Robert Holdstock
Encyclopedia
Robert Paul Holdstock was an English novelist and author best known for his works of Celtic, Nordic
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...

, Gothic
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....

 and Pictish
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...

 fantasy literature
Fantasy literature
Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...

, predominantly in the fantasy subgenre of mythic fiction
Mythic fiction
Mythic fiction is literature that is rooted in, inspired by, or that in some way draws from the tropes, themes and symbolism of myth, folklore, and fairy tales. The term is widely credited to Charles de Lint and Terri Windling...

.

Holdstock's writing was first published during 1968. His science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 and fantasy works explore philosophical
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

, psychological
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

, anthropological
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...

, spiritual
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...

, and woodland
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

 themes. He received three BSFA award
BSFA award
The BSFA Awards are literary awards presented annually since 1970 by the British Science Fiction Association to honor works in the genre of science fiction. Nominees and winners are chosen based on a vote of BSFA members...

s and won the World Fantasy Award
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...

 in the category of Best Novel of 1985.

Biography

Robert Holdstock, the oldest of five children, was born in Hythe, Kent
Hythe, Kent
Hythe , is a small coastal market town on the edge of Romney Marsh, in the District of Shepway on the south coast of Kent. The word Hythe or Hithe is an Old English word meaning Haven or Landing Place....

. His father, Robert Frank Holdstock, was a police officer and his mother, Kathleen Madeline Holdstock, was a nurse. At the age of seven years, Robert started attending the Gillingham Grammar School in the Medway Towns
Medway
Medway is a conurbation and unitary authority in South East England. The Unitary Authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council and part of Kent County Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County...

. As a young adult he had jobs including banana boatman
Banana boat (ship)
A banana boat is a ship that carries bananas as a primary cargo, or is otherwise engaged in the banana trade. As the main produce of the West indies was bananas they were also used as a form of cheap transportation and the English cricket team that toured the West Indies in 1959–60 used banana...

, construction worker
Construction worker
A construction worker or builder is a professional, tradesman, or labourer who directly participates in the physical construction of infrastructure.-Construction trades:...

, and slate miner
Slate industry in Wales
The slate industry in Wales began during the Roman period when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the late 19th century, at which time the most important slate producing areas were in...

.

As an adult he earned a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 from University College of North Wales
Bangor University
Bangor University is a university based in the city of Bangor in the county of Gwynedd in North Wales-United Kingdom.It was officially known for most of its history as the University College of North Wales...

, Bangor, with honours in applied Zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

 (1967–1970). He continued his education, earning a Master of Science
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...

 in Medical Zoology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a constituent college of the federal University of London, specialising in public health and tropical medicine...

 in 1971. He conducted research at the Medical Research Council in London
Medical Research Council (UK)
The Medical Research Council is a publicly-funded agency responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is one of seven Research Councils in the UK and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...

 from 1971 to 1974 while also doing part-time writing. He became a full-time writer during 1976 and lived out the rest of his life in North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...

.

He died in hospital at the age of 61, following his collapse with an E. coli infection on 18 November 2009.

Writings

Robert Holdstock's first published story, Pauper's Plot, appeared in the New Worlds
New Worlds (magazine)
New Worlds was a British science fiction magazine which was first published professionally in 1946. For 25 years it was widely considered the leading science fiction magazine in Britain, publishing 201 issues up to 1971...

magazine in 1968. His first novel was a science fiction work titled Eye Among the Blind, released in 1976.

During the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s Holdstock wrote many fantasy and science fiction novels along with a number of short stories, most of which were published under a pseudonym. Robert Holdstock's pseudonyms include Robert Faulcon, Chris Carlsen, Richard Kirk
Richard Kirk
Richard Kirk is the pseudonym of authors Robert Holdstock and Angus Wells, co-creators of the Raven fantasy novels. Holdstock and Wells co-wrote the first Raven novel, Raven Swordmistress of Chaos, and then took it in turns to write the subsequent four novels in the series:*A Time of Ghosts *The...

