The Last Unicorn

I finished this a while back, but just haven't been able to find the words to leave an intelligent review. So, I'm not going to try to leave an in-depth one. If you're a child of the eighties, or maybe even slightly later, you probably have seen the animated production of this at least once. Even so, I think you'll find taking the time to listen to or read this story to be time well-spent. It's a wonderfully lyrical, magical story. I really enjoyed the author's narration on the unabridged audio book, as well. I thought he did a wonderful job on the narration.

I grew up with the Last Unicorn movie. Obsessively watched it in fact and loved every moment of it. And then just recently I came across the book. Well of course I had to read it. And I truly did enjoy it; there were a few things that I would have liked to see done better, but really, this is a great piece of fiction and I can see where the wonderful movie got its inspiration.

A unicorn, who's lived in the woods for a very long time, has just gotten word that she's the last. Which is strange to her, unicorns are solitary creatures and maybe the others are just hiding. But it's enough to pique her curiosity and get her moving to see what happened to the rest. But danger follows her on her journey in the form of men, witches, and dark King's. And even though she gains some helpful companions, she starts to lose herself and forget her journey, even though the future of the Unicorns can only be rescued by her.

The unicorn is a very unique character in this book. Beagle presents her as having different emotions from humans and I think he does it very well. She's somewhat foreign but still has some base instincts that we can relate to. Her companions, the Magician and the Molly, are also quite wonderful. The Magician Schmendrick is a complex character that it's hard to tell sometimes whether he is quite wise or just has dumb luck and even while he can be infuriating at times, you can't help but want him around. Molly is just solid and steady and comforting, both for the other characters, and the reader. Even Haggard, the evil King is a great character and while he is somewhat evil, you actually can feel pity for him. Overall the characters just do a great job of expressing emotion and wisdom and there's a lot of lessons fit into this book.

Having seen the movie first I was surprised by all the extra parts of the novel that weren't in the movie. It doesn't detract from either media, but it made me consider things about the characters that I had never thought before and explained quite a few things about their motivations as well. I do think the pace was a bit rushed with all that extra added in though. This book could have easily benefited from an extra hundred pages to keep it flowing smoother. But it was still magical and one of the better fantasy books that I've come across. Add in the reminiscence of my childhood and I was hooked.

This is definitely going on my "keep" shelf. As I've been paring down my books only a special few make it there too, so that just proves how special the book is. Definitely a fantastic read.

The Last Unicorn
Copyright 1968
248 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2012

The Last Unicorn is an interesting fantasy novel. It is, of course, the story of the last unicorn. One day, she leaves her forest and sets out to discover what happened to all the other unicorns. Along with the way, the unicorn meets with many people, Schmendrick the magician (who doesn't have that much magic) and Molly Grue. I'm not sure when I last read this fantasy, but it was a while ago.

This is a surreal little concoction. The whole story seems dreamlike, unreal. It flows along at a slow but steady pace. Even the characters themselves say that they're in the midst of a fairy tale, which of course, they are. The unicorn lives forever, she's always present, and her eyes]...well, they enchant everyone who looks into them. Schmendrick and Molly are just two ordinary people brought along on an amazing adventure, full of witches, and curses, and doomed castles by the sea. But through it all is the question: what happened to the other unicorns?

Peter S. Beagle's writing is yes, dreamlike, and also really descriptive. The first paragraph shows this very well, with analogies and rich imagery. I can imagine the unicorn, no longer careless, like sea foam, but more contemplative like snow falling on a moonlit night.

The plot is superbly imagined, and the book flows very nicely. I had forgotten much of what happened, so it was almost like I was reading it afresh. The Last Unicorn is a fantasy classic in its own right, very different from more recent fantasy publications. There are many different editions, each with a beautiful cover. I have the "special anniversary edition".

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I think of The Last Unicorn as a grown-up fairy tale. Not because it has sex, violence, or unnecessary grit, but because of its delicious self-awareness and wittiness. The main plot is, perhaps predictably, about a unicorn discovering she may be the last of her kind and setting out to find the rest of the unicorns. Along the way she meets a hapless magician, a Maid Marian figure, a brooding king, and a dashing prince. Each character helps and hinders the unicorn as her quest takes her further and further from her ageless home and makes her a little bit more mortal with each step she takes.

This is a beautiful story with poetic, lyrical prose that is also bitingly witty. There are endless quotes I could pull from its pages as my favorite – ‘You must never run from anything immortal. It attracts their attention.’ ‘Real magic can never be made by offering someone else's liver. You must tear out your own, and not expect to get it back.’ Almost every page brings another gem as good as the last. My favorite part of the story, though, is the self-awareness I’ve already mentioned. It’s not that the characters know they’re in a book, but rather they know they’re in a story with certain roles they have to fulfill and certain tasks to accomplish. There has to be a magician, a prince, a damsel-in-distress, each with their own part in the story…indeed, as Schmendrick the Magician points out,

‘The true secret in being a hero lies in knowing the order of things. The swineherd cannot already be wed to the princess when he embarks on his adventures, nor can the boy knock on the witch's door when she is already away on vacation. The wicked uncle cannot be found out and foiled before he does something wicked. Things must happen when it is time for them to happen. Quests may not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a very long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.’

And even though each character is there to fulfill their part in the story, as the story progresses we realize that each of these characters is more than their stereotypical fairy tale persona would dictate. The magician is quite acerbic and matter-of-factly cynical and our ‘Maid Marian’ is far from beautiful and charming.

I picked this book up because I actually watched the movie first (shame, I know). To be fair, I was probably five or six when I first watched the movie – it’s an animated film by Rankin/Bass Productions (of Christmas special fame). When I was telling people I was reading the book I realized the movie is not as well known as I thought it was, which kind of surprised me. It was definitely a staple of my childhood, along with The Lion King and We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story. I haven’t seen the movie of The Last Unicorn in at least ten years, but I remember it being magical, surreal, and slightly disturbing only in the way movies you watch many times when you’re young can be. I plan on finding another copy as soon as I can to see how it lives up both to my memory and to the book. But regardless of whether or not this book would evoke movie-based childhood nostalgia for you, it’s still the perfect ‘grown-up’ story for those of us who grew up on fantasy and fairy tales.

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I have seen (and read) three types of fairytale fantasy published in the last century. The first is like Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles: it is clever at the expense of fairy tales, mocking (usually gently) the tropes of the genre, often through metafictional techniques. This type does little for me. The second is like most of Patricia McKillip's work: it takes those same tropes completely seriously and (if done well, as in McKillip's case) reminds us why the tropes exist in the first place, because they have width and depth and resonance. This is one of my favorite branches of fantasy. The third is the rarest, because it's the most difficult: it goes beyond the form of the fairytale and into archetypal territory, quite literally writing myth.

The Last Unicorn is all three of these.

That is probably fitting, given that it is one of the classics in the genre. Being three things at once, it left me with a sense of. . . unevenness, though to be fair that sense came only in retrospect; Beagle's prose is gorgeous and sure, and I devoured the book in two large gulps then wished there was more. Reading a random sampling of reviews online just highlighted the unevenness, though, because so many people seemed to be reading entirely different books.

The first thread, the metafictional, humorous side of the novel, predictably worked least well for me, though it worked better than any of the other books of that type that I have read. All of the characters know they are in a fairytale, and they either accede to the needs of the tale or try to shape it to their own ends depending on their personalities. There is also a sprinkling of anachronisms, which I read as another metafictional device, but may just be a leftover from Beagle's original vision of the story, which was set in modern times. What made this thread work better for me than those books who rely solely on the metafictional device is that Beagle used those moments when the characters broke the fourth wall to feed into his thematic concerns, something I will get to in a bit.

The second thread, the straight-forward fairy tale, is exquisitely, heartbreakingly beautiful. Had Beagle written just this story I probably would have out-and-out loved it more, though it likely would not have lingered in my consciousness as long as I suspect this reading will. It has all sorts of fairytale tropes: the quest, the unlikely band of fellows, the evil crone and the evil king, the curse, a tragic romance. . . there's even a talking cat. This section is about finding one's true nature; it is also very much about love, and the way it makes heroes of anyone it touches. It also features the loveliest passages, like this one:

"Under the moon, the road that ran from the edge of her forest gleamed like water, but when she stepped out onto it, away from the trees, she felt how hard it was, and how long. She almost turned back then; but instead she took a deep breath of the woods air that still drifted to her, and held it in her mouth like a flower, as long as she could."

The third thread, the allegory, is why this book has so much weight, the reason so many people can read totally different books in it and love them all. There are actually two related allegories here: one, running through the first half of the book, is about perception, and the way we see only what we expect to see; the other, coming to the fore in the second half of the book, is about the unicorn as a sort of Platonic Form of beauty. The presence of these allegories makes the book fail in a lot of ways as a straight fantasy novel -- as some reviewers have noticed, there are no people in the world but those absolutely necessary to the story/message, and the world-building is nothing like internally consistent. But ultimately the allegory is the reason The Last Unicorn is deservedly a classic, in any genre.

There is only one unicorn left in the world, and she leaves her comfortable forest in order to find the others. Most humans who see her don't even realize that they're looking at a unicorn--instead, they simply see a white mare.

While on her journey, the unicorn is captured by the witch Mommy Fortuna, whose magic of illusion has caused her to open a carnival of magical animals. The unicorn is real, and so is the harpy--but the other exhibits are regular animals that Mommy Fortuna has hexed to make look like magical beings.

The unicorn manages to escape with Schmendrick the Magician, who knows some stories about King Haggard and the Red Bull, both of whom seem to have connections to the missing unicorns. Eventually they meet up with Molly Grue, who has wanted all her life to see a real unicorn, and the three journey on to King Haggard's kingdom.

The Red Bull, a giant, fiery beast, senses the unicorn's presence and goes after her, trying to drive her into the ocean, where he's driven all the other unicorns. In an act of desperation, Schmendrick turns her into a human in order to save her. Of course, everything becomes much more complicated now as the unicorn, in human form, falls in love with King Haggard's son. She must remember who she is and save the other unicorns before it's too late.

The Last Unicorn began as a novel in 1968, and it became even more well known when it was made into a children's animated movie in 1982. Now the classic fantasy story receives new form as a graphic novel with lush, full-color illustrations. IDW has published it as a glossy-paged hardcover book, showing that they're really backing this project. It looks beautiful.

It's also worth noting that The Last Unicorn is a graphic novel that can be read and enjoyed by many ages. Children can read it (though a few images, like those of the harpy, might be scary for very young readers), but it's also just as likely to wind up in the hands of teens and adults. Fans of the original novel and animated movie are also very likely to be interested in this version. This is definitely a book for librarians and schools to take a look at, because odds are it will be off the shelf a lot.

Reviewed by Danica Davidson

Peter Beagle's "The Last Unicorn" is one of the ultimate modern fairy tales: the magical, bittersweet story of a little unicorn's search for others of her kind. And the graphic novel adaptation does justice to Beagle's story -- the story is only enhanced by the exquisitely lovely art, full of soft colors and elusive magic.

A unicorn has lived happily in her idyllic little forest, until the day she hears a man say that "unicorns are long gone -- if indeed they ever were." To find if she is indeed the last unicorn, she sets out on a journey across the land, and soon discovers that the people have forgotten what a unicorn even looks like.

But she hears a butterfly speak of the Red Bull, and how he has captured all the unicorns of the world except her.

Along her journey, she is captured by a traveling circus, and rescued by a bumbling young wizard with illusion powers. Along with the wizard and a bandit's girlfriend, she makes her way to the malignant castle of King Haggard -- and is transformed into a mortal girl, who experiences love, uncertainty, and finally sorrow.

"The Last Unicorn" is honestly one of my favorite fantasy novels of all time, especially since Peter Beagle managed to write such a simple, haunting little fairy tale. There's romance, tragedy, fantastical creatures, and a mythical creature setting out on a seemingly hopeless quest.

And the graphic novel adaptation of "The Last Unicorn" is an absolutely exquisite in every way. It's obvious that the team behind it had great love for Beagle's novel, and they preserve the beauty of his prose ("Your eyes are full of green leaves, crowded with trees and streams and small animals") whenever possible.

And Renae de Liz's artwork translates Beagle's writing into ethereal, magical visuals; her work reminds me of Charles de Lint. She presents us with the soft, luminous forest the unicorn comes from, glowing light, twilit skies, tangled trees and quaint little villages. And she handles the ugly as well as the lovely -- she conveys the grey deadness of Haggard's castle and hellish fire of the Red Bull as easily as Amalthea's ethereal loveliness.

The graphic novel adaptation of "The Last Unicorn" is a haunting, shimmering experience that translates Peter Beagle's classic novel into exquisite art.

About the Book:
In the Lilac Wood lives a unicorn but not just any unicorn. She is the last of her kind, and this news urges her to seek the others out. Along her journey, she encounters many hardships and terrors such as Mommy Fortuna and the Red Bull. However, she also makes many allies such as Molly Grue and Schmendrick, a bumbling magician. The three of them eventually find themselves at the castle of King Haggard, where they hope to find the other unicorns.

Review:
After seeing the animated film countless times, I had decided it was finally time to read the novel and fill in those missing or changed details. I didn't miss much. In fact, story wise, the movie is very much on par to the book, which might have been why I didn't like it as much as I thought I would have. I heavily enjoyed getting to learn more about Schmendrick however. In the film, I really could have cared less about him, but upon finding out about his past, he became more real to me. I still cannot say I ended up caring for him perse, but he made out to be more interesting.

The writing style also wasn't entirely to my liking, but I do believe it worked well for the story by embracing its spirit. Of course, it was told in a way similar to that of a fairy tale (though less repetitive). It had many features that are held in your typical fairy tale as well: an evil king, a wandering wizard, a young hero, and even a cursed kingdom with a prophecy.

I ended up liking The Last Unicorn well enough, but it is never going to be a favourite of mine. There was nothing particularly wrong with the book. It's simply personal tastes on this one more than anything, but I'd recommend it to anyone who has a liking for fantasy. Beagle managed to create a classic and original piece while still keeping some well known factors, and that isn't always an easy thing to do.

The Last Unicorn is one of my all-time favorite books, for several reasons:

1. The prose. The first line is a perfect example of the beautiful language woven throughout the story: "The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone." The language, for the most part, is simple, but it's that simplicity that builds the atmosphere of magic that the story relies on to work. And it works.

There are some places where the language doesn't always flow, such as apparent anachronisms like the one scene where prince reads a magazine, and they really threw me out of the story, but rest of the book more than makes up for these occasional stumbles that may not be stumbles at all. The time period The Last Unicorn takes place in is never defined, and so those apparent anachronisms may not be anachronisms at all but the result of expectations built by the countless other fantasy books I've read.

2. The themes. None of the characters in the book are perfect, except perhaps the unicorn, but even she does not escape the evils or the beauties of the world unscathed or unchanged. Jealousy exists alongside wonder, hatred parallels love, despair is made all the darker for hope... One of the things The Last Unicorn does that few other books do is frame a world where the darker side of emotions are real and tangible, and yet show that the world and the people within it are beautiful. Whether the beauty arises from the contrast between the darkness and the light, or whether the darkness itself is a source of beauty, the beauty is /there/, echoing between the lines of every page, even in the darkest moments.

