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haramis's review against another edition
2.0
Wait, did I just spend two and a half months dragging through a book about a boy and his penis? That seems to be the case. Cool. I suddenly see why this would be particularly appealing to the teenage set, but I'm not in it. I liked it in the beginning well enough, but lost interest after Atlanta, which according to Boyett's Afterword is just when the book gets good, you know, if you're into wet dreams and drawn-out graphic battles. Don't even get me started on the harebrained scheme of saving Ariel by marching her to the door of her enemies. Also why don't bicycles work again? I'm doing my best to appreciate what nineteen-year-old Boyett was trying to accomplish, but for me it was a miss.
dewcat's review against another edition
4.0
Great story…fantasy in real locations. Kept me coming back for more.
laurla's review against another edition
"why did i suddenly have the feeling that i was the one who had no place in the world, that it (unicorn) was more real than i was?"
"do not confuse 'duty' with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. duty is a debt you ow to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. the reward is self respect. (-robert heinlein time enough for love)"
"it is not your manly duty to protect me."
"thats an easy thing to say, but would you put a bolt in a mans back while i'm busy fighting him? i'm not talking chivalry, i'm talking survival. i dont expect you to like it; i dont like it either. i just want you to understand it."
-he's walked in worn out boots to the point that his feet are bloody wounds, yet in the mall he only grabs THREE pairs of socks. *rolls eyes*. if you know you're going to be walking hundreds of miles and you've got wounds all over your feet, wouldnt you want more socks? clean socks?
"do not confuse 'duty' with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. duty is a debt you ow to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. the reward is self respect. (-robert heinlein time enough for love)"
"it is not your manly duty to protect me."
"thats an easy thing to say, but would you put a bolt in a mans back while i'm busy fighting him? i'm not talking chivalry, i'm talking survival. i dont expect you to like it; i dont like it either. i just want you to understand it."
-he's walked in worn out boots to the point that his feet are bloody wounds, yet in the mall he only grabs THREE pairs of socks. *rolls eyes*. if you know you're going to be walking hundreds of miles and you've got wounds all over your feet, wouldnt you want more socks? clean socks?
doc_k55's review against another edition
4.0
One Saturday, at 4:30, everything stopped. Cars, planes, electricity, batteries. Just stopped. And magical creatures appeared. The Change, as it became known, altered everything. Pete was sixteen at the time and although he made it home, his mother and brother did not. After a short while, he packed a bag and left.
Ariel, first published in1983, is the story of Pete's experiences after The Change, especially after he meets Ariel, a unicorn. As Boyett tells it, only the pure - ie virginal - can touch a unicorn. This isn't a problem for Pete. Ariel and Pete wander, mostly in the Southeast US / FL, but circumstances take them into Atlanta, and then north on their quest. Their story ends in NY.
The story is classic fantasy that commences with world building and focuses on a quest, with lots of action-packed battle scenes as the good guys fight the bad. I found the WTC scenes difficult to read - but of course, in 1983, Boyett could not have known what was to come 18y later. Fun fact: he was 19 when he wrote this. Really enjoyed the character of Ariel, the unicorn. It was a really interesting was to write about a fantasy creature.
I enjoyed this, and though I can't remember how I heard about it or why I put it on my to-read list, it was worth it. I might even reread it with my son!
Ariel, first published in1983, is the story of Pete's experiences after The Change, especially after he meets Ariel, a unicorn. As Boyett tells it, only the pure - ie virginal - can touch a unicorn. This isn't a problem for Pete. Ariel and Pete wander, mostly in the Southeast US / FL, but circumstances take them into Atlanta, and then north on their quest. Their story ends in NY.
The story is classic fantasy that commences with world building and focuses on a quest, with lots of action-packed battle scenes as the good guys fight the bad. I found the WTC scenes difficult to read - but of course, in 1983, Boyett could not have known what was to come 18y later. Fun fact: he was 19 when he wrote this. Really enjoyed the character of Ariel, the unicorn. It was a really interesting was to write about a fantasy creature.
I enjoyed this, and though I can't remember how I heard about it or why I put it on my to-read list, it was worth it. I might even reread it with my son!
shminsington's review against another edition
2.0
This book came in a digital bundle of unicorn related fiction I bought not long ago, and immediately I was struck with two very contrasting impressions. The first was the way the young unicorn spoke, which was simultaneously unusual, intriguing, and creepy (a combination that is pretty effective at drawing me in). Typically, unicorns are so stately and noble, and never do you hear them using baby-talk like human toddlers. So it brought me along. But the second impression, and one that would settle like an awkward and uncomfortable lump in my stomach through the entire reading, was the concept of purity as tied to "virginity."
