The Bone Forest by Robert Holdstock
"The Bone Forest" is a collection of stories by Robert Holdstock, primarily centered around themes of mythology, history, and the human experience. The title novella, unique to this anthology, is a part of Holdstock's broader Mythago Cycle, which includes notable works such as "Mythago Wood." These stories are set in Ryhope Wood, a fictional ancient forest in Britain that serves as a gateway to the myths and archetypes of humanity's past. Through the character of George Huxley and his sons, the tales delve into the complexities of understanding this enigmatic woodland, where mythological manifestations come to life.
The collection also features stories that examine religion and cultural history, such as "Scarrowfell," which presents a pre-Christian Britain and the darker forces at play during a religious festival. In "Thorn," a medieval stonemason struggles with the encroachment of Christianity and his connection to ancient pagan spirits. Other narratives, like "The Shapechanger," highlight the transformative power of myth as a means of escape from adversity. Lastly, "The Time Beyond Age" offers a science fiction perspective, exploring the implications of accelerated human evolution. Overall, "The Bone Forest" invites readers to reflect on the interplay between myth, history, and identity.
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The Bone Forest
First published: 1991
Type of work: Stories
Type of plot: Fantasy—mythological
Time of work: Various times between antiquity and the near future
Locale: Various locations on Earth and in imaginary lands
The Plot
This collection of stories, most of them originally published between the mid-1970’s and the early 1990’s, is weighted toward works similar in theme and style to the novella that gives the collection its title. “The Bone Forest” is original to this anthology. In all the stories, Robert Holdstock calls up images of humanity’s past and its relationship to its present and future through the guiding link of the myths and stories that are passed down, in variation upon variation, through the ages.
“The Bone Forest” itself is part of Holdstock’s Mythago Cycle consisting of Mythago Wood (1984), Lavondyss (1988), and The Hollowing (1993). These tales explore the mysterious tract of primary oak forest in Britain called Ryhope Wood and its “mythagos,” manifestations of mythological archetypes and symbols of the collective unconscious. In Ryhope Wood, the myths and legends of humanity’s past come to life. The forest, only a small woodland on the outside, contains vast regions within its interior.
The novella returns to the characters in the original novel—George Huxley and his two sons, Steven and Christian—but in a time when the brothers are still children and George Huxley has only begun to map and understand the wood’s outer defenses. Finally he and his companion, Edward Wynne-Jones, make a breakthrough, but instead of offering further understanding it leads to a series of strange, disturbing encounters with a creature that Huxley only belatedly realizes is a Doppelgänger of himself.
“Scarrowfell” and “Thorn” both deal with religion and British history. In the former, a group of children watch and wait as a town prepares for an annual religious festival. It is not until the story’s climax that the reader realizes that this is a Britain that was never converted to Christianity and that the forces being worshiped are far older and darker. In “Thorn,” Thomas, a medieval stonemason helping to construct a new church, is recruited by a being named Thorn, one of the spirits being forced out by the coming of Christianity. By including symbols of pagan power within the stonework of the building, Thomas helps Thorn to subvert the power of the church before coming to believe that Thorn is using him for his own ends.
In “The Shapechanger,” a young boy finds escape from an abusive relationship through a belief in the power of myth. In eighth century England, Wolfhead and Inkmarker, a shaman and his apprentice, travel to a village in which a mysterious voice has been calling out from inside a deep well. It is the voice, in fact, of a young boy more than a millennium in the future, trapped in his room by an abusive father, yearning for escape through the stories and histories of Britain that he reads. He achieves escape in a way that he did not anticipate.
“The Time Beyond Age” is unique in this collection as an example of Holdstock’s science-fiction writing (though another story, “The Time of the Tree,” has some vague science-fictional elements). In this story, scientists observe two people as they live an accelerated and preprogrammed life, aging years each day and heading toward some new, evolved form. The scientists themselves become disillusioned, obsessed with, or frightened by the unexpected results.