Scan barcode
lgrunwald's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
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.
asagecalledq's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
pizzamyheart's review against another edition
4.0
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.
elodieanna's review against another edition
4.0
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.
ponkle24's review against another edition
3.0
Bone forest 3.5
Thorn 3
The shape changer 2
The boy who jumped the rapids 2
Time of the tree 3
Magic man 3.5
Scarrowfell 2
The time beyond age 3
Thorn 3
The shape changer 2
The boy who jumped the rapids 2
Time of the tree 3
Magic man 3.5
Scarrowfell 2
The time beyond age 3
cavalary's review against another edition
2.0
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.
gengelcox's review
3.0
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 [b:Mythago Wood|126192|Mythago Wood (Mythago Wood, #1)|Robert Holdstock|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1308639607s/126192.jpg|121534] and [b:Lavondyss|280716|Lavondyss (Mythago Wood, #2)|Robert Holdstock|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389643000s/280716.jpg|1839828], I believe. It stands alone fine. This reminded me of [a:Jonathan Carroll|23704|Jonathan Carroll|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1222900262p2/23704.jpg]–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 [a:Vladimir Nabokov|5152|Vladimir Nabokov|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1482502806p2/5152.jpg] 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 [a:Gabriel Garcia Marquez]’s story about the beached giant.
• “Magic Man”–Well done pre-history story. I tend not to like [b:Clan of the Cave Bear|1295|The Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth's Children, #1)|Jean M. Auel|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385331302s/1295.jpg|1584694] 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–[b:Mythago Wood|126192|Mythago Wood (Mythago Wood, #1)|Robert Holdstock|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1308639607s/126192.jpg|121534] 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 [b:Mythago Wood|126192|Mythago Wood (Mythago Wood, #1)|Robert Holdstock|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1308639607s/126192.jpg|121534] and [b:Lavondyss|280716|Lavondyss (Mythago Wood, #2)|Robert Holdstock|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389643000s/280716.jpg|1839828], I believe. It stands alone fine. This reminded me of [a:Jonathan Carroll|23704|Jonathan Carroll|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1222900262p2/23704.jpg]–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 [a:Vladimir Nabokov|5152|Vladimir Nabokov|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1482502806p2/5152.jpg] 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 [a:Gabriel Garcia Marquez]’s story about the beached giant.
• “Magic Man”–Well done pre-history story. I tend not to like [b:Clan of the Cave Bear|1295|The Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth's Children, #1)|Jean M. Auel|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385331302s/1295.jpg|1584694] 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–[b:Mythago Wood|126192|Mythago Wood (Mythago Wood, #1)|Robert Holdstock|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1308639607s/126192.jpg|121534] 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.
More...