yond its present limits and that she will eventually
achieve the wider recognition her work deserves.
Holdstock, Robert (1948– )
Robert Holdstock was writing fantasy and horror
short stories as early as the 1960s and penned two
horror movie novelizations under a pen name in
1976, but his original novels only began appearing
a year later. Most of his early work was sword and
sorcery stories written under two pseudonyms. As
Chris Carlsen he was responsible for the Berserker
series, Shadow of the Wolf(1977, The Bull Chief
(1977), and The Horned Warrior(1979), in which a
Viking warrior is cursed by Odin to wander the
world subject to fits of intense, uncontrollable
rage. As Richard Kirk, and in collaboration with
Angus Wells, he contributed to the Raven series,
which features a strong female warrior as protago-
nist. A third series, published under the name
Robert Faulcon, is contemporary supernatural fic-
tion. Dan Brady’s family is abducted by a satanic
cult in the opening volume, Night Hunter(1983,
also published as The Stalking), and he spends the
first five titles tracking down leads, accumulating
occult knowledge, and thwarting attempts to kill
him before finally rescuing them in The Labyrinth
(1977).
Necromancer(1978), the first novel to appear
under his own name, involves the accidental re-
lease of an evil entity from a stone font in an aban-
doned church and the subsequent efforts to
reimprison it. It was the first of his novels to pro-
vide evidence that Holdstock was capable of much
more substantial work, although some of his early
science fiction novels hinted at his potential. None
of his early work suggested the possibility that he
might be capable of writing Mythago Wood(1984),
an astonishingly large leap forward and an intelli-
gent, literary fantasy whose premise is that Ryhope
Wood in England is actually larger on the inside
than on the outside and that it is home to mytha-
goes, which are physical manifestations of archety-
pal figures created by a sort of mass mind shared
mythology. In one form or another, Robin Hood,
King Arthur, and other mythical creatures all exist
and can be contacted if one penetrates deeply
enough. The main plot involves a grief-stricken
man who searches the forest for his dead wife,
while his brother becomes obsessed with exploring
its inner reaches. The novel won the World Fantasy
Award.
Holdstock has returned to Ryhope Wood sev-
eral times since. Lavondyss(1988) places a female
protagonist in a similar situation, and her compul-
sive exploration of the wood leads to her physical
transformation. The Hollowing (1993) reprises
some of the situations from its predecessors and
adds new developments, as does the title story in
The Bone Forest(1991). Merlin’s Wood(1994) is ac-
tually set in a second magical forest and concerns
the birth of an unusual child and the interface be-
tween our static world and the more volatile one
in the magical forest. Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn
(1997) demonstrates that fairies are not necessarily
the gentle, benign creatures they are commonly
portrayed to be.
Although Ancient Echoes(1996) does not in-
volve an enchanted forest, the experiences of a
man troubled by visions of an alternate world of
primitive hunters often echo Holdstock’s loosely
constructed series. Similarly, The Fetch(1991, also
published as Unknown Regions) describes the magi-
cal retribution exacted when a young boy demon-
strates an arcane talent—he can reach into other
times and places and literally extract items and
bring them into the present. Holdstock’s most re-
cent novels are Celtika(2001) and its sequel, The
Iron Grail(2002), a mystical adventure in which
Jason and the Argonauts are restored to life and
accompany Merlin on a series of adventures. Hold-
stock rarely writes short fiction. Most of his early
stories appear in In the Valley of Statues(1982) and
his later ones in The Bone Forest(1991). Holdstock
has left his sword and sorcery roots behind to be-
come a major fantasy novelist, a highly articulate
prose stylist whose novels are rich in mythic detail
and in his understanding of the subtleties of
human psychology. His reputation will almost cer-
tainly continue to grow as he continues to explore
the potential of classical mythologies.Holt, Tom(1961– )
Tom Holt had already published two nonfantastic
novels when he turned his hand to humorousHolt, Tom 165