Winner of both the Locus and Balrog Awards for Best Collection, Unicorn Variations spans science fiction, fantasy, horror, humor, and philosophical speculation, bringing together twenty works of short fiction from acclaimed New Wave speculative fiction author Roger Zelazny. Among them are two of the most critically acclaimed stories of his celebrated career:

In the Hugo Award–winning novelette “Unicorn Variation,” a solitary traveler enters an abandoned bar and finds himself playing chess against a unicorn for nothing less than humanity’s survival.

In “Home Is the Hangman,” winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novella, a dangerously intelligent robot severs contact and disappears during its deep-space mission only to return to Earth under mysterious—and potentially murderous—circumstances.

The remaining eighteen short stories transport readers to haunted battlefields, futuristic cities, alien planets, and the darkest reaches of space. Zelazny delights in placing ordinary people at the center of extraordinary collisions between mythology and advanced technology, imagining evil sentient cars, jealous computers, enterprising dragons, and immortal beings confronting the mysteries of the cosmos. Each offers a fresh take on classic themes through the eminent author's unique lens, presenting innovative ideas on consciousness, fate, free will, and what it means to be human.

Complementing these tales of technological dystopias and supernatural bargains, the collection also features an introduction by Zelazny and two illuminating essays exploring his writing—all conveyed through his distinctive wit, inventive world-building, lyrical storytelling, and poetic prose.

Perfect for fans of Ursula K. Le Guin, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Samuel R. Delany, Tanith Lee, Gene Wolfe, Cordwainer Smith, and Philip José Farmer, as well as readers of science fantasy, space opera, alternate realities, pocket dimensions, time travel, interstellar explorers, intergalactic exploration, mythic journeys, artificial intelligence and rogue AI, surrealist fiction, metaphysical mystery, ontological suspense, existential dread, cosmic wonder, eldritch horror, modern mythology, high-stakes adventure, and cerebral sci-fi.

Titles included:

○ “Introduction”
○ “Unicorn Variation” - Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novelette
○ “The Last of the Wild Ones”
○ “Recital”
○ “The Naked Matador”
○ “The Parts That Are Only Glimpsed: Three Reflexes” - Essay
○ “Dismal Light”
○ “Go Starless in the Night”
○ “But Not the Herald”
○ “A Hand Across the Galaxy”
○ “The Force That Through the Circuit Drives the Current”
○ “Home Is the Hangman” - Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novella
○ “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

"An explosion of style and personality unique in science fiction, Zelazny is a law unto himself, driving over and through the conventional forms of science fiction . . . ." –Speculative Bulletin

"A storyteller without peer. He created worlds as colorful and exotic and memorable as any our genre has ever seen."  –George R. R. Martin

". . . his performance was never anything other than dazzling."  –Robert Silverberg

Prefer a physical book? Sadly, no authorized print edition of this title is currently available new from any publisher.* Fortunately, Positronic Publishing holds the exclusive ebook rights granted by the Zelazny estate, so this adventure remains available to our readers in digital format. (Believe us, we'd love to see this one on our bookshelves, too!)

*Used copies of previously published editions may still be available through secondhand sellers.