1985: Mythago Wood

The Mythago Wood series explores a magical wood that has produced every mythical and legendary character that ever existed in any culture. The wood is a place where space and time don't follow the usual rules. It's a place of sheer unbridled brutality blended with wondrous and everlasting love. Mythago Wood tells the story of Steve Huxley, a young man who returns to his childhood home and renews his obsession with the nearby wood. He discovers that the wood creates magical creatures, called mythagos, that are ingrained in the mythic classics from various unique cultures. Entangled in a romantic quarrel with his brother, who has also in his own way merged with the wood, Steve embarks on a quest to rescue his love, an exotic being whose history dates back to Roman times.Why it's on the listMythago Wood is quite simply one of the best Fantasy novels ever written, a story refreshingly different to the usual suspects in this genre (no orcs, no wizards, no dwarves or elves), gripping from the beginning to the end. Holdstock manages to create an atmosphere that is immersing: you can almost see the green of the leaves, smell the forest scents and touch the softness of the moss as if you were strolling amongst the trees with the heroes. These engrossing qualities captivate the reader, bind them up in living branches of wonder and mystery, and keep them guessing long after the book is finished. What you have here is a journey that can't be missed, a trip that absolutely must be taken.Read if you likeBritish mythology

Booklists having this book

World Fantasy Awards for Best Novel

Each year the World Fantasy Convention awards the years best English language fantasy fiction with the respected World Fantasy Awards prize.The World Fantasy Awards are, together with the Hugo and... Read more

Other books by Holdstock, Robert

Mythago Wood

'Unique' is a vastly overused word. It has about as much meaning as Kim K's twitter feed. But in the case of Mythago Wood, it's warranted. Firstly, Holdstock tells the... Read more

Lavondyss

The Bone Forest

A collection of eight short stories set in a mystical wood features a snow woman, a scientist succumbing to an age-old madness, roaming demons, conjurers working their pagan magic, and... Read more

The Mythago Cycle

A wonderfully beautiful novel that explores the ideas of myth and reality and the connection between the two. You'll find here a hauntingly story about a primeval forest somewhere undefined... Read more

Merlin's Wood

A powerful and compelling return to Robert Holdstock's award-winning Mythago cycle. Read more

Gate Of Ivory

Magic is what lures people like anthropology student Theodora to the exotic, dangerous world of Ivory, where everything is for sale and magic really works. But cut off from her... Read more

Avilion

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... Read more

The Hollowing

After the disappearance of his son into the mysterious depths of Ryhope Wood, a father braves the powerful forces of the strange, magical forest on a quest that takes him... Read more

Gate Of Ivory Gate Of Horn

A son searching for his father in a British forest discovers a world teeming with live mythological characters. One of them is a Celtic princess-warrior and he falls in love... Read more

Mythago Wood (1985)

Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock Â won the 1985 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel Read more

1985: Mythago Wood

The Mythago Wood series explores a magical wood that has produced every mythical and legendary character that ever existed in any culture. The wood is a place where space and... Read more