The Bone Forest
First edition cover
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| Author | |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Geoff Taylor |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Mythago Wood series |
| Genre | Fantasy short stories |
| Publisher | Grafton |
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Publication date
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May 1991 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 240 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 60107306 |
| Preceded by | Lavondyss (1988) |
| Followed by | The Hollowing (1993) |
The Bone Forest is a book opening with a novella of the same name followed by seven short stories. All were written by and published in 1991 (UK) and 1992 (US). This novella is a prequel to the entire Mythago Wood cycle. According to the author it was written "to fill in the background and back-story to Mythago Wood" at the request of a screenwriter who was working on a planned movie version of Mythago Wood.
The 1991 and 1992 editions of the book contain seven short stories in addition to the novella The Bone Forest., after which the volume takes its name. The additional stories in The Bone Forest bear little relation with either time or events in the Mythago Wood cycle, yet the short stories are largely influenced by the fantasy realm created as part of the Mythago Wood cycle.
The Bone Forest has both won and been nominated for fantasy literature awards.
The 1991 and 1992 versions of The Bone Forest start with one novella and are followed by seven short tales.
The short stories in The Bone Forest previously appeared in a variety of publications between 1976 and 1989.
The novella The Bone Forest was published as part of the 2009 Gollanz edition of Merlin's Wood along with the tales Scarrowfell, Thorn and Earth and Stone.
The main narrative expands the back story of tensions in the Huxley family taking place in time before the events in Mythago Wood. In this novella George Huxley must contend with a Doppelgänger mythago of himself, who is physically threatening and interacting with his family in undesirable ways. In particular the relationship between George Huxley and his sons is explored.
The story takes place between January 1935 and the late Summer of 1935. The Huxleys reside in Oak Lodge, on the outskirts of Ryhope Wood. One Winter night they are visited by the "Snow Woman." She is a mythago, but the Huxley boys believe she is a gypsy. The Snow Woman leaves a talisman, a necklet of bone and wood, which Steven keeps. In the Spring, George Huxley and Edward Wynne-Jones undertake explorations in Ryhope wood, become separated and encounter dangerous mythagos spawned by Steven's imagination. In a dramatic encounter taking place at an ancient Horse Shrine, George Huxley physically collides with a mythago stallion; this collision results in the creation of the Gray-Green mythago, an alter ego of George Huxley.
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Wikipedia