I realize this was written by a very young man over thirty years ago, fine, but I can't help disliking the theme, and it colored the reading for me. Conceptually, it was all very interesting, with the idea of the end of the world as we know it not coming as a concussive, apocalyptic explosion, but rather as a silent change that leaves the Earth healthier for it (even if the people aren't necessarily better off). But underlying it all was this obnoxious theme of virginity and how much it apparently matters.
I could have excused it if the resolution was something I could have been satisfied with, but I'm sorry to say it wasn't. What I had been hoping would be clarifying or something with adequate closure ended up being something rushed and disappointed, and something I personally found EXTREMELY frustrating as he sabotaged himself after the battle of his life. And ultimately, what message are we left with? That when we have sex, we lose something valuable, and that's pretty much complete bullshit I can't get behind. Like, you seriously built an entire, complex fantasy novel with that as your foundation are you serious.
So, yeah, I guess for the most part I enjoyed the ride, but jesus christ, son, your dick really isn't that important.
I realize this was written by a very young man over thirty years ago, fine, but I can't help disliking the theme, and it colored the reading for me. Conceptually, it was all very interesting, with the idea of the end of the world as we know it not coming as a concussive, apocalyptic explosion, but rather as a silent change that leaves the Earth healthier for it (even if the people aren't necessarily better off). But underlying it all was this obnoxious theme of virginity and how much it apparently matters.
I could have excused it if the resolution was something I could have been satisfied with, but I'm sorry to say it wasn't. What I had been hoping would be clarifying or something with adequate closure ended up being something rushed and disappointed, and something I personally found EXTREMELY frustrating as he sabotaged himself after the battle of his life. And ultimately, what message are we left with? That when we have sex, we lose something valuable, and that's pretty much complete bullshit I can't get behind. Like, you seriously built an entire, complex fantasy novel with that as your foundation are you serious.
So, yeah, I guess for the most part I enjoyed the ride, but jesus christ, son, your dick really isn't that important.
roach's review against another edition
4.0
Unconventional post-apocalyptic story where one of the protagonists is a unicorn.
Very bloody/gorey, quite vulgar and pretty imaginative.
Pete Garey, you're a stupid fucking cunt.
Very bloody/gorey, quite vulgar and pretty imaginative.
Pete Garey, you're a stupid fucking cunt.
baranorewen's review against another edition
2.0
I'd recommend this book for mature-ish 15/16 year old boys. It's gory and sex-filled. However, it reads better if you think of Pete as a 16 year old boy rather than a 20 year old. It doesn't quite qualify as Young Adult, but it comes close. Pete is a good Young Adult hero, what doesn't make it Young Adult is the length, sex and gore. The writing style even puts it at borderline Young Adult.
I'm pretty sure I just read a 400 page metaphor for a boy going through puberty; either that or it's a 400 page metaphor for a boy losing his virginity. Five or six years is a really long time to go through the worst of puberty. The lights, cars, and guns stopping working is even called The Change!
The fact that guns stopped working was pretty damned arbitrary, by the way.
When The Change happened, Pete was 14 or 15, just a normal nerdy teenage boy. He went to his debate event and even when the lights went out, at 4:30, they opened a window shade and kept going. He walked his girlfriend home in the dark, and when her folks weren't home, they walked to his place with the plan to go back the next day. They'd spend opposite nights in each others' houses until one set of parents made it home. Surprisingly enough, that plan didn't work, and that night Pete headed out on his own.
Two years after The Change, Pete was bathing in a clean stream musing on how quickly the waters cleaned up after technology stopped working. When he looked up, there was a unicorn standing amongst his clothing. When he got out of the stream, Pete could tell that the creature had a broken leg, and it spoke! After the Change, mythological creatures started cropping up everywhere. Unicorns, however, only show themselves and allow them to befriend the purest, the virgins. Pete names it Ariel.
The sex thing in this novel is so weird. Pete is so afraid of his own sexuality. He is so afraid of his sex dreams and when he masturbates in his sleep he really bugs out. I know he's afraid of losing Ariel, but dear Gods, he's supposed to be 20 or so. I know the world is different, but it's not so different that men and boys stop physically maturing. Even though it may have been weird having no one to talk him through puberty, he clearly knows what sex is from the way he describes his dreams. But he's so goddamned afraid of it and every time someone comes onto him or admits to have had sex, he gets nasty.
