Year of the Unicorn by Andre Norton

First published: 1965

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Science fiction

Time of work: After the war with Alizon

Locale: Another world

Principal Characters:

• Gillan, a twenty-year-old woman who elects to become the bride of a Were-Rider
• Kildas, a bride of the Were-Riders
• Herrel, called the Wronghanded, a Were-Rider who takes on animal shapes, the future husband of Gillan
• Halse, called the Strongarmed, an enemy of Herrel
• Hyron, the captain of the Were-Riders

Form and Content

Year of the Unicorn is one of a series of highly successful books that occur in a place called Witch World. All the basic characteristics of this land are established in the first novel in the series, Witch World (1963). Although this place is named “the Witch World” in other books in the series, it is never referred to by that name in Year of the Unicorn. Witch World is perhaps a distant planet, or it may exist in another dimension of Earth. Gates allow entry into Witch World from other worlds, and apparently human beings from Earth occasionally enter it. Many of the adventures confronting Gillan and Herrel are unique to this Witch World saga, while many other aspects are common to most Witch World stories. Thus, the Were-Riders are represented as a group in a number of other stories, but their history and functioning are only briefly summarized there. The land that they traverse, the Waste, is central to all the Witch World sagas.

The shape-changers, or Were-Riders, are introduced in this novel. They fought on the side of a land called High Hallack in a war against invaders called the Hounds of Alizon. The enemy used weapons from some other, unnamed world that are very similar to armaments, such as tanks and rocket launchers, found in this world. If High Hallack won the war, the Were-Riders were to receive thirteen brides, maidens between the ages of eighteen and twenty. They promised that they would then leave High Hallack and return to the unknown land called the Waste. This Great Bargain was the product of fear and desperation in High Hallack, and the novel begins when the price is demanded on the first day of the new year: the year of the unicorn.

The novel recounts adventures that occur during this year. Gillan, an orphan without a home or social status, disguises herself to become one of the chosen maids. At this time, she is unaware of the nature and depth of her own magical powers. She flees a bleak future on the chance that even a mysterious, dangerous future is an improvement. Her untrained magical powers disturb the tenuous balance of power between gods and their servants in the strange and twisted landscape called the Waste. Unlike all the other brides, she has her own vision of herself, independence, and good.

In some ways, Year of the Unicorn is a romance that takes place in a seemingly medieval tale of good against evil. Gillan and Herrel represent ordinary people in the sense that they have little worldly goods or social status. They are not unusually handsome or gifted with everyday graces. Gillan’s unfolding discovery of her strengths as a person with magical powers, perhaps like a witch’s, however, is a story of interpersonal growth. The moral of the story is that love, faith, and hope can overcome seemingly impossible odds. Thus, this is an optimistic story where good triumphs over evil and where “girl meets boy” and falls in love. It is not a simplistic story, but it echoes legends and folktales.

Year of the Unicorn has a powerful ending. The crafty evil of Halse and his thuggish followers is revealed in a battle between good and evil. Gillan dies and Herrel, who had betrayed her in a physical attack beyond his control, brings her back from the land of the dead. This is the imaginative drama one expects in a “good read,” but Norton pushes beyond formulaic endings. The final battle shows the collusion of Hyron, the leader of the Were-Riders, who supports evil in order to rid himself of innocent but disliked scapegoats. Gillan and Herrel reject the entire group as one permeated with hatred not only for them but for anything good as well. This is not merely a romantic ending for a couple in love who can conquer the world alone. It is a moral decision requiring courage and hope. In the final lines of the story, Herrel reveals that Hyron is actually his father as well as the clan leader, and the betrayal of his son is even a greater crime than the reader had known.

This book examines some of the greatest themes of human storytelling: betrayal by the clan, the family, and one’s mate, death, love, magic, and friendship. The heroine is an independent woman with few material or social resources. Her need for others is a continuing but problematic reality.

Context

Although Norton has written more than ninety books, few scholars have studied her corpus. One reason for this scholarly oversight is that her books defy categorization as either highbrow or lowbrow literature. Whatever category of class and taste they fit, they are popular: 10 million copies of Witch World books had been sold worldwide by 1987. Norton’s books also tap into scholarly writings and primitive images of the bestial in animal and human forms. The Were-Riders epitomize this theme and its combination in one being. Dark, light, death, life, evil, good, exhaustion, and renewal are integral components in her tales of adventure and trial.

Norton’s protagonists in Witch World are often female, such as Gillan. She began writing in science fiction in the early 1950’s, when it was seen as a “man’s field” for both authors and readers; thus, to be accepted, she selected the male pseudonym Andre. Thus, Norton’s tales balance everyday life and the sacred, and she shares this shadowy status in the world of the sacred, and she shares this shadowy status in the world of serious analysis, especially that written by feminist scholars. Despite the recent growth in feminist scholarship in science fiction, however, Norton remains caught between pulp writing, popular adventure stories, and academic acceptance.

Norton has had a tremendous impact, however, outside the groves of academe: The number of famous, “serious” science-fiction writers inspired by her is staggering. For example, Anne McCaffrey and C. J. Cherryh have each dedicated a book to Norton. Marion Zimmer Bradley, Tanith Lee, Judith Tarr, and Poul Anderson are only a few notable authors who acknowledge Norton’s influence on their work and lives. Joan D. Vinge wrote an open letter to Norton in which she reflects on Norton’s profound impact on her: first as a junior high school student, then as a successful adult writer. As Vinge notes, “Written in a clean, straightforward prose that never gets in the way of its images, your adventures catch the elusive ‘sense of wonder’ that sets apart good science fiction from all other kinds of fiction and makes a fan into an addict.” Vinge, like Norton’s millions of fans, concludes: “Because of you, I am.” Norton’s wide-ranging vision and cultural innovation may be lauded by scholars one day. Until then, her readers will continue to enjoy this great storyteller’s tales of wonder and hope.

Bibliography

Carter, Lin. “Andre Norton: A Profile.” In Secret of the Lost Race, by Andre Norton. New York: Ace Books, 1959. This overview of Norton’s work by a respected science-fiction author lauds and analyzes Norton’s corpus as it existed in 1959. This essay appears in some of the paperback editions of the novel.

Norton, Andre. The Book of Andre Norton. Edited by Roger Elwood. New York: DAW Books, 1975. Primarily an anthology of Norton’s short stories, with a few interesting essays on her work. The best essay is an autobiographical one in which Norton explains how she writes her fantasies.

Norton, Andre, ed. Tales of the Witch World. 3 vols. New York: T. Doherty Associates, 1987. An anthology of short stories written by many authors following the Witch World formula established in Norton’s books. Many additional details, figures, or continuing stories are found here. Norton’s introductory essays give an overview of Witch World.

Shwartz, Susan, ed. Moonsinger’s Friends: An Anthology in Honor of Andre Norton. New York: Bluejay Books, 1985. A science-fiction Festschrift honoring Norton. Instead of writing about Norton, the sixteen eminent authors write science-fiction stories inspired by her work. Shwartz’s editorial notes and introduction discuss the authors’ works and Norton’s influence.