Celtika by Robert Holdstock

Celtika

Robert Holdstock

Part fantasy, part alternative history, this novel takes you on a walk with Merlin on his path across Northern Europe. The history and the timelines of recognisable events are fantastically twisted and dislocated, so if you're a fan of dates and things happening in the correct order, you'll have to make an effort to hold on to the story. A strange fireside tale which is the perfect way to hide away from day-to-day reality.

Extract
This island was close to the land of my birth. For reasons I hadn't begun to understand, the dead accumulated there, hiding in its forests and at the sources of its rivers, the vast domain of Ghostland, at the island's heart. Many tribes lived on the border of this domain, protected by old and powerful defences against the spirits that walked, rode and fought there. Alba was a strange island, a place in which I did not feel comfortable, which is why I visited it rarely.
Parallels
  • The Coming of the King by Nikolai Tolstoy
  • Gate of Ivory by Robert Holdstock
  • Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell