- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Earthlight; New edition edition (5 Aug 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0743440803
- ISBN-13: 978-0743440806
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 11.2 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 454,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
A must for all readers of Holdstock - the story that precedes MYTHAGO WOOD This novel tells the story which precedes MYTHAGO WOOD. Steven Huxley's father, George, and brother, Christian, are the protagonists, and George's discovery of the primeval woodland which holds the "mythagos" - figures from myth, legend or dream - is detailed. Christian's introduction to the wood is fasciantingly drawn and in many ways this is the most fantastical of the entire series.
About the Author
Robert Holdstock is the winner of the World Fantasy Award for his classic fantasy novel MYTHAGO WOOD. He is regarded as one of the 20th century's leading writers of myth and fantasy, and has written novels for over twenty years, including the MYTHAGO sequence, the novel of John Boorman's film, THE EMERALD FOREST and THE FETCH. Robert Holdstock was born in Kent, and lives in North London.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This story is closely related to Holdstocks World Fantasy Award winning "Mythago Wood", possibly the most original fantasy book of the last 20 years. This is a prequel to that novel, but it is also a strong story of it's own; rich and full of of the deep research and deep mythology that is the heart of Holdstock's work. Here we trace the tale of Christian Huxley, the twisted and destructive elder brother from Mythago Wood, and follow the events that lead him towards that point.
Perhaps more than any of the other books in the Mythago sequence this one is bursting with interesting characters- the heroes who have populated 10000 years of story and legend awaking from their own stories to join the impossible hunt from the Mabinogion's tale of Culhwch and Olwen.
Packed with psychological and mythic resonance, this book stands alone, head and shoulders above the crowd of fantasy literature. But it is also an iteration, another layer on the story of Mythago Wood and after reading it, you can go back to that book and you will find it has changed as well.
Format:Paperback
Gate of Ivory goes back in time in the Mythago Wood sequence to tell us the story of Christian Huxley.
Steven's brother, who has never recovered from his mother's suicide after an terrible attack by a band of Mythago warriors when he was only a small boy, is now a grown man and goes exploring into the Wood. There he joins the Long Person, a makeshift group of forgotten figures from past legends, among which Guiwenneth, with whom he'll deeply fall in love. After living with them for a while, he learns that they're here to help the warrior Kylhuk's Legion in his quests, and soon Christian discovers he has a role to play too.
What I enjoyed in this fifth volume is the diversity of interesting characters and their stories. It was also great to read Christian's side of the story. Indeed in this tome he appears as a much less barbaric and more humane person than in the first one.
Steven's brother, who has never recovered from his mother's suicide after an terrible attack by a band of Mythago warriors when he was only a small boy, is now a grown man and goes exploring into the Wood. There he joins the Long Person, a makeshift group of forgotten figures from past legends, among which Guiwenneth, with whom he'll deeply fall in love. After living with them for a while, he learns that they're here to help the warrior Kylhuk's Legion in his quests, and soon Christian discovers he has a role to play too.
What I enjoyed in this fifth volume is the diversity of interesting characters and their stories. It was also great to read Christian's side of the story. Indeed in this tome he appears as a much less barbaric and more humane person than in the first one.
Format:Hardcover
The (currently) latest book in the Mythago cycle tells the story of Christian Huxley, whom we first met in the role of ruthless killer in "Mythago Wood". This book provides a sympathetic treatment of Christian, explaining his history with the barbarian princess Guiwenneth, and giving startling insight into the tragic end of Jennifer Huxley, his mother. The book focuses on Christian's early career in Ryhope Wood, showing us the events which eventually led to his decline, but omitting the decline itself. I liked the book, but was a bit disappointed with the ending; it seemed to me that his impasse with both Jennifer and Guiwenneth at the end could have been negotiated to a more satisfactory conclusion - in fact, it's a bit unbelievable to me that Christian wasn't able to do so. Also, the book just didn't "grab" me as strongly as the previous books (which I would have rated as 10's). However, fans of the Mythago cycle will not want to pass this one up, because it expands our understanding of events around Ryhope significantly further. I do appreciate the fact that Mr. Holdstock is going back to tie up some of the numerous loose ends that the previous books leave dangling, and I hope he will continue this trend.
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