Deep within the wildwood lies a place of myth and mystery, from which few return, and none remain unchanged. Ryhope Wood may look like a three-mile-square fenced-in wood in rural Herefordshire on the outside, but inside, it is a primeval, intricate labyrinth of trees, impossibly huge, unforgettable and stronger than time itself. Stephen Huxley has already lost his father to the mysteries of Ryhope Wood. On his return from the Second World War, he finds his brother, Christopher, is also in thrall to the mysterious wood, wherein lies a realm where mythic archetypes grow flesh and blood, where love and beauty haunt your dreams, and in promises of freedom lies the sanctuary of insanity. Some times the Book Gods smile on me, and the opportunity to revisit a favourite novel from my dim and distant past arises. The release of Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock as an ebook was the perfect opportunity to reconnect with a novel I read a long time ago. The thing that still manages to impress is how the novel effortlessly captures the mood of post-war Britain, in the form of Stephen Huxley, but in the same moment also conveys a timeless quality. The relationship between…