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Mythago Wood #3
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 more. Original.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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About the author
Robert Holdstock
99 books398 followersRobert Paul Holdstock was an English novelist and author who is best known for his works of fantasy literature, predominantly in the fantasy subgenre of mythic fiction.
Holdstock's writing was first published in 1968. His science fiction and fantasy works explore philosophical, psychological, anthropological, spiritual, and woodland themes. He has received three BSFA awards and won the World Fantasy Award in the category of Best Novel in 1985.
Pseudonyms are Chris Carlsen, Robert Faulcon,Robert Black, Steven Eisler and Richard Kirk.
Holdstock's writing was first published in 1968. His science fiction and fantasy works explore philosophical, psychological, anthropological, spiritual, and woodland themes. He has received three BSFA awards and won the World Fantasy Award in the category of Best Novel in 1985.
Pseudonyms are Chris Carlsen, Robert Faulcon,Robert Black, Steven Eisler and Richard Kirk.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
March 10, 2025
Our Father, who art in the Forest
Horned One is Thy name.
This collection is for those who have already walked the dark, labyrinthine paths of that bit of primeval forest known as Ryhope Wood. If you have not yet discovered that dark and eerie bit of Jungian, sentient real estate through reading the first book in this series, Mythago Wood, you may find yourself lost in these tales.
It’s primarily the title story (which is also the longest) that puts this short story collection into the Mythago Wood series. Several of the other tales seem to be set in or near the Wood far in the past, and fit thematically, expanding and deepening the mystery of Ryhope. The weakest stories in the collection are those with the least discernible connection to Ryhope or the Mythagos.
Bone Forest
This novella, a direct prequel to Mythago Wood, follows George Huxley (the deceased father from the first book) as he pursues his dark obsession with Ryhope Wood. His terrifying and horrific encounter in the wood with a female mythago shaman puts his wife, his collaborator Wynne-Jones, and his young son Steven all in grave peril from his own ghostly doppelgänger, and threatens the fabric of his reality. This tale feels more like psychological horror than fantasy, and complicates the already labyrinthine story-line of the series.
4 ⭐️
Thorn
A medieval mason has been recruited by the Green Man to carve his image in a secret place in the new church that’s being constructed in the village, thereby claiming the shrine as his own no matter what rites are publicly celebrated there. The mason works at night and in secret, fearing that, if discovered, he may end up in the gibbet that hangs just outside Thorn’s shadowy forest. But, to his great peril, the mason doesn’t understand the nature of the bargain he’s made, and has misjudged the attitudes of his friends and neighbors.
4 ⭐️
The Shapechanger
This story emphasizes the time distortion of Ryhope Wood. Set in about the eighth century, an ancient shaman, known only as the Wolfhead, has been summoned to exorcise a demon who is haunting a Saxon village. Together with his ten year old apprentice, Inkmaker, he discovers that the demon-haunting has taken the form of a distressed child who is conjuring mythagos from a book of legends. Wolfhead recognizes a name he encountered centuries past — a Roman-Briton, yet the child is conjuring legends not yet written in Wolfhead’s time. The time inversion, the tormented future child, the mysterious Wolfhead and his excellently developed young apprentices, Inkmaker, all combine for a dark and eerie tale that deepens the lore of Ryhope Wood.
3 1/2 ⭐️
The Boy Who Jumped the Rapids
The young son of a village chieftain is an outcast and pariah because he is not effected by the powerful illusion magics of the forest like everyone else. And an outsider, a warrior from across the sea, is making the villagers uneasy as he builds a mysterious shrine outside the village. Their parallel stories both deepen the mystery and confusion of the inexplicable wood, without making much sense.
2 1/2 ⭐️
Time of the Tree
Human landscape? Body as world? Man gone mad? You are not really intended to understand what is going on in this story. It is Holdstock taking his qualities of impenetrableness and inexplicably to the extreme.
1 1/2 ⭐️
Magic Man
The old, one-eyed cave painter in a prehistoric hunting tribe serves as a kind of shaman, as his paintings in the sacred cave predict the next day’s hunt, drawing in the beast the hunters will slay. The chief hunter hates the old artist, denies his art has any power, and threatens his life. The painter/shaman uses his art to attempt to subvert his powerful opponent, but his plan is foiled by his enthusiastic, young apprentice. As is typical of Holdstock’s stories, this one doesn’t end well for anyone.
4 ⭐️
Scarrowfell
Folk horror — as the village excitingly prepares for the celebration of Lord’s Eve, young Ginny has been disturbed by nightmares. But as the day itself arrives, Ginny seems to be caught in a living nightmare. Creepy and atmospheric.
3 ⭐️
The Time Beyond Age
While this science fiction tale appears to have some tangential, thematic link to the rest of the collection, it still struck a harsh note for me after all the previous stories were variations of dark fantasy and folk horror.
2 ⭐️
Horned One is Thy name.
This collection is for those who have already walked the dark, labyrinthine paths of that bit of primeval forest known as Ryhope Wood. If you have not yet discovered that dark and eerie bit of Jungian, sentient real estate through reading the first book in this series, Mythago Wood, you may find yourself lost in these tales.
It’s primarily the title story (which is also the longest) that puts this short story collection into the Mythago Wood series. Several of the other tales seem to be set in or near the Wood far in the past, and fit thematically, expanding and deepening the mystery of Ryhope. The weakest stories in the collection are those with the least discernible connection to Ryhope or the Mythagos.
Bone Forest
This novella, a direct prequel to Mythago Wood, follows George Huxley (the deceased father from the first book) as he pursues his dark obsession with Ryhope Wood. His terrifying and horrific encounter in the wood with a female mythago shaman puts his wife, his collaborator Wynne-Jones, and his young son Steven all in grave peril from his own ghostly doppelgänger, and threatens the fabric of his reality. This tale feels more like psychological horror than fantasy, and complicates the already labyrinthine story-line of the series.
4 ⭐️
Thorn
A medieval mason has been recruited by the Green Man to carve his image in a secret place in the new church that’s being constructed in the village, thereby claiming the shrine as his own no matter what rites are publicly celebrated there. The mason works at night and in secret, fearing that, if discovered, he may end up in the gibbet that hangs just outside Thorn’s shadowy forest. But, to his great peril, the mason doesn’t understand the nature of the bargain he’s made, and has misjudged the attitudes of his friends and neighbors.
4 ⭐️
The Shapechanger
This story emphasizes the time distortion of Ryhope Wood. Set in about the eighth century, an ancient shaman, known only as the Wolfhead, has been summoned to exorcise a demon who is haunting a Saxon village. Together with his ten year old apprentice, Inkmaker, he discovers that the demon-haunting has taken the form of a distressed child who is conjuring mythagos from a book of legends. Wolfhead recognizes a name he encountered centuries past — a Roman-Briton, yet the child is conjuring legends not yet written in Wolfhead’s time. The time inversion, the tormented future child, the mysterious Wolfhead and his excellently developed young apprentices, Inkmaker, all combine for a dark and eerie tale that deepens the lore of Ryhope Wood.
3 1/2 ⭐️
The Boy Who Jumped the Rapids
The young son of a village chieftain is an outcast and pariah because he is not effected by the powerful illusion magics of the forest like everyone else. And an outsider, a warrior from across the sea, is making the villagers uneasy as he builds a mysterious shrine outside the village. Their parallel stories both deepen the mystery and confusion of the inexplicable wood, without making much sense.
2 1/2 ⭐️
Time of the Tree
Human landscape? Body as world? Man gone mad? You are not really intended to understand what is going on in this story. It is Holdstock taking his qualities of impenetrableness and inexplicably to the extreme.
1 1/2 ⭐️
Magic Man
The old, one-eyed cave painter in a prehistoric hunting tribe serves as a kind of shaman, as his paintings in the sacred cave predict the next day’s hunt, drawing in the beast the hunters will slay. The chief hunter hates the old artist, denies his art has any power, and threatens his life. The painter/shaman uses his art to attempt to subvert his powerful opponent, but his plan is foiled by his enthusiastic, young apprentice. As is typical of Holdstock’s stories, this one doesn’t end well for anyone.
4 ⭐️
Scarrowfell
Folk horror — as the village excitingly prepares for the celebration of Lord’s Eve, young Ginny has been disturbed by nightmares. But as the day itself arrives, Ginny seems to be caught in a living nightmare. Creepy and atmospheric.
3 ⭐️
The Time Beyond Age
While this science fiction tale appears to have some tangential, thematic link to the rest of the collection, it still struck a harsh note for me after all the previous stories were variations of dark fantasy and folk horror.
2 ⭐️
February 20, 2018
Very good collection, mostly fantasy, yet treading the dark edge of horror, rather than adventure or whimsey. Mostly worth it for the title novella and “Thorn,” but no outright clunkers. In detail:
• “The Bone Forest”–This is a prequel novella to Holdstock’s Mythago Wood and Lavondyss, I believe. It stands alone fine. This reminded me of Jonathan Carroll–what his writing would be like if he allowed himself to lose himself within the fantasy rather than playing on the dividing line between fantasy and “reality” (I read recently that Vladimir Nabokov recommends always enclosing the word “reality” in quote marks). The mythago idea is a powerful one, and provides plenty of material that Holdstock could work through for years. Yet, he seems to shy away from the epic, instead concentrating on individual stories–mano a mano with the wood. I have to admit that I think that I admire him for that.
• “Thorn”–Another powerful story, this time about a man led into a belief then believed betrayed. And, yet, was he? There’s a sense of both here. That what the man was being led to was right; that what was being done to him was wrong. But was it wrong, or just different? It reminds me of some of the cultural anthropology that I’ve been reading recently–what is one group’s delicacy is another’s abomination. What is moral in one group is highly irregular, if not immoral, in another. Excellent story to bring that out.
• “The Shapechanger”–Nice, yet not as good as the others. First, the good things. Excellent use of pagan magic and relationship between the old shaman and young, inexperienced and somewhat reluctant apprentice. Sense of danger high and yet not silly. But then, as we learn more of the daemon–the child haunting the past from the future–the idea goes downhill. Not necessarily Holdstock’s fault; battered children are, unfortunately, an overused element in today’s fantasy and horror fiction. While this might have been fresh at the time it was written, it appears old hat to us now. Still, the writing and pacing are excellent, and worth reading.
• “The Boy Who Jumped the Rapids”–Didn’t like this one so much…I think because it didn’t seem to complete itself. The elements are all there and fine–conflict, action, meaning–yet it seemed less cohesive than it should. The central mystery, the horned stranger, is resolved, but the secondary mystery, Caylon’s ability to ford the river, seems like it is resolved yet again doesn’t. Maybe it’s the interplay of the two, and trying to figure out what one theme does to the other.
• “Time of the Tree”–Very Borgesian. What it means, I don’t know, but the style, the description, are interesting. The world on man? The Earth as man? Strange–also reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s story about the beached giant.
• “Magic Man”–Well done pre-history story. I tend not to like Clan of the Cave Bear stories, so it had to get over that bias of mine. Good description, good conflict, and nice twist at the end.
• “Scarrowfell”–Like “Thorn,” a pagan fantasy/horror, playing with the modern reader’s normal Christian assumptions, then removing the veil to show the true meaning. Much of Holdstock’s work dabbles in the pagan–Mythago Wood makes a point that what we perceive as history is just the last link in a long chain of myths. It certainly differentiates his fantasies from those of others.
• “The Time Beyond Age”–This is science fiction; the rest of the book has been fantasy. Yet there’s a similarity here with the fantasy. Again, the focus is on obsession and the need to study something and understand it (as with the title novella), but the very act of studying drives the observer into contact with the phenomena and, ultimately, ruins any chances for objective advancement of knowledge. Basically, it’s the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle made fictive.
• “The Bone Forest”–This is a prequel novella to Holdstock’s Mythago Wood and Lavondyss, I believe. It stands alone fine. This reminded me of Jonathan Carroll–what his writing would be like if he allowed himself to lose himself within the fantasy rather than playing on the dividing line between fantasy and “reality” (I read recently that Vladimir Nabokov recommends always enclosing the word “reality” in quote marks). The mythago idea is a powerful one, and provides plenty of material that Holdstock could work through for years. Yet, he seems to shy away from the epic, instead concentrating on individual stories–mano a mano with the wood. I have to admit that I think that I admire him for that.
• “Thorn”–Another powerful story, this time about a man led into a belief then believed betrayed. And, yet, was he? There’s a sense of both here. That what the man was being led to was right; that what was being done to him was wrong. But was it wrong, or just different? It reminds me of some of the cultural anthropology that I’ve been reading recently–what is one group’s delicacy is another’s abomination. What is moral in one group is highly irregular, if not immoral, in another. Excellent story to bring that out.
• “The Shapechanger”–Nice, yet not as good as the others. First, the good things. Excellent use of pagan magic and relationship between the old shaman and young, inexperienced and somewhat reluctant apprentice. Sense of danger high and yet not silly. But then, as we learn more of the daemon–the child haunting the past from the future–the idea goes downhill. Not necessarily Holdstock’s fault; battered children are, unfortunately, an overused element in today’s fantasy and horror fiction. While this might have been fresh at the time it was written, it appears old hat to us now. Still, the writing and pacing are excellent, and worth reading.
• “The Boy Who Jumped the Rapids”–Didn’t like this one so much…I think because it didn’t seem to complete itself. The elements are all there and fine–conflict, action, meaning–yet it seemed less cohesive than it should. The central mystery, the horned stranger, is resolved, but the secondary mystery, Caylon’s ability to ford the river, seems like it is resolved yet again doesn’t. Maybe it’s the interplay of the two, and trying to figure out what one theme does to the other.
• “Time of the Tree”–Very Borgesian. What it means, I don’t know, but the style, the description, are interesting. The world on man? The Earth as man? Strange–also reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s story about the beached giant.
• “Magic Man”–Well done pre-history story. I tend not to like Clan of the Cave Bear stories, so it had to get over that bias of mine. Good description, good conflict, and nice twist at the end.
• “Scarrowfell”–Like “Thorn,” a pagan fantasy/horror, playing with the modern reader’s normal Christian assumptions, then removing the veil to show the true meaning. Much of Holdstock’s work dabbles in the pagan–Mythago Wood makes a point that what we perceive as history is just the last link in a long chain of myths. It certainly differentiates his fantasies from those of others.
• “The Time Beyond Age”–This is science fiction; the rest of the book has been fantasy. Yet there’s a similarity here with the fantasy. Again, the focus is on obsession and the need to study something and understand it (as with the title novella), but the very act of studying drives the observer into contact with the phenomena and, ultimately, ruins any chances for objective advancement of knowledge. Basically, it’s the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle made fictive.
June 25, 2023
2.5 - 3 stars
Three obsessions of Robert Holdstock become abundantly clear through most of the stories in this volume: most obviously his love and fascination for the concept of the primeval forest (no surprise); secondly his concern with difficult, and usually explicitly abusive, relationships between fathers and sons; and relatedly, perhaps, the pairing of masters and apprentices (often with one or both being an unwilling partner).
Bone Forest: I think reading this story in conjunction with the original Mythago Wood would be ideal (instead of many years afterwards as was the case for me) given the detailed glimpse it gives into not only the early life of Stephen Huxley (protagonist of the first volume), but more importantly into that of his father George, a figure that loomed largely, albeit in only shadowy glimpses. As it was, I was constantly trying to recall events and intimations from the first volume of the series with the assumption that I was being given some possible answers to questions I could no longer recall. Still, it was a good story, exemplifying once again the obsessive nature of Ryhope Wood on all of the Huxley men. Poor Stephen and Christopher never had a chance…both their nature AND their nurture were against them, poor bastards.
Thorn: A story that takes place in the Middle Ages, presumably (by me at least) in the environs of what will become Ryhope Wood, as a stone mason works secretly on a hidden statue in a newly constructed church. The Green Man has plans to outwit the new god in town, but has he presumed too much on the willingness of his pawn? An ambiguous story that leaves one wondering just how much of what is happening is due to eldritch intervention and how much may be due to human delusion. It also reinforces the idea that the ‘gifts’ the wild bestows are generally ambivalent at best.
The Shapechanger: It is the 8th century and a shaman known as the Wolf head and his new apprentice Inkmarker travel to a small Saxon village. The shaman has been summoned to deal with the demon who has driven out the locals through a manifestation of strange sights and sounds, causing uncanny buildings and strange warriors to erupt from the earth itself. Unnerved by strange magic that even he has never seen before, the old shaman may not be as wise as his callow apprentice and it would appear that the magic of Ryhope Wood is not as one-sided in the time stream as we might have thought.
The Boy Who Jumped the Rapids: A young boy, son of the chief of his village, is an outcast due to his strange second sight which allows him to perceive the truth of a myriad of dangers in the forest around his village and walk through them unscathed. When a stranger from a far land comes to build a shrine the boy is intrigued, but what will happen when the men chasing the stranger finally catch up with him and how will the boy’s powers intermingle with those the stranger carries? I’m not sure, in the end, that they do. I’m not really sure what the point of this one was.
