Last Unicorn - Softcover

Beagle, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345028929 ISBN 13: 9780345028921

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1972

Synopsis

She was magical, beautiful beyond belief—and completely alone...The unicorn had lived since before memory in a forest where death could touch nothing. Maidens who caught a glimpse of her glory were blessed by enchantment they would never forget. But outside her wondrous realm, dark whispers and rumours carried a message she could not "Unicorns are gone from the world."Aided by a bumbling magician and an indomitable spinster, she set out to learn the truth. but she feared even her immortal wisdom meant nothing in a world where a mad king's curse and terror incarnate lived only to stalk the last unicorn to her doom...

About this title

Review

The Last Unicorn is one of the true classics of fantasy, ranking with Tolkien's The Hobbit, Le Guin's Earthsea Trilogy, and Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Beagle writes a shimmering prose-poetry, the voice of fairy tales and childhood:

The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone. She was very old, though she did not know it, and she was no longer the careless color of sea foam but rather the color of snow falling on a moonlit night. But her eyes were still clear and unwearied, and she still moved like a shadow on the sea.

The unicorn discovers that she is the last unicorn in the world, and sets off to find the others. She meets Schmendrick the Magician--whose magic seldom works, and never as he intended--when he rescues her from Mommy Fortuna's Midnight Carnival, where only some of the mythical beasts displayed are illusions. They are joined by Molly Grue, who believes in legends despite her experiences with a Robin Hood wannabe and his unmerry men. Ahead wait King Haggard and his Red Bull, who banished unicorns from the land.

This is a book no fantasy reader should miss; Beagle argues brilliantly the need for magic in our lives and the folly of forgetting to dream. --Nona Vero

About the Author

Peter S. Beagle is a novelist, screenwriter, and poet, and an icon of fantasy fiction. He was born in New York City in 1939 and raised in the Bronx, surrounded by education and the arts. He published his first novel, A Fine and Private Place, at the age of nineteen. Subsequent works include the perennially poplular travelogue I See By My Outfit, his second novel and fantasy classic The Last Unicorn, and "Two Hearts," a Last Unicorn sequel that won both the Hugo and Nebula awards in 2006. Peter has also written hundreds of additional works, among them the screenplays for the animated adaptations of The Last Unicorn and The Lord of the Rings, an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a libretto, and numerous short stories, songs, and poems. He lives in Oakland, California, where he continues to write.

Peter B. Gillis is an American comic book writer best known for his work on Doctor Strange for Marvel Comics. His other works include Strikeforce: Morituri, also for Marvel; and Warp and Shatter, both for First Comics.

Renae De Liz is a comic book artist best known for her work on IDW titles like Rogue Angel: Teller of Tall Tales and Servant of the Bones, both with her husband, Ray Dillon. She's also contributed to the Sonic the Hedgehog books from Archie Comics and worked, along with Ray, on DC Entertainment's The Legend of Wonder Woman.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 1972
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0345028929
• ISBN 13: 9780345028921
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 248