The Dragon and the Unicorn

Arthor #1

by A.A. Attanasio, Jeff Bigman (Illustrator)

This epic retells Arthurian legend with a cosmic spin. Old as the Big Bang, the demon Lailoken assumes human form in Roman Britain as Celts battle Saxons for mastery. The witch-queen he serves calls him Merlinus and sends him to find her true love. Led by a unicorn and hunted by a dragon vast as the planet, Merlinus matches wits with gods and elves as he weaves the destiny of the most famous king.

Genres: Fantasy, Arthurian, Fiction, Dragons, Mythology, Historical Fiction, Unicorns

497 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1994

About the author

I’m a novelist and student of the imagination living in Honolulu. Fantasies, visions, hallucinations or whatever we call those irrational powers that illuminate our inner life fascinate me. I’m particularly intrigued by the creative intelligence that scripts our dreams. And I love carrying this soulful energy outside my mind, into the one form that most precisely defines who we are: story.

Reviews

[Angela Sasser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whatever I was expecting when I first read this book was completely blown out of the water by one of the most unique and well-crafted epics I have read in quite awhile, and since!

While this is a retelling of Arthurian legends, do not be fooled by such well-recognized themes. This novel reads more like an ancient tale told around the fire than it does the dulcet and expected lines of most predictable retellings of Arthurian legend, and yet at the same time, Attanasio adds a strange mix of scientific cosmology with glimpses of the future intersecting with the past. This can be offputting to some, but intriguing to others, such as myself.

This particular volume follows the trials of Ygrane, the celtic priestess with knowledge of her past lives, Merlin, the demon now shackled by the form of a man who ages backwards, and the rise of Uther, the would-be father of Arthur. The lives of all three intersect, their stories unfolding in vivid, fearless descriptions that harken back to the gritty clash of Christianity and Celtic religion which permeated the ancient times of Brittania before King Arthur's ascent.

I have nothing bad to say about this book other than the beginning starts out slow. But keep reading, my friends, and it does not disappoint, especially if you have a taste for the gritty, sensual, and vividly recreated style of a great myth.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dragon and the Unicorn, The Eagle and the Sword, The Wolf and the Crown, and The Serpent and the Grail are the four books in the series that weave a beautiful and highly imaginative story of the Arthurian legend. The cascading of language and images is amazing, as is the breadth of knowledge written into this book. It has sent me to the dictionary many times.
"At the base of the overhanding cliff, they hop from a precarious ledge to cinderous gravel and find themselves finally before the black maw of a rime-dripping cavern. Tendrils of niter drool like frozen saliva from the roof of the cave mouth, and a chill subterranean wind exhales a musty reptilian scent."
It doesn't get better than this.

[Salam Tims · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the greatest ever Arthurian novel, this first book in a series recounts the fall to earth of the demon Lailoken, who becomes the wizard Merlin and sets out on a quest to find the man who will father Arthur and set in motion the events of legend. This novel transcends genre with elements of cosmology and fantasy as well as gripping historical fiction. I've read it many times and will return to it again.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

...in whose introduction, some fire gods from the primordial singularity, still upset about the Big Bang, summon a flaming steed from the plasma ocean of the sun, and transform it into a unicorn to thieve energy from the coiled magma-dragon at the roots of the Earth's magnetosphere...

...which is the World Tree, in whose boughs dwells Odin, who, to obtain wisdom about the enigmatic metalworking mortals below, sacrifices his eye...

...which is a fish-egg made of light, and which comes into the possession of the wild and fae child-queen Ygraine, who will one day be the mother of a great king...

This must be the most original Arthurian saga ever told.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best telling of the beginning of the Arthurian legend. A most unusual world view that brings fresh insights on why & how of the epic.

[Sherrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this novel came into my life because a coworker saw me slogging through a book of philosophy for like 3 months and decided I needed some motivation to finish. He said he loved this one when he read it as a young person but didn't remember a ton about it. An auspicious intro!

