Search Worlds Without End

Jack Chatwin has visions, which leave tangible evidence - sounds and smells, which linger afterwards. What he sees are two primitive figures, with painted faces - Greyface and Greenface, a brother and sister. He calls them bullrunners.

John Garth is a city dowser, searching for the mythical pre-Roman city of Glanum. He hopes to find an entryway to the elusive city beneath Exburgh, Jack's home town. And he thinks Jack's bullrunners may be connected to Glanum...

Years later, Jack, now grown up, agrees to take part in experiments to investigate his bullrunners - until Greyface, the male, breaks free of Jack and takes corporeal form. The bullrunner kidnaps Jack's young daughter so Jack will force Greenface to follow her brother-husband, even against her own wishes. Though Greyface returns the daughter, he keeps a shadow of her, which takes on a life of its own. If Jack refuses to co-operate, the shadow will drain his daughter's vitality and personality - and her very future.

The story of Jack's search for Greenface is interwoven with the connections between the bullrunners and the mystical city of Glanum in this resonant tale of ancient mythic wonder.

"Earthwind" tells the story of two people trapped on the planet Aeran. What has happened to the colonists of this world to obliterate their memories of who and what they were, and to have rebuilt in their place a precise and accurate copy of a stone age culture that had flourished in Ireland during the fourth millennium BC?

Elspeth Mueller, fighting against time as her memory decayed, tried to find out; deformed and embittered by the barbaric rituals of her 'civilised' home world, she struggled against her own fear to accept the cruel customs of Aerani society, knowing that the answers she sought lay in those same rituals.

Peter Ashka, his life inextricably interwoven with the I Ching, tried to find out as well - but his quest brought him into conflict with the two authorities that guided his life.

The Fear--mysterious, unstoppable, this deadly plague is slowly wiping out humanity. And only one world seems to offer hope of sanctuary--Ree'hdworld, home of the only other intelligent beings in the universe. But Ree'hdworld is not as safe as it seems. For something has been happening to the natives--both the friendly Ree'hd and their more primitive kinsmen, the Rundil.

And only three people stand any chance of discovering and surviving the danger that the humans of Ree'hdworld will soon face: Kristina, an Earthwoman who is slowly "going Ree'hd"; Maguire, a blind man who should have died centuries ago and who, living, has seen all the secrets of the universe; and Zeitman, a brilliant scientist who holds the key to salvation of Ree'hdworld in his mind--in only he can discover it in time...

From the landscapes of prehistory to the 40th millennium AD, from post-war England to the full canvas of the inhabited galaxy, Robert Holdstock's haunting mythic imagination weaves eight stories of arresting power and ingenuity.

Table fo Contents:

• 9 - Earth and Stone - (1980) - novelette
• 43 - A Small Event - (1977) - novelette
• 65 - In the Valley of the Statues - (1979) - novelette
• 87 - Ashes - (1974) - novelette (variant of Ash, Ash)
• 109 - Travellers - (1976) - novelette
• 147 - The Touch of a Vanished Hand - (1975) - short story
• 157 - The Graveyard Cross - (1976) - short story
• 177 - Mythago Wood - (1981) - novelette

BSFA winning and WFA nominated noveltte. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September 1981. It was later expanded to the full novel Mythago Wood (1984). The story can also be found in the anthologies The Best Fantasy Stories from the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (1985), edited by Edward L. Ferman and The Secret History of Fantasy (2010), edited by Peter S. Beagle. The story included in the collection In the Valley of the Statues (1982).

CRUACHOS

AN ANCIENT EVIL FROM THE DAWN OF TIME

In a quiet town west of London stand the ruins of a burned-out church. Within th eruins is a stone font. Legends surround it, dark stories of blood, suicide and madness.

To a tortured yound mother it is a prison--holding in its cold grasp the sould of her young son.

To an ambitious Berkeley historian, it is a journey into the occult, a challenge for his questing mind.

Ti a beautiful French psychic, it is a key to the deep past, a a memory stone bearing the secrets of an anciet people.

For all of them it is a deadly danger.

