Ancient Echoes

by Robert Holdstock

Jack Chatwin has visions, which leave tangible evidence - sounds and smells, which linger afterwards. What he sees are two primitive figures, with painted faces - Greyface and Greenface, a brother and sister. He calls them bullrunners. John Garth is a city dowser, searching for the mythical pre-Roman city of Glanum. He hopes to find an entryway to the elusive city beneath Exburgh, Jack's home town. And he thinks Jack's bullrunners may be connected to Glanum . . . Years later, Jack, now grown up, agrees to take part in experiments to investigate his bullrunners - until Greyface, the male, breaks free of Jack and takes corporeal form. The bullrunner kidnaps Jack's young daughter so Jack will force Greenface to follow her brother-husband, even against her own wishes. Though Greyface returns the daughter, he keeps a shadow of her, which takes on a life of its own. If Jack refuses to co-operate, the shadow will drain his daughter's vitality and personality - and her very future.The story of Jack's search for Greenface is interwoven with the connections between the bullrunners and the mystical city of Glanum in this resonant tale of ancient mythic wonder.

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Fiction, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

408 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 1996

About the author

Robert 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.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did anyone else spot the Frouds?

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every couple of years I reread the works of Robert Holdstock, my favorite author. Ancient Echos is a rich, complex novel, deeply thoughtful, of dark psychological horror, mythology, a brutal time, and the deepest layers of our minds. From a young age, the protagonist Jack has had visions of two otherworldly beings he calls the Bullrunners. As he becomes an adult, he finds that they, and the mysterious realms they come from, are becoming manifest. Jack is partly conduit, partly source, or perhaps the ghostly cities and inhabitants and forlorn shrines and temples are from race consciousness itself, from our deepest buried memories of our origins. He is drawn deeper, and in journeying into the depths of his own mind, must fight to protect himself and his family. Holdstock explores the deepest parts of the mind, myth, history, and reality. Do we dream the magic, or does the magic dream us?

[mooma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars.

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise, got confusing at times as to what was happening, though. Seemed rushed at the end.

[Bertrand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Holdstock est un conteur qui nous vient des douces vallées de l’Angleterre. Sa terre semble toujours liée d’une manière ou d’une autre à ses écrits, et il nous communique à travers eux ce qui le fascine chez elle.
La chair et l’ombre, c’est l’histoire d’un jeune garçon qui rêve un peu trop fort. Jack Chatwin rêve de Visage Gris et Visage Vert, un couple apparemment venu tout droit des origines de la Terre qui fuit dans un monde lointain un taureau gigantesque qui les pourchasse. Jack va rencontrer un archéologue nommé John Garth, qui lui est à la recherche d’une cité mythique qui semble se déplacer sous la surface du globe. Jack va devoir partir à la recherche et à la rencontre de ce couple qui le hante, et découvrir les mystères de cette cité apparemment elle aussi à la recherche de quelque chose ou de quelqu’un.
Bon roman d’aventures et de fantastique, La Chair et l’Ombre mêle avec du brio et un peu de bricolage psychanalytique le rêve et la réalité. Jack est perdu entre les deux et essaye de récupérer la vie… dont il a toujours rêvé. Il s’agit d’une sorte d’Indiana Jones avec un soupçon d’Horreur qui fonctionne assez bien. Si l’histoire devient quelque peut confuse à certains passage du roman, l’auteur parvient assez bien à maintenir le cap et donne assez de vitamines au scénario pour tenir le lecteur en haleine jusqu’au bout. Robert Holdstock décrit avec beaucoup d’attention et de saveur ses personnages les plus énigmatiques et véhicule bien au lecteur les émotions que ceux-ci ressentent. Bref, un bouquin bien ficelé qui plaira aux amateurs de chasses aux trésors et de cités disparues, et qui sauront se laisser bercer dans la douce folie de l’histoire.

[Andromeda · Rating 2 out of 5]

What an interesting world! What a boring perspective to see it through.

When I was reading this book, a general vibe I got from it was “aren’t you so glad you live in a civilized society? Aren’t you so glad you live in a civilized society? Aren’t you so glad-“ over and over again, among every description. To me, that just means the book didn’t really age well and maybe an audience in the 90’s would have been like “look at this brutish world the main character interacts with! I’m so glad I live in a civilized society!” But it just left me feeling plain annoyed.

The main character has no motivations, and is sex-obsessed. Again, remnants of the age of the book, probably not a genuine fault of writing at the time, but generally I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone else.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh boy. I can't believe I'm actually categorizing this as a DNF. I've loved this author's other works and it was so disappointing to read this.

First and foremost. This book had so much potential. It had a wonderfully original plotline, but was horrendously written. Even if it was his first book, his depictions of the characters were horrible. It was like what a teenage boy thinks women and adults would be like. The plot was also all over the place. Just as I started to become interested in the plot, he would drop in unnecessary lust scenes, or completely change the plot.

