Title Unicorns! Series --- Editor Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois Cover Art --- Publisher Ace - 1982 First Printing Ace - 1982 Category Anthology Main Characters See below Main Elements Unicorns

• The Spoor of the Unicorn - Avram Davidson
• The Silken-Swift - Theodore Sturgeon
• Eudoric's Unicorn - L. Sprague de Camp
• The Flight of the Horse - Larry Niven
• On the Downhill Side - Harlan Ellison
• The Night of the Unicorn - Thomas Burnett Swann
• Mythological Beast - Stephen R. Donaldson
• The Final Quarry - Eric Norden
• Elfleda - Vonda N. McIntyre
• The White Donkey - Ursula K. Le Guin
• Unicorn Variation - Roger Zelazny
• The Sacrifice - Gardner Dozois
• The Unicorn - Frank Owen
• The Woman the Unicorn Loved - Gene Wolfe
• The Forsaken - Beverly Evans
• The Unicorn - T. H. White

This collection is like a who's who of science fiction and fantasy authors up till the early 80's. Full of famous names, and excellent writers, the stories themselves were all generally good (of course there are always some that are a bit "Meh" but there were none that I thought were bad). There's a wide variety of tales, from unicorns that are mere beasts to those that can talk. From genetically engineered creatures to those of pure magic, and others more symbolic than physical. But all the tales enchant and reminds us how varied the legend of the unicorn really is, and how it has touched the imagination of so many of us. Note that only a couple of these stories were written for the anthology itself, these authors felt the urge to meet the elusive one horned creature of their own desire. Hopefully I'll be able to track down the Unicorns! II anthology one of these days.

The Spoor of the Unicorn gives us a tongue-in-cheek overview of unicorn lore, from the origin of the unicorn in India, to the medieval belief in the healing power of its horn, the virgin-capture legend, and the ties to Christianity. I didn't love it but it makes sense as an introduction to a unicorn anthology if the reader were unfamiliar.

The Silken-Swift is considered one of the classic unicorn tales, a kind of fable with a moral, about purity and goodness being more than just on the surface. I enjoyed it.

Eudoric's Unicorn also comes with a moral, but a rather different one, that perhaps no good deeds go unpunished. It also has a unicorn that is more in line with the original folklore and not the beautiful white horse that fills our imagination now.

The Flight of the Horse - far in the future the only horses left is a picture in a children's book. So Svetz is sent back in time to retrieve a specimen. Immediately stepping out of the time cage he spots one, it's not brown as in the picture, and seems to have some defensive weaponry that the picture didn't illustrate well, but hey, a horse is a horse right? A very amusing tale. Svetz appears to have more adventures in an anthology of the same name, I may need to track that one down!

On the Downhill Side is a ghost story in New Orleans, a tale of a man who loved too much and a woman who loved too little, and the unicorn that was to guide them to their second chance.

The Night of the Unicorn - a small town in Mexico has a legend, that the unicorn will come and acknowlege their virgins. Maria is not a virgin, she grew up a prostitute in another town and no one will buy anything from her shop here and she doesn't know what she will do when her money runs out. But perhaps, this year, the unicorn will come.

Mythological Beast I've read before, a story in a futuristic world where everything is the same and no one fears since no one needs to decide anything, but then one day a man wakes up with a bump on his head. In a world where nothing changes he begins to transform.

The Final Quarry is a tale about what are you willing to pay to get what you want.

Elfleda is a disturbing tale of scientists taking humans who are on the verge of death and genetically converting them into mythological creatures such as centaurs, satyrs and mermaids. These chimeras are then used for the pleasure of "guests", usually for sexual fantasies. But Elfleda is a unicorn centaur and her fate is the hunt...

The White Donkey is a brief tale of innocence lost.

Unicorn Variation - did you know that unicorns like to play chess? And drink beer? Imagine for every species that goes extinct in our world, a mythological creature is able to seep into ours. And what if our species is next in line? Martin tries to play a game of chess where the stakes is the survival of the human race.

The Sacrifice is a unique take on the virgin capture story (though I figured it out within the first two pages) but I still enjoyed it. I won't say more since I don't want to give the twist away in case it can surprise you.

The Unicorn is one of those rare tales about a Kirin, though it is still referred to in the text as a unicorn.

The Woman the Unicorn Loved is another genetic engineering tale where scientist try to bring mythological creatures to life. A unicorn is a beautiful creature but it is also very dangerous to anyone who isn't a female virigin. There was a bit too much info dumping though, as if someone reading an unicorn story wouldn't know anything about unicorn legends.

The Forsaken is a tale of an aging druid priest who sacrifices a virgin to attract a unicorn, but when it comes only she can see it. Not believing that a priest such as he could not see the beast while a peasant girl could, he leaves her to die tied to the tree. Later, realizing it was his failing and not hers, he desperately tries to prove that he does indeed believe.

The Unicorn is a chapter from White's The Once and Future King. It's a rather gory and disturbing encounter between three ignorant young boys, a virgin kitchen maid, and a unicorn. To prove their own worth the boys which to capture a unicorn, but instead they make a horrific mess of things out of jealousy and confused vengeance and end up destroying something beautiful to no gain of their own.