pub: Gollancz. 296 page hardback. Price: £14.99 (UK only). ISBN: 978-0-57507-970-0.

check out website: www.orionbooks.co.uk and www.robertholdstock.com

Returning from the Second World War, Stephen Huxley returns to his family home of Oak Lodge a fragile man. Aware that his eccentric father and brother, Christian, have fallen out, he only returns after receiving news of his father's death, to find the house an unwelcoming place and the neighbouring Ryhope Wood exerting a powerful influence on both his brother and his home. As Christian grows increasingly reclusive and obsessed with their father's work, Stephen begins to discover that his father's eccentricities might not have been as fanciful as he first thought.

Christian's mysterious trips into the wood stretch for weeks and more at a time, forcing Stephen to accept the possibility that the wood is in fact far larger than its boundary suggests, containing ancient woodland untouched by modern man and a place where myths from every age of history are given form. His father's notebooks give Stephen an idea of what is happening but he's still unprepared to meet the myths generated by his unconscious and the strange energy of the wood. When the flow of power there is upset by his brother, Stephen finds himself having to penetrate the deepest parts of the forest and comprehend the blurred balance of myth and reality that reigns there before it kills him.

A deserved winner of the World Fantasy Award, 'Mythago Wood' is a brilliant and affecting novel. With a haunting and brooding atmosphere, it explores notions of culture and mythology in ways that betray a profound understanding of the subject. Also a study of the fractured relationships between sons, fathers and brothers, the star of the show is the presence of the wood, brought to life by Holdstock's deft writing.

With an air of timelessness about it, 'Mythago Wood' will remain required reading for many more years to come. I've read few books (mainly by Neil Gaiman now that I think about it) that show comparable intelligence and depth when the subject matter is so nebulous and easily mishandled. A book to treasure and one day pass on to your children. Oh and I really enjoyed it, too!

Tom Lloyd-Williams