[James Marshall · Rating 2 out of 5]

The novel starts well but then dissolves into a confusing mish-mash of alternate timelines/ universes and dream sequences interspersed with modern-day settings. Holdstock has good ideas but his writing is sometimes clunky and over-descriptive at others. Would have been better if it was 100 pages shorter.

[Eija · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jackillä on ollut pienestä pitäen kyky nähdä mielikuvitukselliseen myyttiseen todellisuuteen. Tämä toinen ulottuvuus sijaitsee Jackin mielen Takamaassa, mutta se ei ole tyystin kuvitteellinen vaan hyvinkin todellinen paikka. Toisesta todellisuudesta heijastuu muinainen Galnum kaupunki lahoavine temppeleineen todellisen kaupungin Exburghin alta, kaupunki joka liikkuu. Takamaasta nousee myös esiin kaksi hahmoa, härkäjuoksijoiksi kutsutut mies ja nainen. Jackille hahmot ovat todellisia, käsin kosketeltavia, ulkopuolisille henkilöille todellisuuksien sulautuminen näkyy Jackin ”kimmellyksenä”. Keitä härkäjuoksijat ovat ja miksi he juoksevat selviää kirjan loppupuolella. Siinä välissä Jack suostuu tieteelliseen kokeeseen, missä hän pääsee mielensä Takamaahan. Vaikka Jackin fyysinen olemus ei siirry, toisen todellisuuden tapahtumat vaikuttavat häneen fyysisesti.

Kaukaiset kaiut sekoittaa tieteen fantasiaan. Tarina on paikoin kauhun kyllästämää Metsän Henget kirjan tapaan. Kirja ei kuulu Alkumetsä sarjaan, mutta sen pohjavire on samankaltainen. Härkäjuoksijat ovat samantapaisia entiteettejä kuin mythagot. Kaukaiset kaiut oli varsin hyvä lukukokemus, mutta ei ihan yltänyt Metsän Henkien luomaan tunnelmaan.

[Myridian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, I haven't been reviewing enough lately. I finished this book a while ago and was not nearly impressed as I had been with the previous Holdstock book I reviewed, Unknown regions. In any case, the story is about a boy who apparently is in tune with some other unknown force. The story follows his struggle into understanding and negotiating his relationship with that force. While the story sounds interesting, it felt telegraphed. Part of the problem for me was that the story covered years of the boy's life (into adulthood) and I felt like I was shuttled between one important event and another in a ghosts of christmas past kind of way. Overall fairly interesting but not as good as I wanted it to be.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still think about this book sometimes. It was really the first adult fantasy I've ever completed because I didnt get totally bored. I was blown away. It is completely original, very intriguing, and quite thrilling. The environment is gorgeous and unique. The premise is really neat and takes you to all kinds of cool slivers of worlds. I thought it was an amazing ride and would recommend it to be people that want something new. Fast forward several years to now, and I still haven't come across anything like this. I feel like this book may be underrated.

[Isabel (kittiwake) · Rating 1 out of 5]

'As many as you can find,' Garth answered darkly. 'Glanum has left its shadow across the world, and it has been doing so for longer than you can imagine.'

An odd story, whose incomprehensible premise involves mythical figures generated within a boy's mind (I think?) and the strange behaviour of the ancient city of Glanum. I couldn't make head nor tail of it and the rushed ending didn't make things any clearer.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a "good read." I thought the building of the plot on the fact that sites for modern cities are often the sites for layers of ancient cities or habitats was a creative usge of scientific fact. The fantasy and "horror" had a good mix, too. I could not tell whether or not the ending was designed to leave an opening for a sequel. And, that left me a bit dissatisfied at the supposed death of one of the main characters, which while not likable did evoke some sympathy.

[Salimbol · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3 and 1/2 stars]
A really interesting concept, blending fantasy, mythology and science fiction. I found myself fascinated by how the author deployed his dreamscapes and archetypes, and I felt that the image of the city hunting through time and space was a very potent one. However, the story had lost steam well before the end, and the protagonist himself always felt thinly characterised to me.

[Ant · Rating 3 out of 5]

this could get better, but i can't bring myself to finish it with the pile i've got waiting...

[Stephen Hampshire]

One of my favourite authors. It's good, but it's a long way short of his best. Bit clunkily written in places, but it does have his knack of imagining really convincing people from the olden days.

[Stephen Hampshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my favourite authors. It's good, but it's a long way short of his best. Bit clunkily written in places, but it does have his knack of imagining really convincing people from the olden days.

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

So disappointing.

[Denisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another raring: 7/10

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure why I do not find Holdstock impressive. He has great ideas - cannot enliven them. I will have to reread to see if first impression still holds.

[TelynLl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this might have been a precursor to the Mythago Wood/Lavondyss books. It did not hold my interest like those did yet to me gives a glimpse of te genesis of the idea.

[Jackelin Mandragor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recenze: http://jackelin-mandragor.blogspot.cz...