L is for Last
I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.
Focusing on an A to Z of my TBR (to be read) list, each letter will have books starting with that letter on my list, a book I’ve read and reviewed (with the review!) and one of my books matching the letter with a link about more info about the book.
If you’d rather check out my folklore post for today, go here.
My TBR
About the Book I’ve Read
The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle
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 ignore: “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…
Check it out on Goodreads.
My Review
This was recommended to me by a friend who knows I love stories about unicorns – especially ones that stick to the unicorn’s folklore and not merely a horse with a horn. This story delivers in spades.
I enjoyed the worldbuilding, the symbolism, the tropes, the use of folklore, and even the odd butterfly and ballads that remind me of “Alice in Wonderland” and even a bit of Tolkien.
Though I would’ve preferred having the story solely from the unicorn’s POV – or even that of the magician, and not so much head-hopping (even a bird at some point) – it’s still a good high fantasy adventure to enjoy.
About the Book I’ve Read
The Way Home: Two Novellas from the World of The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle
One brand-new, long-awaited novella, and one Hugo and Nebula award winning novella, both featuring characters from the beloved classic The Last Unicorn, from renowned fantasy writer Peter S. Beagle.
Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn is one of fantasy’s most beloved classics, with millions of copies in print worldwide.
Beagle’s long-awaited return to the world of that novel came with “Two Hearts,” which garnered Hugo and Nebula awards in 2006, and continued the stories of the unicorn, Molly Grue, and Schmendrick the Magician from the point of view of a young girl named Sooz.
In this volume, Peter S. Beagle also presents for the first time “Sooz,” a novella that sees the narrator of “Two Hearts,” all grown up and with a perilous journey ahead of her, in a tender meditation on love, loss, and finding your true self.
Check it out on Goodreads.
My Review
Two Hearts
A young girl travels from her village to ask the king to personally deal with the griffin which had killed her friends. She meets up with Molly and the wizard, travels with them to King Lír, and goes home. It was fun to read – even when the brave dog attacked the griffin – and it had a happy, if slightly tragic, ending. Much the same as the novel before in tone, style and message.
Sooz
I was pleasantly reading the meandering adventure, when a rape scene just jumped out of nowhere… Wasn’t it bad enough that the dog suffered before its death?
DNF Chapter 3
My Book
Love Bites (Faery Tales #13)
I hope you enjoyed this. For more books I’ve read and reviewed, check out either my Pinterest board about reviews or my Goodreads profile. Alternatively, you can check out my reviews on BookBub. Have you read any of the books? Loved or hated any of them?
You can now support my time in producing book review posts (buying books, reading, writing reviews and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion.
*FYI, my reviews are my honest opinion and if something bothers me, I tell it straight. How else will anything change? My opinions are based on being a voracious reader and book buyer, not an attack on the author.*
I suppose those were classics for a reason. And I think the SA scene was something that was more acceptable back in the day. Sadly.
My people are just dominating your TBR!
A Lenape among the Quakers shows how my people confused the heck out of Europeans because of “equality.” Like, the entire concept was totally beyond them. Women could hunt and ride horses and do stuff. Yeah, we were a serious threat to their ways. But the Quakers, the Society of Friends, they had a bit more morals than most. Still do, despite the dwindling numbers in the area.
(Vehicle license plates of Pennsylvania once had the state motto, “You’ve got a Friend in Pennsylvania.” Removed in about 1991 because plates needed more space, too many vehicles, needed longer alpha-numerics.)
Anyway, enjoy “Hannah’s” story. (Pretty sure that was the name they gave her.)
Oh, there’s also a lot of crappy, mostly fake, information on my tribe under the name “Delaware,” which is not one of our words, but a reference to a Lord who claimed ownership of my people. 🙄
Any book that doesn’t mention Lenni-Lenape means “original people,” doesn’t mention that other tribes called us the Grandfathers, or ignores that our system of laws/government was a huge influence on Jefferson as the Founding Fathers created the United States, is shoddy research based on ignorance.