Customer Reviews

Get Off the Unicorn

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'll at least mention all 13 stories, none of which have anything to do with Acorna, to the best of my limited knowledge of that book. McCaffrey originally intended to call *this* book _Get *Of* the Unicorn_, but she felt that the name suggested by a printing error had more pizzazz. The cover art on the current edition is from "The Smallest Dragonboy", the only Pern story in the book.

My first thought when _The Rowan_ came out, and again when I first leafed through _Freedom's Landing_: "She decided to roll those ideas out of storage after all." It's been a little surreal, wondering if I alone remembered the original short stories. :)

"Lady in the Tower" (1959) and "A Meeting of Minds" (1969) - the predecessors to _The Rowan_ and _Damia_.

"Daughter" (1971), "Dull Drums" (1973) - Nick and Nora (no, not Charles, but Fenn) are the twin children of a farmer who's obsessed with having Nick enter the family business (he couldn't care much less about his daughter, or that Nick wants to work with animals instead). Guess which twin gets the higher scholastic scores? "Daughter" is a bit predictable, but these two stories are OK, really. They're set in what would now be the near future; the academic system works differently. The vibes are a bit like the _Pegasus_ universe, to me, without the ESP.

"Changeling" - This self-described 'unusual experiment in human relationships' seems to have some gaping plot holes. Claire, living with Roy and Ellyot (who have a relationship), apparently married her husband, Chess, mostly to have children. The story never covers the details of how Chess went from storming out of his first meeting with Roy to the point of not only moving in, but accepting `oh by the way, I want to have Roy's child first, by artificial insemination'. We're not told, much less shown, how/why Chess changed his attitude; in fact, the story jumps from `architect for the new kitchen' to `husband' in about a paragraph.

"Weather on Welladay" (1969) - This one was written to fit the cover art of the magazine it originally appeared in. Whaling, on Welladay, means 'milking' the whales for radioactive iodine - now someone's pirating iodine and leaving whales to die.

"The Thorns of Barevi" (1970) - The origin of the Freedom series; originally written to cash in on the soft-porn market, as mentioned by an earlier reviewer.

"Horse from a Different Sea" - This is a sly reversal of the 'aliens need our women' type of plot in movies like "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" (not a bad movie, actually). Here, the alien passing herself off as a prostitute needs men - but *they're* the ones who become pregnant. The town doctor is the narrator for this one. Most of them are grown men cheating on their wives; the Boy Scout mentioned by a previous reviewer is an exception.

"Great Canine Chorus" (1971) - One night on their beat, Pete Roberts' K-9 partner, Wizard, acts a bit as though he's possessed. He is - by Maria, a 9-year-old telepath suffering from neglect. She has several parapsychic abilities, compensating for being blind, deaf, and paralyzed - and she's terrified of being taken away and cut up because her body doesn't work right. Enough that she uses her powers to keep Roberts from doing anything more than sending food to her via Wizard. Then she figures out other ways to get what she wants...

"Finder's Keeper" (1973) - Young Peter Anderson has a carefully concealed talent for 'finding'. Since his mother got too sick to work at the diner, he's been using it to help with his part-time work as a caddy (great for finding golf balls). Now Fargo, a sleazy detective, has figured out Peter's secret - and is using the threat of exposure to get Peter to do his own job for free. If you like this one, try Andre Norton's _Red Hart Magic_; Nan Mallory in "The King's Hunters" has the same gift.

"A Proper Santa Claus" (1973) - Little Jeremy's wild talent is that he can make his artwork come to life.

"The Smallest Dragonboy" (1973) - Keevan is the youngest boy at Benden Weyr who's old enough for Impression when Ramoth's latest clutch hatches. Some of the older candidates (old enough to be getting desperate) start getting their jollies by harassing him. (No wonder they were rejects in previous Impressions.) In later books, he appears as K'van, Heth's rider (even in the index of _Dragonflight_, which includes several characters who hadn't been born yet, e.g. Menolly). Heth was part of Jaxom and Ruth's team in _All the Weyrs of Pern_.

"Apple" (1969) - As in, the bad apple that spoils the barrel. The Talents have to hunt down and contain a young woman who has harnessed her abilities, only to cut loose on a crime spree. For best results, you should really read this as part of _To Ride Pegasus_, since it works on the assumption that you know Daffyd and company already.

"Honeymoon" - In "The Partnered Ship", the last story of _The Ship Who Sang_, Helva extended her contract, and acquired Parollan as her new brawn, preparatory to a 2nd mission to Beta Corvi. ("Dramatic Mission" in that book covers mission #1.) "Honeymoon" picks up where "The Partnered Ship" left off - Helva's first voyage with Niall Parollan. You *really* need to read _The Ship Who Sang_ first. (When Parollan's in port, incidentally, he's a party animal - and his idea of a date is a group of triplets.)

Ms. McCaffrey's collection of short stories, Get Off the Unicorn, is a treasure trove of great little stories. Some of them, like Daughter, Dull Drums, and Finder's Keeper are great example of McCaffrey's skill at creating characters you love in just a handful of pages. One story that really hit home for me was called A Proper Santa Claus. It is about a very creative young boy who is very gently crushed by the adults about him into what they believe is a proper use of his talent. The end always makes me cry. I think all teachers and parents should be made to read this story!