I can definitely see why this coworker loved it (he's an engineer). The whole premise of magic is built on a concept of energy waves and the descriptions border on quantum mechanics which is weird and fun. I also got some Silmarillion vibes from the way the creation of the universe and the song of the dragons was described. I love the Silmarillion so this is not a bad thing.

From there, it becomes a retelling of the legend of King Arthur...well, sort of. It's really a story of Arthur's mother and father (Uther Pendragon and Ygrane Queen of Celts). Merlin, the holy grail, the sword in the stone...they all make appearances to a greater or lesser extent.

The book took on a lot...which is not uncommon in fantasy, but has to be handled deftly. I think this one fell short by taking on so much. The story was hard to follow in places due to various characters using the "Strong Eye" to look forward or backward through time. I found myself lost a few times.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. I probably won't dig into the other books in the series unless they fall into my lap (*looks at coworker*) but I'm glad I read this one. Arthur retellings are fun.

[Juan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many renditions of the Arthurian tales but this story is truly the greatest. I find the description of the magical realm to be very intriguing and much easier to understand than descriptions from stories such as the Ulster cycle. Although I was expecting the stories of king Arthur, this story lacks nothing being about Uther, Merlin, and Yargane´s journey and battles. The emotional pull to this book is very powerful yet it takes time to build on the reader. I like the attempts to tie this story to the Arthurian tales and I must say it does quite well. I originally picked up this book expecting it to be a historical fantasy but it seemed more science fiction which I am also a big fan of. As a final note I loved in the end when the elk king gives Author the warrior spirit of Cuchulain who is my favorite mythological hero, second being Arthur making him/them all the better. You have truly done justice to the Arthurian tales through this book and to your works I wish a thunderous applause. (PS: If Arthur has the warrior spirit of Cuchulain, and gae-bolg is said to be forever bound to the soul of Cuchulain in the Ulster Cycle, so how will that affect Arthur?)

[Arthurianmaiden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say that at the beginnings I was extremely confused. I couldn't exactly understand who was whom and what the characters were doing and how it all worked, but after a while I was able to blend into the setting of the novel and into the story and I was utterly amazed by the complexity of it.
I especially liked the use of gods, Christian mythology and Asgardian mythology, how everything was explained (the sword, Igraine's role etc.) by these interactions between gods and magical creatures. Everything has a sense in the plot.
I was especially amazed by Merlin as a character. One of the best (probably THE best) Merlin ever written, both in his back story as in the way he is described (and his ideas are described).
At the same time I liked Igraine too. I am not overly fond of Igraine and Merlin in arthuriana but this book managed to make me love them. I absolutely recommend this novel to anyone interested in the pre-Arthur part of the story (Igraine, Uther, Merlin etc.) and in mythology in general.

[Mira · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm utterly exhausted after reading this epic tome. A.A. Attanasio takes us on what I can only describe as a psychedelic, New Age, quantum journey through a masterfully reimagined tale of the Arthurian legend starting from the beginning. And we *mean* the VERY beginning. The big bang, all of that. The greatest light show on earth indeed, encompassing angels, Odin (as a *very* bad guy) and a pantheon of other well known myths and gods.

The writing is florid, the first fifty pages read like a hippy trip on acid and are TOUGH to get through. Once you break through the writing becomes more compelling though by the end I was a bit baffled and relieved to be done.

I've never read anything like this and probably interested enough to track down the sequel too...

[Lasairfiona]

I am certain I bought this at a used book store at least three or four years ago. Turns out a friend just finished reading it and he mentioned I had it and was confused that I hadn't read it. Turns out it was on top of my still packed boxes of books so lets give it a shot.

For the second time I can't quite get through it. The writing just seems to drag for me even though the concepts are interesting (calling on a god in a rather inovative fashion and the gods themselves being... well, you'll find out very quickly when you read the book). I'll try again some time.

[Ruby Madden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This title starts with mind-bendingly beautiful prose. A dragon sleeps, with sing-songs resonating throughout the known cosmos. He is part of a planet. Our planet. Our home. The initial pages read like lyrical poetry, entrancing the reader into a crucial part of the Arthurian story that rarely gets told. The one that centralizes and surrounds his parents, Queen Ygrane of the Celts and Uther Pendragon.