Time and the Tree: the human body as forest. A strange story about a man’s hallucination that he is a world, or a world’s hallucination that it is a man, as the eons trace the rise and fall of the forest and those that live within it.
Magic Man: a primitive tribe appear to be guaranteed good hunting by the arts and imagination of their shamanistic cave painter. Despite this he is not beloved of the tribe’s leader who wishes to keep all authority for himself. The Painter hatches a clever scheme to gain supremacy, but his actual downfall may come from a source he does not expect and his powers become eclipsed.
Scarrowfell: Holdstock does English rural folk horror. Isolated village on the edge of a forest? Check. A time of festival rooted in ancient traditions with bell-spangled dancers and bonfires? Check. A small child of precocious perceptions troubled by terrifying dreams and dark forebodings? Check. An ancient pact whose payment has finally come due? Check. Alas, not very interesting despite all of this.
The Time Beyond Age: Remember that movie The Truman Show? Well this story is kinda that (without it being televised as entertainment) as a bunch of scientists put some fast-aging vat-grown children into an artificial environment and observe them…for science of course. I have to admit that Holdstock’s description of the avowed purpose of the experiment didn’t make much sense to me at first, though it eventually becomes clear. This is obviously a story about the perils of using human lives as the fodder for scientific research, and also failing to see the forest for the trees (or is this a case of not seeing the trees for the forest?). I'm afraid to say that I found this one fairly unsatisfying as well.
Overall I found this to be a pretty uneven collection. The stories tied to Holdstock's idée fixe work quite well for the most part, but the farther he strays from Ryhope itself the less I found myself fully engaged.
Three obsessions of Robert Holdstock become abundantly clear through most of the stories in this volume: most obviously his love and fascination for the concept of the primeval forest (no surprise); secondly his concern with difficult, and usually explicitly abusive, relationships between fathers and sons; and relatedly, perhaps, the pairing of masters and apprentices (often with one or both being an unwilling partner).
Bone Forest: I think reading this story in conjunction with the original Mythago Wood would be ideal (instead of many years afterwards as was the case for me) given the detailed glimpse it gives into not only the early life of Stephen Huxley (protagonist of the first volume), but more importantly into that of his father George, a figure that loomed largely, albeit in only shadowy glimpses. As it was, I was constantly trying to recall events and intimations from the first volume of the series with the assumption that I was being given some possible answers to questions I could no longer recall. Still, it was a good story, exemplifying once again the obsessive nature of Ryhope Wood on all of the Huxley men. Poor Stephen and Christopher never had a chance…both their nature AND their nurture were against them, poor bastards.
Thorn: A story that takes place in the Middle Ages, presumably (by me at least) in the environs of what will become Ryhope Wood, as a stone mason works secretly on a hidden statue in a newly constructed church. The Green Man has plans to outwit the new god in town, but has he presumed too much on the willingness of his pawn? An ambiguous story that leaves one wondering just how much of what is happening is due to eldritch intervention and how much may be due to human delusion. It also reinforces the idea that the ‘gifts’ the wild bestows are generally ambivalent at best.
The Shapechanger: It is the 8th century and a shaman known as the Wolf head and his new apprentice Inkmarker travel to a small Saxon village. The shaman has been summoned to deal with the demon who has driven out the locals through a manifestation of strange sights and sounds, causing uncanny buildings and strange warriors to erupt from the earth itself. Unnerved by strange magic that even he has never seen before, the old shaman may not be as wise as his callow apprentice and it would appear that the magic of Ryhope Wood is not as one-sided in the time stream as we might have thought.
The Boy Who Jumped the Rapids: A young boy, son of the chief of his village, is an outcast due to his strange second sight which allows him to perceive the truth of a myriad of dangers in the forest around his village and walk through them unscathed. When a stranger from a far land comes to build a shrine the boy is intrigued, but what will happen when the men chasing the stranger finally catch up with him and how will the boy’s powers intermingle with those the stranger carries? I’m not sure, in the end, that they do. I’m not really sure what the point of this one was.
Time and the Tree: the human body as forest. A strange story about a man’s hallucination that he is a world, or a world’s hallucination that it is a man, as the eons trace the rise and fall of the forest and those that live within it.
Magic Man: a primitive tribe appear to be guaranteed good hunting by the arts and imagination of their shamanistic cave painter. Despite this he is not beloved of the tribe’s leader who wishes to keep all authority for himself. The Painter hatches a clever scheme to gain supremacy, but his actual downfall may come from a source he does not expect and his powers become eclipsed.
Scarrowfell: Holdstock does English rural folk horror. Isolated village on the edge of a forest? Check. A time of festival rooted in ancient traditions with bell-spangled dancers and bonfires? Check. A small child of precocious perceptions troubled by terrifying dreams and dark forebodings? Check. An ancient pact whose payment has finally come due? Check. Alas, not very interesting despite all of this.
The Time Beyond Age: Remember that movie The Truman Show? Well this story is kinda that (without it being televised as entertainment) as a bunch of scientists put some fast-aging vat-grown children into an artificial environment and observe them…for science of course. I have to admit that Holdstock’s description of the avowed purpose of the experiment didn’t make much sense to me at first, though it eventually becomes clear. This is obviously a story about the perils of using human lives as the fodder for scientific research, and also failing to see the forest for the trees (or is this a case of not seeing the trees for the forest?). I'm afraid to say that I found this one fairly unsatisfying as well.
Overall I found this to be a pretty uneven collection. The stories tied to Holdstock's idée fixe work quite well for the most part, but the farther he strays from Ryhope itself the less I found myself fully engaged.
May 2, 2016
Holdstockovy texty mi voní rozkládajícím se listím, které se mění na prsť, útočí na všechny smysly téměř bez rozdílu, v jeho příbězích se dá tápat i po hmatu, zaposlouchat se do nich a vnímat je čichem. Holdstock nám překládá výjevy prodchnuté syrovým atavismem, který je fantasticky přitažlivý i děsivý a zároveň v mnoha ohledech odpuzující. Nedokážu ho číst v klidu, rozhodně mě ještě nikdy žádná jeho kniha nenechala chladnou. Tato sbírka povídek možná není dokonalá, ale jako celek je výborně postavená a její jednotlové části jsou podmanivé a nečekaně překvapivé. Člověk by už mohl říct, že už ví, co může od Holdstocka očekávat, ale stejně mě vždycky znovu zaskočí. A díky mé orknejské úchylce mě osobně velice potěšilo, že se jeden příběh – Silvering – odehrává na Orknejích.
Les kostí byl pro mě náročné čtení, emočně vyčerpávající, ale pokaždé mě k sobě přivábil znovu. Takže pro mě jedna z pětihvězdičkových záležitostí, protože je nejen skvěle napsaný a přeložený, ale protože má zároveň neuvěřitelné charisma a vyvolává ve čtenáři bouřlivé pocity.
Les kostí byl pro mě náročné čtení, emočně vyčerpávající, ale pokaždé mě k sobě přivábil znovu. Takže pro mě jedna z pětihvězdičkových záležitostí, protože je nejen skvěle napsaný a přeložený, ale protože má zároveň neuvěřitelné charisma a vyvolává ve čtenáři bouřlivé pocity.
June 26, 2017
Although this book is usually listed as being part of Holdstock’s Mythago series, not all the stories collected in The Bone Forest are mythago stories.
The opening novella, “The Bone Forest”, is the most explicitly tied to the series, as its main character is George Huxley, father to Mythago Wood’s Stephen and Christian. Prequels, it seems to me, rarely work, and “The Bone Forest” is a prime example of why they don’t. By telling a story set before an existing one, Holdstock is exploring a situation we already know, but being a writer who wants to push forward his characters and ideas, he can’t help muddying the established facts. At the start of Mythago Wood, we know that George Huxley was cold and secretive towards his wife and children, being wholly obsessed with his researches into Ryhope Wood; and, when Stephen finally reads his diary, it becomes obvious that George’s researches weren’t going as well as he wanted, because the mythagos aren’t coming to him — something he puts down to his age. But in “The Bone Forest”, George Huxley gets to witness plenty of high-grade mythago activity, and has a few moments of reconciliation with one of his sons, and also explains everything to his wife — which, to me, undermines the mystery and emotional coldness so necessary to the start of Mythago Wood. Holdstock doesn’t disappoint with his weird, barbaric, and shocking imagery, though — here, we get a horse galloping madly through the forest with a burning man on its back.
