The Last Unicorn

The Last Unicorn, #1

by Peter S. Beagle

212 pages

English language

Published Sept. 5, 2008 by Penguin Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-451-45052-4

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(10 reviews)

The Last Unicorn is a fantasy novel by American author Peter S. Beagle and published in 1968, by Viking Press in the U.S. and The Bodley Head in the U.K. It follows the tale of a unicorn, who believes she is the last of her kind in the world and undertakes a quest to discover what has happened to the others. It has sold more than five million copies worldwide since its original publication, and has been translated into at least twenty languages (prior to the 2007 edition). In 1987, Locus ranked The Last Unicorn number five among the 33 "All-Time Best Fantasy Novels", based on a poll of subscribers. The 1998 rendition of the poll ranked The Last Unicorn number 18.

17 editions

Jonas reviewed Das Letzte Einhorn by Peter S. Beagle

Schreitend mit schwerem Schritt

3 stars

Ein moderner Klassiker des Fantasy-Genres, okay, aber so bemüht um poetische Sprache, dass ich es nicht mehr anmutig finde. Statt leichtfüßig-lyrischem Klang donnern und dröhnen die Stilmittel. Wenn man sich damit ab- oder gar Gefallen daran findet, bekommt man eine fantasievolle Geschichte, die durchaus selbstironisch einige literarische Standards inszeniert. Es dauert ein Weilchen, bis die Handlung Fahrt aufnimmt, und mir persönlich ist der Charakter Schmendrick zu empathielos, als dass ich so recht warm mit ihm werde. Bei ihm und Molly Grue zeigen sich aber auch starke Genderklischees, die dankenswerterweise in mancher Hinsicht gebrochen werden.

Beagle entwirft auch Nebencharaktere plastisch und unterhaltsam, mein Favorit ist wohl Räuberhauptmann Cully. Und die Idee, dass die Einhörner in die Brandung des Meeres gebannt sind, finde ich große Klasse.

Kelson Reads reviewed The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn, #1)

Whimsical and Melancholy

5 stars

Content warning One spoiler, but not if you remember the movie

The world Beagle creates is in an in-between state, one where legends and magic are fading and the world is becoming the mundane one we know. Unicorns themselves are timeless, preserving a bit of that magic and fairy-tale reality wherever they live, or wherever they go...but with them almost gone, and the last traveling on her quest, we see the world shifting between one in which butterflies sing everything from Shakespeare to advertising jingles to a more ordinary one and back again. And then there are a few characters who understand the structure of stories, and what it means for the spells, prophecies, and other challenges they encounter.

The characters are well-drawn, too. The unicorn herself has such a different perspective on life and time, and it's hard to fault her trustingness (it isn't quite naivete) during the early part of the journey. The incompetent magician Schmendrick manages to shift by turns between pitiful and insufferable. Molly Grue, a character I don't remember at all, is in some ways the most relatable: She's an ordinary human, no magic, no expectations on her, but she sees things as they are, sees what needs to be done, and does it. And after the unicorn is transformed into a human woman, and they find themselves in King Haggard's castle, it's heartbreaking to watch Amalthea lose her true self bit by bit. Haggard himself is an odd villain, one whose success has broken him, causing him to sink into despair long before his castle will sink into the sea.

But in a sense neither Haggard nor the Bull is the real villain: it's despair itself, and the desire to capture and hoard wonder. Because holding wonder captive destroys it.

Cross-posted from my website, where I also add some background on how I ended up finally reading the book.

PaperbackReader reviewed The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn, #1)

Review of 'The last unicorn' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I've long considered Peter S. Beagle one of my favorite authors, based on my unreserved delight with "The Innkeeper's Song", "We Never Talk About My Brother", and "Tamsin". Yet despite my years of loving his work, I've somehow never actually read his most famous work until now.

I wish I hadn't waited, because this was GREAT.

This was easily the prettiest book I've read in a long time, and I spent a lot longer selecting that adjective than I'd planned to, because I don't want to suggest that The Last Unicorn was somehow light or fluffy...except it was also those things. Beagle's work often feels dreamlike and ephemeral at first, but gains weight and reality the longer I'm away from it. I finished The Last Unicorn two days ago, and my appreciation for it keeps growing. This was really, really good.

fjordic reviewed The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn, #1)

Review of 'The last unicorn' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

If I'd realised I was that close to the end, I might have finished it soon.

Magical and unlike any other book I have ever read.

I remember seeing the movie with the unicorns in the waves; it was one of my favorites. The book has the same atmosphere.