Five or six years after The Change is when the bulk of the novel takes place. (In the novel it says six years, but on the blurb, it says five. Consistency fail.) Ariel and Pete have been wandering from town to town, when they meet men on the road who will do anything to posses Ariel, especially her horn. These men are led by an evil necromancer, who lives in New York City. They go on a quest, to defeat him, walk to New York where Ariel is taken. Making a few friends along the way, Pete is able to free Ariel, but only after it is too late for his innocence.
Oh, he wants to kill us with his powerful magics? We should walk right into his lair! HERP DERP!
Also, what is it with these characters crying all the fucking time? After The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I thought I was done with the sobbing main male characters for a while. I picked up a post apocalyptic book, for Godssake. But no, Pete cries at everything. Come on! Every time he's over tired, scared, confused, angry, etc. etc. etc. He's been living in this world for 5 or six years, by himself. Why hasn't he grown up a little more? At the end of the book Pete finally grows up. There's an event that forces Ariel to turn away from him. He couldn't stay a child forever. Thank Gods.
Two and a half stars because, regardless of how weird and unsettling and arbitrary the sex, gore, and world was, it was actually a fun read.
I'm pretty sure I just read a 400 page metaphor for a boy going through puberty; either that or it's a 400 page metaphor for a boy losing his virginity. Five or six years is a really long time to go through the worst of puberty. The lights, cars, and guns stopping working is even called The Change!
The fact that guns stopped working was pretty damned arbitrary, by the way.
When The Change happened, Pete was 14 or 15, just a normal nerdy teenage boy. He went to his debate event and even when the lights went out, at 4:30, they opened a window shade and kept going. He walked his girlfriend home in the dark, and when her folks weren't home, they walked to his place with the plan to go back the next day. They'd spend opposite nights in each others' houses until one set of parents made it home. Surprisingly enough, that plan didn't work, and that night Pete headed out on his own.
Two years after The Change, Pete was bathing in a clean stream musing on how quickly the waters cleaned up after technology stopped working. When he looked up, there was a unicorn standing amongst his clothing. When he got out of the stream, Pete could tell that the creature had a broken leg, and it spoke! After the Change, mythological creatures started cropping up everywhere. Unicorns, however, only show themselves and allow them to befriend the purest, the virgins. Pete names it Ariel.
The sex thing in this novel is so weird. Pete is so afraid of his own sexuality. He is so afraid of his sex dreams and when he masturbates in his sleep he really bugs out. I know he's afraid of losing Ariel, but dear Gods, he's supposed to be 20 or so. I know the world is different, but it's not so different that men and boys stop physically maturing. Even though it may have been weird having no one to talk him through puberty, he clearly knows what sex is from the way he describes his dreams. But he's so goddamned afraid of it and every time someone comes onto him or admits to have had sex, he gets nasty.
Five or six years after The Change is when the bulk of the novel takes place. (In the novel it says six years, but on the blurb, it says five. Consistency fail.) Ariel and Pete have been wandering from town to town, when they meet men on the road who will do anything to posses Ariel, especially her horn. These men are led by an evil necromancer, who lives in New York City. They go on a quest, to defeat him, walk to New York where Ariel is taken. Making a few friends along the way, Pete is able to free Ariel, but only after it is too late for his innocence.
Oh, he wants to kill us with his powerful magics? We should walk right into his lair! HERP DERP!
Also, what is it with these characters crying all the fucking time? After The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I thought I was done with the sobbing main male characters for a while. I picked up a post apocalyptic book, for Godssake. But no, Pete cries at everything. Come on! Every time he's over tired, scared, confused, angry, etc. etc. etc. He's been living in this world for 5 or six years, by himself. Why hasn't he grown up a little more? At the end of the book Pete finally grows up. There's an event that forces Ariel to turn away from him. He couldn't stay a child forever. Thank Gods.
Two and a half stars because, regardless of how weird and unsettling and arbitrary the sex, gore, and world was, it was actually a fun read.
bronxgrrl's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best fantasy books I've ever read. Also one of my favorite books of all time. I'm so glad its back in print.
mahsdad's review against another edition
4.0
A very interesting post apocalyptic world, where all modern technology ceases to work, and magic and mythical creatures appear. Pete is traveling in the world and finds a unicorn with a broken leg. He heals her, and they become familiars. Part the Road, part ninja/sword and sorcery thriller. 8/10
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