, Robert Black, Ken Blake, and Steven Eisler. During this same period, he wrote "Space Wars, Worlds, and Weapons," a series of essays about the various tropes of Science Fiction, interspersed with colour reproductions of space art.

In 1980 Holdstock cowrote Tour of the Universe with Malcolm Edwards
Malcolm Edwards
Malcolm John Edwards is a British editor and critic in the science fiction field. He received his degree from the University of Cambridge. He is currently Deputy CEO at the Orion Publishing Group. Edwards resides in London with his wife, the CEO of a public relations company...

. The rights were subsequently sold for a space shuttle simulation ride at the CN Tower
CN Tower
The CN Tower is a communications and observation tower in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Standing tall, it was completed in 1976, becoming the world's tallest free-standing structure and world's tallest tower at the time. It held both records for 34 years until the completion of the Burj...

, also called the Tour of the Universe
Tour of the Universe
Tour of the Universe was a space shuttle simulation ride located in the basement level of the CN Tower.The ride was the idea of Moses Znaimer...

.

Holdstock wrote a novella, The Dark Wheel, which was included with the best-selling 1984 computer game Elite. Holdstock has also written The Emerald Forest, based on the film of the same name
The Emerald Forest (film)
-External links:* - a British Library recording....

 as directed by John Boorman
John Boorman
John Boorman is a British filmmaker who is a long time resident of Ireland and is best known for his feature films such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Zardoz, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, Hope and Glory, The General and The Tailor of Panama.-Early life:Boorman was born in Shepperton, Surrey,...

 (director of Deliverance
Deliverance
Deliverance is a 1972 American thriller film produced and directed by John Boorman. Principal cast members include Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty in his film debut. The film is based on a 1970 novel of the same name by American author James Dickey, who has a small role in the...

and Excalibur
Excalibur (film)
Excalibur is a 1981 dramatic fantasy film directed, produced and co-written by John Boorman that retells the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Adapted from the 15th century Arthurian romance, Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, Excalibur features the music of Richard Wagner...

amongst others). He also novelised episodes of the Granada television seris Bulman
Bulman
Bulman was a Granada TV series which ran from 1985-1987 and followed the fortunes of the major character from the earlier XYY Man and Strangers series....

.

Holdstock's breakthrough novel Mythago Wood
Mythago Wood
Mythago Wood is a fantasy novel written by Robert Holdstock that was published in the United Kingdom in 1984. The conception began as a short story written for the 1979 Milford Writer's Workshop; next a novella of the same name appeared in the September 1981 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy &...

was published during 1984 with his true name. Mythago Wood is recognized as Holdstock's first major fantasy work and begins the Ryhope wood series. The books in this series started with the Mythago Wood novella published in 1981 and continue to the present day with the sequel to Mythago Wood, Avilion, published in July 2009.

From 2001 to 2007 Holdstock produced a trilogy of fantasy novels, the Merlin Codex, consisting of Celtika, The Iron Grail and The Broken Kings.

Holdstock has authored, edited, and contributed to a number of non-fiction works including Alien Landscapes, Tour of the Universe, Horror: 100 Best Novels and the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (not The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction is an English language reference work on science fiction.- Publication history :The first edition, edited by Peter Nicholls with John Clute and Brian Stableford appeared in 1979, published by Granada. It was retitled The Science Fiction Encyclopedia in the US...

.)

Critical analysis

Holdstock's works have been subject to much literary analysis. The majority of this analysis is of Mythago Wood.

David Pringle
David Pringle
David Pringle is a Scottish science fiction editor.Pringle served as the editor of Foundation, an academic journal, from 1980 through 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective which founded Interzone in 1982...

 describes Eye Among the Blind, Holdstock's first science fiction novel, as a "dogged, detailed, somewhat slow-moving planetary mystery." Regarding the same novel Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...

 remarked "As strong a treatment of a central theme of science fiction – alienness, and the relation of the human and the alien – as any I have read."