3. The unicorn. Unicorns are an embodiment of unchanging perfection, and yet, the unicorn of this book /changes/. I suppose this ties into the themes point I mentioned above, but the unicorn as a character loses sight of who and what she is, learns how to live without such self-knowledge, and then has to come to terms with what has become of her and what she has become. I can't really say much more without spoiling anything, but the loss she feels as a result is particularly poignant, and it's this sense of loss coupled with the language that really haunt me with their beauty.

The Last Unicorn isn't really a story in the sense that characters go out and do things, even though that happens; and it isn't so much a quest story, even though a quest initially drives the unicorn to leave her home; but it /is/ a story in the sense that characters grow (or don't) and change (or don't) and /learn/ in doing so.

The way I see it, The Last Unicorn is ultimately a story about life and how people go through it, beautifully told through the eyes of a unicorn. For that alone, it's worth reading.

Every once in a while a book will come along and get written and be released to the world and become something so special and unique that it will stand the tests of time, whether it was published last year, or fifty years ago, or a hundred years ago. In the magical fairytale style of The Princess Bride, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle is certainly one of those ethereal books that generation after generation will read and enjoy for years to come.

"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." What she doesn't know, but eventually discovers is that she is the last unicorn on earth. These magical beasts once roamed free and helped and healed those around them, but now she is the only one left. And even though she is old, she is not very wise and soon finds herself a member of Mummy Fortuna's Midnight Carnival with no chance of escape. But then a most unique individual comes along, named Schmendrick the Magician, whose magical powers work most infrequently, and only when he really needs them to; and he frees the last unicorn. Molly Grue also joins the unusual travelers, who still has faith in fables and believes in legends, even though she has met a suspicious Robin Hood character and his band of overly-merry men. They journey far and wide across the lands, have many adventures in search of the other unicorns, and end up at the withered castle of King Haggard, where the Red Bull lies in wait for the last unicorn.

Many complimentary words can be said about this book, but still they will not do it complete justice, as it just transcends so many levels and ages, making us all, perhaps just for a moment, believe in these wondrous beasts. For the new anniversary edition, a quote on the front of the book from Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Name of the Wind, says it best: "The Last Unicorn is the best book I have ever read. You need to read it. If you've already read it, you need to read it again."

Originally written on February 13, 2012 ©Alex C. Telander.

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I really enjoyed this story though the plot was rather simplistic. As I read I could picture everything in my mind which to me means great writing considering this is a fantasy. I loved the characters but most of all the ending. He didn't just stop when you would expect it but went on and wrapped up every characters story so I didn't want to know what happened to this one or that one. Really good writing and if you like this type of fantasy then I recommend it.

This has been my favorite movie since the 80s, but I had never read the book that it was based on until now. The movie contains one line that the book is missing: when the unicorn asks Schmendrick if he is happy in the movie he said, "Men don't always know when they are happy, but I think so." That had always struck me as a great truth. I missed it being in the book, but reading that Peter Beagle wrote the movie also makes me feel better about it not being there.

The best way to describe this classic fantasy tale is charming. This story is a must-read for anyone who enjoys fantasy novels if only to say welcome to the genre. Beagle is poetic and the world building is beautifully done. His writing aches to be read aloud; it has rhythm and music meant to be heard and shared.

The Last Unicorn is a magical work of art meant to be reread and enjoyed time and time and time and time ... and time again.

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle illustrated by Renae De Liz and Ray Dillon is a beautiful rendered adaptation of the original fantasy classic. This graphic novel uses Beagle's words, however, in an abridged format, so the original text isn't presented in entirety, but if it was then I guess this would be the illustrated edition and not graphic novel which is a whole new awesome medium for the story. Yet the original meaning of The Last Unicorn is retained.

So the plot in a nutshell: The Last Unicorn alive finds out that she is the last one and so goes on a journey to find out what happened to the other unicorns. Along the way she makes new friends, discovers different things about human nature, and learns the true fate of the unicorns. You can find a more detailed explanation in my review of The Last Unicorn.

The art in the graphic novel of The Last Unicorn is gorgeous. I felt the illustrators had an excellent use of colors. For instance the pictures just pop right off the page because the illustrations are bright. Yet when bad things happen, the pictures go dark. The characters aren't all pointy and angular, but nicely rounded. There aren't any abstract pictures, yet the drawings retain a fanciful quality. I thought the art really breathed a new life into this fabulous classic.

There is also BONUS CONTENT which includes an interview with Peter S. Beagle in the back. I honestly found this interview to be fascinating. I won't go into strict details, but my favorite part was this story Beagle told about going to a convention. He figures no one will know who he is at the convention. Anyways these two gang banger Latino guys comes up to his table and asks if he is the guy who wrote The Last Unicorn. Beagle says yes. And they proceed to tell him this story about how The Last Unicorn saved them, which was incredibly touching and unexpected and worth reading the interview for.

I think The Last Unicorn graphic novel would be an appropriate read for the fantasy-inclined younger reader. The only scary parts were when the Red Bull would show up, and I don't believe that's enough to traumatize someone. Also, there are no swears at all. I do think this could be a gateway graphic novel and may convince the reader to try the original source, as this does justice to the original

Unlike many of my friends, I did not read "The Last Unicorn" as a child so I cannot approach this graphic novel with rose-colored nostalgia. I am happy to report, however, that this adaptation by Peter B. Gillis is a magical tale, even for a jaded adult like myself.

This deceptively simple narrative of an immortal and emotionally isolated unicorn who suddenly seeks others of her kind is a compelling read. The unicorn suffers enslavement and enchantments during her quest, and the end as bittersweet as a Hans Christian Anderson tale.

The illustrations bring delicate beauty to the story. Unskilled artists might have given in to the temptation of overwhelming the unicorn with sparkles and rainbows, but Renae de Liz and Ray Dillion both handle the situation with restraint and subtlety. They infused life into the varying landscapes and focused on the moods and facial expressions of all the characters.

Like Frodo Baggins who saved the Shire for everyone but himself, the Last Unicorn grows and alters beyond recognition. On the surface she triumphs, but deep inside she's been wounded by her brush with mortality and human emotion. It's impossible not to be moved.

In its latest form, "The Last Unicorn" will surely gain a whole new generation of fans -- and it will be well-deserved.

(This review previously appeared in the San Francisco/Sacramento Book Reviews.)

Peter Beagle's "The Last Unicorn" is one of the ultimate modern fairy tales: the magical, bittersweet story of a little unicorn's search for others of her kind. And the graphic novel adaptation does justice to Beagle's story -- the story is only enhanced by the exquisitely lovely art, full of soft colors and elusive magic.

A unicorn has lived happily in her idyllic little forest, until the day she hears a man say that "unicorns are long gone -- if indeed they ever were." To find if she is indeed the last unicorn, she sets out on a journey across the land, and soon discovers that the people have forgotten what a unicorn even looks like.

But she hears a butterfly speak of the Red Bull, and how he has captured all the unicorns of the world except her.

Along her journey, she is captured by a traveling circus, and rescued by a bumbling young wizard with illusion powers. Along with the wizard and a bandit's girlfriend, she makes her way to the malignant castle of King Haggard -- and is transformed into a mortal girl, who experiences love, uncertainty, and finally sorrow.

"The Last Unicorn" is honestly one of my favorite fantasy novels of all time, especially since Peter Beagle managed to write such a simple, haunting little fairy tale. There's romance, tragedy, fantastical creatures, and a mythical creature setting out on a seemingly hopeless quest.

And the graphic novel adaptation of "The Last Unicorn" is an absolutely exquisite in every way. It's obvious that the team behind it had great love for Beagle's novel, and they preserve the beauty of his prose ("Your eyes are full of green leaves, crowded with trees and streams and small animals") whenever possible.

And Renae de Liz's artwork translates Beagle's writing into ethereal, magical visuals; her work reminds me of Charles de Lint. She presents us with the soft, luminous forest the unicorn comes from, glowing light, twilit skies, tangled trees and quaint little villages. And she handles the ugly as well as the lovely -- she conveys the grey deadness of Haggard's castle and hellish fire of the Red Bull as easily as Amalthea's ethereal loveliness.

The graphic novel adaptation of "The Last Unicorn" is a haunting, shimmering experience that translates Peter Beagle's classic novel into exquisite art.

This book has haunted me ever since I first finished it years, and years ago. I'll be driving down the freeway and the slant of sunlight off of a trucks rear window will suddenly remind me of a line in one of these chapters and a fever will grab hold of me all of a sudden and it won't be quelled until I get home and reread that passage, which turns into rereading that chapter which turns into rereading this book. I'm not safe anywhere, I was sick to death recently and the first thing I reached for was this. How do I immunize myself against it? I don't know. I find myself at even a greater loss when I ask myself if I really want to be free.

There comes a time in everyone's life, if they are so lucky, where they happen across a book that just turns their life inside out and upside down. This is one such book. To the uninterested observer it appears as a silly book about unicorns that seems like it has no interest in obtaining a demographic beyond that of tween girls and basement nerds. But to these people I express my sorrow that they will live their lives with the incredible loss that is never having read this book.

The Last Unicorn is about remembering the past and foreseeing the future and about accepting our losses and defeats when they are handed to us, and it is about learning to treasure the bright spots within them. It is about what it means to posses and to be possessed. Two characters passing through a wood early in the novel debate the existence of unicorns at first jokingly, then heatedly and then at last with a bit of trepidation, sorrow and fear at the passing of the unknown while they were not watching. "I wonder if any man before us would have thought his time a good time for unicorns?" one of the woodsmen asks and soon we see quite clearly that the answer is, and always will be, a resounding and cold hearted no as our unicorn is put in damp, dark cages both literal and figurative.

Not much happens in this book in the traditional story telling sense. The unicorns quest ends rather abruptly by the time we reach the castle and that happens less than half way through the book. After that the characters mill around in a stagnant environment and the battle of wits that any other author might have substituted here as the main course of action is instead replaced by a battle of reflection and remembrance, of memory and time. The main action in this book is not played out in gallant sword fights, daring chases, and grand acts of wizardry (although there is plenty of that, make no mistake at times this can be a very violent and bloody book), but rather the choices and changes the characters go through in their lives.

Finally, to speak of the few criticisms directed at the text - without giving too much away, for the second half of the book there is indeed a romance in the pages and some others have spoken about how it lacks a heart gripping quality and to this I'd have to agree. But you have to remember that the romance really isn't meant to be viewed as such and so people seeking a grand romantic adventure will be advised to look elsewhere. The Lady Amalthea throws herself at Liir with an unnatural devotion that quite frankly obliterates all that she is, even admitting to herself that she allows him to construct everything she is as a person and as a result their romance is very light, very lovely but it hasn't been earned at all. And because you can not claim something you haven't gained the right to earn in the end they are the only ones left with nothing to posses.

I just saw the movie yesterday, and was enchanted not so much by the unicorn and her quest and immortality, but by the foibled, flawed but beautifully souled, deeply human Molly and Shmendrick. I had to know more about them. So I got this book, and was instantly captivated by Beagle's lyrical, linguistically labyrinthine, gorgeously atmospheric writing style and simple-seeming but profound characterization. His work is like a spell cast on his readers - and I don't think it will ever fade.

I got a copy of this book through netgalley(dot)com. I love this story and was excited to see how it was rendered into a graphic novel. The illustration was absolutely breathtaking and the story fast-paced and engrossing. Definitely a must for any fans of this story, of unicorns, or of beautiful rendered fantasy graphic novels.

Most people are probably familiar with the story. A beautiful unicorn decides to set out and find whether or not she is actually the last unicorn. On her journey she finds that her fellow unicorns have been trapped by an evil king. She goes on a heartbreaking quest to set her people free.

I can't say enough how much I loved the illustration throughout this graphic novel. It was just absolutely stunning. I always have imagined the unicorn as so beautiful and the illustrators really captured that image and even made it more stunning.

The story was exceedingly well told and matched the tone of the illustration perfectly. Did I mention how much I loved the artwork and illustration? I got this as an e-galley and will definitely be purchasing a hardback copy to put on my book shelf, just so I can take it out over and over and marvel at the beautiful story and artwork.

Overall I am so happy I read this. If you are a fan of this story or of unicorns or of beautiful graphic novel fantasies this is a must read.

Seriously, I cannot think about unicorns without thinking about this book. And no, the unicorn in this book is not bloodthirsty. Although I had made up my mind earlier to be Team Unicorn, I think had I been on the fence, this book would definitely have pushed me onto Team Unicorn.

The Last Unicorn is a truly beautiful, breathtaking book. It is very short, but quite a bit is packed into those pages. We open with a unicorn walking through the forest she protects. She overhears some hunters talking about how they can never kill anything in the forest, because it is protected by the unicorn. The hunters go on to state how there are no other unicorns left in the world. The unicorn then takes it upon herself to discover just what happened to the other unicorns. Along the way adventures are had, friends are made, evil is faced, yet good is also discovered.

You know that feeling you get when reading a fairy tale and you have the perfect narrator? I got while reading The Last Unicorn. I felt like magic could be real. Of course, my emotions ran the gamut. At times I felt melancholy. I was not really sure what I wanted for the unicorn, as she had to make this hard decision, but if you read the book or have seen the movie, you'll know what I mean.

The Last Unicorn is a simple tale. I am sure that there is a deeper meaning, however, I haven't really figured it out. That's okay though, we can't all be brilliant at uncovering the underlying message. What I did enjoy was how imaginative the book was. I could picture everything as I was reading it. However, maybe that is due to seeing the movie in childhood. Or maybe I could attribute it to Beagle's writing. His prose is gorgeous. It is never too flowery, but still retains beauty.

The Last Unicorn is definitely a fantasy classic. It absolutely had me craving more fantasy, and I could see why the brilliant Patrick Rothfuss said it was one of his favorite books.

Here are a few quotes which made my spirit sing:

"I know exactly how you feel," Schmendrick said eagerly. The unicorn looked at him out of dark, endless eyes, and he smiled nervously and looked at his hands. "It's a rare man who is taken for what he truly is," he said. "There is much misjudgement in the world....we are not always what we seem, and hardly ever what we dream." pg. 29-30

"Men have to have heroes, but no man can ever be as big as that need, and so a legend grows around a grain of truth, like a pearl." pg. 64

For Christmas I received a book titled, "The Last Unicorn". I have never read or heard of this tale but I am a huge fan of mythical creatures and mythology and after reading the synopsis on the back, I knew this was going to be a book I would enjoy reading. Thank you to Bobby who was the kind person who gave this gift to me.

The story is about a unicorn, no surprise here as the title clearly explains that, who embarks on a quest to find others of her kind. She steps out of her forest home and steps into an adventure full of mystery and magic. She meets up with a magician named Schmendrick; he helps in rescuing her from the clutches of Mommy Fortuna's Midnight Carnival. Her other companion is a woman named Molly who is a big believer in Unicorns and legends. This threesome makes their way to King Haggard's castle to find the Red Bull, who is believed to have captured all the unicorns.