The other two most obviously mythago-series tales, “The Shapechanger” and “The Boy who Jumped the Rapids”, seem imbalanced by having new ideas stuffed too quickly into stories too short to hold them, with the result that they usually end with one character, right near the end, somehow intuiting an explanation for what’s been going on, and delivering it all to the reader as exposition. “The Shapechanger” is set in 731 A.D., and follows a shaman come to investigate a village haunted by a demon — in fact, inhabited by mythagos of what appear to be a medievalised version of King Arthur’s Camelot. What doesn’t work about this tale, for me, is that mythagos are supposed to be drawn from the mythic beliefs of the people who see them — so how can Dark Ages villagers be seeing medieval knights? “The Boy who Jumped the Rapids” brings several stories together — a boy who can see through an aspect of the landscape his fellow villagers can’t, a stranger who arrives wanting to build a shrine near the village to house a spear he carries — with a sudden third idea shoved in right near the end which makes the whole seem rather rushed.
The better stories, for me, were the simpler, more focused ones. In “Thorn”, a pre-industrial-age mason working on a new church is commanded by the local Green Man spirit to carve his face in secret so the church will be dedicated to him. “Magic Man” is about an ageing cave-painting shaman whose magic ensures the success of his tribe’s hunt. “The Time Beyond Age” is SF, in which a group of scientists follow the development of a pair of artificially-aged human subjects, trying to push the boundaries of life expectancy.
“Scarrowfell” was my favourite tale collected here. Set in a village in what could be any time from the early 20th century to four hundred years before, we follow young Ginny as she waits for the festival of Lord’s Eve, which will bring dancers from the surrounding area. Waking on the day of the festival, she’s upset to find she’s been allowed to oversleep, and is even more alarmed when her friends won’t talk to her. You get the feeling she’s being prepared for something tied to the festival — but when it comes, it’s not the obvious folk horror twist you might be expecting.
The opening novella, “The Bone Forest”, is the most explicitly tied to the series, as its main character is George Huxley, father to Mythago Wood’s Stephen and Christian. Prequels, it seems to me, rarely work, and “The Bone Forest” is a prime example of why they don’t. By telling a story set before an existing one, Holdstock is exploring a situation we already know, but being a writer who wants to push forward his characters and ideas, he can’t help muddying the established facts. At the start of Mythago Wood, we know that George Huxley was cold and secretive towards his wife and children, being wholly obsessed with his researches into Ryhope Wood; and, when Stephen finally reads his diary, it becomes obvious that George’s researches weren’t going as well as he wanted, because the mythagos aren’t coming to him — something he puts down to his age. But in “The Bone Forest”, George Huxley gets to witness plenty of high-grade mythago activity, and has a few moments of reconciliation with one of his sons, and also explains everything to his wife — which, to me, undermines the mystery and emotional coldness so necessary to the start of Mythago Wood. Holdstock doesn’t disappoint with his weird, barbaric, and shocking imagery, though — here, we get a horse galloping madly through the forest with a burning man on its back.
The other two most obviously mythago-series tales, “The Shapechanger” and “The Boy who Jumped the Rapids”, seem imbalanced by having new ideas stuffed too quickly into stories too short to hold them, with the result that they usually end with one character, right near the end, somehow intuiting an explanation for what’s been going on, and delivering it all to the reader as exposition. “The Shapechanger” is set in 731 A.D., and follows a shaman come to investigate a village haunted by a demon — in fact, inhabited by mythagos of what appear to be a medievalised version of King Arthur’s Camelot. What doesn’t work about this tale, for me, is that mythagos are supposed to be drawn from the mythic beliefs of the people who see them — so how can Dark Ages villagers be seeing medieval knights? “The Boy who Jumped the Rapids” brings several stories together — a boy who can see through an aspect of the landscape his fellow villagers can’t, a stranger who arrives wanting to build a shrine near the village to house a spear he carries — with a sudden third idea shoved in right near the end which makes the whole seem rather rushed.
The better stories, for me, were the simpler, more focused ones. In “Thorn”, a pre-industrial-age mason working on a new church is commanded by the local Green Man spirit to carve his face in secret so the church will be dedicated to him. “Magic Man” is about an ageing cave-painting shaman whose magic ensures the success of his tribe’s hunt. “The Time Beyond Age” is SF, in which a group of scientists follow the development of a pair of artificially-aged human subjects, trying to push the boundaries of life expectancy.
“Scarrowfell” was my favourite tale collected here. Set in a village in what could be any time from the early 20th century to four hundred years before, we follow young Ginny as she waits for the festival of Lord’s Eve, which will bring dancers from the surrounding area. Waking on the day of the festival, she’s upset to find she’s been allowed to oversleep, and is even more alarmed when her friends won’t talk to her. You get the feeling she’s being prepared for something tied to the festival — but when it comes, it’s not the obvious folk horror twist you might be expecting.
June 23, 2014
Holdstock's work was often brilliantly imaginative in terms of its core ideas/stories, but his writing occasionally betrayed his early years as a hack (he wrote, among other things, novelisations of the TV series, The Professionals, under the nom-de-plume, Ken Blake). 'The Bone Forest', a prequel of sorts to Mythago Wood, is a fascinating tale, and it makes good use of the old 'is it me or my alter ego writing my diary?' plot device. At times though it feels that there is simply too much going on behind the scenes, and Holdstock is caught between narrating the present story, filling in gaps and reaching out towards future Mythago narratives. I suppose there is a connection to be made between the work of the author and the Wood's capacity for generating stories and character, and there are times when the whole thing sails a little too close to Jung. On the whole though, 'The Bone Forest' is a must-read for anyone seeking a way into Holdstock's mythos. The other stories I can take or leave, simply because they aren't especially well written and usually subordinate characterisation to more mythic or numinous concerns. 'Magic Man' just doesn't come off. An interesting collection though, and an intriguing foretaste of what was to come.
Want to read
November 16, 2014Although I never read this collection of Holdstock's shorter fiction in his Mythago Wood world, I did read the eponymous novella when it appeared in
Interzone
45, in 1991. I liked 'The Bone Forest' so much that I was moved to write a letter to the editor of the magazine (David Pringle), which was published in Interzone 49. Here's a picture of the magazine cover (painted by Geoff Taylor) in which the novella appeared:
August 2, 2015
Právě jsem přečetla tak fantastickou pasáž, že té knize dávám bez váhání pět hvězd a to jsem na straně šedesát šest! No ty kráso!
May 2, 2024
4.5/5
This is without a doubt the best short story collection I have ever read and I guess I'm not surprised that it would be Robert Holdstock that would deliver this into my lap as he is my favourite author of all time. To be honest I'm not the biggest fan of short stories in general and have a hard time getting myself invested due to their length. However, Holdstock does what he does best and makes a story, characters, and environment so alive and so realistic that I can practically feel the cold winds of the tundra, the earth under my toes, smell the rotting scents of the old wood, and hear the chantings of the old world and the ghost around me. I truely feel Holdstocks stories in my very soul and that is no different here. In this collection he not only spoils us with seven short stories but also a novella which the entire collection "The Bone Forest" is named after. The novella is a brilliant prequel to Holdstocks first book in the mythago cycle and my favourite book of all time "Mythago Wood". The rest of the stories are random with some having a place in the mythago universe while others do not, such as the very last story which is a more sci fi futuristic story. I wouldn't recommend reading this if you haven't read at the very least "Mythago Wood" as you will be very confused and not have a lot of context for the novella which is the largest section of this collection. I saw a lot of reviews of people not liking it for that reason and DNFing or hating it due to not knowing what was going on. Which, I understand as I see people online saying you don't need to read his other books to read this collection. While that's technically true for the rest of the stories in this it's definitely not true for the actual "The Bone Forest" story. You will also miss minor influences of his novels (as some of these short stories had been previously published in magazines before the mythago cycle started to release) that adds some appreciation to the text. Below I will include my thoughts on all of the stories blow and separate them out into sections like I do with all of my short story reviews.
*The Bone Forest:
This first story was incredibly fascinating and an absolute treat to the people who read Holdstocks first book in the mythago cycle "Mythago Wood". Here we get a deeper insight and perspective into the father of our protagonist Steven from the first novel named George Huxley. It takes place during a time period when Steven was just a child and goes into depth of George and his madness as he does research into the Ryhope Wood. It's hard to make out if certain sections of this take place in an alternative reality or demision but I believe that this is done intentionally as Ryhope does intended to disorient time and space around it's characters. It has loads of foreshadowing to the events that happen in the previous book and also uniquely stands on its own two feet with its more psychological perspective on what happens to the characters that interact with the wood rather than a story focused plot like "Mythago Wood". Holdstock once again is a master at writing a myth within a myth with his own story of "The Drummer Fox and Boy Ralph" and how it was a form of another tale, a much older tale, of a woman shaman named Ash who we also met in Holdstocks second novel in this series "Lavondyss". He once again shows his expert knowledge in the progression of myth and folklore and how we as humans interpret and reinterpret the same stories over and over again for centuries to create heros and morality stories to fit our current narrative. As always, it's brilliant and my love for Holdstocks work only continues to grow.