According to Michael D. C. Drout
Michael D. C. Drout
Michael D. C. Drout is the Prentice Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English at Wheaton College and an author and editor specializing in Anglo-Saxon and medieval literature, science fiction and fantasy, especially the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and Ursula K. Le Guin.Drout holds a...

, a modern J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...

 scholar, Holdstock's fantasy is a significant part of the fantasy literature genre. This is because (in the Ryhope wood series) Holdstock has created literary arts containing the power and aesthetic standards of Tolkien’s fantasy without being either a "close imitation of" or a "reaction against" Tolkien. Drout considers Holdstock, along with Ursula K. Le Guin, a worthy inheritor of the fantasy tradition created by Tolkien. According to a study of Tolkien's works by Partrick Curry, Holdstock is placed in a quartet of noteworthy fantasy authors including Ursula K. Le Guin, John Crowley
John Crowley
John Crowley is an American author of fantasy, science fiction and mainstream fiction. He studied at Indiana University and has a second career as a documentary film writer...

 and Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley was an American author of fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series. Many critics have noted a feminist perspective in her writing. Her first child, David R...

 for writing fantasy books that come close to Tolkien's breadth and depth of imagination, and "in some respects surpass Tolkien."

One essayist states "Robert Holdstock's gift for evoking landscapes and weaving mythic patterns is outstanding." Accordingly, the covers of his books have been produced by a variety of notable Science Fiction and Fantasy illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

s. The original UK and US covers of Mythago Wood were illustrated by Eddi Gornall and Christopher Zacharow, respectively; Geoff Taylor
Geoff Taylor
Geoff Taylor is an English fantasy artist. He has illustrated books for famous fantasy writers such as Robert Holdstock, Philip K. Dick, David and Leigh Eddings, Graham Edwards, Raymond E. Feist, Katharine Kerr, J. R. R. Tolkien, Roger Zelazny, and David Zindell...

 illustrated the original UK covers for the Mythago Wood sequels Lavondyss, The Bone Forest, The Hollowing and Merlin's Wood. Illustrators of subsequent covers and editions include Jim Burns
Jim Burns
Jim Burns is a Welsh artist born in Cardiff, Wales.In 1966 he joined the Royal Air Force, but soon thereafter he left and signed up at the Newport School of Art for a year's foundation course....

, Tom Canty, John Howe, Alan Lee, John Jude Pallencar, Larry Rostant, and Ron Walotsky. John Howe stated "Holdstock is to me one of the best Celtic fantasy authors alive today."

David Langford
David Langford
David Rowland Langford is a British author, editor and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter Ansible.-Personal background:...

 offers praise for most of Holdstock's work, but regarding Merlin's Wood
Merlin's Wood
Merlin's Wood; or, The Vision of Magic is a short novel written by Robert Holdstock and was first published in the UK in 1994. The novel is considered part of the Mythago Wood cycle, but takes place in Brittany, France instead of Herefordshire, England...

he states "the overall narrative is flawed, distorted by its weight of undeserved loss and inaccessible healing."

Awards

  • The novella Mythago Wood won the BSFA Award
    BSFA award
    The BSFA Awards are literary awards presented annually since 1970 by the British Science Fiction Association to honor works in the genre of science fiction. Nominees and winners are chosen based on a vote of BSFA members...

     for Best Short Story in 1981 along with the World Fantasy Award
    World Fantasy Award
    The World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...

     for Best Novella in 1982.
  • The novel Mythago Wood won the BSFA Award for Best Novel in 1984 along with the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1985. Mythago Wood was published as part of the Masterpieces of Fantasy series by Easton Press
    Easton Press
    Easton Press, a division of MBI Inc., based in Norwalk, Connecticut, is a publisher specializing in high-quality leather-bound books. In addition to canonical classics, poetry and art books, they publish a large library of science fiction and popular literature as well.Some of Easton Press's...

