Mythago Wood
#6853.82 adjusted 3.82 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 5 books Status Complete 1984–2009 Reading commitment Medium Robert Holdstock Last reviewed 2026-08-07
Overview
Robert Holdstock's Ryhope Wood cycle (Victor Gollancz, 1984-2009): an ancient, unmapped fragment of British primordial forest that generates "mythagos," living manifestations of a culture's collective unconscious myths, and traps successive generations of the Huxley family who try to map and understand it. The five-book cycle -- Mythago Wood, Lavondyss, The Hollowing, Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn, and the posthumously completed Avilion -- follows different family members and outside researchers as each pushes further into the wood's shifting, time-distorted interior. The opening novel won both the 1985 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and the BSFA Award for Best Novel, cementing the cycle's reputation. It remains one of the foundational works of modern British mythic/folkloric fantasy, credited with popularizing the idea of myth as a living, self-generating force rather than fixed cultural inheritance.
Mythic fantasy, Dark fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (5 works) counts toward ranking
The Mythago Wood Cycle Robert Holdstock
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Mythago Wood | 1984 | 1 | core | 3.76 (11,326 ratings) |
 | Lavondyss | 1988 | 2 | core | 3.96 (2,469 ratings) |
 | The Hollowing | 1993 | 3 | core | 3.97 (1,081 ratings) |
 | Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn | 1997 | N/A | core | 3.91 (586 ratings) |
 | Avilion | 2009 | 5 | core | 3.94 (358 ratings) |
The 5 Ryhope Wood novels. Mythago Wood (1984) is registered under its full-novel first-publication year, not the 1981 novella version that originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (expanded into the novel Holdstock actually intends as the series' true text) -- the same discipline applied under this project's textual-integrity rule elsewhere. Internal chronology among Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn and the others is left unpopulated (null), the same treatment used elsewhere for disputed or unrecorded chronologies: sources describe its events as substantially concurrent with/interleaved across the cycle rather than a clean linear slot, and Holdstock's own cycle page does not assert one; the other 4 novels' internal chronology values track publication order, which is the settled default for the rest of the cycle.
Library / Expanded (2 works)
The Bone Forest (1991) ; Novella-and-short-story collection set in the Ryhope Wood continuity; companion material, not a Core novel.
Merlin's Wood (1994) ; Standalone novella (with two additional short stories in the UK edition) set in the same continuity; companion material, not a Core novel.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Mythago Wood? Mythago Wood's Core Canon is 5 books, plus 2 more in the wider Library/Expanded material.
- What is the reading order for Mythago Wood? Publication order, starting with Mythago Wood. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Mythago Wood finished? Complete (1984–2009).
- How much reading does Mythago Wood take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 5 Core Canon books · ~1,799 pages).
- How is Mythago Wood ranked? #685 in this site's official ranking, based on 15,820 reader ratings across 5 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #685?
Ranked #685 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.82 across 5 core books.
- A smaller readership (15,820 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #684, The Moorehawke Trilogy (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 5 books · Complete · 16k ratings · Ranks #685 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length mythic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (5 Core Canon books)
- Mythago Wood (1984)
- Lavondyss (1988)
- The Hollowing (1993)
- Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn (1997)
- Avilion (2009)
Documented internal/story order: 4 of 5 Core Canon books
- Mythago Wood (1984)
- Lavondyss (1988)
- The Hollowing (1993)
- Avilion (2009)
Internal chronology is documented for 4 of 5 Core Canon books; the remaining 1 are not yet mapped onto the same ordinal scale.
Awards (verified)
- World Fantasy Award (Best Novel), 1985: won: Mythago Wood; Co-winner with Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds.
Related universes
- Same author The Merlin Codex: Both by Robert Holdstock, confirmed separate settings/casts (Mythago Wood's English wildwood mythology vs. The Merlin Codex's Greek/Celtic Argonaut myth); see.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what Mythago Wood and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Vita Nostra Mythic fantasy / Dark fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.96
- The AEgypt Cycle Mythic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.95
- The Quickening Epic fantasy / Dark fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.94
- Doctrine of Labyrinths Dark fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.90
Official resources
- Robert Holdstock official site: The Mythago Wood Cycle
- Wikipedia: Mythago Wood
- Wikipedia: Robert Holdstock
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.82 across 15,820 ratings on 5 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Mythago Wood sequence admitted; Core Canon = the 5 Ryhope Wood novels accepted 2026-08-07
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Robert Holdstock official site -- The Mythago Wood Cycle Tier 1
- Wikipedia -- Mythago Wood Tier 2
- Wikipedia -- Robert Holdstock Tier 2
Related universes: see the Related universes section above.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-07
Rule: Core = the 5 Ryhope Wood novels: Mythago Wood (1984), Lavondyss (1988), The Hollowing (1993), Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn (1997), Avilion (2009). Mythago Wood is registered under its 1984 full-novel publication year, not the 1981 novella it was expanded from. Two companion works (The Bone Forest, Merlin's Wood) are Expanded.