There is so much more to the story than the simple synopsis I wrote above but I don't want to give away any of the fun adventures the unicorn finds herself in. I will say that if you have children or if you would like to read a fun tale that is simply written, then this is a book you want to pick up.

The story is told in a wonderful way that will awaken your imagination. Plus the story isn't a one dimension tale but a multi directional story. Each new person the unicorn meets brings another layer to the story and enhances the main plot. And although the story was written for the young reader, adults will also become involved in the tragic tale of truth, love, and of the consequences that result in the choices we make.

Five stars for this book - The Last Unicorn!

For more reviews, check out my blog at decemberjoy.wordress.com

The main characters are quite the cast: a unicorn who ponders whether or not she is the last of her kind, a wanna-be magician named Schmendrick, and an old woman named Molly Grue. The unicorn sets out to find the answers to her questions. Is she the last? What happened to the others? Why does she keep dreaming of them? The group venture through quite the hero’s journey in search of the truth and by the end of it, everyone has changed. And nothing will be the same again.

This story is very much about the loss of innocence, something that all children go through at some point as they rush headlong towards adulthood, and I love that element of the story. Peter S. Beagle writes it in a way that is so perfect, so fitting to a unicorn.
You can read the entire review on my website (see my profile for the link).

This is one of Peter S. Beagle's first books. You may have noticed that when an author is still getting started, they're more ambitious; their fans are more passionate, and their works more enduring. This book is an example of this, but it's not merely an example of this; this book is a work of capital-A Art that has been adapted (good adaptations, too) to both comic book and animated (the animation was accomplished by the same studio that did Nausicaa) form.

...and the book is still best. This has been my favorite book for the last thirty years, and this, my favorite author. The writing is lyrical, every character feels like someone you know so well you've *been* them, and it's still a wondrous work of magic.

Read this. I wish this were already available in Kindle format.

This book is a masterpiece. My tastes in literature and range from the classics - Tolstoy, Kafka, Dickens, the Brontes, Dumas, to Marquez, Celine, Joyce,Tolkien and many others. Tolkien and Lewis stand as masters of fantasy. This book is equal to any I have ever read. It is mystical and profoundly moving - full of words and magic that wrap themselves around you like a blanket of stars. As in all great works of art - there are deep truths nestled gently, yet powerfully in the story.
The writing is brilliant and unlike anyone I have ever read. Beautifully, Mr. Beagle puts words together like the master wordsmith he is. He doesn't write - he weaves.

The cartoon film does not even come close to capturing the magnificence of this story.

I have read everything he has written, love them all - but for me this will always be the quintessential tale. It breaks my heart and makes me celebrate the wonder of being.

The publisher's website, Conlanpress.com, has the standard version and the deluxe version signed and personalized by Peter - they mention nothing about numbered but I expect those were gone in a wink! Peter will autograph your book with a personalized message, which is plenty long enough for a really special note or some prose. You may want more than one copy, or the original and the deluxe - the deluxe is so heart-swellingly beautiful that it's hard to look at it for long all at once, you start to get lost in it!

The Last Unicorn is a 1968 fantasy novel by Peter S. Beagle. The eponymous unicorn sets out with several human companions to find the rest of her kind and to confront numerous obstacles, including the monstrous Red Bull.

Beagle writes beautifully and charmingly, almost poetically, and The Last Unicorn is worth reading for that reason alone. The novel is humorously anachronistic in places, and it's sprinkled profusely with little literary delights: a turn of phrase here, a choice of word there. It's delightful just to read Beagle's sentences.

But the story itself is less than compelling, which can make the novel too easy to put down. While The Last Unicorn is filled with emotion and imagination and post-modernistic self-discovery, the events that transpire aren't particularly remarkable. They're the kinds of things that fantasy storytellers make up as they go along. It does seem that Beagle is more interested in raising what he obviously feels are important questions about existence and self than with engaging the reader on the basis of plot. And there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not the kind of thing a lot people like to read, nor is it something that many readers often come to fantasy fiction for.

The Last Unicorn is not for everyone. People who think of it as Beagle himself does are likely to find it profound; others may find it shallow. But anyone who appreciates excellent writing will find it well worth his or her time.

Despite my obvious (to those who know me) passion for Star Wars and the Transformers, one movie remains close to my heart, closer even than my favorite space saga and giant robots. Animated by the same folks who brought us the old "Lord of the Rings" movies, "The Last Unicorn" was a mainstay of my childhood. Even today I can almost quote the movie by heart word for word; singing or hearing the theme song performed by America (the "Horse With No Name" folks) still moves me almost to tears; hearing Christopher Lee's voice in "Attack of the Clones" will forever remind me of the pitifully twisted King Haggard. And my joy knew no bounds when, years after the rental store that carried "The Last Unicorn" closed down, a family member tracked down the DVD version for me.

But when I learned the movie was based on a book, I decided to check out the source. After all, few books-turned-to-movies are even comparable to their source material. If my childhood movie was good, then the book had to be better, right?

I'm happy to say that the book was indeed better... and yet the movie was so faithful to the book that it was almost a novelization rather than source material, and the film remains a classic in my mind.

A single unicorn, guardian of a lilac wood, overhears a hunter describing her as the last unicorn. Unwilling to believe this, she leaves her enchanted home to find out the truth. Along the way, she is joined by Shmendrick, a magician whose magic is unpredictable at best, and Molly Grue, a cynical woman who is nonetheless willing to believe in the unicorn. Together, they seek out the fearsome Red Bull, which is said to serve a tyrannical king in a blighted kingdom and has chased all the unicorns to some fearsome fate. And in the course of her travels, the unicorn will taste, for the first time, the wonders of sorrow, fear, mortality... and love.

Beagle's prose is sheer poetry from beginning to end. Unlike most authors, who may have a dozen or so outstanding lines in a work, Beagle fills The Last Unicorn with so many such lines that it's impossible to pick out one or two I think are exemplary. His work is gentle and beautiful, his characters are delightful to know, and his landscape is so vividly painted that it's almost readily visible in the mind. He has created a fairy tale, no mean feat in a day and age that generally dismisses fairy tales.

As a child, I loved "The Last Unicorn" as a visual treat. Now, in my adulthood, I love The Last Unicorn as a last hurrah to the art of the fairy tale.

The Last Unicorn has been (and always will be) one of my favorite Rankin Bass films, and I got really excited when I found out it was based on a book.
Once I had it in my hot hands, I had high hopes for it. After all, the author was the writer for the screenplay.
Was I ever pleased that this book did more than I expected. It was clear the movie was very faithful to the book. There was a lot more in the book that the film didn't have, such as the spider at the Midnight Carnival and the village of Hagsgate.
I must admit, there are words used in the book that made me question when, exactly, this story is supposed to take place. Still, it's not overly distracting.
At first glace, this may seem like one of those cliched fairy tales. Let me assure you though, it's more than just a "act of true love" story. I highly recommend this to everyone who loved the film or want a true fairy-tale.

For potential buyers, please note that this is the graphic novel version of Peter Beagle's wonderful tale for Kindle. If you are looking for the original book, it is not currently available for Kindle. But if you would like to see reviews and more information about the graphic novel, they can be found here: The Last Unicorn

"The unicorn lived in a lilac wood and she lived all alone ..." So starts this enchanting tale, a line like poetry. The book and the film have sort of the same feel about it; only in the book, the mood is broken sometimes with a quirky jar of humour - like, did you know that the romantic Byronic figure of Prince Lear in the beautifully illustrated film used to be fat? Yes, I didn't really want to know that, or that he lost weight slaying dragons!
Great imaginative ensemble of characters - people who role-play might recognise a touch of it in that aspect. The characters though are possibly embodiments of philosophical points of view. Some speculation on my part: Is the butterfly a satire of the educated man? "Butterflies only know songs and poetry and anything else they hear ..." He knows much, but cannot answer the Unicorn's question. And what of Schmenderick, the misfit magician? His unspoken wish which the unicorn cannot fulfil "I cannot make you a true magician" reminds us that there is no unicorn or magic strong enough to make us into what we are not - only we can fulfil our own dreams. And who hasn't been side tracked from a dream, eliciting the unicorn's scorn "He is no magician now, but the King's court clown." Then there is the greedy witch's "Illusions, deceptions, mirages. Your Mommy Fortuna cannot truly change things." And what of King Haggard who only gets happiness by keeping happiness from the world. What is Beagle thinking about our society? Or how about the burly robber baron with his band of merry men, who declares, "Robin Hood is a myth. We are the reality." This, from a story book character! And of course the big question is "What is the Red Bull?" - everyone has a personal Red Bull, even a Unicorn. And what of love and immortality; why "I will not love you when I am a unicorn."
It seems simplistic when it is written out like that, but those themes and so many others are so intricately woven into the story, to engage us in our own wonderings. Like all best stories it is part myth and fantastic narrative.

In the genre of fantasy, there are few books that can be considered "classics," as it's very difficult to create a classic and universally-loved story set within a fantasy world. Members of this elite club include "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkein, "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Caroll, and "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis. Peter S. Beagle also joins this membership with his classic "The Last Unicorn", a beautfully crafted and utterly wonderful story.
The story deals with a unicorn who discovers she is the last of her kind. She sets out to find her missing race, but ends up with more than she bargains for. With the help of a bumbling magician and a maid, she must face an evil king who uses a mysterious creature for a purpose not even she could imagine.
The story is perhaps one of the most beautifully crafted stories in all of fantasy. It is far from being an epic - it's more of a short story that happens to be long - but it still makes for a captivating read. And the story doesn't always take itself seriously; there's a kind of wry humor that might be found in a Disney-like cartoon. However, "The Last Unicorn" is far from a Disney-esque book. There is a subtle yet undeniable dark tone in the story, and the characters have real personalities and character development, with flaws and irregularities. In the span of a relatively short novel, Beagle's world is realized with such amazing beauty and skill it's difficult not to be engrossed in his simple yet elegant prose.
Although it's most likely out of print by now, I seriously reccommend finding this book. If "The Lord of the Rings" is the Bible of fantasy, then "The Last Unicorn" is the equivalent of a book written by Max Lucado. It's suitable for all ages, and it beats the movie by a long shot. You will laugh, you will cry, you will feel satisfied. "The Last Unicorn" is one of fantasy's unquestionable classics.

Not too many writers try to take on the task of bringing a fairy tale to life in a novel. Of those who do try, very few succeed.

Peter Beagle is one of the few who have succeeded.

The Last Unicorn successfully preserves the magic of a fairy tale over the course of about 250 pages, which is immensely difficult. The lyrical language and the unforgettable characters, who are both romantic and realistic, strike a chord that have made this book one of those converting accounts that each reader urges a friend to read.

The basic story is about a unicorn who lives in a wood with only a very vague sense of time, or the world beyond. When she becomes aware that she may be the last unicorn left in the world, she must venture forth from her safe haven and try to find out what has happened to her kind. On the way to an exciting climax with the mythic and forbidding Red Bull, she encounters danger in the form of harpies and witches. She also meets friends, most notably Schmendrick the sometimes-hapless magician, and the good-hearted Molly Grue, who has seen too much of the world.

I really liked the cartoon when it was first released, and would recommend it to anyone who has read the book. However, it hasn't aged particularly well, and shouldn't be viewed by anyone who hasn't read the book first.

Don't confuse this book with other "fantasy novels" that have become a formulaic genre of often-bad writing. This novel is a notch higher than other novels in the genre; indeed, it is one of the reasons that the genre began.

Peter Beagle's THE LAST UNICORN is always a discovery for me, however often I encounter it. Only with reluctance would I name the book one of my favourites, for it employs throughout devices I routinely find annoying in modern fantasy writing. Chief among these is an awareness on the part of the characters that they ARE in a kind of faerie tale and, as such, have generally defined roles they are expected to play. I prefer to lose myself in a story rather than be reminded continually that it IS a story. The 1982 animated film adaptation, though following the plot and dialogue of the book with unusual faithfulness, had problems of its own. Too often it tended toward the melodramatic, and some of the line-delivery could only be described as 'shrill'.

Yet it was the animated version I discovered first and, whatever the imperfections, I have re-watched it many times over the years. Clearly, something in it touched me as few films ever do. And I must concede that Beagle's novel is even more affecting.

Set in a world of vaguely mediaeval elements laced with what has been called 'intentional anachronism' and populated with towns and kingdoms that never were, this is the story of a solitary unicorn who learns that all others of her kind have disappeared from the world. She therefore leaves the security of her enchanted forest in order to discover what became of them. Not unexpectedly, on this quest she encounters various individuals whose destinies will be realized by how they help or hinder her. Yet there is more melancholy than magic in this, for few are pleased with what they gain. A bitter old man is what he is precisely because he has spent his life in a relentless and uncompromising search FOR lasting happiness. A younger man becomes a hero to win the woman he loves, but instead he gains a kingdom for which he had no desire. And then there is Molly, who chased a dream in her youth, only to wind up in used and disillusioned drudgery. The most heart-breaking moment of the entire work may be when she first sees the unicorn and cries out, 'Where have you been? ... What good is it to me that you're here now? Where were you twenty years ago, ten years ago? ... How dare you come to me now, when I am this?'

There is humour in the tale as well, albeit most often wry, sardonic, or simply playful. And there is a happy ending overall, if somewhat ambivalent for the individuals themselves.

Ultimately, however, UNICORN evades the foreshadowed cynicism and achieves poignance. For me, what makes it work most is the unique 'poetry' of its prose. Beagle's metaphors and similes are particularly compelling, fashioned on unexpected images that really do work. 'One owl-less autumn evening, they ... saw the castle ... thin and twisted, bristling with thorny turrets, dark and jagged as a giant's grin.' A vast monster 'was the color of blood, not the springing blood of the heart but the blood that stirs under an old wound that never really healed.' A young girl's 'skin was the color of snow by moonlight.' Later she 'fell as irrevocably as a flower breaks ....' 'Things happened both swiftly and slowly as they do in dreams, where it is really the same thing.' The genius of such descriptions is that they often evoke a sense, rather than an image. We may not actually KNOW what colour is blood under an old wound, but we FEEL its darkness and grim persistence.

THE LAST UNICORN is a story of the bittersweet, of melancholy joy, of wonder mingled with resignation, of oppressive gloom and extraordinary beauty, of wit and of wisdom and of poetry. It does not LOOK like 'great literature', but it teaches throughout that appearances are deceiving -- and goes on to prove the point.

I can't believe that I've never read this before. It's about a unicorn who finds out she is the last of her kind. She sets off to find out what happened to the others. She meets up with a magician (who really can't do any magic) and a young woman who both help her on her way. This story is absolutely beautiful and magical and could be enjoyed by all ages.

I'm having a hard time with this portion, because while I think the characters are very central to the story (the story is about the unicorn, after all), I really don't think the characters were that important. Is that weird? I just felt like the flow of the story, the poetic writing, and getting lost in the fairy tale were what it was all about.

I didn't really get a good sense for the world in this story. There wasn't a whole lot of world-building, and even the kingdom of King Haggard that was described, I had a hard time picturing.

