Robert Holdstock

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Robert Holdstock
Born	August 2, 1948 (1948-08-02) (age 59) Hythe, Kent, United Kingdom
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	British
Writing period	1968-present
Genres	Fantasy, Science fiction, Horror
Notable work(s)	Mythago Wood
Influences Tennyson, Mythology
Official website http://www.robertholdstock.com/

Robert Paul Holdstock (born August 2, 1948) is an English novelist and author best known for his works of fantasy literature, predominantly in the fantasy subgenre of mythic fiction.

Holdstock was first published in 1968. His science fiction and fantasy works explore philosophical, psychological, anthropological, spiritual, and woodland themes. He has received three BSFA awards and won the World Fantasy Award in the category of Best Novel in 1985.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Writings 3 Critical Analysis 4 Awards 5 Select Bibliography 6 Footnotes 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Biography

Robert Holdstock, the oldest of five children, was born in Hythe, Kent, near Romney Marsh. His father, Robert Frank Holdstock, was a police officer and his mother, Kathleen Madeline Holdstock, was a nurse. At the age of seven Robert started attending the Gillingham Grammar School in the Medway Towns. As a young adult he took on various jobs including banana boatman, construction worker, and slate miner.^[1]

As an adult he earned a Bachelor of Science from University College of North Wales, Bangor, with honors in applied Zoology (1967-1970). He continued his education, earning a Master of Science in Medical Zoology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in 1971. He conducted research at the Medical Research Council in London from 1971-1974 while also doing part-time writing. He became a full-time writer in 1976. He now lives in North London.^[2][3]

[edit] Writings

Robert Holdstock's first published story, Pauper's Plot, appeared in the New Worlds magazine in 1968.^[4] 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, Robert Black, Ken Blake, and Steven Eisler.^[5]

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 as directed by John Boorman (director of Deliverance and Excalibur amongst others).

Holdstock's breakthrough novel Mythago Wood was published in 1984 under his true name. Mythago Wood is recognized as Holdstock's first major fantasy work and kicks off the Ryhope wood series.^[6] The books in this series started with the Mythago Wood novella published in 1981 and continue to the present day with the upcoming sequel to Mythago Wood, Avilion, expected in early 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.)

[edit] Critical Analysis

Holdstock's works have received a wide array of literary analysis. The majority of this analysis is directed towards Mythago Wood. For a specific analysis of Mythago Wood see its separate Wikipedia article.

According to Michael D. C. Drout, a modern J. R. R. Tolkien scholar, Holdstock's fantasy is significant in 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. LeGuin, a worthy inheritor to the fantasy tradition created by Tolkien. ^[7] 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 and Marion Zimmer Bradley for writing fantasy books that come close to Tolkien's breadth and depth of imagination, and "in some respects surpass Tolkien."^[8]

One essayist states "Robert Holdstock's gift for evoking landscapes and weaving mythic patterns is outstanding."^[9] Accordingly, the covers of his books have been produced by a variety of notable Science Fiction and Fantasy illustrators. The original UK and US covers of Mythago Wood were illustrated by Christopher Zacharow; Geoff Taylor 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, 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."^[10]

David Langford offers praise for most of Holdstock's work, but regarding Merlin's Wood he states "the overall narrative is flawed, distorted by its weight of undeserved loss and inaccessible healing."^[11]

[edit] Awards

Robert Holdstock's writings in various formats and genres have won literary awards; below is a partial list of nominations and awards.

• The novella Mythago Wood won the BSFA Award for Best Short in 1981 along with the World Fantasy Award for Best Novella in 1982.
• The full length 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, 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, 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 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.

[edit] Select Bibliography

Ryhope Wood Series

• Mythago Wood

• Lavondyss

• The Bone Forest, a novella and short story collection
• The Hollowing

• Merlin's Wood, a novel and two short stories (only published in the UK)

• Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn
• Avilion (Expected February 2009)

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

See the main article, Bibliography of Robert Holdstock, for a more complete list.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Clute, John (1997). The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, 1st ed., New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0312198695. 
• Curry, Patrick (2004). Defending Middle Earth" Tolkien" Myth and Modernity, 1st ed., New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0618478859. 
• Drout, Michael (2006). Of Sorcerers and Men: Tolkien and the Roots of Modern Fantasy Literature, 1st ed., China: Barnes & Noble. ISBN 978-0760785232. 
• Holdstock, Robert (1976). Eye Among the Blind, 1st ed., New York: Doubleday & Company. ISBN 978-0385126816. 
• Holdstock, Robert (1984). Mythago Wood, 1st ed., London: Victor Gollancz. ISBN 978-0575034963. 
• Holdstock, Robert (1988). Lavondyss, 1st ed., London: Victor Gollancz. ISBN 978-057503475X. 
• Holdstock, Robert (1991). The Bone Forest, 1st ed., London: Grafton. ISBN 978-0246138330. 
• Holdstock, Robert (1993). The Hollowing, 1st ed., London: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-000224201X. 
• Holdstock, Robert (1994). Merlin's Wood, 1st ed., London: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0002246031. 
• Holdstock, Robert (1997). Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn, 1st ed., United States of America: Roc Books. ISBN 978-0451455703. 
• Jones, Stephen (1998). Horror: The 100 Best Books, 2nd ed., New york: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 978-0786705523. 
• Jude, Dick (1999). Fantasy Art Masters: The Best Fantasy and Science Fiction Artists Show How They Work, 1st ed., London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0823016366. 
• Langford, David (2003). Supernatural Fiction Writers, 2nd ed., Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 978-0684312514. 
• Newman, Kim (1996). St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers, 1st ed., Detroit: St. James Press. ISBN 978-1558622050. 

[edit] External links

• Bibliography at SciFan
• Robert Holdstock page at Gollancz Imprint's publishing group, Orion Publishing
• The Science Fiction Weekly Interview with Robert Holdstock
• Robert Holdstock at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Persondata
NAME	Holdstock, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Fiction Writer
DATE OF BIRTH	2 August 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hythe, Kent, United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH