I'm going back and reviewing the actual editions I have. I'm pretty sure this is the first edition (at least the first Ace paperback edition). The cover art and internal art are credited to Jack Gaughan, who illustrated other books by Norton.My copy is in very poor shape--which is not uncommon in these older editions, which were often printed on very poor quality paper and were much-used. Year of The Unicorn, particularly, which was very popular, tends to be in poor shape in older editions. Obviously I didn't buy this new. It was published in 1965, and most of my books didn't make it through the journey to Australia and back. So I must have bought it used, though, since it hasn't a bookstore stamp, I couldn't say where.Year of The Unicorn is told from the point of view of Gillan, stillroom apprentice at Norstead Abbey in High Hallack. Unlike many Estcarpian people in High Hallack, Gillan HERSELF had been on a ship (probably as a captive), though she has no memory of how it came about.Gillan finds her life at Norstead, a refuge for many in the Dales, dull and unrewarding. Some women have found a life among the Dames rewarding (Past Abbess Malwinna, for one--although she evidently was something of a 'loophole woman', whose eccentricities were tolerated or tacitly ignored). Gillan does not. So when another lay sister suggests that Gillan replace one of the 'twelve and one' brides for the Were Riders, Gillan jumps at the chance.The book is divided into sections by the arrival at the Throat of The Hawk. Before arrival, Gillan has to keep her impersonation secret, at least until it's too late to turn back.After the Dales brides arrive at their assignation, Gillan finds herself once again an outlier. She is, she discovers, and untrained witch. She's thus doubly endangered. Because she has the power to escape the glamorie which ensorcells her companions, many of the Were Riders consider her a threat. But because she's untrained, she's even more at risk, because they can use her own potentials against her.To assist her, Gillan has only Herrel (styled 'the wronghanded', but not because of handedness--it's simply that he's clumsy, and that his spells go awry--note that it's explained later that this is because he's a halfling...which raises a question: what impact will this have on the children of the Dales Brides? And for that matter, what DID happen to the other real, human brides who COULD be ensorcelled?). Otherwise Gillan has mostly unfriends, as well as a few real enemies. Halse, who confidently expected a bride, and wasn't chosen by one, is one of the ringleaders. He and other malcontents take the lead: but the other Wereriders back them, or don't intervene to stop them.Gillan is subject to a ritual which splits her into two unequal halves (the ritual refers to 'one of three'). The part left behind after the Wereriders' spell is the viewpoint character from then on, because that's the part that can't be befuddled by the glamorie. The shadowless but physical relict is captured by survivors of the massacres perpetrated on the 'Hounds of Alizon' who weren't able to escape by sea, and fled into the Waste. Note that the ruthless behavior of the Dalesfolk is always excused by partisan arguments--but it's every bit as bad as the crimes of the Alizonders when THEY were in the ascendancy. Gillan manages to escape her captors, and, by will and inherent power, gets into Arvon. In one terrifying sequence, she becomes one of the few survivors of a passing-by of That Which Runs The Ridges, and finds her way into the Standing-Up of Kings.This book is the basis for many later books in the series. It has really only one problem: when Gillan and others move into the otherworld where the Wereriders cast their spells, the story gets a little incoherent. Inevitable, probably, because the otherworld doesn't seem to follow the same laws of cause-and-effect of more ordinary worlds (if the Witch World can be considered such a world); but disorienting, nevertheless.
