LNH@albert.physics.arizona.edu (sometimes a Wombat) (06/27/91)
_Mythago Wood_ & _Lavondys_ by Robert Holdstock and _King of Morning, Queen of Day_ by Ian McDonald Review Copyright (c) 1991 Larry Hammer A joint review; the books compliment each other too well not to ... On the Francis Bacon scale (tasted, swallowed, or digested), _Mythago Wood_ and _Lavondys_ should be digested, and _King of Morning, Queen of Day_ should be tasted. These three books all share a common ground: what happens when the archetypes we live by become not just emotionally but physically real? However, while Holdstock is concerned with how the images and stories of our past still affect us, McDonald wants to know today's myths and tomorrow's symbols. Holdstock is a fine writer, and in _Mythago Wood_ and its sequel, _Lavondys_, he shines. _Mythago Wood_ deserves the World Fantasy Award it won. Both take place "in" and near a small primal wood in the English countryside shortly after World War II. Ryhope Wood has the power to take archetypes of our human past, which still have power for us even when we've forgotten the tale they belonged it, and turn them into physically real "mythagos". In _Mythago Wood_, Stephen, a young veteran, and his brother Christian are drawn into the Wood's stories. They act out, or rather live out, several stories, but most important ones to them are the Brothers Rival for a Woman and the Powerful Man hunted by the Outsider. In _Lavondys_, Talis, a young woman, searches for her brother who was Stephen's Sidekick in _Mythago Wood_, now lost in Ryhope in Lavondys, the primal Eden. More stories are lived, and eventually she learns why the journey of the shaman is so dangerous. Both books are written smoothly, and no character seems forced into his or her archetype. The stories taken from folklore feel real, and when forgotten or changed (by our imperfect memory), Holdstock makes *his* version seem the correct one. The books themselves are powerful stories, Holdstock having successfully tapped into our world's history as well as his characters'. The only annoying thing was that Holdstock did not continue the the story of Christian and Stephen in _Lavondys_, but only slightly alluded to it. (I approve, just like I do of the ending of _Tigana_, but it's still annoying.) Where Holdstock remains firmly in the recent and the forgotten pasts, learning how it still holds us, McDonald explores the transition to the future. _King of Morning, Queen of Day_ is really three linked novellas, each dealing with successive generations of a family with the power to reach into the "mythoconciousness" and make it real. Emily lives in Edwardian Ireland in the shadow of Ben Bulben, with the Wild Faeries of the Irish past. Jessica lives depression-era Dublin, with the beginnings of modern industrial images. Enye is contemporary, and fights the still forming myths of high technology. McDonald actively looks for the heros and stories of today and tomorrow. The concepts and plots are wonderful; archetypes are real; the execution is iffy. Part one is told in epistolary form, which at least is traditional. Part two, however, is a James Joyce pastiche. In part three, McDonald breaks down linear time, and Enye's story is told in fragments out chronological order. I'm not certain this was necessary; it's not clear what extra benefit, if any, the reader gets for the effort of working through this. It could have been told as a normal narrative. Even McDonald seems a bit uncertain about it, for the climax of part three is one long section of continuous action to avoid breaking it up. _Mythago Wood_ and _Lavondys_ are wonderful, and are high on my list of books to foist off onto the unconverted. _King of Morning, Queen of Day_ should be approach cautiously. If you like that sort of fantasy, highly literate and (over)filled with Joyce and Yeats references, you may like it; otherwise, be careful. %T Mythago Wood %T Lavondys %A Robert Holdstock %A Robert Holdstock %I Avon Fantasy %I Avon Fantsy %G ISBN 0-380-76276-5 %G 0-380-71184-2 %P 274 pp %P 388 pp %O paperback US$4.95 %O paperback US$4.95 %T King of Morning, Queen of Day %A Ian McDonald %S Spectra Special Edition %I Bantam Spectra Fantasy %G 0-553-29149-5 %P 389 pp %O paperback US$4.95 Larry "Part-time fantasist" Hammer