Wondrous beings inhabit these woods - creatures born of mythic fable and the mortal subconscious: a snow woman beckons; a scientist succumbs to an age-old madness, tale-tellers weave extraordinary yarns of terrifying primal power. Explore a dark and secret place where daemons roam, where conjurers work their awesome pagan magic in eight stunning short stories of exhilarating imagination by the acclaimed author of Lavondyss and the World Fantasy Award-winning classic Mythago Wood.

Table of Contents

• The Bone Forest - novella
• Thorn - (1984) - short story
• The Shapechanger - (1989) - novelette
• The Boy Who Jumped the Rapids - (1984) - novelette
• Time of the Tree - (1988) - short story
• Magic Man - (1976) - short story
• Scarrowfell - (1987) - novelette
• The Time Beyond Age - (1976) - novelette

There is a landscape between reality and dreams, a strange and primitive country that exists upon the edge of our waking world. Michael Whitlock knows that country well. His best friend lives there...

It beings with a scatter of earth, thrown over the infant by unseen hands, a haunting attack that is repeated day after day, culminating with an explosive fall of mud that nearly kills the boy. And found in those tons of raw, wet earth: flints, chalk artefacts, and remains of a primitive shrine and the dismembered carcase of a hunting dog.

The Whitlocks' house, in the Kentish Weald, stands near a chalk-pit, and it is here that their son, Michael creates his preculiar imaginary world, making his camp by the pile of grave-earth from that early attack. Unaware of what is happening to him, the boy touches and uses the strange force that now ebbs and flows in the pit, And when the haunting returns, this time it is more subtle, almost wonderful in its secutive nature.

Torn between a fear of the supernatural and greed for the results of Michael's power, his adoptive parents are helpless. It is left to Françoise Jeury, a psyhic investigator, to piece together the bizarre truth of th epit and the shrine and the oddly silent boy.

WFA and BSFA winning novellette. It originally appeared in the anthology A Whisper of Blood (1991), edited by Ellen Datlow. The story can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Fifth Annual Collection (1992), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. It is included in the collection The Ragthorn (2015).

On the shores of time are ferocious, mind-tearing winds... when they take you... you die.....

Kris Dojaan, seeking a brother swept into Othertime, volunteers for the suicide mission from which no man has returned--on a planet ravaged by mysterious Winds that whine and scream, then explode, booming into the atmosphere--a planet where men die into the future and vanish beneath a blackening sky....

Leo Faulcon must find the terrible secret of the Winds, a secret guarded by horrible mutants, the Manchanged, genetically and surgically adapted to the harsh planet...to rescue Kris and Faulcon's lover, Lena...before they disappear forever!

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Robert Holdstock and Christopher Evans
• Crying in the Rain - short story by Tanith Lee
• The Facts of Life - short story by Christopher Evans
• Small Heirlooms - short story by M. John Harrison
• The Emir's Clock - short story by Ian Watson
• The Price of Cabbages - novelette by Brian W. Aldiss
• Fullwood's Web - short story by Graham Charnock
• Scarrowfell - novelette by Robert Holdstock
• The Frozen Cardinal - short story by Michael Moorcock
• Triptych: The Black Wedding; Murderers Walk; Hogfoot Right and Bird-Hands - short story by Garry Kilworth
• Sanctity - short story by R. M. Lamming
• Moonlighter - short story by David Garnett
• In a Land of Sand and Ruin and Gold - short story by David Langford
• Piper's Wait - short story by Keith Roberts
• The Wound - short story by Lisa Tuttle
• Contributors - essay by uncredited

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Chris Evans and Robert Holdstock
• On the Watchtower at Plataea - (1988) - novelette by Garry Kilworth
• She Shall Have Music - short story by Graham Charnock
• Dazzle - (1988) - short story by Scott Bradfield
• Waltz in Flexitime - (1988) - short story by Michael Cobley
• The Resurrection Man - (1988) - short story by Ian Watson
• Laiken Langstrand - (1988) - short story by Gwyneth Jones
• Roman Games - (1988) - short story by Anne Gay
• Eden Sounding - shortfiction by John Clute
• Confluence Revisited - short story by Brian W. Aldiss
• Getting Together - shortfiction by Josephine Saxton
• The Gift - (1988) - novelette by M. John Harrison
• The Wish - short story by Colin Greenland
• Remaking History - (1988) - short story by Kim Stanley Robinson
• Approaching Perpendicular - (1988) - novelette by Ian McDonald
• Mars - (1988) - short story by Michael Moorcock
• A Madonna of the Machine - (1988) - novelette by Tanith Lee

