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Get Off the Unicorn (The Talents Universe)

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 3,445 ratings · 54 reviews

Open these pages and discover 14 remarkable stories of fantasy by a grand master of the genre. A wonderful writer, as well as successful and beloved by fans across the world, Anne McCaffrey has created an exciting collection of telepaths, secret gifts, dangerous missions, dragonriders, and more.

Contents:
Lady in the Tower.--A Meeting of Minds.--Daughter.--Dull Drums.--Chang...more

Paperback, 303 pages

Published May 12th 1987 by Del Rey (first published 1977)

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Jan 14, 2013 Kerry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, 8, anthology, ebooks, sf, reread

I rather suspect I liked the same stories this time round as when I first read it.

I've often reflected that over the last decade that Nora's analysis of people in the early 21st century and their online data store use (in Dull Drums) was eeireely accurate. On rereading it, I definitely think so and I suggest anyone interested in cases where the SF author pretty much got the future right (in the concepts rather than the specifics), take a read of this 1973 short story.

My favourites remain:
Lady in...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Valerie added it

I've always been ambivalent about McCaffrey. I gave up on the Pern books fairly far into the series, because the elements of sadism and rape I'd had trouble with earlier became, in my opinion, the predominant elements. I'll probably never know if I should have given up on only that particular book.

The sex life of dragons is a disturbing but small part of their lives, and the use of the mating flights to overcome the wills of the riders (to celibacy, for example, or to other priorities, some wort...more

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Jun 21, 2007 Sarah Sammis rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: released

In an effort to clear my shelves I am "forcing" myself to read books I've had for just about forever. Take for instance Get off the Unicorn, I think I've had this copy for 20 years! That would have made me 13 or 14 when I bought it — right at the peek of my love for Anne McCaffrey's books. I should have read it back then; I would have enjoyed it more.

This book contains a dozen short stories, many of which exist in the worlds of her various series. Of her series I've mostly read the Pern books s...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Sam rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a collection of short stories by Anne McCaffrey, spanning her entire career. The earlier ones are quite good, very interesting, and at times excellent: I am thinking in particular of "Lady in the Tower", "Daughter", and the remarkable "Changeling". These stories and some of the other similar stories are very revealing about McCaffrey's views on women, feminism, and sexuality: they seem quite dated nowadays, but perhaps ever more daring for this reason. There are several stories in the mi...more

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Dec 05, 2012 WillowBe rated it 2 of 5 stars

Yes, this is how far I have sunk- reading McCaffrey books, which I read as a virgin teen. This stuff I wouldn't recommend bec it was written way before "women's lib" and the sexism and racism is so casual and endemic, it's rather chilling. Actually what's shocking is her seeming lack of recognition that there are extremely sexist and even anti-female elements in some of the stories. I mean, sure, your Dad (Daughter, et. al.) is a big sexist asshole, but the number of times one female protag is g...more Yes, this is how far I have sunk- reading McCaffrey books, which I read as a virgin teen. This stuff I wouldn't recommend bec it was written way before "women's lib" and the sexism and racism is so casual and endemic, it's rather chilling. Actually what's shocking is her seeming lack of recognition that there are extremely sexist and even anti-female elements in some of the stories. I mean, sure, your Dad (Daughter, et. al.) is a big sexist asshole, but the number of times one female protag is grabbed by men and doesn't protest the manhandling, instead sees it as sign of caring- it was sickening.

Or in "Honeymoon" (HAH!)the assumption that a "brawn" must be watched for signs of obsession with the brain, for fear he might be so overcome by lack of sexual stimulation during long space flights that he might crack open the shell of his defenseless "brain" and rape a physically stunted person covered in nutritive fluid whos brain is exposed and connected with wires to the very functions of the ship which keep him alive? What???