*Thorn:
A hauntingly terrifying tale that is a clear representation of the struggle between paganism and Christianity in England we meet a stone mason named Thomas who helping create his villages first stone church...or so it seems. In reality he is hearing the voices of an old entity named Thorn (who I'm assuming is a representation of the English folk tale "The Green Man") who is asking him to go to the church by night and carve his face into the churches framework so he can have his spiritual hold on it forever. It's suspenseful, thrilling, terrifying, and a fascinating look into the idea of what the Lord of The Wood may have looked like through pagan eyes. If any of you possibly reading this are a gamer it reminds me of one section of the video game "Pentiment" where the protagonist finds out about the true pagan origins of the town is stuck on the predicament on whether to bring this to light or keep in a secret to protect the town's reputation. Awesome story! Loved it.
*The Shapechanger:
This was an interesting look into what old pagan magic and rituals may have actually looked like in practice and it was very fascinating. Here we meet a shaman named Wolfhead who uses mask magic, similar to our protagonist Tallis in Holdstocks second book "Lavondyss", and his boy apprentice Inkmaker who writes his notes down for him. Here we good a good mix of what Holdstock is best at. Coming up with historical ideas of what Britain's lost pagan beliefs would look like mixed with some lore we actually know such as the King Arthur legend. In this story the two are sent by a village leader named Gilla to rid his town of a demon who has possessed it and it leads to a very dark result.
*The Boy Who Jumped The Rapids:
While this one was a very good story the ending of it, admittedly has me a bit confused as it wasn't very clear as to what happened or if it's a bit more up to interpretation (although I do have my own theory). Here we meet a young boy named Caylen who lives in a village where he is the son of the village chief. However, this privileged status doesn't do him much good as the village seems to think he is cursed or possessed due to the fact he has the ability to see through, what Caylen realises, are illusions of magic around his home. To him a calm stream he can easily walk through looks like a violent rapids to others for example. His villiage is visited by a red haired nordic looking warrior who is creating a mystic shrine for unknown reasons and all of this leads to a grand escape of his abusive village, a legend passed down, and a difficult decision to make.
*Time Of The Tree:
Unique is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of "Time Of The Tree" and that's not a bad thing. I've just simply never read something quite like this. It seems to be told from the perspective of "the land" which is also a human form taking perspective of itself and it's surrounding in an almost scientific observation style. Time is passing in an episodic format from what sounds like the ending of the ice age, through the first contact of humans, and maybe to a symbolic modern era? Very fascinating. Its hard to put my finger on exactly what I liked about this one because, admittedly, it was very strange but I know I loved the imagery of it. Holdstock has a gift similar to Tolkien in the fashion of the way he can perfectly describe an an environment and make you feel like you are truly living in it.
*Magic Man:
This one was particularly violent. Its a more simple story with themes of greed and murder. Here we meet One Eye who is the magic man in the title. His magic is that he paints cave paintings on the walls that help his tribes hunters with their kills when they go out on said hunts. However, despite his magic, the tribal leader (or maybe he is just the head hunter. It isn't made clear if they are one and the same or not) hates him and says that his magic is useless and that the only thing he needs to be the best hunter that he already has been is his own hands and weapons. The tension building between these two plus the fact that the head hunters son has been spending time with the cave painter learning from him has made the lead hunters hatred of One Eye become dangerous. This leads to the events of the rest of the story where ghost come to life, murder comes into play, and the hunters son soon discovers his own magical abilities. This was a very cool story but overall I have to say this one is probably the most boring and the most basic of the stories. Its not bad obviously, but compared to Holdstocks usual standards of creativity and unique story telling and world building this one fell a little flat for me personally.
*Scarrowfell:
...all I have to say is what the f*** just happened? That was wild. One moment I thought we were in a Christian town who got caught up with some sort of weird pagan ritual stuff like in the "Thorn" story but nope! This was just full blown dark magic pagan ritual stuff. My mind is blown and I still have no idea what just happened. It reminds me a lot of a very similar ritual that happened in Holdstocks second Mythago book "Lavondyss" but much, much darker. Its hard to talk about the plot of this one too much without giving it away so I'll just leave this here.
*The Time Beyond Age:
This was definitely the wild card of the collection as, unlike our other short stories, this one was a sci fi. We are looking at things from the perspective of Dr. Lipman who works for a place called The Institute. He and a team of scientists dedicated themselves to an experiment in which they took two children (one male and one female) who were grown in a lab and kept them in an inclosed disease free environment while being injected with a substance called Chronon that rapidly increased their aging allowing them to live centuries in the span of a few years. All the test on what would happen to the human condition and physical self on if all things that lead to natural human death were removed. They observed the two 24/7 and gave them fake memories and virtual lives to see how everything would play out. This was...a deeply uncomfortable story as I think it was meant to be. I was so disturbed at the torture they put these two people through and the lack of regard for them as people. They didn't even see them as people due to the fact they grew them in a lab rather than them being naturally born children. Dr. Lipman himself even began having disgusting sexual fantasies about the female subject at a young age and would implant memories into her mind that he was one of her lovers for some disgusting...erotic satisfaction as he watched from a distance as she would have arousing dreams about a man she thought she had a relationship with in the past. I'm not sure what to make of this story. It genuinely was fascinating and Holdstock definitely did his job at making me understand how sick and disgusting these doctors were and the value of human life no matter what form it comes in. It makes me think of some of those disgusting experiments Vault Tech did on some of the people in its experiments in the fallout video game universe. Disturbing stuff.
This is without a doubt the best short story collection I have ever read and I guess I'm not surprised that it would be Robert Holdstock that would deliver this into my lap as he is my favourite author of all time. To be honest I'm not the biggest fan of short stories in general and have a hard time getting myself invested due to their length. However, Holdstock does what he does best and makes a story, characters, and environment so alive and so realistic that I can practically feel the cold winds of the tundra, the earth under my toes, smell the rotting scents of the old wood, and hear the chantings of the old world and the ghost around me. I truely feel Holdstocks stories in my very soul and that is no different here. In this collection he not only spoils us with seven short stories but also a novella which the entire collection "The Bone Forest" is named after. The novella is a brilliant prequel to Holdstocks first book in the mythago cycle and my favourite book of all time "Mythago Wood". The rest of the stories are random with some having a place in the mythago universe while others do not, such as the very last story which is a more sci fi futuristic story. I wouldn't recommend reading this if you haven't read at the very least "Mythago Wood" as you will be very confused and not have a lot of context for the novella which is the largest section of this collection. I saw a lot of reviews of people not liking it for that reason and DNFing or hating it due to not knowing what was going on. Which, I understand as I see people online saying you don't need to read his other books to read this collection. While that's technically true for the rest of the stories in this it's definitely not true for the actual "The Bone Forest" story. You will also miss minor influences of his novels (as some of these short stories had been previously published in magazines before the mythago cycle started to release) that adds some appreciation to the text. Below I will include my thoughts on all of the stories blow and separate them out into sections like I do with all of my short story reviews.
*The Bone Forest:
This first story was incredibly fascinating and an absolute treat to the people who read Holdstocks first book in the mythago cycle "Mythago Wood". Here we get a deeper insight and perspective into the father of our protagonist Steven from the first novel named George Huxley. It takes place during a time period when Steven was just a child and goes into depth of George and his madness as he does research into the Ryhope Wood. It's hard to make out if certain sections of this take place in an alternative reality or demision but I believe that this is done intentionally as Ryhope does intended to disorient time and space around it's characters. It has loads of foreshadowing to the events that happen in the previous book and also uniquely stands on its own two feet with its more psychological perspective on what happens to the characters that interact with the wood rather than a story focused plot like "Mythago Wood". Holdstock once again is a master at writing a myth within a myth with his own story of "The Drummer Fox and Boy Ralph" and how it was a form of another tale, a much older tale, of a woman shaman named Ash who we also met in Holdstocks second novel in this series "Lavondyss". He once again shows his expert knowledge in the progression of myth and folklore and how we as humans interpret and reinterpret the same stories over and over again for centuries to create heros and morality stories to fit our current narrative. As always, it's brilliant and my love for Holdstocks work only continues to grow.