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Christopher Evans and Robert Holdstock
• The Grey Wethers - novelette by Keith Roberts
• The New Mapper - novelette by J. D. Gresham
• The Disciples of Apollo - short story by Eric Brown
• The Way to His Heart - short story by Sherry Coldsmith
• Rainmaker Cometh - short story by Ian McDonald
• Blessed Fields - short story by Simon Ings
• Country Matters - short story by Gill Alderman
• The Droplet - short story by Stephen Baxter
• Cry - short story by Louise Cooper
• The Wailing Woman - novelette by Christopher Evans
• When the Music Stopped - short story by Christian Lehmann and Garry Kilworth
• Wintertime Beauty - short story by Christina Lake
• Passion Play - short story by Keith Brooke
• Losing Control - short story by Chris Morgan
• Heart's Desire - short story by Lisa Tuttle
• A Tupolev Too Far - novelette by Brian W. Aldiss

She escaped the slavepens of Lyland--a beautiful girl with hair the color of summer sun, eyes as blue as the heavens, and a body that invited love.

Rescued by sorcerer priests, she was schooled in every art of weaponry and combat. Her sword stained by the blood of legions, no man could defeat her.

With her mysterious companion-mentor Spellbinder, and a great black bird to watch over them, Raven journeyed forth to her destiny--and the happy day of slaughtering Karl ir Donwayne, the cruel master who had tortured her mercilessly as a slave...

Centuries before he meets Arthur, Merlin wanders the earth, eternally young, a traveler on the path of magic and learning. During his journeys he encounters Jason and joins his search for the Golden Fleece. It is a decision that will cost him dear...

Hundreds of years later, Merlin hears of a screaming ship in a northern lake and divines that it is the Argo...that Jason still screams out for his sons, stolen by the enchantress Medea and thought dead. But death is not the end, and Merlin's trek to the north leads to the revival of both man and ship, and a new quest, with new companions-to find Jason's sons.

Roving from the frozen north to the blighted island that will become Arthur's realm, from the deep forests of ancient Britain to the sun-washed shores of ancient Greece, Merlin's journey is an epic tale of mystery and enchantment. Celtika begins a retelling of the Arthurian legend unlike any other.

"The first is a man who needs you and will use you. He will weaken you dangerously. The second is a man you betrayed, though you believe otherwise. He wishes to kill you and can do so easily. The third is a ship that is more than a ship. She grieves and broods. She will carry you to your grave."

These three warnings greet Merlin on his return to Alba, the future England, to the deserted fortress of Taurovinda---the Hill of the White Bull. He is not the only one making the journey: Urtha, High King of the Cornovidi, is coming home to reclaim his stronghold, and Jason is sailing in on the Argo to seek his younger son, hiding somewhere in the kingdom.

But Urtha's fortress has been taken by warriors from Ghostland; they claim it as their own. There will be war against the Otherworld.

In this sequel to Celtika, Robert Holdstock weaves myth and history into a fabulous tale of honor, death, and magic. At its center, moving along his never-ending path, is Merlin himself, an enchanter in the prime of his life, reckless, curious, powerful, yet a stranger to his own past---a past that is catching up with him.

Argo, the ancient ship, has returned and hides beneath Urtha's fortress in Alba. Jason and the Argonauts are aboard her, enchanted into sleep. Niiv is still Merlin's lover, still seeking magic and mysteries, still a delight and torment to him.

Something is wrong in Alba. An unknown force is affecting the land. The omens are frightening. The feckless Sons of Llew arrive, having stolen their uncle's chariot and horses once again. They bring news of hostels, gateways between the worlds of the living and the dead. An enormous gathering of the Shades, of the dead and the unborn, are being drawn to them.

Meanwhile, Kymon and Munda, Urtha's son and daughter, are coming of age. Kymon is angry, boastful, ready to fight the Shades of Heroes, and violently annoyed by his father's diplomacy. Munda, on the other hand, is possessed of the Sight and welcomes the new, strange force in the land. She breaks taboo to visit one of the hostels. She comes back speaking of the Killer of Kings, the son of Jason.