True, I did not read " The Ship Who Sang" and now, I don't really want to , if that's the dynamic. and I had been looking forward to it. Helva was nervous at first during the trip: "Can I trust him not to crack my shell?". Basically, "Can I trust him not to rape me in a fit of crazed lust inspired by lack of available vaginas to poke?". and his wanting to "join with her", and the jibe about " don't play that virgin crap with me!" What? You're on a methane gas alien world without your usual physical body, potentially dangerous beings watching you and you press the advantage to merge by yelling abuse?! Hello, not the time for gettin' it on no matter that it's sex by proxy!

It's just depressing that in her world we can have hyperspace, sophisticated ships and explore strange peoples and lands, but there is no way to deal with the male mammalian sex drive. Oh yeah, that's the point: no matter what, a woman's a woman and a man is a man and he's gotta have it, and she's gonna give it, one thousand years of techinical advancement notwithstanding. Sheesh. How backward. Sign me up for some Cherryh, Reeves, Aguirre or Liz Moon! (less)

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Nov 07, 2012 Gere Lewis rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book proved to me that when Anne McCaffrey is writing in Pern or on parapsychics, I am all over it. However, in my opinion she is not the best outside of those areas. Here is my breakdown of these short stories.

1. Lady in the Tower: Incorporated into The Rowan. See my review of that novel for my impressions.

2. A Meeting of Minds: Incorporated into Damia. See my review of that novel for my impressions.

3. Daughter: An old fashioned, misogynist father who wanted two sons, but got a son and a d...more

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Aug 21, 2012 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, short-stories

Man, I am utterly incapable of being objective about Anne McCaffrey. I read her work at an impressionable age, and now it's just comfort reading to me. Do some of the stories feature outdated views about gender? Yes! Does the 70s soft-core porn story have strong overtones of rape-but-she-secretly-wanted-it? It sure does! Some of the stories are better than others, I guess is what I'm saying, but I love them all. Can't help it.

There's a very wide range of stories in here, and I suspect that indi...more

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Nov 30, 2010 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: short-stories

These short stories, all by McCaffrey were fascinating to me when I found this book. I had previously only read her Pern books, and seeing her write about different worlds and times was eye-opening. (As was the sex in a couple of the stories- I was probably only fourteen at the time!) One of her more memorable collections of short fiction.

By the way, there is no unicorn in any of these stories. The original title was Get OF the Unicorn, as in "offspring" of the unicorn, meaning that these storie...more

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Mar 10, 2011 Katrina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: short-stories

I've just started reading this as an interim book until I can start Ship Breaker, but I really like it so far. It has been many years since I have read Anne McCaffrey's works and now I remember why I loved her so much. This is an older collection of stories I picked up at an Oxfam in Reading. Two things caught my eye to buy it: 1) It is Anne McCaffrey and 2) It includes the short story "The Smallest Dragon Boy". #2 is significant because I read this story in elementary school and LOVED it but co...more I've just started reading this as an interim book until I can start Ship Breaker, but I really like it so far. It has been many years since I have read Anne McCaffrey's works and now I remember why I loved her so much. This is an older collection of stories I picked up at an Oxfam in Reading. Two things caught my eye to buy it: 1) It is Anne McCaffrey and 2) It includes the short story "The Smallest Dragon Boy". #2 is significant because I read this story in elementary school and LOVED it but could never remember the name of the story.

I bought this book thinking that it would be all Pern stories, but I am incredibly glad that I was wrong. The first two stories of from McCaffrey's Rowan saga, which I have never before read. Getting introduced to the world through these stories was fantastic. I like the stories and the McCaffrey's style. This book may very well cause me to put Anne McCaffrey back at the top of my "to-read" list.

[UPDATE]

FINALLY! I'm finished. Good gods this took me a long time to get through, especially the last 10 pages. This collection of short stories ranges from stuff you could read in an elementary school class (The Smallest Dragon Boy) to soft-core porn...very soft admittedly, but there is lots of talk about sex and even a rape in one story (Honeymoon and The Thorns of Barevi, respectively). The stories were incredibly varied on most accounts, from topic to audience to length and writing quality. Mostly they shared a lack of exposition and/or explanation all around.

