The triumphant return to the world of MYTHAGO WOOD, one of the greatest fantasy novels of the twentieth century
At the heart of Ryhope Wood, Steven and the mythago Guiwenneth live in the ruins of a Roman villa close to a haunted fortress from the Iron Age, from which Guiwenneth's myth arose. She is comfortable here, almost tied to the place, and Steven has long since abandoned all thought of returning to his own world. They have animals, protection and crops.
They also have two children, a combination of human and mythago. Jack is like his father, an active boy keen to know all about `the outer world'; Yssobel takes after her mother, even to her long auburn hair.
But this idyll cannot last. The hunters who protected Guiwenneth as a child have come to warn her she is in danger. Yssobel is dreaming increasingly of her Uncle Christian, Steven's brother, who disappeared into Lavondyss, and Jack wants to see 'the outer world' more than anything. Events are about to overtake them.
At the heart of the wildwood lies a place of mystery and legend, from which few return and none emerged unchanged: Lavondyss . . . the ultimate realm, the source of all myth.
When Harry Keeton disappeared into Ryhope Wood, his sister Tallis was just an infant. Now, thirteen years old, she hears him whispering to her from the Otherworld. He is in danger. He needs her help. Using masks, magic and clues left by her grandfather, she finds a way to enter the primitive forest and begin her search. Eventually she comes to Lavondyss itself, a realm both beautiful and deadly, a place in which she is changed forever . . .
Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood won the World Fantasy Award and is among the most praised post-war novels of the fantastical. In this haunting sequel, Lavondyss, we are returned to the Wildwood and the mythos that Holdstock has made his own.
Winner of the BSFA Award for best novel, 1989.
Deep within the wildwood lies a place of myth and mystery, from which few return, and of those few, none remain unchanged.
Ryhope Wood may look like a three-mile-square fenced-in wood in rural Herefordshire on the outside, but inside, it is a primeval, intricate labyrinth of trees, impossibly huge, unforgettable ... and stronger than time itself.
Stephen Huxley has already lost his father to the mysteries of Ryhope Wood. On his return from the Second World War, he finds his brother, Christopher, is also in thrall to the mysterious wood, wherein lies a realm where mythic archetypes grow flesh and blood, where love and beauty haunt your dreams, and in promises of freedom lies the sanctuary of insanity ...
Readers love Mythago Wood:
'6.0 stars. This book is a MASTERPIECE and will likely be on my list of "All Time Favourite" novels before too long' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Blimey, what a book! Genuine classic of mythological fiction.' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'An imaginative masterpiece has broken the boundaries of fantasy genre. In Mythagowood Myths manifest from characters's unfathomable desires. The mysterious forest which the protagonists are obsessed with is an original concept of legends, it rooted in subconscious mind arouses overwhelming power of human minds'. Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'To attempt to write a straightforward synopsis of Mythago Wood itself is almost to lose the very essence of the novel, to break away from the ethereal feeling which transcends the book.' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'I've seldomly read a book that is so rich and enthralling in its descriptions and really draws me into the mythical woods, where time flows differently, where your subconscious can conjure up archetypes and these can infringe upon your very real life outside of the forest.' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
The Merlin Codex brings together Robert Holdstock's Celtika, The Iron Grail and The Broken Kings in one superb omnibus.
Recounting a young Merlin's epic story, The Merlin Codex moves through the classical world of Jason (of the Argonauts fame) and his wife Medea. Jealously guarding his gift as every act of magic shortens his life, Merlin weaves his plots across the centuries, showing us echoes of the man and the stories we know from Arthurian legend.
Robert Holdstock was unanimously hailed by critics as the best contemporary author of SF and Fantasy. By mixing Greek and Celtic mythologies happily around an immortal character, Holdstock once again touches on the great universal myths as he did so brilliantly in his Mythago Wood saga, going beyond the limits of Fantasy.
Simon Bradley, a highly imaginative child, brain-damaged after a bizarre attack, vanishes one day from his home. Months later a body is found on the edge of Ryhope Wood. The wood shields a heart of primeval forest wherein live phantoms and strange creatures - mythagos - those shades generated over time by our dreams and nightmares.
Alex has in fact been absorbed by the wood, drawn into its green heart - through a 'hollowing'. There his dreams will continue to populate the wood with its mythagos. But like Alex, they too are damaged: the great heroes he conjures are warped, incomplete and dangerous. Savage and lost, they are compelled to seek their creator. The havoc they wreak threatens those who search for Alex, including his father, Richard.
In the end, it will threaten the very existence of the wood itself and of its natural mythagos. Richard must quest repeatedly through Ryhope's hollowings in an attempt to bring his son to safety and quiet the monsters Alex has created.
There his dreams continue to populate the wood with "mythagos", warped, dangerous hero figures, threatening all those who come in search of the boy.