And as Merlin walks in and out of time, clinging to his magic and the remains of his youth, the forces set in motion will determine the fate of kings and kingdoms alike.

Myth and Terror in the Forest Deeps

The mystery of Ryhope Wood, Britain's last fragment of primeval forest, consumed George Huxley's entire long life. Now, after his death, his sons have taken up his work. But what they discover is numinous and perilous beyond all expectation.

For the Wood, larger inside than out, is a labyrinth full of myths come to life, "mythagos" that can change you forever. A labyrinth where love and beauty haunt your dreams¿and may drive you insane.

A haunting entry in the World Fantasy Award-winning Mythago Cycle.

In Mythago Wood, Robert Holdstock gave us an intricate world spun from the stories of Irish and English mythology, a great forest steeped in mystery and legend, whose heart contains secrets that will change all who behold them.

Young Tallis is one such seeker. When she was just an infant, she lost her brother Harry to Ryhope Wood. Her adolescent fancies now cause her to suspect that he is still alive - and in grave danger. Tallis follows Harry into the primal Otherworld armed only with magic, masks, and clues left by her grandfather. Eventually the primitive forest gives way to Lavondyss itself, a fascinating and terrible realm where she is forced to confront the mythagos, physical manifestations of the legends of humanity's collective unconscious.

Join Tallis on her quest into the ultimate unknown, and be invited into one of the finest and most compelling mythologies you will ever encounter.

A collection of eight short stories set in a mystical wood features a snow woman, a scientist succumbing to an age-old madness, roaming demons, conjurers working their pagan magic, and more.

In the novella of the title, Holdstock goes back to the events preceding the book "Mythago Wood". Set in 1935, this book tells the story of two scientists, Huxley and Wynne-Jones, who are attempting to map the wood and analyze the curious manifestations which they have christened "mythagos".

A NOVEL IN THE WORLD FANTASY AWARD-WINNING MYTHAGO CYCLE

Ryhope Wood, Mythago Wood, is the great forest steeped in mystery, whose heart contains secrets that change all who come there.

Alex Bradley is a damaged and visionary child. Little does he know that the distorted creations of his mind are alive inside nearby Ryhope Wood. When the forest claims him, his father goes in pursuit, along with a scientific expedition looking for the secret of "mythago-genesis"...

But inside Ryhope, Alex has created a hundred forms of the Trickster-all of them seeking their maker, and all of them deadly.

In the depths of Broceliande - an ancient French woodland - Merlin and the enchantress Vivien play out their deadly feud. Meanwhile, a child is born deaf, dumb and blind. His senses return at the expense of his mother's, who must discover the wood's mystery and set the combatants free.

The 1994 edition contains:

• Merlin's Wood - short novel
• Earth and Stone - short story
• The Silvering - short story

The 2009 edition contains, in addition:

• The Bone Forest - novella
• Scarrowfell - short story
• Thorn - short story

and omits The Silvering

A gifted scientist was documenting the wild and ancient world of Ryhope Wood until he disappeared into that vast forest. Now his eldest son attempts to find him by using his father's own journals, but is soon distracted from his search by unexpected feelings for a mysterious Celtic warrior-- a heroine who is none other than the key to the mystery of the universe. Now both father and son are caught in a fateful relationship in and through the forest and the legendary lands contained within it!

At the heart of Ryhope Wood, Steven and the mythago Guiwenneth live in the ruins of a Roman villa close to a haunted fortress from the Iron Age, from which Guiwenneth's myth arose. She is comfortable here, almost tied to the place, and Steven has long since abandoned all thought of returning to his own world. They have animals, protection and crops. They also have two children, a combination of human and mythago.

Jack is like his father, an active boy keen to know all about the outer world'; Yssobel takes after her mother, even to her long auburn hair. But this idyll cannot last. The hunters who protected Guiwenneth as a child have come to warn her she is in danger. Yssobel is dreaming increasingly of her Uncle Christian, Steven's brother, who disappeared into Lavondyss, and Jack wants to see 'the outer world' more than anything. Events are about to overtake them.