McCaffrey does a good job, however brief, introducing each of her stories, so if there is content you do not want to read (aka sex, etc) you can pretty much read her half page intros and just not read what you don't want. She also points out in a few of them how much the reader needs to have read the series that the story is based on. Lady in the Tower and A Meeting of Minds are based on the Damia/Children of Damia world, which I have never read. Honeymoon was what McCaffrey called an "unstory" because it relied entirely on knowledge of its series, The Ship Who Sang. The Damia stories were still interesting without the background knowledge; Honeymoon on the other hand slogged by (it was the last story) because you really HAVE to have a vested interest in the story and characters before hand to appreciate it. You can understand it without background, but if you're like me, you just don't care!

Over all, this is a pretty good overview of McCaffrey's writing, for better or for worse. There were some stories that I quite liked, especially the short ones. For some reason McCaffrey managed to evoke more interesting stories and plots in shorter spaces than the ones in longer ones. The shorter stories tended to also have an actual acceptable ending, whereas some of the longer ones left more questions than answers.

All in all, I'm glad to be done with this book, but also glad I read it. At times I may pick it up to reread one or two of the stories again, which is probably how this book is best enjoyed (not front to back).(less)

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Nov 17, 2011 Bryan457 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, science-fiction, juv-ya, short-stories, animal-companions, psionics, own-it

A marvelous selection of short stories that introduce you to some of the other works of Anne McCaffrey.

Lady in the Tower - 4 stars, I just love a good parapsychic romance. The story was later expanded into The Rowan
A Meeting of Minds - 3 stars, another parapsychic romance. Later incorporated into the book Damia.
Daughter - 3 stars, future society & education.
Dull Drums - 3 stars, same character and topics as Daughter.
Changeling - 1 star, alternate family of the future, just weird.
Weather on...more

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Apr 21, 2010 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, short-stories, fiction

This is an enjoyable collection of 14 of McCaffrey's short fiction. Six of the stories are set within the universes of popular series she created. "The Smallest Dragonboy" is set in her popular Pern universe--it's an enjoyable, even if not outstanding story. Three of the stories are set in the "Talents" universe concerning psychics of To Ride Pegasus, The Rowan and Damia. "Lady in the Tower" (1959) was actually McCaffrey's first published story and I enjoyed the follow-up "Meeting of the Minds."...more

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Mar 05, 2012 Angie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-favourite-books

This book was recommended to me many years ago, I duly borrowed it from the person who recommended it and have been a Pern fan ever since!

Pretty much my first foray into fantasy, my friend rightly judged that I would enjoy the dragon stories every bit as much as I enjoyed my science fiction tales.

If you're not sure if the books about the dragon riders of Pern are for you, then give this a try. A selection of short stories, it provided the perfect introduction to the world I came to love.

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Sep 05, 2011 Al rated it 3 of 5 stars

Published in 1977, this collection of short stories by Anne McCaffrey is a mixed bag. Some left me cold, wondering if she was still honing her skills when she wrote them. Others knocked me over.

Two good stories with tie-ins to two of her best-selling series were, “The Smallest Dragonboy” set on Pern, and “Honeymoon” which features Helva (“The Ship Who Sang”).

Worth reading once if you can find one at a good price (at a used bookstore?).

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Apr 30, 2013 Katheryne Koelker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-would-read-again

My favorite three stories....

Daughter and Dull Drums: an assortment of different themes in these two. Population (strictly monitored), education (rigorously tracked),....even Nora's classwork reflects society.

The Smallest Dragonboy--Keevan worries that no dragonet will choose him at the upcoming Hatching. NOTE: Keevan (with a dragon) appears in The Dragonriders series.

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Feb 12, 2012 Dot rated it 3 of 5 stars

Anne McCaffery has written loads of books both on her own and with others - please take some time to read the Pern series starting with Dragonflight (having loaned it out so often and not had it returned I am on my forth copy!) This is fantasy that you forget is fantasy as it is so believable. She is an author to start your SciFi / Fantasy reading career with!

