The Last Unicorn The Lost Journey
Special Commemorative Edition celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Last Unicorn
Peter S. Beagle first imagined his beloved heroine when he was twenty-three, half a decade before she sprang into the world. Now the Last Unicorn’s fantastical origins are recaptured in this lovely commemorative hardcover. Here you will discover the eighty-five page genesis of Beagle's masterpiece, his own wry musings upon his early career, charming original illustrations, and tributes from modern fantasy legends Patrick Rothfuss and Carrie Vaughn.
In this wonderfully strange adventure, a brave unicorn leaves her solitary life behind, determined to discover if she is the last of her kind. She is forewarned by a forlorn dragon and befuddled by a chatty butterfly; her unfamiliar traveling companion will be an exiled demon with a split personality and a penchant for philosophy.
Somewhere between mythology, modernity, and magic, the Last Unicorn has found herself on the road less traveled by . . . until now.
Peter S. Beagle first imagined his beloved heroine when he was twenty-three, half a decade before she sprang into the world. Now the Last Unicorn’s fantastical origins are recaptured in this lovely commemorative hardcover. Here you will discover the eighty-five page genesis of Beagle's masterpiece, his own wry musings upon his early career, charming original illustrations, and tributes from modern fantasy legends Patrick Rothfuss and Carrie Vaughn.
In this wonderfully strange adventure, a brave unicorn leaves her solitary life behind, determined to discover if she is the last of her kind. She is forewarned by a forlorn dragon and befuddled by a chatty butterfly; her unfamiliar traveling companion will be an exiled demon with a split personality and a penchant for philosophy.
Somewhere between mythology, modernity, and magic, the Last Unicorn has found herself on the road less traveled by . . . until now.
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Community Reviews
3.5
Oh dear. I really wanted to like this. I have a nostalgic fondness for the 1982 animated film and I was hoping the book would have the same mesmerizing quality. From my recollection, the film actually follows the story and dialogue pretty accurately, if abbreviated. I wonder if it's this abbreviation that worked for me? The art style of the movie is so striking, and tonally works with the sometimes unnatural, meandering, and riddle-like way the characters often speak. In the text though, it feels like a bit too much. It almost feels like the characters are just reciting segments of nonsense poems like the Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll to each other sometimes, they barely feel like people. The whole book is sort of like reading an epic poem that spends a lot of time describing things rather than on anything happening. Sometimes these descriptions are clever and well-placed, and sometimes they are just slowing an already slow story down. I wish this type of writing worked for me, and I wish I had enjoyed listening to this audiobook, but I know I didn't by how much I actively avoided listening to it. I found myself folding my laundry in silence rather than putting this on. I'm sorry, Peter S. Beagle, for not being able to properly appreciate the whimsy and imagery you cultivated here, and I'm sorry Patrick Rothfuss because your intro to the book was lovely and I wish I felt the same way about it as you do.
Content Warnings:
Moderate: Kidnapping, Grief, Animal cruelty, and Confinement
Minor: Death, Animal death, Blood, and Violence
Oh dear. I really wanted to like this. I have a nostalgic fondness for the 1982 animated film and I was hoping the book would have the same mesmerizing quality. From my recollection, the film actually follows the story and dialogue pretty accurately, if abbreviated. I wonder if it's this abbreviation that worked for me? The art style of the movie is so striking, and tonally works with the sometimes unnatural, meandering, and riddle-like way the characters often speak. In the text though, it feels like a bit too much. It almost feels like the characters are just reciting segments of nonsense poems like the Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll to each other sometimes, they barely feel like people. The whole book is sort of like reading an epic poem that spends a lot of time describing things rather than on anything happening. Sometimes these descriptions are clever and well-placed, and sometimes they are just slowing an already slow story down. I wish this type of writing worked for me, and I wish I had enjoyed listening to this audiobook, but I know I didn't by how much I actively avoided listening to it. I found myself folding my laundry in silence rather than putting this on. I'm sorry, Peter S. Beagle, for not being able to properly appreciate the whimsy and imagery you cultivated here, and I'm sorry Patrick Rothfuss because your intro to the book was lovely and I wish I felt the same way about it as you do.
Content Warnings:
Moderate: Kidnapping, Grief, Animal cruelty, and Confinement
Minor: Death, Animal death, Blood, and Violence
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