Read this if you're in the mood for a classic fairy tale. It really is a sweet little story.
I'm not sure if I would read more by this author or not. I really liked this one, but not in a way that I would run out and try to find other books by the author.

I liked this book sooooo much. It is about a unicorn, who lives alone. One day she wonders what happened to the rest of the unicorns, because she has not seen any in a long, long time, and neither have men. She is disturbed by the question, afraid to leave her home, but she finally decides to leave the forest and go on a quest, just to make sure the others are okay. Along the way, she meets a butterfly who tells her that the unicorns went down all the roads long ago, and a Red Bull drove them to the ends of the earth. She doesn't understand this though, and continues her journey. After being captured by an evil woman, a magician named Schmendrick sets her free. As a reward, she allows him to come with her, to find the Red Bull and his master, King Haggard, and to see if finding them gives her a clue to where the otehrs might be. After journeying far, they meet up with a woman named Molly, who evidently wished to see a unicorn in youth but never had the chance. She too travels with them to find the unicorns. But when they meet up with the Red Bull, a disaster occurs. The bull is trying to drive the unicorn to King Haggard's castle, but why? To save her, Schmendrick finds magic in him and tranforms the unicorn into a human girl. What of the quest now? Will the unicorn, inside the body of a human, still be able to save her people? Time is running out, as she beging to lose memory and become more and more human.
This book was so good, it is worth what I paid for it. I plan to read it again and again. It is exciting and fantastic, and it will appeal to unicorn lovers everywhere.

Oh, if only I had read this book earlier! I only read it for the first time a couple of years ago in a college Fantasy lit. class, and it was arguably the best single volume fantasy tale I had and have ever encountered. I had known of it for some time, but refrained from reading it because I was stupid and didn't think that unicorns were "cool."
Oh, but they are. They are indeed.
This story is incredibly beautiful. It is a fairy tale, but don't let that turn you off to it. It's also post-modern, but don't let that turn you off either. It is the best of both worlds, a unique blend that is really a tribute to the magic of the fantasy genre itself. Anyone who has ever loved magic or simply good reading should pick this up.
The characters are wonderful. My favorites are Captain Cully, a kind of self-proclaimed Robin Hood, and Lir, the ultimate embodiment of innocence and heroism. It is Lir that really makes the book for me. In his never-ending quest to win the heart of the Lady Amalthea (the unicorn in human form), he exhibits a very pure love. His courage moved me to tears as few heroes ever have.
The writing is excellent. Peter Beagle is the best writer ever in my book. His words are never difficult, but they're also never less than magnificent. One line I'll never forget from Unicorn is "the tiny, dry sound of a spider weeping" (isn't that just awesome?). He hasn't written many novels, so it's definitely possible and worth your while to read them all. While this is his most famous, I most highly recommend A Fine and Private Place, the most touching love story I've ever read.
I've never seen the movie. I'm sure it's great. But don't miss out on experiencing the beauty of Beagle's prose. It's nothing short of masterful.

The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle is a modern fairy tale that plays with the conventions of fairy tales. The story is slight, and I don’t mean that in a disparaging way, it is slight in the way fairy tales are slight. In the modern fantasy world of 10 volume series, it’s nice to have a short straightforward charming story. It is very well written with some memorable characters. It is also quite funny at times, yet manages to pack an emotional wallop as well. The ending is, if not sad, certainly wistful and bittersweet. Just a perfect little book

A good book but probably not the book for me. The Last Unicorn is a book of three minds, at times it is a fairy tale, fantastic and enigmatic, at times it is a satire, winking and nodding at the audience and digging its elbow in your side, finally it is simply a fantasy story about loss and the gains that can come from it.

I think it was well written but the writing got lost in the moments where it become a little too lost in its own fairy dust. It suffers from the same problem a lot of Lovecraft suffers from, how do you describe something that is literally indescribable. By definition, any attempt will be feeble and fail. Beagle fairs better in his efforts than Lovecraft does, in my opinion, but it's a bit of an impossible task, he has created a mountain so great that even he can not scale it.

The bits of satire suited me well. It danced dangerously close to the edge of going too far but never quite got there. I do wish there had been a hair more of that but it's possible that more would have been too much.

The actual story arc was fairly satisfying. I found myself actually feeling sad at time when it was appropriate although I never found myself as angry as I felt was desired by characters and author.

In the end I'm giving it 3 of five stars, I do think this is a great book for a younger person to read, one more taken with the fairy style of fantasy. For anyone he enjoys fantasy style this probably still is a "should read".

Hidden away in a lilac wood, the last unicorn cares little for the outside world. After all, she is magical and she is immortal. However, when she hears that she might be the only unicorn left in the world, she sets out on a journey to see if there are any of her kind left. After being captured by a freak show she meets and joins forces with a bumbling magician, Schmendrick, and later, a middle aged maiden, Molly Grue. Together these three embark on a quest that will take them into the dangerous realm of King Haggard. It will be there that the last unicorn will have to face her nemesis, the Red Bull, in order to free the rest of her kind.
To a large extent, Peter Beagle's book is considered an interesting work of fantasy because it was one of the first post-modern science fiction novels. The most salient feature of post-modern science fiction is a rebellion against the classical fantasy/science fiction novel that creates a world that is completely separate from our own. In this traditional science fiction/fantasy world the characters say and do things that are completely in line with the small universe the author has created in his novel. The author strives to draw the reader completely into the story. Beagle rebels against this by creating a novel that constantly pulls the reader out of the novel, back in to the real world, only to slide back into the plot. The Last Unicorn is the novel written in this post-modern style, of which many examples can be found.
Beagle does not immediately strike you with his departure from traditional fantasy. The unicorn lives in a lilac wood all by herself, in what is seemingly a medieval world. There are kings and wizards and peasants. But just when the reader is being drawn into this "other" world, Beagle introduces a character to disrupt it in the form of a talking butterfly. The thing that pulls the reader out of Beagle's world, back into his own, is not the butterfly's ability to talk (that, after all, is not too bizarre in a fantasy novel), but what he has to say. Among the many things that do not belong in a traditional fantasy novel, but work well in a post-modern one, are the butterflies references to Shakespeare "you're a fishmonger," children's singalongs "you are my sunshine," and songs from America's pop culture "Won't you come home, Bill Bailey, won't you come home."
Now, a veteran of fantasy could probably come up with a list of science fiction cliches that could explain this odd knowledge. Perhaps the butterfly learned these phrases by falling into a wormhole and spending time in our world. Maybe the butterfly is in fact a traveler from our world, secretly disguised. Or, perhaps this is really some bizarre post-apocalyptic world where after many millions of years and genetic mutation, the new inhabitants of our planet are uncovering our twentieth-century pop culture. But this, like other details in Beagle's novel that clearly do not fit in with the rest of the story, and are not easily explained away.
Evidence of Beagle's unorthodox style can be seen later when Schmendrick and Molly are taken captive by Captain Cully. Schmendrick tries to flatter the outlaw by pretending that he has heard of many of the outlaw's exploits. As Cully begins to fall for this, he becomes much more friendly with Schmendrick, offering the wizard a place by his fire, an invitation to talk of what people supposedly say about Cully in other countries, and a unique twist, a taco. An odd foodstuff for outlaws seemingly modeled after Robin Hood! Later, Schmendrick spends a good part of the night making up stories about the glories of Captain Cully. The reader learns later on that most of tales came from his "good grounding in Anglo-Saxon folklore."
Beagle uses many other small descriptions to rip the reader out of his fantasy world. At one point a prince is described "reading a magazine." At another point, Prince Lir is described as having armor that is partially made of bottlecaps.
A more subtle example of post-modern fantasy is the birth of Prince Lir. The Prince was found on butcher's block, warm despite the fact that it was snowing, surrounded by stray cats. As Drinn, the villager that found him said "it purred prophecy." But it is at this point that Beagle breaks the spell. If this were a traditional fantasy, Drill would have become the foster parent for the boy and raised him. But this is not traditional fantasy. Drill instead scares away the cats and leaves the baby to what he expects will be death; he fears that the child that seems to have an aura of destiny around him might grow to be the one that brings down the prophecy of doom that had been cursed upon his town by a witch.
These are just a few of the many examples that make The Last Unicorn a very different, but very beautiful, kind of fantasy. The post-modern style of fantasy, or the fantastic, has had a hard time being accepted by many hard core fantasy fans. Many critics do not like novels that try to constantly toss the reader back and forth between the world of fantasy in the book, and the real world we inhabit day-to-day. These people find it very hard to take the story seriously. Others, however, are able to enjoy the beauty of a book such as this. They see The Last Unicorn and books like it as a fantasy novel that does not take itself too seriously, and can use references from real life as a form of humor and another form of expression in the novel. Imagination isn't a bad thing to have, after all, especially in a fantasy world.
The Last Unicorn is a beautiful book, one that is filled with holes and spaces that draw you into its beauty and let you become a part of its creation.

Beagle's dreamy prose would be reason enough to read this fantastic fantasy novel, but the interesting plot, memorable characters, and subtle underlying plot about the need for truth and justice in the world is one that every reader will take with them to the end of thier lives. The major characters (the beautiful unicorn who becomes Amalthea, failed magician Shmendrick, and jaded scullery maid Molly Grue) are all very real, relatable characters, and not the ones you'd find in a typical fantasy. Lir is likable and realistic as the "Hero", minor characters such as the cat and the spider are lovable, and even the villains (the people of Hagsgate, Haggard, and Mommy Fortuna) are not typical villains. Beagle makes his novel so memorable, perhaps because instead of relating to the perfect heroine, the reader relates more to Molly Grue, or Shmendrick, or even Haggard. The Bull and the Unicorn are symbols - it is the human characters of this book that make it what it is. The ending of this novel is perfect - it left me in tears, and I couldn't decide if I was happy or sad. I could rant and rave about the splendor and beauty of this novel forever, but it wouldn't make any difference. Peter S. Beagle's novel "The Last Unicorn" is perhaps the best book ever written, certainly the best fantasy novel, and I give it the highest reccomendation I can possibly give. Get it now!

It certainly seemed that way to me. Very, very few novels have ever had the power to affect me in the way that "The Last Unicorn" did. It seems to start as such a simple tale, of the sort that's been told in fantasy or fairy tales so many times before...the last unicorn in the world sets out to find what has happened to the rest of her kind.
Only...almost before you realize it, Beagle's magical prose has entrapped you and transported you to another place--a world of whimsy and magic and deep Truths. The characters almost come alive...save that there is a very real feeling that these characters have _always_ lived, deep inside of us, and it took this book to unlock them so we could see and understand them.
To claim that "The Last Unicorn" is full of witty and insightful writing is almost to demean it by the very mundanity of the words. What should be said at the least is that the book is written on several levels, and is every bit as much about the nature of life and the nature of stories and fairy tales as it is about the story itself. Even Beagle himself says that "The Last Unicorn" holds some new surprise for him each time he returns to it.
"The Last Unicorn" gave me many new things to think about, and perhaps subtly changed my views on life. Perhaps it will do the same for you.

A unicorn overhears some hunters talking as they pass through her forest. They say that unicorns are gone from the world. The unicorn is so shocked that she makes up her mind to leave her forest and search for the other unicorns. She learns that she is indeed the last of her kind and that unicorns have been gone so long, people no longer know what they look like. The sad unicorn continues on her quest and meets an unforgetable cast of characters. There's a lot of obstacles that she goes through and I won't spoil it for you, but just be prepared for a really touching ending!
When I was little, I loved to watch the movie version of THE LAST UNICORN. I was going through a phase of horses, ponies, unicorns, and flying horses, so nothing pleased me more than that mystical animation, though the drawing was a bit rough and I didn't really understand it. Recently, my little sister discovered the tape lying about the house and proceeded to watch it. Now she too is caught in the frenzy. I watched it with her more than a couple of times and marveled at the delightful story with its original plot that I missed when I was young. I discovered that there was a book and managed to get a hold of a copy. . . .
THE LAST UNICORN was a fantastic read and now ranks as one of my favorite fantasy books, though the text is a bit easy. The book provides the unicorn fan with details that satisfy. However, I wasn't able to enjoy it as well because it is almost exactly like the movie, which I found really disappointing becuase I was hoping for a bit more. ...Oh well, this was still a treat to read and I recommend it to everyone (just take a break from the movie beforehand)!

I grew up watching the movie The Last Unicorn, and I've wanted to read the book for a while. I decided to just get it one day, and I was not disappointed. It brought me back to my childhood, and it was a fun and fairly quick read. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends and family. The only negative was that a good chunk of the pages had a rip in them. It wasn't a big deal to me, because it didn't make it unreadable or anything, but if I had bought this as a gift, it would have been a problem. Overall, very satisfied.

"The Unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone..."
But when one day she overhears two hunters arguing about the existence, or not, of her kind, she starts wondering if she's indeed the last unicorn, and sets off on a quest to find others like her. Nobody believes in fairy tales anymore and everyone she meets thinks she's nothing more than a white mare. Even Mommy Fortuna, who captures her one night while she's indiscreetly sleeping on the edge of a wood, and puts her in a cage to entertain and impress customers of her Midnight Carnival, alongside other animals that the witch turns into various illusory mythical beasts. Hopefully, one of Fortuna's assistants, Schmendrick the wannabe magician, recognizes the unicorn for what she really is. He releases her, and travelling together, meeting a new companion called Molly Grue on the way, they make for King Haggard's cursed castle. There lives the terrible Red Bull, the blind, devilish creature responsible for the disappearance of the unicorns, or so they've heard.
The Last Unicorn is a real fairy tale, where everything seems to happen in a kind of ethereal, parallel reality. Beagle's style is such that every place, every character, and every action that takes place is hard to focus on, as if it were a dream that you're trying to remember. And on the other hand, it approaches very real themes, ones you can relate to, such as finding who you are and what you want to be, or making the right choices and compromises in your life... I won't say I understood it all, but I was charmed by this deep, very poetic, and sad tale of love and magic, good and evil, by this quest for seasons of candor, when we believe in fairy tales and legendary creatures.

One of my longterm guilty non-reads has been Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn. And my gosh, I'm glad I finally did. It's a remarkable, beautiful, book. The prose is lovely, the story very moving, the characters involving -- the plot, well, probably just OK but that's not at all the point.

The story is about, no surprise, the last unicorn in the world. As the story opens she is brought to a vague realization that there are no other unicorns anymore, as far as anyone knows. She ends up deciding to search for her fellows, and soon gathers that they were taken away by the agency of the nasty King Haggard, and his mysterious creature the Red Bull. She is captured by a witch running a traveling animal exhibit, but she escapes with the help of a rather incompetent magician named Schmendrick. Schmendrick is tormented by his inability to control his magic in any way, and usually his inability to do any real magic. The two begin to follow Haggard's trail, but Shmendrick is captured by the outlaw Captain Cully, who imagines himself Robin Hood but doesn't quite manage it. Shmendrick escapes, of course, accompanied now also by Molly Grue, a rather faded and beaten down version of Maid Marian who had been cooking for Cully's band for years. And the three make their way to Haggard's strange castle, and to the neighboring town, cursed by prosperity.