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Feb 07, 2013 Al rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

SUMMARY:
Open these pages and discover 14 remarkable stories of fantasy by a grand master of the genre. A wonderful writer, as well as successful and beloved by fans across the world, Anne McCaffrey has created an exciting collection of telepaths, secret gifts, dangerous missions, dragonriders, and more.From the Paperback edition.

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Sep 28, 2011 Kimberly rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

This book contains my all time favorite short story "The Smallest Dragonboy" as well as a host of other great short stories that would go on to be the novels in the Freedom series, as well as the Pegasus series. I highly recommend it for any Anne McCaffrey fan.

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Oct 11, 2008 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who likes short stories, Dragons, Pern, and associated elements

Shelves: alternate-history-or-future, fantasy, science-fiction, shorts, own

Hopefully you don't mind a side story instead of an objective review.

I still remember my mother coming into my 6th grade English classroom, talking about our library of over 500 books at home, and reading The Girl Who Heard Dragons to our classroom. Everyone was rapt (though of course, I'm sure some were just being polite), but I was never more proud of my mother, nor more excited about reading, than at that moment.
I remember asking my mother if I could read that book, and while I think The Gi...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Jenee rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm torn about this book. On the one hand, the story about the female programmer is fantastically inspiring, but the ending of that short story falls flat, rang false, and disappointed me. Still, a pretty good book

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Jun 24, 2012 andrea rated it 2 of 5 stars

i liked the pern and rowan stories, but the rest were...eh. skipped the helva story at the end because i couldn't remember the book(s) and didn't feel like trying to figure it all out again. impression stories get me every time though, snif. ;)

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Apr 13, 2013 Bill Keck rated it 3 of 5 stars

A book of short stories. Very good selection. Great way to introduce you to these writers. back when they were new writers. Got me started on the Tower and the Hive series.

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Dec 12, 2010 Elizabby rated it 5 of 5 stars

Short stories by AM, some of which were later expanded into novels. There is a bit of everything - true sci-fi, fantasy, dragons, telepaths - and all very well done! Love it!

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Jan 05, 2013 Mdi rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a collection of short stories and my most favorite is about the little boy who wants to be a dragon rider. I just love the little boy!

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Mar 01, 2009 drowningmermaid rated it 4 of 5 stars

The first Anne McCaffrey book I read, and my introduction to modern fantasy. I absolutely loved some of the stories in here.

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Aug 12, 2012 Kathleen Dixon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

I don't consider McCaffrey's short stories her best work, though I was quite enjoying these until I read a particular one in this collection (but I'm not going to give its name out of disdain for it). No, Anne McCaffrey, women do not enjoy being raped. And I'm very angry about this sexual fantasy that has a woman enjoying being overpowered, and wanting more. It's a fantasy that's fine with a man you love and trust, but for a woman author to write about it like this is criminally naive.

The rest o...more

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Apr 30, 2009 Cathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm not really into short stories. Not enough character development or background setup.

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Oct 08, 2012 Arlene Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Once I started reading Anne McCaffrey, I tried to read everything she ever wrote.

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Jun 20, 2012 Marita rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

This collection of short stories had some pretty amazing sci-fi stories in it.

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Feb 21, 2012 Lisa added it

Get Off the Unicorn by Anne Mccaffrey (1987)

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Feb 05, 2012 Wade rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you've come to Anne McCaffrey late, this volume is a chance to see what her writing was like long before she was a big name. The stories take risks and explore edges and the writing is crisp. Some take the chance to ask questions that have no answers. Or at least none, yet. The stories are interwoven with fantastic backgrounds, sometimes subtly, sometimes not. Yet all are crucial to the story told in the front.

You may recognise which ones were later turned into whole novels, showing how big t...more

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About Anne McCaffrey

Anne McCaffrey was born on April 1st, 1926, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at 1:30 p.m., in the hour of the Sheep, year of the Fire Tiger, sun sign Aries with Taurus rising and Leo mid-heaven (which seems to suggest an early interest in the stars).

Her parents were George Herbert McCaffrey, BA, MA PhD (Harvard), Colonel USA Army (retired), and Anne Dorothy McElroy McCaffrey, estate agent. She had two...more

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