Robert Holdstock (1948–2009)

An interesting premise and a powerfully written novel drawing on the author's theme of other realities used elsewhere in his 'Mythago Wood' series. Here, the treatment is dark and concerns a haunting of a strange kind. Michael is adopted by parents who seem rather self-absorbed and cannot relate to him as he grows, possibly due to traumatic events occurring around him in the first days after they take him home from the clinic which has made a somewhat dubious arrangement. Inexplicably, dirt is thrown at him whenever he is left alone, and this climaxes in the first section of the book in near disaster. After relocating to a friends' house, things settle for a few years but eventually the adults realise Michael can 'fetch' things, and they eventually understand that these things are taken from the distant past.

The gift turns out to be a kind of curse. Despite the fact that tragedy attends it - that the fetching is a violent wrenching and often includes body parts of humans and animals - the parents start to look on their adopted son as a goldmine. Meanwhile, they transfer their parental affection to their own natural born daughter. Michael is a lonely boy, bullied at school, whose only 'friend' is an alter ego, Chalk Boy, whom he believes to be essential to his ability to fetch valuable items from the past. Chalk Boy is a fetch of another kind - a Trickster character in effect, from the old meaning of trick. He often torments Michael by switching things at the last moment so that what he brings back are rotting animals etc.

As years pass, the boy develops an obsession with the Grail which he believes he can find and recover - perhaps to win back his father's affection which is soon lost when his gift becomes less certain as he approaches puberty, and his father turns to drink.

There is some good character development though I found the father's transformation from an unpleasant drunken sott who landed the family in debt to a dubious and violent group of characters, into an abruptly reawakened repentent man who wants to rebuild his fractured relationship with Michael, less than convincing. The psychic French character Francoise is also rather a plot device. But Michael and his little sister Carol are well realised. The only aspect that becomes a bit repetitious after a while are the graphic descriptions of the aftermath of violent dismemberment which attend Michael's forays into the past. Also, the explanation for what lies behind his psychic abilities and experience is a little 'pat' for me. Hence I'm rating this as 4 stars rather than 5.… (mer)

One of a series, unfortunately, I have read none of the previous books. This presented no problem as I quickly got the hang of what was happening in the mysterious Ryhope Wood, and the strange Mythagos that live there created from memory. This is a tough book to rate. Based on an imagined world and the style of the author’s world-building I’d have to give this 4.5 out of 5, but on enjoyment I only liked the book, not loved it — maybe a 3.5, as I found it somewhat wandering. Still, I cannot fault this imaginative work, the creation of a magical world blended with mythology and anthropology. I may check out Mythago Wood in time, as that is the first novel, and seems more highly rated.… (mer)

Fantasy story about a mysterious forest in which myths from the collective consciousnesses become real. The story of two brothers that own a cabin by a forest, which their father arduously studies but they do not understand much while young. Some strange events happen, and years later when the brothers grow they enter the forest and discover a range of mythical creatures (shamans, knights and the like) that protect and inhabit the forest. One brother (Christian) falls in love with a mythical women, but then she seems to die. He goes to search for her, and then the second brother (Steven) finds another incarnation of the same women and falls in love with her. Then Christian returns and kidnaps the women, a thing which makes Steven go and chase him through the forest. Many unrelated characters appear (and disappear as fast) and guide Steven through the forest. . The main characters seem not to be at all in control of their fate and seem to always "go with the flow", even if it does not make much sense. The whole story seems patched and not very all connected. It tries to give an impression of multiple myths intertwined but putting many unrelated stories and characters together needs in my opinion a bit stronger binding than the two brothers chasing something nebulous and always changing. Nicely written but the story seems to waste the potential of the setting.… (mer)

Recuperai questo romanzo a una bancarella al mare: credo sia più o meno misconosciuto in Italia, uno di quei fantasy che hanno attraversato il mercato nostrano senza grande rumore e hanno lasciato una serie interrotta in più. Credo, infatti, che la Mondadori si sia arresa dopo il secondo... Peccato, tutto sommato non mi dispiaceva affatto.

Diciamo che La foresta dei Mitago ha due pecche: una fastidiosa, l'altra probabilmente contingente. La pecca fastidiosa è quella della protagonista femminile, Guiwenneth, che è così finta da non risultare credibile ed è lungi dal suscitare la simpatia del/della lettore/trice. Sono incerta sul fatto che dipenda dalla scarsa maestria di Holdstock nel tratteggiare un personaggio femminile o se fosse funzionale all'intera saga, ma comunque non mi è sembrata una scelta felice.

La pecca probabilmente contingente, invece, è quella dell'insufficiente focus sui Mitago, creature archetipiche create dalla mente umana e capaci di prendere forma fisica in alcuni boschi selvatici, come quello di Ryhope, dove è ambientato il romanzo. Holdstock spiega bene come si formano lungo tutto il corso del romanzo, ma allo stesso tempo i protagonisti hanno così poche interazioni con loro! Un po' perché Holdstock ha pensato di creare una barriera linguistica difficilmente sormontabile, un po' perché la narrazione finisce per focalizzarsi sulle difficoltà dei protagonisti.

Il che, per carità, non è un male in sé, ma sono frustrata dal fatto che Holdstock abbia avuto un'idea così interessante per poi lasciarla languire così: mi ha lasciato una maledetta curiosità di saperne di più sui Jaguth, tanto per dirne una! Il problema, però, potrebbe essere solo una SiPriLi: purtroppo non mi ricordo un tubo del secondo – sì, ho anche il secondo – per poter dire alcunché al riguardo. Vorrei rileggerlo: non appena mi ricorderò dove l'ho messo, provvederò...

Comunque, a parte queste piccole pecche, La foresta dei Mitago scorre che è una meraviglia: Holdstock è bravo a incuriosire il/la lettore/trice e a spingerl* avanti verso la conclusione della caccia. E a proposito di conclusioni... Il finale è abbastanza “oscuro”: nel senso che è compiuto, ma immagino che ne risentiremo parlare nei libri successivi della serie. Mannaggia a te, Holdstock, e mannaggia alla Mondadori...… (mer)