At the castle the unicorn encounters the Red Bull, and is unable to deal with it -- and Shmendrick saves her, but by the terrible means of making her a human woman. Admitted to Haggard's haggard castle, they meet his amiable son, and of course the son falls for the unicorn in her womanly form. And eventually she begins to fall for him, once he understands that what she wants is not heroic quests and the heads of dragons and ogres. The shape of the story is clear, and the only resolution -- for Haggard to be deposed and the unicorns freed the Red Bull must be vanquished, and that vanquishing will require a certain sacrifice.

As I said, it's quite wonderful. In particular the first few chapters are astonishingly beautiful: some of the most intense prose I've ever read -- yet always undercut by odd humor and something akin to cynicism but not quite that. These abrupt shifts in tone work startlingly well. Beagle can't really maintain that level, though he reaches such heights again when needed, particularly at the climax. It's truly a treasure.

Lyrically written, charming, and engaging, The Last Unicorn can be best appreciated if it is read on its own terms. It is not a sweeping epic like any of J. R. R. Tolkien's works, nor a religious allegory like many of C.S. Lewis' works, nor a Disneyesque fairy tale with the perfunctory happy ending. Anyone reading it and expecting some variant of these other works will be disappointed. What The Last Unicorn does is take the traditional literary forms of the quest and the fairy tale, then stand them on their head in a very post-modern sort of way. It does this to entice readers to ponder the philosophical questions that author Peter S. Beagle considers important.

One certainly does not have to read The Last Unicorn in some deeply philosophical manner to enjoy it. As a simple tale, it is entertaining enough, with wonderful prose, imagery, and characters that will stay with you for a long time. There is the creaky witch, Mommy Fortuna, her Midnight Carnival, and the Harpy that will be her doom. There is Schmendrick, the hapless magician, struggling to tap his inner wizard. There is the genteel balladeer and highwayman, Captain Cully; his giant of a right-hand man, Jack Jingly; and his earthy charwoman, Molly Grue. And, of course, there is the Unicorn herself, a majestic and magical creature, a primeval force of nature rooted in eternity itself.

The tale itself begins with the Unicorn in her forest, discovering that she is apparently the very last Unicorn in the world. Although a solitary creature, this disturbs her greatly, so she begins a quest to find her people, leaving her beloved forest behind to travel a dangerous world. Along the way, she meets new friends (Schmendrick, Molly Grue) who help her overcome the many ordeals and enemies that she encounters along the way. Ultimately, the quests leads the Unicorn and her companions to the realm of King Haggard, the jaded and miserly ruler of a destitute kingdom by the sea, who may have had something to do with the disappearance of the Unicorns. At this point, the tale makes some twists and turns, before reaching its final, bittersweet conclusion.

Beneath the tale is a philosophical subtext that delights in exploring the answers to a variety of questions. What is the nature of illusion? Can we desire an illusion to be real so much that it does, in fact, become real - until its spell is broken? What is the difference between time and eternity? What would an eternal creature be like, and how would we react to it? If an eternal creature could somehow be made to see things from a mortal's point of view, how would it react? Beagle doesn't necessarily provide answers to all of these questions - at times, he just raises them for the reader to ponder.

Unfortunately, Beagle can't resist dropping all-too-obvious hints that he is playing a friendly little game with his readers. Anachronistic references to tacos and field recordings, a butterfly that spouts pop tunes from the 1930's, a talking skull that makes reference to "character assassins" - Beagle drops a number of not-so-subtle and unnecessary hints, calling the reader's attention to how he is violating the traditional norms of the literary form that he is using, and daring the reader to figure out why. It's as if Beagle were sitting across the room from the reader, winking and smiling wryly.

In the end, however, Beagle manages to pull off a difficult literary feat - creating a simple and enjoyable story that can be read at a deeper, more philosophical level. The reader can approach it in either way and take something away from his work. While it doesn't have quite the same emotional resonance for me as (say) any of Tolkien's works, the Last Unicorn deserves its status as a modern literary classic.

This item is filed under Graphic Novels, yet the details describe the book. I don't know which you'll get if you order this, but both are top-notch within their medium--as is the animated film.

Which one should you get? Easy--all three.

Very few books combine grace, thought, and metaphor so beautifully as Peter Beagle's classic novel, "The Last Unicorn." His use of language is supurb, his plot line delicate and deep, his characterization poignant and humorous all at once. Certainly, one should class "The Last Unicorn" among those works, such as "The Prophet," that brush spirituality and show the merest achingly beautiful glimpse of the shrouded divine.
While rereading this tale, laughing over remembered lines and shuddering at the phantastical scenes, I was frequently caught up with surprise at his light strokes of humanity - the reactions to lovliness personified in the Unicorn, the question of reality and legend, the true nature of joy and suffering - which I had missed when I had read the "pretty tale" years ago as a child.
Is it too euphorically hyperbolic to declare that "The Last Unicorn" can only be appreciated by those who long for the beauty, purity and grace the unicorn represents to be once more present in the world? Is it too ridiculous to declare that those who wallow in the dreariness of the seeming day-to-day may not appreciate this novel, while those who have read this book, and the "Chronicals of Narnia," and all those tales that proclaim the True the Good and the Beautiful as more real than what we see about us will marvel at Beagle's tale?
I hope not - for I should like to think that the divine spark Beagle has given us in "The Last Unicorn" is as vital to those who prefer Hemmingway as to those who dwell with hobbits.

A mythically beautiful Unicorn, as all Unicorns are, embarks on a quest for

others of her kind after overhearing a conversation between hunters

relegating her species to extinct/legendary status. Along the way she picks

up two loyal followers, Schmendrick the charmingly incompetent magician, and

Molly Grue a rough edged woman of the world. Together they travel, dealing

with crises along the way, until they come at last to King Haggard's realm,

the home of the infamous Red Bull, and the place where all rumours and tales

tell them the answer to their quest resides. But to gain this answer they

must all find within themselves wells of strength and fortitude none ever

new they possessed, or else they will perish, consumed by an insidious evil...

a bitter old man.

This is a darn fine book. Charming, cuttingly humorous (the Robin Hood

sequence had me in stitches), moving, affirming ... I guess poignant says it

all.

Buy it, read it, savour it. A 5 out of 5!!

The movie enchanted me as a child, and I just learned of the book recently. I finished it and it kept a part of my heart in its pages as I closed it; Molly Grue is a beautiful and strong character, and Schmendrick is so much wiser than he's given credit for. The book was the movie with more, and the writing was what every fantasy writer aspires to. It held such a powerful magic to it that I now compare my own writing to it every time I begin to write. "The Last Unicorn" is a timeless tale with more themes than anyone can count and a limitless demographic; a child reading it will find magic and adventure, and an adult will find wisdom and youth. I would recommend it to any fan of fantasy and/or philosophy.

My mom was surprised I'd never read it. And I saw the movie, which I loved for its campy 80's-ness and animation that wasn't Disney. The book follows the movie pretty damn well. It's almost word-for-word. So much that I'm afraid my experience with the movie colored my opinion of the book. I guess it's like when you hear the remix to a song first, then you hear the original version. But the remix was the first one you heard so you like that better. I'm sure there's a name for that phenomenon.

Anyway, I wish I could say I enjoyed it and could recommend it, but the fact is, I think I got more out of the movie than the book. Sorry to be that way. Maybe it was meant for the seventies. Maybe it was supposed to be old-world satirical, like "The Once and Future King".

For instance, one of the bandits eats a taco. I had to read that several times and look it up to make sure "taco" didn't have some weird etymology. And there are other anachronisms like the Rastafarian butterfly, Jewish names, and magic that works when the story needs it to.

But I also didn't like "The Once and Future King". I guess if you're going to make a humorous fantasy novel, you gotta go whole hog like "The Princess Bride". The movie felt more alive, with bright colors and good voice acting and better tension. But I'm glad I read it.

I had been wanting to read this book for long over a decade. Now that I have read it, I am glad I did. It was good. I enjoyed how there was a connection to the characters and a uniqueness about each one. The story of the unicorn as well was quite exciting yet sad all at once. It wasn't overly extraordinary. I suppose I had too high of hopes for it, but if you like stories about fantasy worlds, magicians, heroes, kings, and unicorns, this is a must read.

The Last Unicorn is about unicorn who seems to be the last unicorn in the land. She is concerned and wants to find more like herself. While on her journey, she meets new people and a new set of problems. Could she forget who she is? What is really her life about?

First published in 1968 this is one of the great books of the fantasy genre. Superficially YA it has depth and layers that speak to the essence of myth. A unicorn seeks others of her kind, and goes though a series of adventures that deal with the nature of immortality and mortality. This book also has a sly sense of humor not found in books of this type because they take themselves too seriously. This edition has the short story sequal to,the book written some forty years later and an interview with author.

This book is shimmering with magic and beauty. It is just as otherwordly as the fairy-tales you loved as a child, and yet it somehow more than that. It has its own mood, its own atmosphere. Somehow, it seems as though all the characters are aware of the world they live in, as real people never are. This is not a dream pretending to be real. This reality well aware that it is a dream.
The charakters are simple and yet each serves a purpose. Each is distinct and well-drawn, from the amusing Smendrick and the strong Molly the tragic Unicorn and the wrecked king Haggard. And even though you instantly "see" each character, they are all more than what they apear to be. All of them seem to have that second layer wich makes them deeper and more meaningul. They are both simple and many-layered. And all of them are tragic, and yet filled with hope.
The story is written in a language full of delightful images, with so musical lines its almost like poetry from time to time. I've never read anything quite like this book, and that is saying a lot. Scenes and sentenses keep popping back into my head, even when I'm thinking about something quite unrelated.
But the thing that really sets this book apart is that even though it is wonderfuly inreal, it feels true. It feels though the world of the unicorn is more true than the real world. It almost hurts to go back.
Go on. Buy this book. Spend a few hours in a magical dream-land. We all need some enchantment in our lives.

This is one of my favorite books. It is shameless fantasy, and a great book for a teen, great for an adult, great for men, great for women. It's just great!

The heroes of the story are all fallible heroes - Schmendrick the magician is a bit of a schmuck, and Lir the prince is a bit of a sad sack (at least at the beginning), and Molly is plainly a bit common - except for the unicorn. She is a unique and special thing, and brings "specialness" to everyone and everything that enters her sphere of influence. The message? No matter how hopelessly dull anyone may be, uniqueness is within.

The book is beautifully paced and balanced, with episodes that contain plenty of action, but with plenty of opportunity for bits of poetry in between. It has many lyrical stretches, but these are balanced by many wryly comic scenes and sardonic observances. It is obsessively readable, and even obsessively re-readable. It has been loaned out more than any other book I own.

I have watched the movie as the first animation ever on theatre here and was mesmerized by it. Now, I had the second chance to appreciate it by reading the book. Oh, I found the source story is more beautiful than ever. As most movies from book, though the plots are almost the same, but there are details and small plots that weren't included. My understandings, feelings, thoughts and visions are deepened from the reading experience. I must watch the movie all over again.

Mr. Beagle is a great storyteller. He didn't just make a fantasy with typical plot, but he used details from other fairytales and composed them as the frame to represent his thoughts. So, my opinion about this story has not changed since I watched it in 1980's: this is a beautiful original one. Just consider these points: Do your part in this life though you don't seem to like it now; define your own time; there's no ending to the story of life, only the continuation from one story to the next; and last but not the least: unicorns live forever @-->--

I bought this book having been a fan of the movie since I can remember. Though some might say that unicorns are for children, at 22, I can still read this book over and over, and never be tired of it. Beagle's imagery and character development are fantastic.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good fairy-tale style fantasty story, but I recommend to primarily to anyone who has only seen the movie. While the movie itself is also wonderful, the book offers so, so much more.
The novel changes perspective several times. After the unicorn's meeting with Schmendrick the Magician much of the story is told through Schmendrick's point of view, it seems (in contrast to the movie, where the story is almost entirely told from the point of view of the unicorn). The book is very emotional, and the character development is supurb. Some things left out from the movie are the magician's background, and the story of the town of Hagsgate.
There are still parts of this book that ring in my head long after I read it. In a good way, that is.

I grew up watching this movie. This was one of my favorite cartoon movie when I was younger. It was such a well made movie. I thought that the voice of the Unicorn (Mia Farrow) was ever so enchanting for an immortal creature. I had tried over the years to find the movie, but couldn't find it. It had been out of print for quite some time. Well thanks for time and a little bit later I finally did get to buy the movie. The next thing I wanted to do was to find the novel and read it. I had wondered if the novel had the same power as the movie had. I was so happy to find out that it did. I was so happy to find out that the guy who wrote the screenplay for the movie was also the writer of the novel... Peter S. Beagle. I have read a few of his works since then and have been impressed... He is a great author. In a biography of himself he had said, that "The Last Unicorn" was the only novel that anyone ever identifies him with. If I were him, I would feel honored to have such a beautiful story to be remembered by.

Words fail to describe the powerful emotions innate in Beagle's rendering of The Last Unicorn. Only by putting aside all else and losing oneself to the passionate joy and deep sorrow of one of the most loved "fantasy" beings of all time can one even begin to comprehend the meaning of love and friendship, as well as loss. This - dare I say - epic tale of a Unicorn's journey through distant lands and great troubles to revive her lost comrades brings tears to any eyes that fall upon it. Her tragic realization of loss and the determination only a true immortal could have in overcoming it draws one deep into the story as it unfolds and draws the soul closer to itself... The lessons all the characters must learn -- the youthful, bumbling would-be magician, the woman who seeks happiness, even the so-called antagonists -- are those everyone learns and yet so poignantly put that one cannot help but to feel as if it were they galloping across many many miles and taking each loss and each gain to their own hearts

After being plagued with nightmares of Celano the Harpy during my childhood years, after watching the animated version of the Last Unicorn, I was ironically hooked. Now, at age 19, the Last Unicorn remains my favorite fairy tale, both in book and video form. Where so many of today's animated films falter is their humor level. Disney's films, while great, fail to convey the urgency of the story. Not so with Beagle's story. This is a refreshing, and very dark tale, with humor inserted at proper intervals. Anyone who has read the book or watched the film, can't deny the fantastic imagery displayed and written about. It is this serious storyline about regret, courage, fear, greed, evil, and love that puts it above the rest, and contains themes unique to fantasy novels and films. Children and adults of all ages should read the book, or watch the film. It will enrich your life as fantastically as it has mine. Just make sure your child can handle watching the film! It's definitely a DARK film, be warned!

I read this based on the praise of Patrick Rothfuss. It is a fantasy of different sort. This isn't Tolkein-esque or hard fantasy. This is the fantasy of a dream world. The literary style is at times jarring. Then it becomes poetry. And finally you find yourself being drug along without realizing it is dragging you.

This book is hauntingly beautiful. Beagle somehow captures the beauty of his unicorn in the eyes of the creatures around her, except for humans, who don't usually recognize her. What is amazing, is how she is flawed, taking centuries to realize she is the only one left and almost not caring enough to seek out where they have gone. Schmendrick is also flawed, trying so hard to do some "real" magic, causing more trouble than he solves (almost). Molly Grue is the most innocent, although she is grimy & gritty and one hard woman. At least she, of all the other characters, keeps a grip on what's going on and The Plan.

