lgrunwald's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
5/5!
"All your life you have been at the edge. You have opened threshold after threshold and stepped closer and closer to the centre of the realm, to the heartwood-to Lavondyss. But you still have a journey to make and it will be a terrible journey. It will bring you home, yes, but equally it will take you further from home than you have ever imagined."
Once again, Robert Holdstock has absolutely blown me away with his mythago saga. After reading "Mythago Wood" and it quickly becoming my favourite novel of all time I knew I had to check out the rest. So, I decided to go in publication order and snagged a beautiful copy of Lavondyss. While, technically, this book isn't really a direct sequel to Mythago Wood and you don't really have to read that one to read Lavondyss I would still highly recommend you do. As the main character of this novel, Tallis Keeton, is the younger sister of one of the protagonist of the first novel named Harry and having that extra context of his story makes the novel immensely more enjoyable. I'm honestly not sure what someone would think reading only this one without reading Mythago Wood first or if they would appreciate it as much.
Holdstock has once again showed his deep understanding of the power of myth and the sharing of ancestral storytelling. Just like her brother Harry before her we venture into the Ryhope Wood where myth and legend come to life before our very eyes, time in ever changing, and the wood more mysterious and dangerous than ever. We are shown the perspective of the wood through Tallis as a child first and her preparation on her brother's rescue who has been trapped in the wood by an unknown force. We watch as she grows to understand the land, the stories she herself is creating, and her learning how to harness her shamin like powers of mask making to enter into the deepest section of the wood, Lavondyss, where the beginning of all myth lies.
The prose of Robert Holdstock and the world he has created continues to strike awe into me almost as much as something like one of Tolkiens many works. The striking way he reshapes stories known to use such as Arthurian Legend, Greek epics, or even Norse sagas and completely reshape them to sound even more ancient and magical than they do already is an accomplishment I don't think any other author I've run across can compare to. How stories of steel backtrack to iron, bronze, stone, and even bone. How he shifts classics to an almost neolithic sound...to a story that seems like it could be so real and live deep in all of our human consciousnesses. From a time long before.
"All your life you have been at the edge. You have opened threshold after threshold and stepped closer and closer to the centre of the realm, to the heartwood-to Lavondyss. But you still have a journey to make and it will be a terrible journey. It will bring you home, yes, but equally it will take you further from home than you have ever imagined."
Once again, Robert Holdstock has absolutely blown me away with his mythago saga. After reading "Mythago Wood" and it quickly becoming my favourite novel of all time I knew I had to check out the rest. So, I decided to go in publication order and snagged a beautiful copy of Lavondyss. While, technically, this book isn't really a direct sequel to Mythago Wood and you don't really have to read that one to read Lavondyss I would still highly recommend you do. As the main character of this novel, Tallis Keeton, is the younger sister of one of the protagonist of the first novel named Harry and having that extra context of his story makes the novel immensely more enjoyable. I'm honestly not sure what someone would think reading only this one without reading Mythago Wood first or if they would appreciate it as much.
Holdstock has once again showed his deep understanding of the power of myth and the sharing of ancestral storytelling. Just like her brother Harry before her we venture into the Ryhope Wood where myth and legend come to life before our very eyes, time in ever changing, and the wood more mysterious and dangerous than ever. We are shown the perspective of the wood through Tallis as a child first and her preparation on her brother's rescue who has been trapped in the wood by an unknown force. We watch as she grows to understand the land, the stories she herself is creating, and her learning how to harness her shamin like powers of mask making to enter into the deepest section of the wood, Lavondyss, where the beginning of all myth lies.