Ironically, the King Arthur stories never held much fascination for me in terms of fantasy fiction. This book, when I first read it, 20 years ago, changed that for me. The tale before the tale is absolutely fascinating!! Who knew that King Arthur's parents were so riveting?! I certainly didn't, at the time.

We discover that Ygrane conspires with a magician to find her a husband. A man worthy of siring the future as a noble king is waiting in her lineage and blood to come forth. How their love arrives and blooms is hardcore. What they must endure to have and be with one another and what sacrifices to be made, to ensure the boy-king's future safety. All the way, a brilliant Merlin guiding the hands of fate and destiny, weaving it into existence. And a unicorn! A magical, fiery, mystical beast that only the Queen can lasso, to gain the power needed...

Attanasio is a true novelist, he knows how to gorgeously craft stories to absolutely fascinate your mind and drown your senses. Whether he brings you into the past, another realm and dimension altogether, or far-far-far in the future, you will be amazed at the breadth, range and skill of his writing. Not to mention his vocabulary!! This author KNOWS HIS WORDS. So much so that he can make them up and they make sense! They work...

[Megan Eckert · Rating 5 out of 5]

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!

What a great escape!! I’ve always loved the story of King Arthur and loved Mists of Avalon as a teen. This take on the tale was amazing! I thought the magic, the world building, and the link to the physics of the universe were the best part! I thoroughly enjoyed this read the writing was superb I enjoyed the “difficult vocabulary “ as referenced by so many other reviewers. It takes a lot for me to give five stars; this is going on my favorites bookshelf ASAP 😃

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favorite Quotes

No story sits by itself, Sometimes stories meet at corners and sometimes they cover one another completely, like stones beneath a river.

People often belittle the place where they were born.

Heaven can be found in the most unlikely corners.

Scenery without solace is meaningless.

This is the greatest gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life. To have it explained. It is the peace you have been searching for.

...the human spirit knows, deep down that all lives intersect.

Death doesn't just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed.

Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know.

The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone.

Sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to.

Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else.

People say they 'find' love, as if it were an object hidden by a rock. But love takes many forms, and it is never the same for any man and woman. What people find then is a certain love. And [he] found a certain love with [her], a grateful love, a deep but quiet love, one that he knew, above all else, was irreplaceable.

Love like rain, can nourish from above, drenching couples with soaking joy. But sometimes, under the angry heat of life, love dries on the surface and must nourish from below, tending to its roots, keeping itself alive.

Lost love is still love. It takes a different form, that's all. You can't see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it.

There was a pier filled with thousands of people, men and women, fathers and mothers and children--so many children--children from the past and the present, children who had not yet been born, side by side, hand in hand, in caps, in short pants, filling the boardwalk and the rides and the wooden platforms, sitting on each other's shoulders, sitting in each other's laps. They were there, or would be there, becuause of the simple mundane things [he] had done in his life, the accidents he had prevented, the rides he had kept safe, the unnoticed turns he had affected every day. And while their lips did not move, [he] heard their voices, more voices then he could have imagined, and a peace came upon him that he had never known before.

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog here in April 1998.

This is an Arthurian tale, the first of a series, telling the story of Merlin up until the birth of Arthur. It is apparent from the first page of the very long prologue that it is not a simple story, as it becomes when told by Mary Stewart, for example. Her approach was to minimise the supernatural as much as possible; Attanasio seeks to maximise it, while having some sort of pseudo-scientific justification for it. (For example, "demons" are alien creatures composed of energy rather than matter.)

Bleys, the teacher of Merlin, is a Chinese sage who finds a unicorn, another creature of energy, and steals its horn to gain immortality by losing his mortal body. He travels from Tibet, where the encounter happened, to Britain, in an attempt to escape the attention of the dragon, the energy-creature which inhabits the earth, and the source of the energy he used to become an immortal. He is also chasing the unicorn, whose help he needs to get free of the earth's magnetic field.