Each character grows and changes... except, maybe, the vain spider.

She is the last of the Unicorns. For centuries, she has lived within her forest, at one with nature and her surroundings. Immortal, she has been unconcerned with the fate of the other Unicorns, for surely, if they were all gone, she would know of it? But it is not the case. Feeling curiosity and doubt for the first time in many years, she sets off to find out what has happened to the other Unicorns, why humans don't even seem to see her, and just what the mysterious Red Bull is.
Beagle writes beautifully. Metaphors and similes are used with ease, and almost without exception they evoke images of verdant forest, shimmering lakes or crashing seas. Nature is a well-used tool for poetic license, and fits the theme and setting of the book perfectly.
Along the way, she meets the bumbling magician Schmendrick after being captured by a dark, evil witch, then Molly Grue next befriends her. Together the trio explore the land, venturing deep into the mean King Haggard's domain in search of the Red Bull.
Characters are either very black or very white. The Unicorn, we are told, is the most perfect, beautiful creature of all, and this lofty description is met and matched and every opportunity. We believe that she is perfect because her actions are perfect and the words to describe her are perfect. There is a sense of great sadness when she walks through a human town and is considered to be only a white mare, she cannot understand how the villagers seem unable to even see her horn.
There are mis-steps along the way, but not many. Some of the dialogue between humans is too anachronistic for my liking, and the opening to the second part of the novel in Haggard's castle dragged a little bit. A few too-clever modern day references were made as well, but really, all of these are minor. The writing is beautiful, capable of evoking sadness and joy, and the characters are a lot of fun to be around. The ending, while tidy, was expected almost from the start and is thus satisfying.
On a last note, the butterfly near the start was probably my favourite part of the whole novel, what a great character!

It's just like Molly said to Cully, "You have it backward. There's no such person as you, or me, or any of us." Molly Grue and Schmendrick are real, and we are the legends. Thats the way you feel when you're reading this book. I remembered the movie faintly from when I was a child, mainly the nightmares that the Red Bull gave me, and I was wandering through the shelves of the local library and this book jumped out at me. As I looked at its spine I could vaguely remember one line from the movie. "They passed down all the roads long ago, and the Red Bull ran close behind them and covered their footprints." And so of course I checked it out and preceeded to read what I feel is the second greatest fantasy novel I've ever read (right behind Michael Ende's The Neverending Story which you should also read). The descriptive language Beagle uses in this book is like poetry, and ther is always a slight hint of humor that floats around even when your heart is breaking for the amazing cast of characters. I won't try to describe the Molly or Schmendrick or Lir or the unicorn, for my words pale in comparison to Beagle's who makes it seem that she stands there in front of the reader in all her glory. This book is a must for anyone who calls themselves a fan of literature, and especially those who crave magic in their world. This book is beautiful.

This is the book that made Peter Beagle famous among readers of fantasy. There was merchandising, stuffed animals, an animated movie-- in short, it became an industry. But is the book at the heart of this worth the attention? Yes, it certainly is. On the surface of it, The Last Unicorn is a simple story about a unicorn who wants to find the others of her kind. Along the way, she meets an inept magician, an old but kindly spinster, and even a heroic prince. She also spends some time as a human. But the story is told in words as shining and subtle as starlight, the author making his overused character types into almost Jungian people who will be instantly recognizable to anyone. Even the unicorn is made somewhat human by the fact that she can cry. Some parts of the story are also very funny as a sly parody of Robin Hood and other legends of that type. Now that it is also available on cassette, it is worth any lover of fantasy's time

What a magical mystery tour! Beautiful unicorns, wandering minstrels, evil witches, goodly wizards, heroes, princes , and cursed kings! You will laugh and cry and wonder at the magic of the stories words. Soft heartfelt magical prose that lingers in your soul.

I was bewitched by the animated movie as a child. I would spend hours drawing the delicate legs, flowing mane, and tremulous eyes of the last unicorn. The written tale is far more spellbinding as the characters magically come to life in your mind's eye. They drag you along in wonder, fear, sadness, and joy in a tale that somehow forces you to wish and dream fable into reality. The wizardry of this tale doesn't end with the last page. A part of you will refuse to accept that unicorns are not a real part of our world, and it will seek for them forever after.

This is a fairytale I plan to have on the nightstand, waiting to be read to my children. Its a beautiful lyrical tale, something you can read over and over again just for the poetic enjoyment. In only 200 pages, Beagle's characters ring so true. Most writers fail to manage that in twice the length! After countless years of solitude (unicorns live alone), the unicorn cannnot remember when she saw another of her kind. She fears that she may be the last one. She runs into a fumbling low-rate Magician. Together they travel through a forest where Merrymen worship Robinhood and travel to the castle by the sea in search for another of her kind. From the first sentence to the last, you'll be gifted with such lush and surreal beauty and vivid characters. I loved it!
It ranks in the league of The Hobbit as not only a children's story, but a timeless tale for all ages.

Peter S. Beagle's timeless tale of a unicorn searching for her fellow unicorns who is joined by Schmendrick, a magician who's slightly short of talent, and Molly Grue, a dedicated woman who finally meets the unicorn, but almost too late. As the unicorn searches for her friends she runs into many problems along the way, not the least of which is the Red Bull, who's mission is to track down all the unicorns and bring them to King Haggard. Schmendrick, in one of his rare bursts of true magic, turns the unicorn into a human, narrowly escaping the trap of the red bull. From there it's a race against time, and the heart, to turn the lady Amalthea back into a unicorn and to find the rest of the missing unicorns. An enthralling read, I'd reccomend it to anyone, young, old or in between. Love, excitement, danger, deception, it's all here. Enjoy

This story was recommended by goodreads and I never heard about it until then. It was actually a cute fairy tale. The heroes weren't what I expected. There was a really bad magician, a woman named Molly, a prince, and a woman who used to be a unicorn. They went out to fight the evil king Haggard and the Red bull to save the unicorns. It was cute.

Reading The Last Unicorn is like reading a poem. Its word seem to flow from the pages like unicorns out of the sea. The story is deep and moving, as good as The Lord of the Rings, but certainly not a rip-off or cheap copy. The Last Unicorn is in a class of fantasy (and literature,) all of its own! It is a timeless tale that follows a unicorn who leaves her beloved lilac wood to discover the fate of the world's unicorns. She is eventually joined by two companion, a clumsy wizard named Schmendrick, and a depressed cook named Molly. As they help the unicorn fulfill her quest, they begin journeys of their own, and explore their own true potentials. You'll be drawn into the story of the these adventurers as their road takes them to King Haggards country, where it is believed all the unicorns were pushed long ago. The Last Unicorn is full of wonders and stunning words that will keep you reading it again and again! To quote Schmendrick, "There are no happy endings because nothing ever ends."

"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."

So begins Peter Beagle's, The Last Unicorn. What a fantastic book! This one has been on my to be read list for a long while.

The Last Unicorn is everything that a fantasy should be. It has unicorns to begin with, magicians, gypsies, old kingdoms, kings, princes, magic, an old castle on top of a hill, and a giant red bull.

It is the story of a unicorn who is on a quest to find others like herself. Along the way, she meets a magician and a gypsy sort of woman. They are on a quest to find The Red Bull who must be defeated in order for her to find the other unicorns. Plenty of magic, fighting, wizardry, love and loss occur along the way, all in breathtaking fashion.

The unicorn is a wonderful, powerful character. Unicorns are one of the first things that pop into my mind when I think of fantasy. Even white horses look magical in real life because of the idea of a unicorn. Peter Beagle's unicorn is the definition of what a unicorn should be. She's mysterious, powerful, beautiful, glowing, and magical. She reminded me a lot of Yvaine from Stardust even though Yvaine wasn't a unicorn. Read the book and you'll understand why. I thought of Stardust a lot while reading this book. It has the same magical theme, and is a classic fantastic fairy tale like Stardust is. In fact, I'm hoping that there's one scene involving a unicorn in Stardust that does not make it to the film because it was very upsetting just reading it.

The red bull was a wonderful character in The Last Unicorn. He is described as an enormous red bull who's size is more than one can imagine with horns like lightning and a sort of electricity coming off of him. He is also blind. He herds unicorns into the sea. Wonderful fantasy character and even though he's somewhat of a villain I still loved him.

The illustrations are done by Mel Grant and I loved them. They were exactly what they should be and I can't describe them much better than that. Black and white illustrations with a very "sketched" look that fit perfectly with the story.

This was my first book of Peter Beagle's. The man is an extraordinary writer. His descriptions are so detailed and beautiful and so different from any other authors I've read. He has a wonderful way with words and creates a beautiful story here. The next issue of Orson Scott Card's online magazine Intergalactic Medicine Show is supposed to have an interview with him and a new short story by him. Can't wait for that.

There's also an animated version of The Last Unicorn out there that I'd like to check out. It's always good to see a book translated into a movie and I believe that Peter Beagle wrote the screenplay for the movie.

The Last Unicorn is one of most astounding books I have ever read. Not only because of the story, which is a fairytale in every sense of the word, but also because of Beagle's flawless writing, which weaves a spell of words and images that I find myself willingly ensnared in every time I open its pages. I find myself lingering over each sentence, each word, and I am astounded by the care with which he tells this tale.
Once upon a time, there was a unicorn. A beautiful unicorn... who was all alone. She sets out on a journey to seek others of her kind and is joined on her travels by a bumbling magician and an old spinster, neither of who are what they first appear to be. Encountering magical monsters, outlaws and suspicious townspeople, the three travelers find themselves at the gate of a forbidding castle wherein lives a cruel king and a gentle prince. It is in the walls of this castle that the truth lies. But can they accept what the truth will bring?
Beagle tells an amazing tale, of love and loss, of heartache and hope. Each of the characters in his work has such life and depth, and I see myself in each and every one of them. From an inept magician who desperately seeks to be more than what he is to the outlaws who cry out with loss of that which they have never known, there is so much life in these few short pages that I find myself reading and rereading each page, afraid lest I miss something. When Schmendrick cries, "I'll make you into a bad poet with dreams!" I want to laugh, but at the same time I want to cry with pity, with unexplainable sorrow for something I can't quite understand and am not sure I want to.
The Last Unicorn is about more than just a quest for unicorns. It is also a story about the things that we love and what we will do - or not do - for that love. It is about what really defines a hero, and what constitutes a happy ending. But most of all, it is about magic. Joy. Sadness. Beauty. It is about all the things we are and all the things we long to be. It is a breathtakingly beautiful story by a wonderful writer, and I recommend it as one of the best books I have ever read.

The Last Unicorn is very touching and emotional. The plot, the story, the details. Everything is perfect and awe-inspiring. This is the theme song to the movie:
When the last eagle glides over the last crumbling moutain
And the last lion roars at the last dusty fountain
In the shadow of the forest, though she may be old and worn
They will stare unbelieving at the last unicorn!
I'm alive! I'm alive!
When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning
And the future is past without ever a last desperate warning
Then look into the sky where through the clouds have passed the storm
Look and see her, how she sparkles, it's the last unicorn!
I'm alive! I'm alive!

Peter Beagle's THE LAST UNICORN is always a discovery for me, however often I encounter it. Only with reluctance would I name the book one of my favourites, for it employs throughout devices I routinely find annoying in modern fantasy writing. Chief among these is an awareness on the part of the characters that they ARE in a kind of faerie tale and, as such, have generally defined roles they are expected to play. I prefer to lose myself in a story rather than be reminded continually that it IS a story. The 1982 animated film adaptation, though following the plot and dialogue of the book with unusual faithfulness, had problems of its own. Too often it tended toward the melodramatic, and some of the line-delivery could only be described as 'shrill'.

Yet it was the animated version I discovered first and, whatever the imperfections, I have re-watched it many times over the years. Clearly, something in it touched me as few films ever do. And I must concede that Beagle's novel is even more affecting.

Set in a world of vaguely mediaeval elements laced with what has been called 'intentional anachronism' and populated with towns and kingdoms that never were, this is the story of a solitary unicorn who learns that all others of her kind have disappeared from the world. She therefore leaves the security of her enchanted forest in order to discover what became of them. Not unexpectedly, on this quest she encounters various individuals whose destinies will be realized by how they help or hinder her. Yet there is more melancholy than magic in this, for few are pleased with what they gain. A bitter old man is what he is precisely because he has spent his life in a relentless and uncompromising search FOR lasting happiness. A younger man becomes a hero to win the woman he loves, but instead he gains a kingdom for which he had no desire. And then there is Molly, who chased a dream in her youth, only to wind up in used and disillusioned drudgery. The most heart-breaking moment of the entire work may be when she first sees the unicorn and cries out, 'Where have you been? ... What good is it to me that you're here now? Where were you twenty years ago, ten years ago? ... How dare you come to me now, when I am this?'

There is humour in the tale as well, albeit most often wry, sardonic, or simply playful. And there is a happy ending overall, if somewhat ambivalent for the individuals themselves.

Ultimately, however, UNICORN evades the foreshadowed cynicism and achieves poignance. For me, what makes it work most is the unique 'poetry' of its prose. Beagle's metaphors and similes are particularly compelling, fashioned on unexpected images that really do work. 'One owl-less autumn evening, they ... saw the castle ... thin and twisted, bristling with thorny turrets, dark and jagged as a giant's grin.' A vast monster 'was the color of blood, not the springing blood of the heart but the blood that stirs under an old wound that never really healed.' A young girl's 'skin was the color of snow by moonlight.' Later she 'fell as irrevocably as a flower breaks ....' 'Things happened both swiftly and slowly as they do in dreams, where it is really the same thing.' The genius of such descriptions is that they often evoke a sense, rather than an image. We may not actually KNOW what colour is blood under an old wound, but we FEEL its darkness and grim persistence.

THE LAST UNICORN is a story of the bittersweet, of melancholy joy, of wonder mingled with resignation, of oppressive gloom and extraordinary beauty, of wit and of wisdom and of poetry. It does not LOOK like 'great literature', but it teaches throughout that appearances are deceiving -- and goes on to prove the point.

Where to begin about this book? I have read it so many times. I've watched the movie even more. This book is about love, hope, sadness, and regret. Read this book if you like fantasy novels, romantic stories, or adventures. It has all three. The romance of Prince Lir and the Lady Amalthea is beautiful. The way everyone who comes into real contact with the unicorn is lovely. Schmendrick is even great, and he's the most annoying thing in the book. The way he longs to be a true magician is heart wrenching. Molly Grue makes you think of a woman who has seen too many years of hardship, but finally finds something that makes it all worth it. Nothing about this book is bad. But if you are the type who cries, be warned, the end of this book will make you cry, or at the very least tear up. It did that to me, it does that to me everytime I read it, in fact, and I'm not much of a crier. I hope everyone at least gets this book from the library and reads it at least once.

