Scan barcode
A review by ashleighdearest
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
2.0
*Originally posted on ashleighreads.com *
I should probably preface this review with a personal confession: I’ve got a thing for unicorns.
Don’t believe me? Well, maybe you should talk to my unicorn pillow pet, Stella. Or to my (growing) collection of unicorn figures prancing along my desk. Or to the dozens of unicorn-related letters my mother has sent me while I have been, yes, in college.
Needless to say, The Last Unicorn has been on my radar for quite some time as something I, as a unicorn aficionado, should probably pick up. Not only that, but it’s a fantasy classic, and is still talked about nearly 50 years after it was first published.
The story opens on the unicorn, who is content in her forest filled with lilacs as she goes about her immortal, solitary existence. However, when she overhears a pair of hunters talking about unicorns in the forest, she begins to believe that she is the last unicorn in the world, and sets out on a quest to see what has happened to the rest of her kind.
Along the way she meets Schmendrick the Magician, a wizard who can barely turn butter into cream, and Molly Grue, the stubborn wife of a bandit. The trio seek out King Haggard, who controls the Red Bull, a giant beast used to conquer the other unicorns. The unicorn faces a series of trials along her way: from being caged in a magical circus, to squaring off with the Red Bull himself.
This book reads like a fairytale from beginning to end. And, much like the fairytales I used to read before bed as a child, the story would…put me to sleep, occasionally. The most interesting part of the story started about halfway through the novel, when the unicorn is transformed into a human woman (Lady Amalthea), which saves her from the Red Bull but puts her in danger of forgetting her life as a unicorn. Disguised as a human, a young prince falls in love with her, and that storyline is much more intriguing than the bumbling endeavors of Schmendrick and Molly.
Overall, I liked this book okay. Maybe because I was so excited about reading about a unicorn that I got my hopes up a little too high: I was setting myself up for disappointment. My biggest issue was the tone, as it felt like the author couldn’t decide if he wanted to write beautifully or with humor (and this was a case where, no, you can’t have both). The story itself jumped along in a lot of different directions, and each section didn’t flow as gracefully into the next as it could have.
I’m still glad to have read it, as it did offer a few enchanting moments. And my thirst for the magic of unicorns has definitely been quenched…for now.
This book was a part of the A to Z Book Club.
I should probably preface this review with a personal confession: I’ve got a thing for unicorns.
Don’t believe me? Well, maybe you should talk to my unicorn pillow pet, Stella. Or to my (growing) collection of unicorn figures prancing along my desk. Or to the dozens of unicorn-related letters my mother has sent me while I have been, yes, in college.
Needless to say, The Last Unicorn has been on my radar for quite some time as something I, as a unicorn aficionado, should probably pick up. Not only that, but it’s a fantasy classic, and is still talked about nearly 50 years after it was first published.
The story opens on the unicorn, who is content in her forest filled with lilacs as she goes about her immortal, solitary existence. However, when she overhears a pair of hunters talking about unicorns in the forest, she begins to believe that she is the last unicorn in the world, and sets out on a quest to see what has happened to the rest of her kind.
Along the way she meets Schmendrick the Magician, a wizard who can barely turn butter into cream, and Molly Grue, the stubborn wife of a bandit. The trio seek out King Haggard, who controls the Red Bull, a giant beast used to conquer the other unicorns. The unicorn faces a series of trials along her way: from being caged in a magical circus, to squaring off with the Red Bull himself.
This book reads like a fairytale from beginning to end. And, much like the fairytales I used to read before bed as a child, the story would…put me to sleep, occasionally. The most interesting part of the story started about halfway through the novel, when the unicorn is transformed into a human woman (Lady Amalthea), which saves her from the Red Bull but puts her in danger of forgetting her life as a unicorn. Disguised as a human, a young prince falls in love with her, and that storyline is much more intriguing than the bumbling endeavors of Schmendrick and Molly.
Overall, I liked this book okay. Maybe because I was so excited about reading about a unicorn that I got my hopes up a little too high: I was setting myself up for disappointment. My biggest issue was the tone, as it felt like the author couldn’t decide if he wanted to write beautifully or with humor (and this was a case where, no, you can’t have both). The story itself jumped along in a lot of different directions, and each section didn’t flow as gracefully into the next as it could have.
I’m still glad to have read it, as it did offer a few enchanting moments. And my thirst for the magic of unicorns has definitely been quenched…for now.
This book was a part of the A to Z Book Club.