*Thorn:
A hauntingly terrifying tale that is a clear representation of the struggle between paganism and Christianity in England we meet a stone mason named Thomas who helping create his villages first stone church...or so it seems. In reality he is hearing the voices of an old entity named Thorn (who I'm assuming is a representation of the English folk tale "The Green Man") who is asking him to go to the church by night and carve his face into the churches framework so he can have his spiritual hold on it forever. It's suspenseful, thrilling, terrifying, and a fascinating look into the idea of what the Lord of The Wood may have looked like through pagan eyes. If any of you possibly reading this are a gamer it reminds me of one section of the video game "Pentiment" where the protagonist finds out about the true pagan origins of the town is stuck on the predicament on whether to bring this to light or keep in a secret to protect the town's reputation. Awesome story! Loved it.
*The Shapechanger:
This was an interesting look into what old pagan magic and rituals may have actually looked like in practice and it was very fascinating. Here we meet a shaman named Wolfhead who uses mask magic, similar to our protagonist Tallis in Holdstocks second book "Lavondyss", and his boy apprentice Inkmaker who writes his notes down for him. Here we good a good mix of what Holdstock is best at. Coming up with historical ideas of what Britain's lost pagan beliefs would look like mixed with some lore we actually know such as the King Arthur legend. In this story the two are sent by a village leader named Gilla to rid his town of a demon who has possessed it and it leads to a very dark result.
*The Boy Who Jumped The Rapids:
While this one was a very good story the ending of it, admittedly has me a bit confused as it wasn't very clear as to what happened or if it's a bit more up to interpretation (although I do have my own theory). Here we meet a young boy named Caylen who lives in a village where he is the son of the village chief. However, this privileged status doesn't do him much good as the village seems to think he is cursed or possessed due to the fact he has the ability to see through, what Caylen realises, are illusions of magic around his home. To him a calm stream he can easily walk through looks like a violent rapids to others for example. His villiage is visited by a red haired nordic looking warrior who is creating a mystic shrine for unknown reasons and all of this leads to a grand escape of his abusive village, a legend passed down, and a difficult decision to make.
*Time Of The Tree:
Unique is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of "Time Of The Tree" and that's not a bad thing. I've just simply never read something quite like this. It seems to be told from the perspective of "the land" which is also a human form taking perspective of itself and it's surrounding in an almost scientific observation style. Time is passing in an episodic format from what sounds like the ending of the ice age, through the first contact of humans, and maybe to a symbolic modern era? Very fascinating. Its hard to put my finger on exactly what I liked about this one because, admittedly, it was very strange but I know I loved the imagery of it. Holdstock has a gift similar to Tolkien in the fashion of the way he can perfectly describe an an environment and make you feel like you are truly living in it.
*Magic Man:
This one was particularly violent. Its a more simple story with themes of greed and murder. Here we meet One Eye who is the magic man in the title. His magic is that he paints cave paintings on the walls that help his tribes hunters with their kills when they go out on said hunts. However, despite his magic, the tribal leader (or maybe he is just the head hunter. It isn't made clear if they are one and the same or not) hates him and says that his magic is useless and that the only thing he needs to be the best hunter that he already has been is his own hands and weapons. The tension building between these two plus the fact that the head hunters son has been spending time with the cave painter learning from him has made the lead hunters hatred of One Eye become dangerous. This leads to the events of the rest of the story where ghost come to life, murder comes into play, and the hunters son soon discovers his own magical abilities. This was a very cool story but overall I have to say this one is probably the most boring and the most basic of the stories. Its not bad obviously, but compared to Holdstocks usual standards of creativity and unique story telling and world building this one fell a little flat for me personally.
*Scarrowfell:
...all I have to say is what the f*** just happened? That was wild. One moment I thought we were in a Christian town who got caught up with some sort of weird pagan ritual stuff like in the "Thorn" story but nope! This was just full blown dark magic pagan ritual stuff. My mind is blown and I still have no idea what just happened. It reminds me a lot of a very similar ritual that happened in Holdstocks second Mythago book "Lavondyss" but much, much darker. Its hard to talk about the plot of this one too much without giving it away so I'll just leave this here.
*The Time Beyond Age:
This was definitely the wild card of the collection as, unlike our other short stories, this one was a sci fi. We are looking at things from the perspective of Dr. Lipman who works for a place called The Institute. He and a team of scientists dedicated themselves to an experiment in which they took two children (one male and one female) who were grown in a lab and kept them in an inclosed disease free environment while being injected with a substance called Chronon that rapidly increased their aging allowing them to live centuries in the span of a few years. All the test on what would happen to the human condition and physical self on if all things that lead to natural human death were removed. They observed the two 24/7 and gave them fake memories and virtual lives to see how everything would play out. This was...a deeply uncomfortable story as I think it was meant to be. I was so disturbed at the torture they put these two people through and the lack of regard for them as people. They didn't even see them as people due to the fact they grew them in a lab rather than them being naturally born children. Dr. Lipman himself even began having disgusting sexual fantasies about the female subject at a young age and would implant memories into her mind that he was one of her lovers for some disgusting...erotic satisfaction as he watched from a distance as she would have arousing dreams about a man she thought she had a relationship with in the past. I'm not sure what to make of this story. It genuinely was fascinating and Holdstock definitely did his job at making me understand how sick and disgusting these doctors were and the value of human life no matter what form it comes in. It makes me think of some of those disgusting experiments Vault Tech did on some of the people in its experiments in the fallout video game universe. Disturbing stuff.
July 6, 2017
The Bone Forest comprises 8 stories, the title one being a worthy prequel to the main Mythago Wood storyline. Most of them add up to the conclusive and well-developed, if slightly higgledy-piggledy, abutment of the good old saga. However, I’m fairly certain even now that the story most likely to stick is the inopportune coda, the last fragment sang so obviously out of tune, called The Time Beyond Age. One would have to exert one’s imaginative powers to full extent in order to spot even the faintest glimmer of bond between this story and the rest of the collection, although it does mark out the outlines of Holdstock’s literary ethos, the basic cognitive principle of his stories (possibly the only creative paradigm worth considering). To cut a long story short, it goes like this: the only godhead a human being can aspire to possess lies in the domain of consciousness, and there only, and can never be either transcribed or transported into the material plane. The only true miracle is the secret one.
January 25, 2016
The Bone Forest is listed as a sequel to Mythago Wood, but really it's a collection of short stories. Each tale is different, but the collection as a whole is haunting, ancient, and like a shadow. The stories can be barbaric. Others mysterious. Others feel so ancient.
They feel like a collection of another world, a world that once was, and still is, but has been lost to time. It's a world that's right there withing our grasp. We just need to open ourselves up to it.
Holdstock's imagination feels unlimited. He captures ancient pagan tradition. He captures medieval times, modern times, even the future. The reader is transported to all these places and more.
Most of the time I didn't see the words. I saw the worlds. I was there with the character. I was running through the forest. I could smell the scent of the wood.
I'm glad I was able to find this book and continue my journey through Holdstock's worlds.
They feel like a collection of another world, a world that once was, and still is, but has been lost to time. It's a world that's right there withing our grasp. We just need to open ourselves up to it.
Holdstock's imagination feels unlimited. He captures ancient pagan tradition. He captures medieval times, modern times, even the future. The reader is transported to all these places and more.
Most of the time I didn't see the words. I saw the worlds. I was there with the character. I was running through the forest. I could smell the scent of the wood.
I'm glad I was able to find this book and continue my journey through Holdstock's worlds.
November 6, 2019
A delicious read for everyone taking the journey through Holdstock's Mythago Wood series, but a powerful standalone as well. Not all stories in The Bone Forest are mythago stories, and some are very different from the style and the universe we've come to expect.
I especially loved the story about the green man calling to a cathedral sculptor to make sure to include him in a corner of it somewhere. The pagan figures such as green men or Sheela na gig figures that are littering the stonework decorations of churches in Western Europe are still a mystery to modern scientists. Holdstock's explanation of it is whimsy and wonderful, though of course fantastic and allegorical.
We do get some more meat on the main mythago story skeleton, as well, and even a glimpse into the Huxleys' lives. I recommend it to be read just in the order listed here on Goodreads (which makes The Bone Forest the third installment in the series).
I especially loved the story about the green man calling to a cathedral sculptor to make sure to include him in a corner of it somewhere. The pagan figures such as green men or Sheela na gig figures that are littering the stonework decorations of churches in Western Europe are still a mystery to modern scientists. Holdstock's explanation of it is whimsy and wonderful, though of course fantastic and allegorical.
We do get some more meat on the main mythago story skeleton, as well, and even a glimpse into the Huxleys' lives. I recommend it to be read just in the order listed here on Goodreads (which makes The Bone Forest the third installment in the series).
July 15, 2016
Although the first story about George Huxley was wonderful, I didn't enjoy the rest of this collection half as much. One of my favourite things about the first two books in the series is the way that the stories within the story build on one another and create this fabulous sense of everything being part of some overarching tale from which all the different forms of the types come. The ones in The Bone Forest are too disjointed for me, however, and I think they lose a lot of that special connection in that because they are isolated short stories, they lose the level of detail which in the longer novels forms links between characters and storieswhich represent the idea of the primeval unconscious which exists in some form in everyone.