While The Last Unicorn may not be comparable to such classics as The Lord of the Rings or the Narnia series, it is nevertheless a beautiful glance into a fantastical world of strange creatures and wayward humans. Like The Circus of Dr. Lao, it bedecks itself in gorgeous mythological raiments but adds a twist of satire and self-deprecation to the mix to keep it from becoming pompous. The story stirs the heart and presents some mystifying symbolism (The Red Bull, the clock that must be entered) but seems to lose focus in some parts. Recommended for young adults or those new to the fantasy genre, but not quite as satisfying to experienced fantasy enthusiasts.

This isn't me telling you what the book is all about or anything like that. I love the book, I started with the movie, but none of that matters to the people who don't understand this work of art.

I could go on forever on the beauty and the emotion behind the story, how it makes me cry every time because she learns to love, only to learn how to regret as well and lives her eternal life as the only unicorn who knows these emotions; but the real point I want to make isn't that.

For people who don't understand the book, why it lingers in parts, why the wording is the way it is, all I can tell you is how I read it: through a unicorn's eyes.

If we can read sci-fi through the eyes of an alien or other fantasy through the eyes of a hobbit, a wizard, a werewolf, an elf, why can't we simply sit and read through the eyes of a unicorn?

I felt it was all about realizing the purer aspects of human nature, the raw emotion the first time we ever felt them. Imagine living for hundreds of years without experiencing your first love, finding him so strong and true and kind, and then finding out you can never EVER be with him and that's how tragic The Last Unicorn is and how beautiful it is.

Perfection is the only word to describe this comic. It is the most wonderful adaptation I could ever have hoped for for a book as magical as The Last Unicorn. It captures the spirit and essence of the novel; all the important parts are in there, along with all its magic and emotions, its love and tragedy. Of course there were characters and scenes that have to be left out, but that doesn't take one bit away from this comic.

The art is absolutely stunning. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever had the pleasure of seeing; it does justice and more to the original novel and, with all do respect to the ones who love the movie adaptation, the art of the comic is ten million times more superb than the silly animation of the movie.

The comic is so perfectly done and so deeply moving that I have to confess that a couple of pages (maybe even more than that) brought tears to my eyes. This book was one of those things that actually made me feel grateful for the opportunity of even holding it in my hands and have a peek at its wonders...

So, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The Last Unicorn has the distinction of being a book for everybody. It has a strangely sad happy ending for children, and enough considerative comments by the characters to make adults sit and think. The overall format is a traditional quest, where the unicorn, a creature of mystery, is searching for her lost fellows with the help of Schmendrick, an inept magician who longs for true power, and Molly Grue, a down-to-earth cook from a band of outlaws trying to be merry men. When by a stroke of fate the unicorn is changed into a human being while very close to her goal, she has to choose between love and immortality, a choice which will determine her success or failure. A touchingly beautiful story.

THREE QUICK POINTS:
* Point 1: Nature plays a large role. The textures, the aromas, and the sounds all revolve around the things that grow and thrive in nature; shifting from air to sea to fire to earth to metal, and sometimes intermingling.

* Point 2: The unicorn is rather vain, but in such a way that her vanity seems justified. Throughout the text we're reminded that the unicorn is the most beautiful creature, much of which is her own musing, and when she's turned human, she's incredibly distraught because she's mortal and dying, and therefore no longer beautiful.

* Point 3: This book is a musical without the sheet music. If anyone had any doubts that Mr. Beagle enjoys writing lyrics, hand them this book. Just about everyone sings something at some point, ranging from the silly and nonsensical to the melancholy.

SHORT SYNOPSIS:
A unicorn residing in a lilac wood overhears two huntsmen discussing the existence of unicorns. When the unicorn learns that she's the last of her kind, she embarks on a journey to find her kin. On this adventure, she learns about the Red Bull who drove the unicorns away, gets captured in a traveling sideshow, meets a kind and loyal magician named Schmendrick and a woman named Molly Grue who join her journey, is turned into a human, and ultimately learns the truth about the unicorns.

MY THOUGHTS:
If you have no patience for florid language and abstract descriptions, then this is not the book for you. Nearly every sentence is rife with similes and adjectives and adverbs. In any other story, I'd probably admonish the author, but for The Last Unicorn, it works. It brightened up the narration, even in the dreariest of passages.

From the very first page, I was sucked into the fantasy, into a completely different world possibly long ago or existing parallel to this one. Who truly knows? What I do know is that I felt as though I were standing right next to the unicorn throughout her entire journey and meeting the same creatures and people that she did and escaping from the same dangers. In other words, the story felt real. Intellectually I knew the story was fiction, but deep inside, in a place that's usually lost to age, it was completely believable.

Each character was built with a perfect balance of strength and weakness. For instance, the unicorn is vain. In the beginning, the vanity seems justified to an extent, but when she's transformed into the Lady Amalthea who now has human emotions and desires, that justifiable vanity becomes arrogance, mainly to disguise her fear. Schmendrick was a good-natured bungling wizard who occasionally had an off day. It was the off days that made him so relatable. And the indomitable Molly Grue, the voice of cool reason and support. Together the characters all complemented each other well.

The story had a nice flow, though I will admit some parts tended to slow down, but it wasn't so bad that I could put the book down and never want to pick it up again. The opposite, actually. Those sections gave me a moment to breathe so I could put the book down for the night get some rest and come back to it another day. Frankly, I was glad that the book took a little longer than usual to read because I wanted to prolong the story. Even when it ended I felt a little sad because I wanted to continue on with each character on their journeys.

I also need to mention that this is not a typical happily-ever-after fairytale either. A difficult decision needed to be made at the end and it left me a bit heartbroken, but satisfied.

This was my favorite movie growing up and this is my first time reading the book (I'm 29!). That being said, this book was so good that I think it's at least on my top 10 list. I loved reading this.

I got this book as part of the Humble Bundle ebook 2 edition although it has been on my list in paperback form for sometime. The edition was great and worked flawlessly on my kindle. This is an amazing story that I don't think gets the credit it really deserves. There is a light-heartedness to it which makes it fun to read but doesn't take away from the serious message of the overall story. I know Peter S Beagle wrote this without a plan and you definitely get that feel from the book but in a good way. Unlike most books where I can pick out the obvious twists and turns from the very beginning this book felt like an actual adventure I was a part of.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I have seen the animated film many times and always enjoyed it. I have never until now read the story "Two Hearts" but was just as enthralled by it as by "The Last Unicorn". I certainly would like to read more of Peter S. Beagles' works, as I was unaware he had written so many and varied things. (Shame on me!)

The Last Unicorn, despite its cute title, is a novel both casual and profound, mythical and familiar, quirky and solemn. Combine Alice in Wonderland with The Hobbit, and then add something darker and more grown up.

While many are familiar with this tale through the children's movie, Peter S. Beagle's classic faery-story tells a much deeper story than the literal, visual representation. It is a tale of second-rate magicians, tragic heroes, and of the ancient, uncontrollable magic of the earth and sea. It is as much philosophy as fantasy, which is of course, the very best sort; It is this trait that sets Beagle alongside C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the rest of the Inklings. The deepest themes are conveyed, to the discerning reader, through a butterfly's inane ravings, through a gypsy witch's offhand remarks, through the unicorn's intuition.

There is tragedy here, wry laughter too, love lost and spirit-touching symbolism, wrapped in a tone that will make you smile and sigh, feeling nostalgic about magic.

I watched the movie a dozen times as a kid, and then another dozen as an adult, and no matter how many times I saw "based on the book by Peter S. Beagle", I never once thought about buying and reading the book. Then, by chance maybe, it showed up in my recommendations on Good Reads. So I read it, and I am so very glad that I did. Everything was so wonderful about this book that I don't even know where to start in trying to prove my point. I loved the characters, even the little ones, like the weeping spider and Molly Grue's cat. The songs were fun and all the fairy tale elements made me smile and laugh and even cry. Yes, this beautiful book brought me to tears - multiple times. And when I finished the final page, the very first thing I wanted to do was read it again. That is something that has never happened to me before. If that doesn't tell you how awesome this book is, I'm not sure what will. Read this book, or die unhappy.

What seperates fantasy and fairy tale? It's a fine line, but this one is definitely in the latter category. It's truly literature, with a poetic type prose that breaths an otherworldly life to the characters, and the insight into the mind of the unicorn is breathtaking. There is not a paint by numbers storyline, but in fact one that is original and unlike anything I have read before or since. The animated movie was my original introduction to this story - about a unicorn's quest to discover if she's really the last unicorn left upon the earth. Touching, romantic, and emotional, there are plot twists that leave the reader wondering what will happen next, provided they have not witnessed the movie beforehand as a warmup. A sentimental must read for anyone who loves a well written story.

I grew up watching the movie, and I was delighted to discover the book.

The book has a lot on common with the movie, but is also very different in tone in a lot of places -- much more humorous, satiric, parodic. But still beautiful.

Peter Beagle can't really be compared to any other author -- people who write negative reviews of TLU seem to have been expecting something different, more of a standard fantasy, or something like LOTR. (Don't get me wrong -- I love LOTR. But just because it's fantasty and TLU is fantasy doesn't mean the two are going to be anything alike.) The only other author I can think to compare Peter Beagle to at all might be John Crowley. Very unique, moves at his own pace, has a very distinct style (of writing and of plotting and characterization). If you love him, you love him, and if you don't like him, well then, you don't.

As a long-time fan of the film, I was so happy to finally have the chance to read the book. The audiobook is read by the author himself which makes for a fun and interesting experience. I love the fusion of classic fairy tales, a little bit of 4th-wall metaknowledge, modern humor and folk artistry. There's so much more to the story than what makes it into the film, so I encourage all fans who haven't yet read the book, certainly do so.

I watched the cartoon adaption of the book when I was 8 years old. Ever since, the tale of the unicorn, all powerful but very lonely has enthralled me. Sometimes, unconsciously, I catch myself thinking back about the adventures of the magical beast. I can still rememebr vividly the scene where the unicorn confronts the Red Bull. I was pleasantly surprised when I found the book last year. While it is true that the price might appear hefty for what appears to be a simple fairy tale, it is worth every single cent. The tale remains as fresh and captivating today as it was 12 years ago. I loved it! I am now trying to get all my cousins to read it. You should give it a try too!

I have read this book a numerous amount of times and I still learn something new every time. It starts out making you think that it's generally about a unicorn who cannot find others like herself in the world. A butterfly comes by and tells her that a creature called the Red Bull has driven all the unicorns into the sea for his owner, King Haggard. This unicorn was the last. So the unicorn sets out on a journey that would forever change her life. Along the way, she meets a want-to-be wizard, but he is only a kindly skinny magician. And a woman named Molly Grue. When finally they reach King Haggard's castle, the Red Bull senses the unicorn's presence. The only way the unicorn can escape and save her people is by turning into something else. So her magician turns her into a human. They get into King Haggard's castle and stay there for a while. And as the unicorn becomes more human, she forgets that she was once a unicorn and she forgets her mission and why she actually came to King Haggard's castle. And through everything, the unicorn learns to love, cry, and even regret. And as her last few touching words, she says, "I am the only unicorn that regrets. I regret. And I thank you for that, too." It's a must read for any emotional lover of fantasy. Or even anyone who isn't. You'll love it. It's an amazing look at the human world of emotions through the eyes of a creature who has just began to feel them.

If you have not read this story, I wonder why not. Yes, it is about a unicorn but it is not a sissy story by any means. It is beautiful, simple and eloquent with many memorable moments. It is well worth the read.

100% Meh. Way, WAY too much hype surrounds this so-so story IMHO. Starts out ok, but a truly weird story develops from the mid-point up to a just silly ending. After years and wondering how I could be such a fan of sci-fi & fantasy, and NOT have read this book, I finally read it....and was very sorely disappointed. Tastes in writing and stories diverge I suppose, but take it from at least this one sole fantasy fiction fan, I was so NOT impressed.

This is one book that should be on every fantasy lover's "Must Read" list. Beagle does a masterful job of weaving fantasy, adventure, romance, and humor, adding just a dash of the unexpected juxtaposition of the "modern" with the fantastic. He has a way with words that is truly musical, that hits a chord inside you and makes you nod your head in agreement. And most importantly, while the story can certainly be read as a simple fairy tale, there's more going on than just a good story. Beagle teaches his reader a valuable lesson about the nature of love and life. The last two chapters of this book are heartwrenching, and every time I read it I have to have a box of tissues handy, but there are tears of joy and sadness combined.

I bought this at our local comic book store... I grew up with the animated 1980's movie and have never grown out of it. This book does the story justice, and has BEAUTIFUL illustrations. Many of them pay heavy homage to the feel of the animated film. I have yet to read the actual book, but it was wonderful to have this book elaborate even deeper into the story I grew to love as a child. It even has an interview with Peter S. Beagle, giving a peek into his life and WHY he wrote The Last Unicorn, as well as bonus artwork in the back. Beautiful, beautiful addition to any fantasy-lovers collection.

This book is one of the best books I've read. And that is saying alot for I read 24/7!!! I kinda knew already what would happen because I've seen the cartoon movie years ago. Since that was great and could still remember it I wanted to see if the book is just as great.
This is a story of a quest, the search by the unicorn-immortal, infinitely beautiful-for her lost fellows. Early on, she is joined by Schmendrick the Magician. A kind of upside-down Merlin, Schmendrick is looking for something for himself too, his life perhaps. Molly Grue, the third of the travelers, seems simply to embody every womanly trait. After a richl entertaining variety of adventures the search reaches its climax at the castle of evil King Haggard, where the terrifying Red Bull is encountered and where the handsome Prince Lir plays his predestined role.
I like the whole book but the ending. It was sad and tears were falling from my eyes. I won't give the ending away but it should have told us what happened to the characters.

Both the movie and the book had a sort of beautiful sadness to it. I watched the movie first and didn't get to read the book till I was an adult, the world created by Peter S. Beagle is enchanting and dark and wonderful, his use of words opens up the visual and the emotional aspects as clear as day, they are whimsical without being flowery, haunting without getting teary eyed. Please check this amazing book out. It enhances the movie so many of us grew up with.

This book is generally classified as a children's fantasy story, but I read it in a college class and found profound insights on some very grown-up issues. Love, true friendship, greed, jealousy, unselfishness, perseverence, contentment, team work, consequences, ... they are all expounded in this little story. The butterfly is one of my favorite characters. Those who have read a wide variety of literature will recognize the delightful quotes that make up this creature's speech. Read this book to your children as a fairy tale, or study it in depth to learn about human interaction and emotion. I recommend this book to everyone!

The unicorns have all gone, but one remains behind...
This is an incredible story. Beagle does an unbelievable job writing this using metaphors and language that sweeps a reader off their feet.
The message in this story is subtle and yet so blatant, depending on your age. A young adult will appreciate the adventure, romance and suspense but may miss the tender under workings. Those of us with a few years under our belts will love the moral and will weep at the ending but will reflect that Beagle's magnificent cast of characters is only living life as we all do, even if they are kings, princes, magicians and unicorns.

The Last Unicorn is something that I absolutely adore. The movie has helped me fall asleep many nights- not that it's boring. It's just beautiful. I had a chance to meet the author once.. I would not recommend doing that. Total ass. But, his work is great, so I'd recommend this!