Merlin himself is a demon who is born in human form to defeat the Fury, which is the name Attanasio uses here for Odin, chief of the Norse gods (worshipped by the Saxons invading Britain). This he does by raising up Uther to be king over Britain in place of the corrupt Vortigern; the rest of the story will be pretty familiar to readers of other Arthur-related fantasy novels.

What Attanasio manages to do is to create an Arthur-myth completely different from any other retelling. (It is perhaps closest to that of Nikolai Tolstoy.) It can be rather heavy-going, but it is not surprising that it won awards; worth working to get into. It could definitely do with some trimming, particularly the prologue.

[Kevin Potter]

I'm not rating this book because I couldn't finish it.

I tried. I really tried to like this book. I wanted so much to love this book.

I read the opening once, probably twenty years ago, and so many people have raved about it.

Unfortunately, the only good thing about this book was the narrator.

Her voice work was fantastic.

Ultimately, the biggest problem with this book is it tries far too hard to be lyrical. The language is several times more flowery than is needed.

To make matters worse, The first two hours are completely needless backstory that appear to have almost nothing to do with the story.

It's second biggest problem is the combination of an omniscient third person narrator coupled with present tense. Every sentence jarred me out of the story because those two in conjunction just sounds... Wrong.

After 8 hours, I had to pull the plug.

[Thalia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh...it was okay. I liked some of the originality in the story. A little mix up of cultures and folklore. The characters were portrayed in a different light than I'm used to seeing. These were all good. The bad was the excrutiatingly painful prelude that was a chore to read (and understand) and the constant diversions from the action that really was the story. By the end of it I was cursing both the bloody dragon AND the unicorn. I guess cosmic fantasy isn't my bag afterall.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good telling of what King Arthur's parents might have been like. I really liked the version of Merlin that Attanasio gave. It took me a while to read since it tended to be kind of wordy in places. A wonderful read with alittle of everything for everyone: treason, magic, love, battle, and religion.

[Ria · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book sounded very good, but I couldn't get into it. It's simply way too scifi for me. I do hope that if you like Scifi you give it a read. The prose was well written and intriguing, but I'm not someone who enjoys reading about electron clouds and circutry in my spare time. Sorry!

[Jason Waltz · Rating 2 out of 5]

couldn't do it anymore. 150+ pages should be plenty to judge by. I tried, I really did, cuz I wanted to read this. ain't for me. layer upon layer of high-falutin speak that overly said stuff. just stuff. I couldn't find any life in this story, so I've closed it for good.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Arthur legend!

[Fredd · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the best of the 4 book series and the only one i've read multiple times.

[Nathan]

3/4 of the way through this book and I'm getting to the sad part. Uther and Ygrane are going to lose each other and Arthur will be orphaned. Will pick it up again later.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Attanasio's take on Arthuriana combines quantum mechanics, religion, history, and personal drama in a way that is dense but compelling.

[Ken · Rating 1 out of 5]

http://nethspace.blogspot.com/2007/03...

[Lauren]

I could barely make it past 10% of this book. It starts with a long infodump about how Earth is actually a cosmic dragon (cool) but there are some ancient Fire Lords from space (???) on the surface now, helping some woman give birth, and they have summoned some kind of sun horse with a horn they stuck on its face to give it knowledge (???) and on top of that there are whole pantheons of Gods living in some kind of world tree in the clouds at the northern pole of the planet who have some ancient conflict with each other. And that’s just the beginning. A bit later after this long recent universe history lesson, we cut to Ygrane somewhere in Britain (we assume) and Attanasio is throwing a lot of incomprehensible soft magic words like “timewinds” at the reader while she wields a bunch of unexplained enchantments. I’m not saying this kind of epic plot doesn’t have potential but it’s not grounded in following a particular or multiple characters so you’re kind of expected to care about all these perspectives with no real build up or depth to them. On top of that the writing has many obscure words tossed in, especially during the magic sequences, that definitely didn’t need to be there and don’t really have any concrete meaning, like in the phrase "Vapors of iridescent milt swirl within." "Milt" here is at best a stretch in that sentence - or at least, it seems like he wasn’t trying to imply there were sperm secretions in the magical white opal Ygrane had in that scene, but I could be wrong.