But the coolest part of this excellent collection of short stories is that it is the source for several of her best series:
Apple -- The Talent Series
Thorns of Barevi -- The Freedom Series
Lady in the Tower -- The Rowan
A Meeting of Minds -- Damia

And there is even a Pern story, The Littlest Dragonboy and a Brainship story called Honeymoon about Helva and Niall Parollan. A great collection!

I think that there are a large number of excellent short stories in this book, and a few duds. I enjoyed the story of 'The Littlest Dragonboy' and the tales of the psychics of various times. I would not call it a prequel to The Girl Who Heard Dragons, as that would not do this book justice. This one had much better-written stories, and was a bit more... bloodthirsty in some places. This is a good collection of short stories that should stand alone as such, and not be compared to another such collection written many years later.

Yes, it's a collection of short stories...but it's the beginning of so many books by Anne McCaffrey that it's a fascinating look at how one short story can bloom into a series. This book includes short stories that she later developed into the "Rowan", "Pegasus", and "Freedom" series. It also includes stories about Halva (The Ship Who Sang), Keevan (The Dragonriders of Pern-he later becomes a Weyrleader), and many other characters that you normally wouldn't pay much attention to. All in all, an engaging read that shows you the beginning of a writing empire!

I read this book a few years ago, and am surprised to find no reviews for it here. I thought it was very good; like "The Girl Who Heard Dragons," it's a book of short stories. I didn't like a couple of them - that's the reason for the 9. It tncludes the original stories that led to (and are partially included, with MANY - sometimes amusing - changes, in) the novels "The Rowan" and "Damia." It also has a Pern story, about Keevan who became K'van, and his Impression; I believe that in the later "Dragonriders" books, in which McCaffrey sort of abruptly stuck in K'van with little introduction, she assumed that everyone had read "The Littlest Dragonboy," one way or another - well, I've talked to several people who hadn't, and were lost where he was concerned! So anyway, here he is; accompanied by Parapsychics (if you're a fan of "To Ride Pegasus" and "Pegasus in Flight," which are trips back in time from "The Rowan"), pregnant Boy Scouts, the original story (meant as soft-core porn, believe it or not) of "Freedom's Landing," and strange remnants of other tales that she might get around to writing books of someday (in some cases, I hope not; but the Nora Fenn stories are great fun, except for Conn, so I hope she'll just write him out like she did the chain-smoking in "Lady in the Tower"). Most of her recent books have felt like they're just loose ends she wants to clear out before she has to stop writing (I have heard that she is almost blind, and that is part of the reason for all the collaborations; does anyone know if that's true?); I hope not - she's my favorite writer. Please read this book, if you like Mccaffrey's funny, oddly-conventional-for-such-futuristicness worlds and ideas; it is just as good as, if not better than, "The Girl Who Heard Dragons;" I guess I should say, read this book if you liked that one, hmm?

I really enjoyed this book. I found a majority of the stories interesting and engrossing, and I have read it over and over again many times. One of the things I enjoy most about this book are the introductions before each new group of stories, explaining why McCaffrey wrote each story and what she was thinking while she did so. Some of my favorite stories included "Lady in the Tower," and "A Meeting of Minds," stories that are the original ideas for the books in the "Rowan" series. My absolute favorites in this collection were "Daughter" and "Dull Drums," stories about the Fenn family, especially the daughter Nora, who, although they live in the future, deal with family problems that are relevant today. I am a young reader which may be why I especially liked these stories, since they are about young people. Another one that I really enjoyed was "The Littlest Dragonboy," about how even though one may be smaller than the others, size doesn't matter- it's what's inside that counts. A frequently used sentiment, I know, but one that is illustrated very nicely in this story. However, I could have done without "A Proper Santa Claus," which had a really depressing, cut-off ending. But overall, I thought this was a really satisfying collection of stories that had samples from all of the different genres that Anne McCaffrey writes in, and I really recommend it.

I loved to read this book because not only did you see some stories you never heard you also read some stories that were later altered to make a whole series!

I own the June'77 1st. edition of this book and, while it IS a collection of shorts, it isn't a pre-quel to "The Girl Who Heard Dragons".These stories span decades. "Lady in the Tower" was copyrighted 1959 and for 1970 "The Thorns of Barevi" was a bit risque. Each story stands well on it's own with no other additions necessary. It gives you an insight into quite a few of the realms she has gone on to create. It's fun to go back and see where a lot of her ideas started!

In 6th Grade English, one of the printed stories we had to analize was "The Littlest Dragonrider" At that time I had no Ideathat Pern was a larger word that that short story, When I found out years later, I serched everywhere to find a copy of that english book just so Icould have that story, then I found out she reprinted it in "Get off the Unicorn" and I was estatic, I also loved all of the other stories that came with it :)

The book came within a week of ordering it. It was in very good shape. Thanks.