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Overview
A queen, a pilgrim, a demon -- and a king with a world to save
Beneath every beloved legend there is a deeper legend still, etched in ancient stone. The Dragon and the Unicorn begins before the beginning of Time, as light first cools to matter, bearing within it the electron glow of lost Heaven. Attanasio's epic tale of a quest for immortality spans all history, human and demihuman, from the dung fires on the steppes to the snows of Himalayas, from the mudhut cities on the Euphrates to the glass and steel towers of tomorrow, from the hunt for the Unicorn's horn to the ceaseless wars of elf and dragon, Celt and Roman. It is a quest that end -- and begins -- in a legend-heavy place at the edge of the Western Sea, with the first cry of a King new born. A place called Tint gel. A King, the Heir Pendragon, called Eagle of Thor, or Arthor.
One of today's boldest, most imaginative, and most inventive authors, A. A. Attanasio unites all the legends of creation and redemption into a dream song as old as the druid chants, and as timeless as the quantum hum at creation's shinning heart.
And so a new departure in epic fantasy takes flight.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
Overuse of Arthurian materials in current genre fantasy would pose a challenge for any novelist, but Attanasio develops a noteworthy, unique cosmology. Known for science fiction Radix as well as for the Arthurian Kingdom of the Grail, he combines the Round Table and black holes, gods and alternate time lines, to produce a world full of both mythology and history, reworking familiar elements in new ways. Rich thematically as well, the story presents inevitable cycles of pain, death, learning and redemption as Ygrane, Uther, Morgeu the Fey and Merlinus, joined by various pagans and Christians, fight for the soul of their land. Unfortunately, the complexities often require too much explanation, slowing the narrative, especially in the beginning. Even the peculiar spelling of Arthor's name requires some elucidation Aquila Regalis Thor. Still, sophisticated commentary on Arthurian history and legend and religious and philosophical speculation, make this sometimes difficult read rewarding. JuneVOYA -
England in A.D. 458 is a tumult of warring factions; Celts, Britons, Saxons and others fight for control of the land. The country needs a strong leader, a unifying force. The county needs peace. The actions of the gods parallel those of the humans. The Furor (Odin), tribal chief of the North, battles with the worshippers (druids) of the Fire Lords (spirits) of the South. The elvin prince Bright Night heads the Daoine Sid, offering resistance to Christianity. The various gods and spirits favor and guide different human factions. During this time the Celtic druids have a witch-queen, Ygrane, who is taught and guided by the crone Raglaw. Ygrane marries the Briton Gorlois in the hope that their union will result in peace. War prevails and when Raglaw and Gorlois are killed, they are replaced by Myrddin and Uther. The union of Ygrane and Uther results in the birth of a son, Arthor, who is destined to unite Britain. Attanasio has produced a new benchmark for Arthurian fantasy; he writes as if he were a witness to events. Through this beautifully told tale the reader is irresistably drawn into the world of Uther and Ygrane. At once complex and compelling, this is a story of Celt and Briton; pagan and Christian; woman and man; good and evil. Readers fond of Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon (Knopf, 1982) should enjoy this finely crafted novel as well. VOYA Codes: 5Q 2P S (Hard to imagine it being any better written, For the YA with a special interest in the subject, Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).In another outlandish fantasy (The Moon's Wife, 1993, etc.), Attanasio attempts to blend cosmology with Tolkien-esque creationism, Christianity, and Celtic and Norse myth. Planet Earth is a Dragon—literally—that voraciously absorbs life energy to feed the dreamsong by which it asserts its oneness with the universe's other planet-dragons. Occasionally the Dragon is tormented by Fire Lords, pure energy angels who entered the universe along with the Big Bang. The Earth's magnetic field forms an energy tree where dwell all manner of godlike beings, chief among them the one-eyed Furor, an ally of the Dragon's. The Fire Lords capture one of Furor's demons, but, in order to restrain its terrible power and force it to serve them, they need the help of a sun-stallion; this, taking up residence on Earth as a unicorn, will have the task of mediating the energy flows to and from the Dragon. The demon, compressed, constrained, and reborn of woman, is called Lailoken, a.k.a. the wizard Merlinus. Amazingly enough, all this razzle-dazzle is mere preamble to the bulk of the story, which concerns Queen Ygrane, Uther Pendragon, and their son Arthor.
Awesome, sure, but desperately strained and set forth in an excruciating present tense. What signally fails to come across is why any of it should matter.
Attanasio develops a noteworthy, unique cosmology. Known for science fiction (Radix) as well as for fantasy (Wyvern), he combines the Round Table and black holes, gods and alternate time lines, to produce a world full of both mythology and history, reworking familiar elements in new ways. Rich thematically as well, the story presents inevitable cycles of pain, death, learning and redemption as Ygrane, Uther, Morgeu the Fey and Merlinus, joined by various pagans and Christians, fight for the soul