Sign of the Unicorn
Dust-jacket illustration for the first edition
|
|
| Author | Roger Zelazny |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Margo Herr |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Chronicles of Amber |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
|
Publication date
|
February 1975 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 186 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 1091638 |
| 813/.5/4 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.Z456 Si PS3576.E43 |
| Preceded by | The Guns of Avalon |
| Followed by | The Hand of Oberon |
Sign of the Unicorn is a fantasy novel by Roger Zelazny, the third book in the Chronicles of Amber series. It was first published in serial format in Galaxy Science Fiction.
Eric is dead, and Corwin now rules Amber as Regent — but someone has murdered Caine and framed Corwin. Random tells his part of the story. Corwin decides to find out what happened to Brand who is either missing or dead, and begins to find his obsession with the throne is a two-edged sword that may cost him his life, as it has his brothers'.
Corwin returns to Castle Amber bearing the body of one of the spined, bloodshot-eyed humanoid creatures that had pursued Random to Flora's house on Earth—one that had moments earlier killed his brother, Caine. Fearing that he has been framed for Caine's murder, Corwin summons Random, who tells him the story how he came to be chased across shadow to end up in New York City:
Random had been enjoying life out in a shadow, Texorami, that he had selected/created to be an ideal place to gamble, hang-glide and especially play the drums. One day he received an unusual Trump call in the form of the Jack of Diamonds, that spoke to him as his brother, Brand, asking for help to escape from an unfamiliar shadow.
Random set out to rescue Brand from the shadow, a land lit without a sun, where boulders orbit each other in complicated patterns. He found the tower where Brand was imprisoned, but could not overcome its guardian, a transparent, glass, prismatic, dragon-like creature. Spined humanoids pursued Random through shadow. Seeking an ally, he headed for Earth, hoping to exploit Flora, but finds Corwin instead. Since Corwin had been missing for so long. Random assumes the creatures belonged to him, and though confused when Corwin fights the creatures, is sufficiently frightened to aid Corwin in getting to Amber.
After hearing Random's story, Corwin descends to the chamber of the Pattern, to attune himself to the Jewel of Judgement, a powerful artifact given to Corwin by Eric as he lay dying, which gives its wearer among other powers control of weather in Amber. He walks the pattern, and then commands it to project him into the Jewel. He is metaphysically carried through a higher-dimensional Pattern within the Jewel, emerging with what he describes as a "higher octave" of awareness.
...
Wikipedia