Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle.
Introduction
Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle is a fantasy novel about a female unicorn’s search for the rest of her kind. She faces an evil carnival owner, a creepy king in a lonely castle, and a scary red bull. Her only help is an incompetent magician, a scullery maid, and a prince with a mysterious past. She learns about yearning and loss. Will her question ever have an answer? Is she the Last Unicorn?
Summary
Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle begins in the glade of a female unicorn. She has lived in the glade for hundreds of years and realizes that she doesn’t remember what happened to the rest of her kind. She is worried that she is the last unicorn and decides to leave her glade to find out what happened to them.
The unicorn is captured and put into Mommy Fortuna’s traveling Midnight Carnival. She escapes the carnival with the help of Schmendrick a magician who doesn’t know how his spells will work once he casts them. Sometimes the spells have better outcomes than he expects but usually, they are worse.
Bandits capture them but they are saved by the wife of the leader of the bandits. Her name is Molly Grue and she joins the group. They continue on their journey.
They learn the unicorns might have been in Hagsgate ruled by King Haggard and his son, Prince Lir. The unicorn takes a human form and goes by the name Lady Amalthea. They follow the clues and find the lair of the red bull. The unicorn finds the answer to her question but the story doesn’t end with: they lived happily ever after.
Recommendation
Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle is a twist on classic fairy tales. I enjoyed the mix of fantasy tropes that the author acknowledges in the text. We see the illusions of the Midnight Carnival, the misguided bandits who fancy themselves alternate Robin Hoods, and the evil king in his dark tower. On top of that are unusual choices that the author takes. Examples are using a unicorn as the lead character, the cryptic butterfly, and the parched skull. It all works well together. This is a great novel.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13124003-the-last-unicorn
This is the Wikipedia link to the 1982 animated fantasy film the Last Unicorn. Rankin/Bass produced the film. It has a stellar voice cast and excellent musical score including songs from the band, America.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Unicorn_(film)
This is a link to the 2011 graphic novel the Last Unicorn from IDW Publishing which is available to view on the viewcomics website. The drawings are great and bring to life the images from the novel.
https://viewcomics.me/the-last-unicorn/issue-tpb/1
A fantasy novel that is similar to Last Unicorn is Eyes of the Dragon.
Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King is a traditional fantasy. King Roland of Delain has two sons. Prince Peter is his heir who is the perfect prince and ready to lead. His younger son is Prince Thomas, who is too young and malleable to Flagg, the court advisor, and magician. Flagg secretly assassinates the King and frames, Peter, for the murder. How will Peter clear his name, defeat the ancient Flagg, and claim his rightful throne?