From The SF Gateway, the most comprehensive digital library of classic SFF titles ever assembled, comes an ideal sample introduction to the fantastic work of Robert Holdstock, one of modern fantasy's most original and influential voices. Holdstock's Mythago Wood, winner of the World Fantasy Award for best novel, is regarded as the definitive treatment of the wildwood, and his Merlin Codex trilogy is one of the few truly original takes on the Arthurian legend. This omnibus contains two of his early SF novels: Earthwind and Where Time Winds Blow and a collection of his highly-acclaimed short fiction, In the Valley of the Statues.
Horror stalked the streets of Paris.
As a child Etoile had run with the wolves and killed with the wolves. Then he was brought to civilization and his past was forgotten. But not when the moon shone full! Then he could not fight the bestial urges his body felt. The wolves called Etoile and the animal within responded, compelling him to stalk the streets of Paris, thirsting with vulpine ferocity for the taste of blood.
The hill below the fortress of Taurovinda, stronghold of Urtha, High King of the Cornovidi, is coming alive: the Otherworldly realm of the Shadows of Heroes are claiming the land as their own. But this time their actions are driven by a force that is darker and older than even the oldest among the ghosts. Who or what is raising the Dead? Merlin, a temporary resident in the fortress, must answer that question if this time of kings and lovers is to be saved. Jason's wonderful ship, Argo, has returned, drawn back by her own guilty past, and a dreadful secret that she will reveal only to Merlin. Argo holds the key to the mystery. And Niiv, the bewitching, beautiful Northlands enchantress, is working her way even closer into Merlin's charms.
This is a journey that will take Merlin back in history, and to a fabled island of legend. Love is in the air. But at a price.
From the vaults of the SF Gateway, the most comprehensive digital library of classic SFF titles ever assembled, comes this republication of a trilogy of early, pseudonymous adventure tales by Robert Holdstock, WORLD FANTASY AWARD-winning author of MYTHAGO WOOD.
The Berserker books are raw, primeval stories of a young Norse warrior, cursed by the gods to a life of savage warfare. Possessed by an animal, ferocious rage - implacable, invincible - Harald Swiftaxe fights his way across the Celtic world in search of release from his curse and, finally, peace. The Berserker omnibus contains SHADOW OF THE WOLF, THE BULL CHIEF and THE HORNED WARRIOR.
Long before King Arthur is born to rule England, the enchanter Merlin is caught up in a tangled web of magic and mayhem, treachery, truth and heady enchantment
Seven centuries have passed since Merlin journeyed with Jason and his Argonauts to find the Golden Fleece. Merlin is immortal, but when he uses the charm that is knit deep in his bones, his body ages - and he has no wish to be old, so rather than squander his magic, he prefers to rely on his own intelligence and cunning.
Now the mage finds himself in Alba, the Island of Mists, beset by enemies both dead and Otherworldly, seeking both the children of the warlord Urtha, who have been kidnapped and taken to Ghostland, and Jason's younger son, Kinos (Little Dreamer), hidden by his enchantress mother, Medea in the Otherworld.
And now Merlin must use not just his own cunning and centuries of knowledge, but also the magic that permeates his body if he is to save his friends from fates truly worse than death itself.
Along the wild hills and forests of Britain, he was reborn as the Celt's mightiest warrior. Even as a boy, his mad bloodlust spread superstitious terror among friend and enemy alike. He was Swiftaxe, known as the Horned Warrior: half ghost, half man - and all killer . . .
The serenity of the countryside is shattered by the dark and brutal rituals of the past...
The Satanists
The undreamt-of horrors of the night herald, for them, the promise of eternal life, despite the memory of one man's shattered body nailed to a cross. But the Messiah has been dead two thousand years. Now is the time of the Anti-Christ...
From out of the bonds of slavery there arose a warrior...a warrior feared across all lands, a warrior whose blade was stained with the blood of thousands - man and beast - who smiled as she killed, with hair as gold as summer sun, eyes as blue as the heavens, and a body which invited only love yet dealt bloody, merciless death to her enemies.This was Raven, Swordsmistress of Chaos. It started on the night of the Summer Gathering in Haral. The Black One arose from the depths; killing, torturing, dismembering its victims. Panic ruled the City. The Priests of Lord Vedast claimed that, in fulfilling an ancient prophecy, Raven and Spellbinder were responsible for the carnage. And so the two found themselves powerless bait for the monster...a devil who aimed to make Raven, Mistress of the World - and murderer of Spellbinder!
Several years ago, Christian Huxley's father, George, obsessively documented the strange phenomena emanating from Ryhope Wood at the edge of their property. He watched the ancient heroes emerge, shouting both incomprehensible warnings and unmistakable invitations. Recklessly, George followed them inot the mysterious sylvan shadows that changed him forever.
Christian himself was not untouched by these living dreams. A childhood encounter with a phantom from another time draws him to the Wood as an adult. Deep in Ryhope, Christian uncovers the lie that permeates his worst nightmares. And like his father, he will be consumed with the mythagoes of Ryhope, especially a young Celtic warrior called Guiwenneth. She is the key to the mystery of the universe, an ancient heroine caught in a timeless tale of bravery and sacrifice.