The prose of Robert Holdstock and the world he has created continues to strike awe into me almost as much as something like one of Tolkiens many works. The striking way he reshapes stories known to use such as Arthurian Legend, Greek epics, or even Norse sagas and completely reshape them to sound even more ancient and magical than they do already is an accomplishment I don't think any other author I've run across can compare to. How stories of steel backtrack to iron, bronze, stone, and even bone. How he shifts classics to an almost neolithic sound...to a story that seems like it could be so real and live deep in all of our human consciousnesses. From a time long before.
bunnieslikediamonds's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed Mythago Wood a lot. This sequel was just as lovely, but I had a hard time following the plot. Could be that I was sleep deprived and nodded off a couple of times, but I was pretty confused as to what was going on. Not Holdstock's fault though. On the other hand, I'm not sure how much the plot matters. Seems to be more about the origin of myths than anything else. It should probably be read slowly and carefully (when not half asleep).
jimmypat's review against another edition
2.0
This is the fourteenth book in a series I am calling "quarantine life." With all of our public libraries closed to the coronavirus pandemic, I've turned to my bookshelves and the unread books that await me there.
I had a vague recollection of reading this previously, with my only memories of there being a female protagonist and that it was a retread of Mythago Wood. My lackluster feeling continued with this reading, but not because it was a retread. The first half of this book was excellent with a greater depth of character than the first book and I felt that, as one review stated, it would "surpass" Mythago Wood. Unfortunately, the second half was pretty abyssmal - confusing, meandering, and seemingly pointless.
I had a vague recollection of reading this previously, with my only memories of there being a female protagonist and that it was a retread of Mythago Wood. My lackluster feeling continued with this reading, but not because it was a retread. The first half of this book was excellent with a greater depth of character than the first book and I felt that, as one review stated, it would "surpass" Mythago Wood. Unfortunately, the second half was pretty abyssmal - confusing, meandering, and seemingly pointless.
asherblack's review against another edition
3.0
First part was stellar. Put it down half way through when it got too brutal.
marekvit's review against another edition
4.0
No es fácil evaluar este libro. A veces quise poner 5 estrellas y a veces solo una. Me gustó la primera mitad mucho, pensando que era un libro fenomenal. Sin embargo, me sentí decepcionado al principio de la segunda mitad. De repente el libro se había convertido en una tarea un poco aburrida, la historia se hizo demasiado complicada, perdí el interés por los personajes... pero seguí leyendo.
Me alegro de no haber dejado de leer. La última parte del libro es alucinante, aunque un poco difícil de entender. Probablemente tendría que leer la novela otra vez (quizás más veces) para entender todos los arcos en la historia. No obstante, devoré las últimas 100 páginas casi sin parar, leyendo con ojos saltones y boca entreabierta.
Me encanta el estilo del autor y su prosa hermosa y cautivadora.
Me alegro de no haber dejado de leer. La última parte del libro es alucinante, aunque un poco difícil de entender. Probablemente tendría que leer la novela otra vez (quizás más veces) para entender todos los arcos en la historia. No obstante, devoré las últimas 100 páginas casi sin parar, leyendo con ojos saltones y boca entreabierta.
Me encanta el estilo del autor y su prosa hermosa y cautivadora.
ladyofnorthfarm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
kurwaczytaj's review against another edition
5.0
Už první díl ze série Le Mytág mně uchvátil. U Lavondyss se mi nejvíce líbil začátek (cca do dvou pětin), pak střed jsem četl s menším nadšením a finále mne opět bavilo o něco více. Kdybych to měl nějak shrnout do jedné, dvou vět, tak napíši: "fantasy pro dospělé" pohybující se už na samé hranici opravdového velkého románu.
Prostě draci, upíři a podobné propriety youth fantasy not included. xD
Prostě draci, upíři a podobné propriety youth fantasy not included. xD
snowmaiden's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed the first part that takes place in the real world, but just as with [b:Mythago Wood|126192|Mythago Wood (Mythago Wood, #1)|Robert Holdstock|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1308639607s/126192.jpg|121534], I found the story confusing and muddled once the action shifted to the wood itself. Some have faulted Holdstock for losing control of the story, but I wonder if this was part of his point. No matter how much preparation you do, and no matter how much you think you understand it, once you enter the wood you will forget all your training and do nothing more than struggle to get out again. That's the moral I came up with, anyway.
dria42's review against another edition
5.0
Re-read this again. Love it. My current laptop's name is from it.
pigeomita's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5