Literary Supplement

“Robert Holdstock's is one of the voices at the very heart of modern fantasy.”—Guy Gavriel Kay

“A writer of both heart and fire.”—The Times of London

“I found Mythago Wood hard to shake off.”—The New York Times

“One of the strangest, most beautiful, and most compelling fantasies I have ever read. A marvel of a book.”—Keith Roberts

From the Publisher