Now, together with a band of crusaders from a world long gone, Christian and Guiwenneth become part of the unfolding stories both remembered and forgotten. They meet sorcerers in battle and giants who can travel miles in one step. And they discover the meaning of the two gates, Ivory and Horn - one the lie, the other the truth.
From out of the bonds of slavery there arose a warrior...a warrior feared across all lands, a warrior whose blade was stained with the blood of thousands - man and beast - who smiled as she killed, with hair as gold as summer sun, eyes as blue as the heavens, and a body which invited only love yet dealt bloody, merciless death to her enemies.This was Raven, Swordsmistress of Chaos. And so she was chosen; a simple girl plucked from the slavepens of Lyand by the sorcerer-priests and schooled in every art of weaponry until no mere man could defeat her - in any form of physical combat.Together with her mysterious companion, Spellbinder, and the great black bird which watched over them, RAVEN set forth to meet her destiny. Her first quest, to find the Skull of Quez and return it to its rightful owner, for only by so doing could she gain the chance to slaughter Karl ir Donwayne - the depraved monster whose tortures she could never forget...
A slave that became a warrior, the flamboyant Raven is back. And the dreaded mage Belthis stands again in her way. Along with the mercenary Spellbinder, the young woman will try everything to make his plans fail - until an old shadow, which she believed to be gone, resurfaces ...
The unthinkable has occurred. The wall of thoughts, barrier against the unknown, had been breached, unleashing a dark force into the world - the Ghost Lords of Uthganaar. These evil creatures had united the northern tribes of the world heart behind them and were set to conquer the world. Only Raven could stop them. Together with Warlock Spellbinder and the valiant tribesman Silver, she undertook an arduous and perilous journey - to the mysterious obsidian tower to learn the secret of the Ghost Lords and their invincible yellow sword - and beyond the Lost Lands to the worlds end itself.
In those days Broceliande was a terrible place, an ancient gloomy forest growing over misty dells, forgotten stones, a place of hidden lakes and strangling thickets. Though the true heart of Broceliande could never be found, the stink of its corruption oozed from the edgewood, shedding ghosts like autumn leaves. This was the forest of legend, where Merlin had come to dream his magic and the enchantress Vivien had come to beguile that magic from him.
Martin and Rebecca have long since fled the forest, but when they are forced to return years later for their mother's funeral, they are at once ensnared in the forest's net of enchantment, an evil that has held the local villages in a root-strong grip. And when Rebecca gives birth to Daniel, a beautiful child who is deaf, dumb and blind, she finds herself sucked into a twilight world where she can see only strange, mysterious shadows.
From the landscapes of prehistory to 40th millennium AD, from post-war England to the full canvas of the inhabited galaxy, Robert Holdstock's haunting mythic imagination weaves eight stories of arresting power and ingenuity.
Includes the original story from which the World Fantasy Award-winning novel, Mythago Wood, was expanded.
'A planet where eerie time displacements, like winds, can dump alien artefacts from the past and future into now, or sweep things away from now into anywhen.'
'A planet that attracts both scientists and fortune hunters, rummaging among the strangenesses, risking oblivion, carrying with them their own hang-ups, desperations, odd urges and searches.
'You won't easily forget this haunting, fully-realised world.' TRIBUNE.
Out on the bleak coast, the land itself held memories of blood and betrayal. Memories that had summoned both the evil and the innocent in a dark and hellborn quest.
For Dan Brady the talisman could be a precious clue in his desperate quest to discover where the occult power that had abducted his family was keeping them. But a force had been unleashed, a foulness from the dark past that threatened a whole community.
And only Dan Brady could confront it.
She looked like an ordinary Indian girl. But within her she carried a burden of evil, a force that yearned to rend and destroy. And she had travelled 3000 miles, crossing plains, seas and mountains, to bring that force to Arachne.
Arachne - the obscene occult power that had seized Dan Brady's wife and children and still held them in its evil clutches. Its strength was growing, its tentacles reaching out to trap and enslave the innocent and the unwary.
And now, in a bleak mountain village, Dan Brady, the Night Hunter, prepared to confront a horror that could finally destroy him and all he held dear.
When Odin's curse fell upon him, Harald Swiftaxe, the young Norse warrior, lusty in love and battle, was fully human no longer. He was incensed with the animal rage of the god's devotees, the Berserkers. The snarling ferocious savagery of the bear possessed him. Immune to fire and steel, frenzied by the smell of blood and the sight of torn human flesh, he was driven to the worst of human deeds . . . The stench of fear was meat and drink to him, and cowering women learned of his cruel, insatiable lust.
The bear screeched its ecstasy - yet at times the man dimly understood the horror. Could the demon god be killed, the spell lifted...? If there was a way, the price of failure would be high, greater than death itself . . .
