The Mythago Cycle, Volume 1

Mythago Wood #1, 2

by holdstock-robert

Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

Genres: Fantasy, Mythology, Fiction

608 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[JackieB · Rating 2 out of 5]

Initially I was intruiged by the concept of a mysterious wood which generated embodiments of myths and legends, but there was too much which was unexplained and remained unexplained. I also had problems at times because some of the events seemed to contradict the theories the researchers had about how the wood "worked". That didn't bother me as such, but I kept thinking it was odd that none of the people researching the wood seemed to notice this. I read all of Mythago Wood (the first book of the omnibus), but Lavondyss just seemed more of the same (i.e. mysterious wood, which only a few characters noticed was mysterious) with the addition of some aspects that I found really implausible. I stopped reading Lavondyss about 150 pages in.

[Roth]

I made it 153 pages before accepting that this one wasn't for me. This book looked like it had an intriguing premise; an ancient patch of woodland manifests versions of mythic archetypes. To begin with this seemed like a rich and atmospheric character driven historical fantasy, but that soon petered out and was replaced by relentless dullness. I didn't find Steven to be a compelling or interesting character, and I thought the way he'd keep describing his love interest as child-like and also so sexually alluring in the same sentence was just plain creepy. A disappointing offering.

[Trilby Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mythago Wood (rating 5)
I don't think I've ever met a writer like Robert Holdstock and this amazing ability to write metaphorically with such expertise. And I've read a lot of fantasy. To say I was totally absorbed is an understatement. I actually had to take a look around me and make sure I was still in my own home -that's how strong and enthralling this book and Holdstock's style of writing is. The story is deeply morose in many ways and yet strongly passionate. This book has put a spell on me for sure! Excellent.

Lavondyss (rating 4.5)
There is no disputing the superb metaphorical style of Holdstock's writing which continues in this second novel. Sadly, I found it bit too much at moments and the story seemed very long, with only a few of those amazing climactic moments that were in the first book. Still a good story though and an admirer and will continue with the next book.

[James Connor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Half way through I found I didn't care about neither the protagonist, his brother, or what happened to them. So i stopped reading. Something about the way the story was written was very matter of fact, and impersonal so I had no connection to the story. There was a lot of telling (through his dad's diary) and not much showing. You'd think something like a magic woods would reveal its magic slowly throughout the book, the protagonist learning it's ways along with the reader, but instead we just read his dad's diary and learned everything we needed to know very quickly and conveniently, with almost zero mystery. Surprised as this was a recommendation by Joe Abercrombie.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars! Five stars all round! Except possibly for the ending of Lavondyss, that got all kinds of weird... It just... I can't... wha???? I'm going to have to re-read it when I'm feeling less all over the place about it - I was just so intensely involved in reading it that to have that ending really did my head in.

I found the exploration of myth-making, culture and history to be complete fascinating. An interesting view of the idea of 'what would happen if myths/legends came to life?'. It was written in an older style with plenty of goosebump moments. I think it helps if you have a strong interest in myth-making and older styles of writing.

Mythago Wood - loved it (and the ending worked far better for me), it's tragic in the sense of the reader has a much better idea of what is going on than the characters and well... The tension and creep factor of being in the forest was well maintained even if for most of the beginning was spent working out what the earth was going on.

Lavondyss - the characterisation of Tallis was very interesting, particularly in the first half. The story gets a bit side-tracked for a while but then it comes back together and it's interesting in itself for thinking about how myths change. It gets weird, but I'm sure I'll recover, and read it again, and again, and again.

Updated review of Vol. 1 and 2: Some of the weirdest writing I’ve ever read…. I loved it. If you want mind-bending fantasy that reads like the author was on acid, this is it. In the vein of many great British absurdist, bizarre novels, this series is right out there. I can’t even really describe the story or the plot but it was intense. It’s based on the ideas of symbolism and how myth and archetypes exist in the collective consciousness – it gets really fricking trippy, because everyone who enters this forest has their personally meaningful archetypes come to life. And like all good collective consciousness – it needs constant input. I have not done these books justice at all, they defy description, but if you’re feeling game, I recommend you give it a go.

[Tama Wise]

Maybe I shouldn't have taken on this book in the omnibus form, because it was a great brick of a book. At first rather atmospheric in a Lovecraftian way, and then descending slowly into drawn out and boring, I found it a pity I couldn't persevere with it because it had some rather cool ideas.