The Well of the Unicorn in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

Dec 27, 2008 Derek rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is a challenging read from the point of view of theme, style, and plot. It's deliberately written in a pseudo-archaic form, tackles some deep philosophical issues about government and rulership, and details the political and military machinations of a continent. Sort of A Game of Thrones by way of E. R. Eddison. All in less than 400 pages, of course.

The modest beginning was deceptive, leading me to believe it a bildungsroman of the main character, who was unwillingly set loose in the world ...more

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Jun 19, 2025 Joseph rated it really liked it · review of another edition

An undeservedly although probably not unsurprisingly obscure fantasy novel from the late 1940s.

(And this is ostensibly set in the world of Lord Dunsany's play King Argimenes and the Unknown Warrior, which I guess technically makes it fan fiction or pastiche, but it takes place hundreds of years after the events of that play and as far as I can tell, the only thing from the play that carries over to the book is that, well, it takes place long after the rain of King Argimenes, so in practical term An undeservedly although probably not unsurprisingly obscure fantasy novel from the late 1940s.

(And this is ostensibly set in the world of Lord Dunsany's play King Argimenes and the Unknown Warrior, which I guess technically makes it fan fiction or pastiche, but it takes place hundreds of years after the events of that play and as far as I can tell, the only thing from the play that carries over to the book is that, well, it takes place long after the rain of King Argimenes, so in practical terms it really matters not.)

The world feels somewhere between dark ages and middle ages Europe; it's well drawn out geographically and politically, and the book opens with an Author's Note to bring the reader up to speed.

Our hero (well, protagonist, at least) is one Airar Alvarson, one of the Dalecarles of Vastmastad, recently conquered by the unpleasant Vulkings. Airar gets booted from his ancestral homeland and, having no desire to join his father in the city and knuckle under to the Vulkings, finds himself hooking up with various groups of rebels and partisans (few of whom seem, at least initially, to actually accomplish much) and trekking across a goodly chunk of the continent, adding or losing followers and falling in & out of love with a succession of ladies; and always in the background looms the Empire (sort of a Rome analogue?) and its command of the Well of the Unicorn, from which whomsoever drinks will forswear war and achieve peace.

But Airar's journey won't take him anywhere near the Empire or the Well; instead, he'll find himself joining in any number of very well-drawn clashes at arms and sieges against the Vulkings and their supporters.

And it's a fine tale, and fascinating in terms of where it fits into the fantasy lineage, predating The Lord of the Rings and presumably following more in the footsteps of E.R. Eddison or even William Morris, but it's also written in a deliberately archaic style that makes it not especially approachable these days; but I'd say it's worth the effort.

...more

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