    , who describe themselves as releasing 'works of lasting meaning, beauty and importance.'
  • Lavondyss won the BSFA Award for Best Novel in 1988.
  • The Bone Forest was nominated for the World Fantasy Award in the category of Best Collection in 1992.
  • The Ragthorn, coauthored with Garry Kilworth
    Garry Kilworth
    Garry Douglas Kilworth is a fantasy and historical novelist.Kilworth is a graduate of King's College London. He was previously a science fiction author, having published one hundred twenty short stories and seventy novels...

    , won the World Fantasy Award in the category of Best Novella in 1992 and was nominated for the BSFA Award for Best Novel in 1994.
  • The Fetch won the HOMer Award for horror novel in 1992.
  • The Iron Grail won the Czech Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy and Horror Award in the category of Best Novel in 2002.
  • La Forêt des Mythagos, i.e. the Mythago Wood collection, won the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire
    Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire
    Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire is a French award for speculative fiction. It originally had the word "science fiction" in the name, but this has since been dropped.-French novel:* 1974 : Michel Jeury, Le Temps incertain...

     in the category of Prix spécial in 2003.
  • Scarrowfell, Valley of Statues and Other Stories and its translation, published in French, won the Prix d'Imaginales award in the New Fantasy category in 2004.
  • Celtika won the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire in the Foreign Language Novel category in 2004.

Select bibliography

Ryhope Wood series
  • Mythago Wood
    Mythago Wood
    Mythago Wood is a fantasy novel written by Robert Holdstock that was published in the United Kingdom in 1984. The conception began as a short story written for the 1979 Milford Writer's Workshop; next a novella of the same name appeared in the September 1981 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy &...

  • Lavondyss
    Lavondyss
    Lavondyss also titled Lavondyss: Journey to an Unknown Region is the second fantasy novel of the Mythago Wood series written by Robert Holdstock. Lavondyss was originally published in 1988...

  • The Bone Forest
    The Bone Forest
    The Bone Forest is a book opening with a novella of the same name followed by seven short stories. All were written by Robert Holdstock and published in 1991 and 1992 . This novella is a prequel to the entire Mythago Wood cycle...

    , a novella and short story collection
  • The Hollowing
    The Hollowing
    The Hollowing is the third fantasy novel of the Mythago Wood series written by Robert Holdstock. It was originally published in 1993. The title refers to a magical pathway, or hollowing, an archaic English term for a sunken lane or hollow-way...

  • Merlin's Wood
    Merlin's Wood
    Merlin's Wood; or, The Vision of Magic is a short novel written by Robert Holdstock and was first published in the UK in 1994. The novel is considered part of the Mythago Wood cycle, but takes place in Brittany, France instead of Herefordshire, England...

    , a novel and two short stories (only published in the UK)
  • Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn
    Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn
    Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn is a fantasy novel by British author Robert Holdstock. It was originally published in the US in 1997 The story is a prequel to Mythago Wood and explores the Christian Huxley's quest into Ryhope Wood and the apparent suicide of his mother, Jennifer Huxley...

  • Avilion
    Avilion
    Avilion is a fantasy novel by British author Robert Holdstock. It was published in the United Kingdom on July 16, 2009. It is his first Ryhope wood novel since Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn was published in 1997. Avilion is Tennyson's term for Avalon in Le Morte d'Arthur...



Merlin Codex series
  • Celtika
  • The Iron Grail
  • The Broken Kings


Other novels
  • Eye Among the Blind
  • Earthwind
  • Necromancer
  • Where Time Winds Blow
  • In the Valley of the Statues (short story collection)
  • The Emerald Forest (film novelisation)
  • The Fetch (also published under the title Unknown Regions)
  • Ancient Echoes
  • The Dark Wheel computer game novella included in Elite (video game)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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