Unicorn Variations is a collection of stories and essays by author Roger Zelazny

Roger Zelazny

Roger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series...

, published in 1983. The title story, "Unicorn Variation", was written as a result of Zelazny having been asked to contribute to two different upcoming anthologies — one collecting stories set in bars, and one collecting stories about unicorn

Unicorn

The unicorn is a legendary animal from European folklore that resembles a white horse with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead, and sometimes a goat's beard...

s. When Zelazny mentioned these requests to his close friend George R. R. Martin

George R. R. Martin

George Raymond Richard Martin , sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for their dramatic pay-cable series Game of...

, the other told Zelazny of a third upcoming anthology — one which would collect stories about chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 — and jokingly suggested that Zelazny write a story about playing chess against a unicorn in a bar, so that he could sell the story three times. Zelazny did just that and then went on to win a Hugo Award

Hugo Award

The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...

 for the story.

Contents

• "Introduction"
• "Unicorn Variation"
• "The Last of the Wild Ones"

  (A follow-up short story to the earlier story "Devil Car")

• "Recital"
• "The Naked Matador"
• "The Parts That Are Only Glimpsed: Three Reflexes" (essay)
• "Dismal Light"

  (A follow-up short story to the novel "Isle of the Dead

  Isle of the Dead

  Isle of the Dead may refer to:*The Isle of the Dead, adjacent to Port Arthur, Tasmania* Isle of the Dead , a horror film* Isle of the Dead , a theme associated with pre-Christian Celtic mythology...

  
  ")

• "Go Starless in the Night"
• "But Not the Herald"
• "A Hand Across the Galaxy"
• "The Force That Through the Circuit Drives the Current"

  (A short story that plays with themes developed in the novella "Home is the Hangman")

• "Home is the Hangman"

  (Initially published in the collection My Name is Legion

  My Name is Legion (Zelazny stories)

  My Name Is Legion is an anthology of three stories by American writer Roger Zelazny, compiled in 1976. The stories feature a common protagonist who is never named.-Plot summary:...

  
  )

• "Fire and /or Ice"
• "Exeunt Omnes"
• "A Very Good Year"
• "My Lady of the Diodes"
• "And I Only Am Escaped to Tell Thee"
• "The Horses of Lir"
• "The Night Has 999 Eyes"
• "Angel, Dark Angel"
• "Walpurgisnacht"
• "The George Business"
• "Some Science Fiction Parameters: A Biased View" (essay)

Trivia

A plot element from "The George Business," in which a knight and dragon form a lucrative partnership, was echoed in the 1996 film Dragonheart

Dragonheart

Dragonheart is a 1996 fantasy adventure film directed by Rob Cohen. It stars Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite, Dina Meyer, and the voice of Sean Connery. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and various other awards in 1996 and 1997...

. The reference is uncredited, but speculation in the science fiction community indicates that the screenwriter might have drawn inspiration from Zelazny's work.