April 2, 2010
The Bone Forest consists of a novella and short stories, all written with the same feel of Mythago Wood and, in the case of the novella, the Mythago story from the point of view of Steven and Christian's father and his friend.
You often feel with many of the short stories that they do link into the Mythogo Cycle in some way, perhaps telling stories from the point of the Mythago. All are well imagined and written and of all the stories the one I enjoy the most is 'The Time of the Tree'.
You often feel with many of the short stories that they do link into the Mythogo Cycle in some way, perhaps telling stories from the point of the Mythago. All are well imagined and written and of all the stories the one I enjoy the most is 'The Time of the Tree'.
November 24, 2020
4🌟
My favourites, The Bone Forest, Thorn and Scarrowfell were 4⭐ reads, the rest of the short stories in this book were 3⭐ but I enjoyed the ones above so much I am going to go with 4⭐ overall. The Bone Forest is a welcome return to the Mythago Wood universe but it is the only story in this book that does. Whilst this may seem a negative for Mythago Wood fans the deliciously creepy folk horror of Thorn and especially, Scarrowfell, more than makes up for that.
My favourites, The Bone Forest, Thorn and Scarrowfell were 4⭐ reads, the rest of the short stories in this book were 3⭐ but I enjoyed the ones above so much I am going to go with 4⭐ overall. The Bone Forest is a welcome return to the Mythago Wood universe but it is the only story in this book that does. Whilst this may seem a negative for Mythago Wood fans the deliciously creepy folk horror of Thorn and especially, Scarrowfell, more than makes up for that.
April 26, 2018
J'aimerais donner un quatre étoile à ce livre. La forêt des mythagos est captivante, c'est un roman complexe et fascinant. Si je donne 3, c'est que je n'ai pas tout compris. Je ne déteste pas ne pas tout comprendre, mais là, je trouve que c'est confus dans certaines scènes (qui fait quoi?). Peut-être une mauvaise traduction?
J'ai préféré les deux premiers récits.
J'ai préféré les deux premiers récits.
August 18, 2012
These stories are infused with deep memories, cruel and beautiful myths, archetypes and tangled, dark landscapes - you are swept away in a flow of high emotion and intense sensations
November 17, 2024
3.5 stars from me! Part of it is because this book is a compilation of short stories, the longest one has the same name like the book, The Bone Forest. And is closely related to the whole Mytago Wood series. Since I did not read the first book from the series yet - there is a long waiting list in public library and only one copy, I am not sure where it fits in the series, but I think it may be a prequal for the Mythago Wood and Lavondyss. But can be read on its own, but be warned, the ending is bit opened, so I am wondering if more will be in the first book.
From the other short stories, they were hit and miss for me. I enjoyed Thorn, although I did not like the ending. But there were some nice twists and turns there for me to like the story a lot. And I also liked a lot the last one in the series, although the ending... Well, we know how Robert Holdstock likes to end them at times. And I do not recall a very happy one.
I did not care much for Time of the Tree which just did not suit me and The Boy Who Jumped the Rapids was also a bit of a miss for me.
The Time Beyond Age I do not know but I felt like I met this before? Or a similar topic? Or maybe read it when it was published somewhere else? It just seemed very familiar.
Overall, I can recommend the book if you like the series.
From the other short stories, they were hit and miss for me. I enjoyed Thorn, although I did not like the ending. But there were some nice twists and turns there for me to like the story a lot. And I also liked a lot the last one in the series, although the ending... Well, we know how Robert Holdstock likes to end them at times. And I do not recall a very happy one.
I did not care much for Time of the Tree which just did not suit me and The Boy Who Jumped the Rapids was also a bit of a miss for me.
The Time Beyond Age I do not know but I felt like I met this before? Or a similar topic? Or maybe read it when it was published somewhere else? It just seemed very familiar.
Overall, I can recommend the book if you like the series.
October 13, 2023
Na druhý pokus som si to užila o poznanie viac. Bolo príjemné vrátiť sa do Ryhopského lesa, hoci len prostredníctvom v podstate jedinej poviedky. Tie ostatné boli skôr drsné a staré. Ako legendy, na základe ktorých mohli vzniknúť mytága. Nebolo to práve povzbudivé a radostné čítanie, ale práve preto sa mi to páčilo. Pre tú pochmúrnosť, úžasnú atmosféru a výnimočnú imagináciu. Lebo pri niektorých tých príbehoch by som bola schopná hádať sa, že sa v skutočnosti naozaj mohli stať.
Napriek tomu ma ale niektoré čriepky trochu minuli.
Napriek tomu ma ale niektoré čriepky trochu minuli.
July 22, 2024
Indefinable dark fantasy!
This novel is a series of long stories/isolated chapters that appear to be fragmentary, without an obvious conclusion. But all parts of this intriguing book are linked on a subconscious level and all radiate from a time glitch that is only hinted at in the first and last sections.
If you are into dark fantasy, ancient myths (particularly Celtic and Nordic) you will find this a fascinating read!
This novel is a series of long stories/isolated chapters that appear to be fragmentary, without an obvious conclusion. But all parts of this intriguing book are linked on a subconscious level and all radiate from a time glitch that is only hinted at in the first and last sections.
If you are into dark fantasy, ancient myths (particularly Celtic and Nordic) you will find this a fascinating read!
October 27, 2024
Tak poslední povídka m�� dostala. Není to tak úplně svět Mytág, jak jsem čekala, z toho světa je jen první povídka. Ostatní jsou místy lepší, místy slabší, ale všechny docela děsivé a tajemné. Nicméně ta poslední je naprostá pecka. Miluju spojení věty s tajemnem, přírody, duchů a historie s rozumem a vědou. Mrazí z toho stejně jako z Lesa mytág, takže nakonec dávám 5⭐️, i když reálně asi 4,5 😊
July 5, 2024
The third Mythago Wood book is a collection of shorter stories. Unfortunately, the power of the earlier novels was the growing understanding of the menacing otherness of the wood, and there doesn't see, to be enough space to convey this in the space of a short story.
March 9, 2025
I love Robert Holdstock, but...
I adore how Robert Holdstock wrote. Just hos whole style. And this book started off so strong. But I can't make sense of why it fell off into a bunch of stories that didn't really belong.
Perhaps I missed something.
I adore how Robert Holdstock wrote. Just hos whole style. And this book started off so strong. But I can't make sense of why it fell off into a bunch of stories that didn't really belong.
Perhaps I missed something.
April 3, 2024
Really incredible collection of short stories. Sometimes disturbing, but always thought provoking.
July 27, 2023
Here we have The Bone Forest by Robert Holdstock.
I have a love/hate relationship with his books; I love the concept & the stories but I find the actual prose very, very difficult to read for some reason.
Mythago Wood was in my to-read pile/cupboard for 30 years & took 4 attempts to get through.
The Bone Forest took me a year on & off but was well worth it. There are a couple of weaker stories but by the time we get to Time of the Tree the book becomes hard to put down. Magic Man & Scarrowfell are strong, one with a twist I didn't see coming before ending on The Time Before Age which you think is going to be another nature-based fantasy but ends up in an almost Lovecraftian horror.
Should you read it? Yes.
Just let me know if you find the prose easy to access & if not, why, I can't work it out!
I have a love/hate relationship with his books; I love the concept & the stories but I find the actual prose very, very difficult to read for some reason.
Mythago Wood was in my to-read pile/cupboard for 30 years & took 4 attempts to get through.
The Bone Forest took me a year on & off but was well worth it. There are a couple of weaker stories but by the time we get to Time of the Tree the book becomes hard to put down. Magic Man & Scarrowfell are strong, one with a twist I didn't see coming before ending on The Time Before Age which you think is going to be another nature-based fantasy but ends up in an almost Lovecraftian horror.
Should you read it? Yes.
Just let me know if you find the prose easy to access & if not, why, I can't work it out!
July 9, 2022
The Bone Forest is a prequel to Mythago Wood that to introduce the world of previous Mythago books, before the incipient movie. Unfortunately, the movie plan was broken up ,despite of the movie, Mythago wood series still has sequences. I think it's better to still have The Bone Forest instead of movie version. The bone forest has adequate concepts to build up the cornerstone of Mythago world, it explained some confused elemental of previous two books, also reveal some set up for later book; and thus The Bone Forest is a good connection between previous two books and later four books.
This book contains The novella The Bone Forest and 6 fantasy short stories and 1 Sci-Fi short story.