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.Year of the Unicorn, third in Andre Norton’s Witch World saga, is a departure from the first two novels. It’s the story of Gillan, a girl with no family and an unknown heritage who has grown up in an abbey in High Hallack, far from the places we visited with Simon and Jaelithe in the first two Witch World novels. Gillan feels stifled in the abbey and longs for something more. She also feels the stirrings of a strange power within her. She finds a way to escape her meaningless life by volunteering to be one of the 13 maidens that High Hallack has promised to a group of shapeshifters who helped them win a war. This leads her on a terrifying adventure in which she discovers her power and, possibly, love.Year of the Unicorn has a completely different feel from the previous Witch World novels. It’s written in first person and is, therefore, much more introspective than the action-packed stories about Simon and Jaelithe. The prose, also, has a completely different tone, and is most comparable (in my experience) to Ursula Le Guin’s. This comparison seems especially notable with the audio edition because it feels a lot like the audio version of Le Guin’s Voices — even the voice of the reader (though different) is extremely similar. Kate Rudd reads Year of the Unicorn for Brilliance Audio and she does a great job.I enjoyed learning more about Andre Norton’s universe. The world-building is extensive and Norton avoids infodumping, so we just get a tantalizing glimpse of the Witch World with each book. The first half of Year of the Unicorn flies by while we learn about High Hallack and get to know Gillan as she makes sneaky plans and moves quickly to implement them. Unfortunately, the magic system, which relies mostly on willpower, is not so intriguing. Basically, supernatural things are accomplished by thinking and willing strongly enough. This is forgivable for a fantasy novel published in 1965, but it’s still boring.Speaking of fantasy history, according to Wikipedia, Year of the Unicorn marks “the first time in American publishing history that a young woman is the primary protagonist in a fantasy book” (no citation, retrieved on May 12, 2010). I don’t know if that’s really true, but I can say that Gillan is a likable young woman and her characterization is strong. However, this was actually both boon and bane, for Gillan, as she says herself, “speaks little… but she thinks much” and each thought she has is recorded for us. Thus, we are frequently subjected to her inner queries and then her entire cognitive process as she contemplates a catalog of potential answers. This includes frequent exclamations of “I could not... or could I… but how… how could I?” (etc.) and habitual reiterations of her terror. This caused the second half of the story to drag and to become frustrating when it seemed that Gillan had worked out a solution, acted on it, and then discovered that she was wrong and had to start over. I usually enjoy a first-person point-of-view, and I loved the first half of Year of the Unicorn, but by the end, I was quite eager to get out of Gillan’s head.Those, especially female readers, who enjoy a strong introspective heroine, are likely to enjoy Andre Norton’s Year of the Unicorn. This can be read as a stand-alone novel.
What do You think about Year Of The Unicorn (1977)?
The Witchworld series is a classic in the genre, and yet I kind of feel that this isn't a book that would be written now. It has a classic quality to it, like I'm reading an arthurian legend or something similar, yet unfamiliar at once. It's tale of sexual politics, in a world in which Witches have power only while they remain virginal, is surprisingly well done, even though it's 'age' shows some-what.This is a book I'm not sure you'd get now adays. With a protagonist whose principal initial action is to run away to offer herself as a bride in place of another as part of a deal between her own people and the Mysterious 'riders'. It is a story about her coming into her own power, after that power results in her making a choice that puts her ont he wrong side of politics. It's also a story about one of the Riders, who is considered the least among them, and how he has to come to terms with his own identity.I think I liked this more than the first witch-world novel, enough at least that I'll continue to read them when I can find them. Like many 'classic' things you do get a sense of 'well I've seen this a dozen times before', but with the feeling that it's because it's been copied so endlessly.
—Wise_owl
For a YA readership, this is an excellent story. It's got the lot : a heroine who has a "what are my origins?" mystique about her, a hero who is likewise a misfit among his group of exiles, a romance between the two, one person split into two people who has to try and reunite the two halves, magic and sorcery, deeper magic, 'double sight'. For the average teenager who likes fantasy novels, this is way up there.But oh dear! It is let down badly by its awful awful awful Victorian-faux-medieval-pseudo-Arthurian-ersatz-chivalric style of prose and dialogue. It grates to the extent that I've seriously toyed with the idea of rewriting the book in normal English, so good is the actual story. Just to give one typical flavour:Then once more I put will to the task of seeing as the Riders would have me see. Why couldn't she simply have written Once again I forced myself to try and see what the Riders expected me to see?There's also not a shred of humour anywhere in the story, but that's standard for Andre Norton, so I'm not going to hold that against this particular book.The story itself is summarised expertly in other reviews so I won't go into it here. Suffice to say that the other 5 Witch World books hang together as a connected narrative, while this - the 6th - only has tenuous links with the Witch World itself, and is a self-contained tale on its own account. It was easily my favourite of the series.
—Chris Rigby
4/7/153/16/14Gillan wishes to leave her dull life as a collector of herbs and creator of herbal recipes. However, when her wish comes true, she finds that sometimes the same routine can be good. Girls have been selected as a bride to the were-riders, as payment for their aid in war. They are brought to the abbey where Gillan resides, but one, a pretty girl, does not truly belong, and Gillan decides to take her place. As she moves away from the abbey with the man who will be her husband, she finds danger and excitement, along with knowledge of her power, and friendship and enmity.
—Doris
