What do You think about Celtika (2004)?
Holdstock may well be my favorite fantasy writer. This book is the first in the Merlin Codex trilogy. Merlin journeys to Hyperborea to find his Argonaut comrade Jason (kept alive in his mourning by the guardian spirit of the ship Argo). They are joined by a motley band of Celts and others on a journey to Greekland in the time of Celtic incursions into the Mediterranean world (sometime after the death of Alexander).Jason wants to find his sons, murdered by their mother Medea. Merlin, in his wanderings on the Path, has reason to think that at least one of the sons might be alive, hidden by Medea in time. Merlin also suspects that he is being followed by a spirit that is very old and very angry; he can't escape the half-formed sense that he knew this spirit in his youth.Like many of Holdstock's books, this one mixes fantasy with the early edges of history in a way that I find very satisfying. Holdstock's approach to fantasy is firmly rooted in legend and myth, especially that of the Celtic peoples. By doing this, he avoids writing the sort of fantasy fiction that is mainly anemic Tolkien knockoff. (Buy me a a few beers and I'll pontificate for hours on this subject.) Allow me to state, however, that Holdstock presents a believable world in which magic is subtle, mysterious, and rare (rather than explained ad nauseum).
—Jim
The characters were not original. The main elements of the storyline were not original. The mythology and fable of mystical characters and powers so overwhelmed the storyline that I didn't find this worth reading. The mystic elements were obfuscatory to the plot, and were very weak in their presentation.The character names could have been much simpler. There could have been more direct action in the plot instead of the nauseating narration from and about the dreamland, the dead, the ageless Merlin, Jason, bla, bla, bla.Bottom line, for me the only item of value in this book is the image of the boat on the dust jacket.
—Joe White
I suppose that you are thinking that a series entitled The Merlin Codex might be about the Merlin of the Arthurian legend. If so, and you are expecting Camelot to make an appearance in this book, you are in for a surprise. Yes, the main protagonist is Merlin, but he isn’t the character you might have expected. Instead, although very old he is also quite young. In appearance at least. And instead of serving or advising Kind Arthur he travels with Jason of the Greek myths. The book is set hundreds of years after the quest for the Golden Fleece, and the love affair with Medea and the resulting tragedy, but Jason is not dead. He has been kept in a sort of suspended non-life by the magic of his ship, the Argus, and now Merlin has returned to bring him back to life. Merlin, you see, has discovered that Medea did not actually kill her two sons.Full review: http://www.susanhatedliterature.net/2...
—Fence
