Celtika
core novel 2001 The Merlin Codex
Record
| First published | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.64 (839 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| Page count | 384 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780765306920 |
Synopsis
Celtika, published by Robert Holdstock in 2001, opens the Merlin Codex trilogy in a mythic age centuries before the time of King Arthur. Merlin, an immortal enchanter already ancient by the standards of the world around him, discovers that Jason, the legendary leader of the Argonauts, has spent decades trapped inside his own ship Argo, bound in an enchantment on a remote northern lake. Merlin comes to realize that the grief driving Jason, the belief that his sons died at the hands of his enchantress wife Medea, rests on a lie, and that the boys may still be alive. Setting out to free Jason and reunite him with his sons, Merlin gathers a new crew of Argonauts alongside surviving members of the old, leading Argo on a journey through mist-bound lands stretching from Alba to Greece.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Merlin Codex
- Series: The Merlin Codex core; position 1 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Robert Holdstock
Awards (verified)
- Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire (Roman etranger (Foreign Novel)), 2004: won; Confirmed directly via the award's own official site (gpi.noosfere.org); a well-established French SFF award (est. 1972) whose Roman etranger category has recognized Neal Stephenson, China Mieville, and Paolo Bacigalupi in other years.
Notes
- From the series record (The Merlin Codex): Complete trilogy; all 3 novels Core Canon.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series The Merlin Codex: position 1 of 3: next The Iron Grail (2002)
Sources
- Robert Holdstock's own official site, The Merlin Codex
- https://robertholdstock.com/writing/the-merlin-codex/celtika/
- Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire, 2004 Roman etranger results
- Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire, Roman etranger winners by year
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