Except The Bone Forest, I fond of Thorns, The Shapechanger, The Boy who Jumped at rapids.
Thorns is a fantasy story mix with horror element. It's about a man who was chiseling the marble in the church , almost finishing the progress then the horrendous true was revealed....
The Shapechanger: the master and the apprentice were doing some kind of exorcism in the ominous village. Near the end of the story, the exorcism was dealing with a canny character for the apprentice who was already possessed by unknown force. The ending was quite an open ending, an interesting story.
The boy who Jumped at rapids: It's a story about the boy who can see things his other compatriots can't see the land across the river. He would face a trail and forced to run away his home and encounter a legend was hundred years ago... a story was inspected legends and how histories would be hidden and developed into legend, on the otherwise, the same.
Those short stories are decent, If you're interesting in Myth and Legend, you would check this book out.
This book contains The novella The Bone Forest and 6 fantasy short stories and 1 Sci-Fi short story.
Except The Bone Forest, I fond of Thorns, The Shapechanger, The Boy who Jumped at rapids.
Thorns is a fantasy story mix with horror element. It's about a man who was chiseling the marble in the church , almost finishing the progress then the horrendous true was revealed....
The Shapechanger: the master and the apprentice were doing some kind of exorcism in the ominous village. Near the end of the story, the exorcism was dealing with a canny character for the apprentice who was already possessed by unknown force. The ending was quite an open ending, an interesting story.
The boy who Jumped at rapids: It's a story about the boy who can see things his other compatriots can't see the land across the river. He would face a trail and forced to run away his home and encounter a legend was hundred years ago... a story was inspected legends and how histories would be hidden and developed into legend, on the otherwise, the same.
Those short stories are decent, If you're interesting in Myth and Legend, you would check this book out.
May 26, 2025
Upřímně řečeno jsem od Lesa kostí čekal víc. Možná ne od titulní povidky, která byla velmi dobrá, ale od knihy jako celku určitě ano.
Některé povidky měly zajímavé náměty i velice dobrou atmosféru, v tom Holdstock zřejmě vyniká. Bohužel jen tohle na dobrý příběh nestačí. Už u Lavondyss jsem měl pocit, že autor neustále dokola ždímá jedno a to samé téma a myšlenku. Les kostí tohle v celkovém dojmu nezměnil. Oceňuji také trochu žánrový drift směrem k hororu, to mám u fantasy celmi rád.
Některé z kratších povídek na mě působily spíše jako když si autor zkusil na rozepsání hodit náhodnou myšlenku na papír. Možná to byl záměr, ale často bylo téma zpracované příliš jednoduše až povrchně. To je asi bohužel prokletí povídkového formátu.
S postavami známými z předchozích dílů "série" se zde setkáváme jen v jedné z devíti povídek a není tudíž dle mého úplně správně tuto knihu do nějaké série řadit. Jak už to u povídek bývá, některé se líbily hodně, jiné velmi málo. Kromě titulního Lesa kostí byly za mě nejlepší Thorn a Scarrowfell. Hodnocení povídek:
Země a kámen 3/5
Šaman 4/5
Chlapec, který překonal peřeje 3/5
Čas stromu 1/5
Démon 3/5
Thorn 4/5
Scarrowfell 4/5
Silvering 3/5
Les kostí 4/5
Celkové hodnocení jsou pro mě průměrné 3* a nejsem si úplně jistý, jestli chci od Holdstocka ještě něco číst. Jeho fascinace lesem a kolektivním nevědomím je sice zajímavá, ale není to asi dost dobrý základ pro vice, než jednu knihu. Jde o fantasy velmi osobitého stylu, který mi asi příliš nesedí.
Některé povidky měly zajímavé náměty i velice dobrou atmosféru, v tom Holdstock zřejmě vyniká. Bohužel jen tohle na dobrý příběh nestačí. Už u Lavondyss jsem měl pocit, že autor neustále dokola ždímá jedno a to samé téma a myšlenku. Les kostí tohle v celkovém dojmu nezměnil. Oceňuji také trochu žánrový drift směrem k hororu, to mám u fantasy celmi rád.
Některé z kratších povídek na mě působily spíše jako když si autor zkusil na rozepsání hodit náhodnou myšlenku na papír. Možná to byl záměr, ale často bylo téma zpracované příliš jednoduše až povrchně. To je asi bohužel prokletí povídkového formátu.
S postavami známými z předchozích dílů "série" se zde setkáváme jen v jedné z devíti povídek a není tudíž dle mého úplně správně tuto knihu do nějaké série řadit. Jak už to u povídek bývá, některé se líbily hodně, jiné velmi málo. Kromě titulního Lesa kostí byly za mě nejlepší Thorn a Scarrowfell. Hodnocení povídek:
Země a kámen 3/5
Šaman 4/5
Chlapec, který překonal peřeje 3/5
Čas stromu 1/5
Démon 3/5
Thorn 4/5
Scarrowfell 4/5
Silvering 3/5
Les kostí 4/5
Celkové hodnocení jsou pro mě průměrné 3* a nejsem si úplně jistý, jestli chci od Holdstocka ještě něco číst. Jeho fascinace lesem a kolektivním nevědomím je sice zajímavá, ale není to asi dost dobrý základ pro vice, než jednu knihu. Jde o fantasy velmi osobitého stylu, který mi asi příliš nesedí.
June 2, 2023
Solid collection of stories, a lot of them are pretty disturbing. The story that stood out to me was ‘The Boy who Jumped the Rapids,’ it didn’t resolve itself completely but the idea that the kid could see beyond the magic that was keeping everyone else afraid was cool. I read ‘Scarrowfell’ a few times, cause it seemed pretty predictable at the start but the ending was strange. Took an UNUSUAL route. 😦 ‘Time of the Tree’ was beautifully written but I didn’t care too much for the earth-is-man metaphor. I loved it for the way it was written though.
‘Time has been as stagnant as the standing water on the peat. Time has been in suspension. Sunrise to moonrise, the land has whispered and shivered, and dried and become wet, but there has been no change. The bursting life of the forests had remained asleep below the skin of the land, the cells as quiescent as the marshes.’
Yessir.
My least favourite was the caveman story, ‘Magic Man.’ I just can’t believe that cave folk would act this way and have the concerns they have. Would we really be so nasty toward women, disabled + old people? A lot of these attitudes stem from capitalism and people being regarded as useless cause they can’t work. Not convinced that cavemen would have the same ideas as us. However, the idea that a badly drawn, rubbed out drawing could turn into strange creatures and ghosts was nice.
Overall, a good, fascinating selection of stories.
‘Time has been as stagnant as the standing water on the peat. Time has been in suspension. Sunrise to moonrise, the land has whispered and shivered, and dried and become wet, but there has been no change. The bursting life of the forests had remained asleep below the skin of the land, the cells as quiescent as the marshes.’
Yessir.
My least favourite was the caveman story, ‘Magic Man.’ I just can’t believe that cave folk would act this way and have the concerns they have. Would we really be so nasty toward women, disabled + old people? A lot of these attitudes stem from capitalism and people being regarded as useless cause they can’t work. Not convinced that cavemen would have the same ideas as us. However, the idea that a badly drawn, rubbed out drawing could turn into strange creatures and ghosts was nice.
Overall, a good, fascinating selection of stories.
January 3, 2014
Uh... Short stories... Hard to get anywhere near the amount of detail and complexity that I look for when I read something, in a short story.
The first one was OK, but not much more than that. The next three and the sixth were average at best. The seventh was odd and nothing more. The last was actually a bit disturbing... The one I liked most was "Time of the Tree", but most likely just because it treats the problem of humans destroying the Earth than because of the way it was written.
In conclusion, decent for a collection of short stories, but not much more. Really dampened any interest I might have had in reading the Mythago Cycle.
The first one was OK, but not much more than that. The next three and the sixth were average at best. The seventh was odd and nothing more. The last was actually a bit disturbing... The one I liked most was "Time of the Tree", but most likely just because it treats the problem of humans destroying the Earth than because of the way it was written.
In conclusion, decent for a collection of short stories, but not much more. Really dampened any interest I might have had in reading the Mythago Cycle.
February 21, 2023
Pretty good book, but wasn't what I was expecting. The first half is an account of mythago wood, but doesn't have a conclusion to what happened. The second half is a number of short stories that seem either loosely related or not at all related to mythago wood.
Also, I could do without the number of times penises are described in this book. I don't think they add to the story really at all, other than perhaps adding to the already well defined lust and comedy that is already present without it.
Also, I could do without the number of times penises are described in this book. I don't think they add to the story really at all, other than perhaps adding to the already well defined lust and comedy that is already present without it.
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