Celtika

Any fan of mythology will love this book. Brilliantly blends ancient Greek heroes with Arthurian Heroes and a Celtic backdrop. Fast moving story with larger than life characters. I wouldnt spoil the story for anyone but this is a must for any fantasy reader. The only fly in the ointment was Mr Holdstock's chronological displacement of Greek mythological events. The Argonauts came first and then the Trojan War because one of the argonauts was Peleus, Achilles father. In fact it was Peleus' wedding that leads indirectly to the Trojan war. When Eris was not invited to the festivities she cast a gold apple to the guests which was to be given to the fairest. That apple became the prize that Paris later awarded to Aphrodite in exchange for Helen of Sparta. That being said it in no way spoiled the story any more than the changes made to the recent movie Troy. I am eagerly awaiting the third book.

Just finished Celtika by Robert Holdstock....a excellent read with a new twist on the story of Merlin and Jason (from Golden Fleece fame). If you're a stickler for keeping true to the old myths you may not like it, if however you like seeing tales told from a different perspective go for it. Takes you to a magical world 700 yrs after Jason's famous quest. Great cast of characters.

I have enjoyed Robert Holdstock's work since his book Mythago Woodfirst came out. Like all of Holdstock's work, Celtika weavesmyth and reality together. In Holdstock's book characters frommyth and demigods walk among men and women. Holdstock's earlierworks are full of obcession, love and passion as the world ofhumans intersects with the world of myth (or Mythagos). Thisgives his earlier work a somewhat dark quality. Although Celtikaopens in the snow and at a haunted lake, this work seems lightersomehow. Holdstock is an excellent english stylist and has an encylopedicknowledge of early history and myth. Celtika is a strange intersection a time which appears to be between Alexander's conquests and the rise of the Roman Empire, with mythical greekhistory. Although I suppose Celtika work would be classified as fantasy, Holdstock does not write classic fantasy. Hisstories have a real character to them. The main character,Merlin, does not wash much, as few people did in the westbefore modern times. Celtika recounts a story from earlier in Merlins very long life where he is seduced by a woman.She come to him in a sheer dress, smelling of flowers. As she undresses him she discovers that he is filthy. She first cleans him before they make love. Holdstock definitely writes for a well read audience.The story of Media is interwoven into Celtika and if you have not read or seen the Greek play Media, it might be worth reading to understand some of the background in this story. In particular, why Media is so bitter. In summary, this is an excellent book...

Merlin stays young as long as he does not use his magic, but every time he applies the "charm", he ages. Always in a quest for more arcane knowledge, Merlin joins Jason on his crusade to obtain the Golden Fleece. Later the Enchantress Medea kills Jason's two sons and steals their corpses. The grieving former hero sails into the night on the Argo with no reason to live, unable to obtain closure.Centuries later, Merlin learns that a "screaming" ship is locked inside a frozen lake. Concluding that the vessel must be the Argo, he journeys to help his mourning friend Jason, who screams are for his lost sons. Using his cherished "charm", he raises the Argo at the cost of much of his youth. He next informs Jason that his two sons live. A renewed Jason puts together a new crew of Argonauts set to rescue his children.Combining Arthurian legend with Greek mythology, Robert Holdstock displays he may be the leading mythologist of modern times. The story line is more than just an epic adventure as the key players, Merlin and Jason learn that no man, no matter how powerful or heroic, is an island. Magic seems unfeigned and the blending of the two epic lines brilliantly conceived and achieved. The first book of the Merlin Codex is a triumph that fantasy readers will relish, keep, and desire immediate release of book two in this terrific opus.Harriet Klausner