It’s too much. When you feel the urge to start skimming after 20-30 pages, it’s not a good sign.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this back around 20 years ago and being blown away by the epic-level magic, the mixing of mythologies, and the beautiful core of this retelling of the Arthurian legend.

On re-read, I'm no less blown away.

There's so much to love in this. We get the genealogies of angels and demons under a very creative worldbuilding banner, the genealogies of Arthur's ancestors and the world into which he was born, a LOT of the extremely interesting take on Merlin, the demon who lives backwards, and especially Arthur's (or rather, Arthor's) parents and their peaceful mix of the ancient Druidic magics and Christianity.

Every page in this book shows a love of ALL mythologies and the desire to include them all under a single banner, just like the High King did for all the savages. The mirroring is gorgeous.

I look at so many modern epic fantasies and it's hard not to think we've lost something by comparison. I'm not saying the focus on Christianity is the thing that's missing. I'm saying the RICHNESS of it and all the others is what's missing, interwoven in a truly archetypal and gorgeous plethora of storytelling. :)

Granted, I didn't truly fall into the magic of this book until around half-way through, the slow build really aided in my love for the rest.

The magic in this book, even by today's jaded consumption of magic... is still quite amazing. There are always limits, balances, and rules.

I can't wait to read on.

[Dominique Lamssies · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I'm not sure how this book ended up in my read pile. I'm not that much into fantasy and I don't like Arthurian stories. But I read it anyway.

This book is weird. It's like if The Matrix was an Arthurian story. But that I mean it's a whole lotta mish-mash psycho-babble that I'm sure means something to someone, but as a non-philosophical person it means nothing to me.

This book is not bad. It's quite imaginative and original and took a great deal of knowledge in a lot of areas to create. But there is a lot of heavy sci-fi elements and I'm not a fan of sci-fi either. Also some of the science stuff he talks about is high level (or seems to be) so I didn't understand it, which led my mind to glaze over at times.

What also hindered my enjoyment was that very little happens. Events are glossed over for the sake of a series of... very... long... info dump sessions of Merlin talking to himself. Like, Merlin talks to himself A LOT.

At any rate, this book was not to my taste, but for a person who is looking for an original an in depth take on Arthurian legends, this is a good choice.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every so often I get the urge to read an Arthurian story, and every time I regret it. That's not to say this isn't probably a good example if you enjoy this kind of thing (for once I actually made it to the end) however I, personally, can only stomach so much PORTENTS, SYMBOLISM, PORTENTS, SYMBOLISM, plot, PORTENTS, SYMBOLISM, PORTENTS, SYMBOLISM, plot etc. Just once I'd like to read something Arthurian that was actually just a bit fun.

A side-note on the audiobook: the performance of this, while mostly fine and suitably portentous, did have some very odd pronunciations and sudden changes in tone. There is also, memorably at one point, a cameo by a passing emergency vehicle siren.

[Lia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been reading this novel a bit at a time off and on over the years. I finally finished reading it. I think it's the style of fantasy that was popular in previous decades. The novel is the author's reimagined Arthorian lore, or rather this book is the prequel or start to Arthur's life. The author's style of writing is flowery and lyrical with metaphors and synethesian takes. I found it a bit hard as a reader to get through and I couldn't read too much too fast unless I didn't mind not understanding all the language. I did enjoy thinking about the titular fantasy creatures as they were more cosmic while the human characters were located in a specific time and place.

[Ray Woodrow · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had quite a struggle to get through this book. Some interesting concepts and language structure made it difficult work. Only reading at night made it a long, drawn-out read and I think the way he worded things took some concentration to keep going. I would rather read Dickens with his archaic grammar. The story, though only part of the whole, was interesting enough and as such took to near the end for the character or Arthur (Arthor) to come in, though only as a babe.
The concept of Lailoken, a demon, snatched from eternity and born into mortal flesh is quite imaginative. One thing I can say, it wasn't boring.