Mythago Wood

[Wabbit]

Has anybody read any of the Mythago Wood books by Robert Holdstock? I have read the first two books and really liked them a lot. They have two of my fav elements in them. Magic and forests

Anybody read them/like them?

If you have not read any of them, I can recommend them! There are four books in the cycle. As far as I know, the books are self contained stories. At least, the first two were self contained.

 

[MEYERTREE]

refresh my memory on the plot of mythago wood.
the title is familiar

 

[Thea]

Mythago Wood and Lavondyss are two of my favorite books ever, especially Lavondyss. I still haven't read the following books in the series but I am planning on it. The amount of description and imagination that went into the story is simply breathtaking, and I don't think it's going too far to consider Lavondyss a masterpiece of fantasy. Or maybe I'm just a silly fangirl.

What I enjoy the most about the books is the use of archetypes without any attempt to explain where they came from or why they exist. The story and the characters simply are what they are, and getting caught up in the mystery of it all is quite chilling. It is one of very few stories that I have had strong physical and emotional reactions too. I keep recommending these books to everyone I know.

 

[Wabbit]

GREAT! Somebody else has read them!

Glad you like them too. Yes, they are amazing books. I have been thinking about them a lot recently ( for some unknown reason ) and will read both Mythago Wood and Lavondyss again soon.

I would also like to get the other two books and read them.

refresh my memory on the plot of mythago wood.
the title is familiar

OK, here you go...

Book Description
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.

 

[AJ_]

I've read Mythago Wood. I thought it was alright. It seemed more directed to a male audience though.

 

[Brys]

I haven't read it yet - I'm waiting for the Fantasy Masterworks edition to be published. It won both World fantasy award and British Science Fiction Award, so it's pretty much a must read for me.

 

[mrkgnao]

I read Mythago Wood ages ago, and I don't remember much except them wandering around in a forest that was more or less all forests in all English myths and stories ever, and (thus) my really liking it! It's on my reread list, and it sounds as though I'll need to put Lavondyss on the TBR...

*mrkgnao*

 

[PSYCO]

I read Mythago Wood last year and immediately picked up Lavondyss afterward. Unfortunately I haven't gotten a chance to read it yet but loved the first book.

 

[direstraits]

I read Mythago Wood when I was too young to really appreciate it. I still don't think I'd be able to appreciate it fully now, as my mind has been influenced by the images in my head the first time I read it.

The most powerful images in my mind of that book is a beautiful but shy and quiet girl who wanders into our hero's life. And that the brothers kiss in the lips. That scarred my impressionable and fragile mind.

I've just read Holdstock's Celtika, and have yet to write a short writeup of it. Will do that soon. My initial impression of the book was it reminded me a lot about Mythago Wood because of the way he describes trees and wildwood and magic. All that fog and eerie shadows passing this way and that in Celtika really made me think for a second that this guy is rewriting MW.

ds

 

[Self]

I read Mythago Wood a long time ago and enjoyed it. I own Lavondyss and The Bone Forest (I think it's called!) but have not read them - there always seems to be something that takes precedence.