The Hollowing

Ok, so I'm a big fan of Robert Holdstock's books. I believe I own every one now. The Hollowing is my favorite, even more so than Mythago Wood. Even though these are both books in the "Mythago Cycle", you don't really need to read Mythago Wood first, but it helps. The Hollowing has such a lush, rich fantasy story that it makes me reread it every so often, and I am still amazed. Some of Holdstock's ideas are a little weird, but if you're reading a fantasy novel you obviously are capable of embracing weird ideas. If you're a fantasy fan like me (or becoming one) pick this up. It's one of my favorite books ever and my fav from Holdstock.

A tale such as The Hollowing is hard to write a review for... When I first read it, I found it a bit hard to get into. You see, the first 100 pages was about the main character's life with his son before the disappearance. I was wodering why the level of detail... Then the storyline began to progress quickly as the nature of the diappearance became apparent. By then I couldn't put the book down. The story begins in roughly 1962 and restarts 10 years later after the characters life has decintergrated. A group of scientists inform him that his son is still alive within a place called Ryhope Wood. The child used to play near there with a young girl who went missing and he is supposedly making the place dangerous. It is about the dedication of a father, and a son lost in eternal youth within a nightmare of his own creation. The father must respond to a place where time and space is irrelevant, and where a myth can become tangible as well as dangerous. It is a place where you are often your own worst enemy... There is a word to describe this book: WOW!Dianne

Robert Holdstock's imaginative fantasy world will change your outlook on the woods, and life itself ,for forevermore. It all begins when a young boy is swept away into the world of Ryhope Wood. The story is the journey of his loving , never-give-up father's desperate struggle to rescue his son from the strange and fascinating creatures of the wood. Rich and amazing, this novel is one to be read over and over again!

This is a hauntingly beautiful book about a forest where nightmarish folk legends come to life. This book returns to Mythago Wood, a place that spans time and space, where the folk legends and myths buried deep in one's subconscious mind are born into living creatures called mythagos. The Hollowing tells of a father's maddening journey into the nightmarish forest in a desperate search for his missing son. This book was beautifully written and gave me a sense of wonder while scaring the crap outta me. An excellent and very original fantasy.

Robert Holdstock is a brilliant author who uses fantastic imagery combined with an extensive knowledge of mythology. In The Hollowing, he writes of a forest which lies only partially in the relm of modern day earth. Inside are created the mythic heroes and monsters of every culture, brought into existance by the force of mankind's unconcious needs. This novel is a FAR cry from the unimaginative dimestore fantasy novels which cram the shelves of bookstores, and is one of the most absorbing I have ever read