This is one of my childhood favorites. That being said, it's also one of my favorites to reread, and hasn't yet gotten old.
Look somewhere else if you want a happy-go-lucky fairytale, where the witch is evil, and the hero is good, and everything is painted out in black and white. This follows in the vein of a more realistic fairytale, and compares with books such as Charles De Lint's Jack the Giant Killer. Instead of a multicolored Oz, Dorothy finds herself in a more muted fairyworld, where every color is a shade of grey.
Personally, I think it makes for a much more realistic tale, and appeals more to an older crowd, who can understand that fantasy does not necessarily have to be lit up in neon pixie lights for it to be fantastic.
If you can appreciate something outside the mainstream? I would definitely give this book a read. I promise, it will become a favorite.

For the most part, this graphic novel version of the story covers the same ground as the film. The look of the characters very clearly was inspired by the film version as well. The small additions to the plot in some places, and the subtractions (like the tree that freaked people out the most in the movie), made me even more curious to read the original novel. That is definitely a thing I need to do someday.

The graphic novel is definitely pretty and oh so colorful. However, its brevity means that a few things have to be cut. Much of the trimming took place in the latter half of the tale, making it rather confusing and, did I not know the story, I likely would have been confused by much of the time spent in King Haggard's castle.

This is classic post-Tolkien fantasy fiction and not derivative of it in the way most fantasy novels are these days, even if it concerns a mythical creature. Original and fun. Highly recommend it even if you usually don't like fantasy. Although I read it many years ago (it could be 30-40 years) I always have fond memories of it.

In reading other reviews, I noticed that the 5 star reviews got their analyses right on the mark, while many 1 star reviews were lacking any appropriate criticism.

One poor review said that the book could not decide if it was fantasy or parody. A parody, by definition, imitates another piece of work, and there is no other piece of work quite like this one. Peter S. Beagle simply knows what any good writer should know-- that a piece of writing will be boring if it focuses on one emotion or mood to the exclusion of all others. J. R. R. Tolkien and William Shakespeare knew the value of humor in a work which was not expressly written to be humorous, but it is Beagle who finds the perfect balance of humor and beauty in this novel which will take the reader through nearly every emotion there is. This is a book that does NOT make the mistake that all too many fantasy novels make-- taking themselves too seriously. The label "fantasy" does not have a set of laws stating that humor must be avoided at all costs.

That said, you will like this book if:

*you appreciate the amazing things that can be done with the English language.

*you appreciate the amazing things that Peter S. Beagle can do with the English language.

*you won't throw a hissy fit if the ending isn't perfectly happy.

*you like unicorns.

*you enjoy fantasy, but don't insist all fantasy be like Dungeons and Dragons.

*you are a kid at heart.

*you enjoyed the movie.

*you can appreciate a humor which is sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious.

*you like poetry.

*you're looking for story that was written to be perfect, not to sell, and then sell a sequel.

There is no sequel to The Last Unicorn, but at the end you will be wishing there were, not because of loose ends, but because the story is too beautiful to leave.

I saw the movie "The Last Unicorn" as a little girl, and I remember being enchanted by the beauty of the unicorn and Lady Amalthea. I really wished I could be there, see her, touch her, be a part of the story. One of the most vivid memories I have as a child was watching this movie for the first time, and being utterly heartbroken at the end. But now that I have read this novel, I can pick up on the real meaning, and it's even more sad than before. One of the most endearing qualities of this book is its ability to leave you desperate to read on, yet also break your heart at the same time. It's so sad, I nearly cried. It brought back memories of how I felt as a child when watching the film. Yet unlike my childhood experience, I now felt like I understood why the story ended as it did. It's definitely a story I'll never forget.

I was expecting a hardcover version of the novel and was completely surprised when I found it was a comic - so a little disappointed. I take some blame for that, but I think this really should be advertised as a graphic novel in the product name. That being said, the illustrations are quite good and it offers a nice visual supplement to the movie (which skipped over quite a few interesting parts in translating from the book). I grew up on the movie and while I certainly prefer both it and the book to the graphic novel, I won't be returning it. If you're a big Last Unicorn fan and want to own everything Last Unicorn, this will be a nice addition to your collection. But to repeat: IT IS NOT THE BOOK.

I am a junior in high school, and while I have been avidly reading all sorts of fantasy novels for years, I have never read a more deeply moving, wonderful book than this one. I first read this novel because I enjoyed the movie so much as a child. Before I began reading, I thought it would be exactly like the movie, beautiful but simple and lighthearted. However, once I started reading, I soon realized that the book is much, much more. Now, I have nothing against simple, straightforward writing, but the symbiosis between humor and poignancy is what really makes this book so priceless. It is such a deep, multi-level novel. One moment the slightly wacky unconventionalism of parts of the story have me laughing out loud, but in the next moment, I read a line of beautiful, deeply-moving prose so wonderful that it makes me cry. Call me weird, but diction stirring enough to make me cry is one of the most gorgeous things on earth. Though a theme is never expressly stated (and the novel is the richer for it), the entire story is deeply thematic. In his mesmerising, poetic style, Beagle expresses the timeless themes of love and sacrifice, and the loss of innocence in order to save the world. The characters are heroes in the truest sense of the word, though unconventional and with a fair share of faults. In the face of sadness and fear, they all struggle to save the world from corruption. However, after they have succeeded, they realize they have grown too much and lived through too much to ever completely fit into their world again. However, they realize the worth of what they have accomplished, and have hope for the furure. The novel doesn't end exactly happily, but it ends with such a feeling of beautiful poignancy, it's better than any completely happy ending ever could be. I am not nearly doing this wonderful book justice. Now that I have actually tried to express my feelings, I realize I don't have the ability to put them into words. Any book that contains lines so stirring and beautiful that they echo in my soul for weeks afterward is well worth your time to read. It is not a child's tale (though it is by NO MEANS "dirty"), for it takes an emotionally mature person to fully experience the many layers of meaning in this work. But if you like novels that cut you to the soul so deeply the impression never fades, read this book. It's an experience you'll never forget.

I grew up with the movie, accidentally discovered in a movie rental store and recorded on a partially blank VHS tape. Through the years, the music and the butterfly's voice have stuck with me, following me during the years when the tape was deeply burried in a too large video collection. Growing up, unicorns were a central part of my life, which I attribute to this captivating story. During junior high and much of high school, this was a part of me I abandoned for slightly more mainstream interests. The movie was recently rediscovered, and in a whirlwind I was demanding the book (and a DVD version of the cartoon) for Christmas.

I consider myself something of a writer, and I pay very close attention to the writings of others. Beagle's is a very poetic voice, and it never once wavers. Many authors punch out a few memorable lines and surround them with generics, but Beagle's style is consistent and beautifully so.

The story is even better, which really isn't a surprise - it's rare to find a movie that's better than the book on which it is based. I particularly loved Schmendrick, who was delightfully entertaining in the cartoon but rather lacking in depth of character. He, along with Molly Grue and the unicorn, was much more fleshed out. Dimensions to these characters hidden in the film were revealed, and they added so much more to the story.

Of everything, I most enjoyed the poetic voice. It is a book you can read simply for the beautiful, lyrical language, if nothing else.

I can't wait until December of this year for the live action movie, the script of which was written by Beagle himself (like the cartoon). There is so much that can be done with this book, but I highly doubt anything can surpass it.

This book has become a classic and is a must for the believers at heart. If you were not a believer, the book will make you wonder, and it does cause you to yearn for that first site of a Unicorn. Would we be able to recognise one or would we be more like the unbelievers and only see what we expect. This is a fabulous book for both young and old and I have not been without a copy since I first read it when it came out. This book is a fabulous read, and leaves you Yearning.......

This graphic novel left me just as breath taken as the original book did. The art is simply amazing and every single detail pulls you in further and further. Parts I missed in the book were thrown at me vividly in a mystical and fantastical way. Highly recommend!

The Last Unicorn was release 12 years in movie form before I was born. My mother being taken with this enchanting tale showed me this movie all through my childhood and I have always been in love with this story. When I think back on my childhood this story always stands out and now that I am a college graduate and growing up I still refer to this tale when I think back on my childhood.

This was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. I'm so glad I finally read the book. It filled in a lot of areas I didn't understand when I was younger or wasn't resolved in the film (which was surprisingly true to the book, for the most part).

Along with the rest of the civilized world, my wandering memories often lead me back to two of my favorite childhood movies, "The Neverending Story" and "The Last Unicorn." Practically all I could remember of the latter was some skull yelling "Unicorn! Uuuunicorn!" That image and that voice have left a lingering discomfort in the back of my mind for years. A while back, I found a little time to investigate Michael Ende's novel, "The Neverending Story," and just recently, I managed to come across a copy of "The Last Unicorn," and I couldn't help but read it. In both cases, these novels have more than repayed my childhood memories, giving my adult mind philosophical and literary substance as well as real joy. Peter S. Beagle's 1968 novel, "The Last Unicorn," is much more than a simple fantasy story - though it is rife with magicians, mythical creatures, and all of the customary trappings. It is even more than a complex fantasy story - somehow Beagle enchants us into a timeless place where nothing seems unusual - "The Last Unicorn" creates a space for magic in our modern lives.
The novel begins as a unicorn overhears two hunters riding through her wood - the hunters debate whether unicorns exist anymore. The unicorn begins to wonder if indeed she is the last of her kind, and goes in search of other unicorns. She is caught sleeping by Mommy Fortuna, owner of the Midnight Carnival, who displays the unicorn for a time alongside a real harpy and a motley bunch of meek, hopeless animals who are made, through Fortuna's magic, to resemble other dangerous mythical beasts for the entertainment of travellers, tourists, and townsfolk. Schmendrick, a fairly useless magician, and an assistant to the Midnight Carnival, recognizes the unicorn for what she is, and freeing her, they set off together to find the unicorns. Once they are joined by a woodland dweller named Molly Grue, the company is complete. Their search brings them to the domain of King Haggard, who, along with the demoniacal, but eerily incorporeal Red Bull, seems to have something to do with the disappearance of the unicorns.
Though the novel is a quest, there isn't much real movement - the novel moves from the unicorn's wood, over land to Haggard's castle by the sea, which is where almost half of the novel takes place. The more significant quests here are ones of self-discovery, as the unicorn, Schmendrick, and Prince Lir, King Haggard's heir, must all try to figure out who they are, what they want to be, and how to accomplish their goals without being consumed by existential despair. Related questions the novel poses include speculations on the nature of the hero, on the metafictional nature of the fairy tale as a genre, and what the difference is between evil and self-interest, between love and hatred. "The Last Unicorn" is also a rumination on the nature of interpersonal (or interspecies) relationships, and is in spots as concerned with ecology and the environment as J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings."
However, far and away, the most compelling facets of "The Last Unicorn" for me are Beagle's minor touches, minutiae that some people might miss on a first reading. Seemingly meaningless conversations, like the one between the hunters which begins the novel, between Captain Cully and his disaffected latter-day Robin Hoods in the forest, or between a 'married' pair of blue jays betray a depth and attention to detail and a real artistry in Beagle's literary workmanship. They alert us, as certainly as Tolkien's work does, to the fact that we, the novel's readers, live in a prosaic world, divested of magic and enchantments. Beagle's novel shows that creating, living in, and sustaining a fantasy world can be as much work, and can involve as much pain as our own normal daily lives. Indeed, one amazing quality of "The Last Unicorn" is that it hardly differentiates between the normal modern world and that of the fairy tale. One reviewer mentions that the novel takes place in the Middle Ages - is it at all astonishing then, to hear Cully at one point mention the "field-recordings" that will one day be made of his oral poetry while he himself eats a taco?
"The Last Unicorn" has endured for almost 40 years because it manages to imbue things like "field-recordings" with a kind of magical quality that seems as natural as talking birds and butterflies. Beagle also reminds us that we are each heroes of our own stories - whether we stick to the literary conventions of genre or not. The inclusion of subtle anachronisms and metafictional commentaries like these clues us to Beagle's art - the creation of a new kind of fairy tale, one which attempts to make our own world, our own lives, sources of almost limitless wonder and joy, as well as of continuing epic challenges.

This is definitely my all-time favorite book. I have about six copies of this book (and the tapes), and all of them are worn through with reading. Every time I read this book, I identify with a different character - each one is some part of me, some facet of my life that I need to explore periodically. Having said that, if anyone out there happens to read this and can explain the whole taco thing in the book, please e-mail me. Even if you don't have answers, I'd just like to meet other perceptive, frustrated TLU fans...

I love this story in all it's forms, the movie, the book, and even the soundtrack. I first saw the movie, it was captivating and touching. Then I decided I had to read the book. The book is written as fairytale would be, making it even more enchanting. There is more depth and realism in the book than the movie, I would have to say. For example, the reason Schemdrick really wants to become a magician was dismissed in the movie. Each character also had a very unique personality. Schemdrick was jealous of the relationship Molly had with the Unicorn. And Molly pocessed almost every trait a women could have. Lir, was silly and boyish until his love for The Lady Amalthea turned him into a hero. The Unicorn and King Haggard kept a thin veil of mystery around themselves, never letting the reader really get quite as close to them. I found the book impossible to put down, and it moved me even more than the movie. A true classic for fans of fantasy and mythology. Breathtaking!

I enjoyed the sense that I was reading an oldtime fairy tale filled with fantasy and wonder. It was a delightful book, although I would have liked if the characters were
fleshed out a bit more. All in all, very entertaining!

A quote from this book:

"It was a small smile, like the new moon, a slender bend of brightness on the edge of the unseen, but Prince Lir leaned toward it to be warm. He would have cupped his hands around her smile and breathed it brighter, if he had dared"

One does not expect to read poetry like this when picking up a fantasy book! It was a very welcome surprise for me.

My father use to read me this book before bed.

I loved its language, the fairytale story of it.
The beginning of the book is my favorite part.
The deep discussion they have really interested me as a child, and really sets up the fairytale of the story. In the fact many parts of this book are thought provoking.
It is a good book to read to young children but as in most fairytale stories there are many instances of provoked thought and pondering that adults will pick up on.

Lovely fairytale.

An unusual and quite lovable fairy tale, "The Last Unicorn" captures a certain eerie and mystical quality that sends shivers down your spine, and adds alot of enjoyment to the book. I sometimes found myself quite frustrated with the unicorn, wondering how she could be so callous and unfeeling, but her emotional as well as physical journey is a main theme in this book. Her companions are quite far from perfect, an unusual concept in fantasy, and one which I enjoyed very much. You can't help but grow quite fond of the fumbling Schmendrick, or the tough, practical Molly Grue, both of whom add a bit of diversity to the story. I was also fascinated with the wierd, witchlike Mommy Fortuna, who knows the limits of her own power but lets her covetous nature of all things immortal be her downfall. Written with a dreamlike quality, "The Last Unicorn" isn't as much fantasy as it is a story about beauty, and the search for it, and how magic is a very tangible part of our lives.

I own this book.....and thought it might be novel to read through the reviews. I assumed that there would be some who would not *see* this booke for the treasure that it is; however, I was not prepared for the virtual slam dunk of one reader who wrote that this book was not worth reading, simply because it was not on the same level as Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Neverending Story. None of these books are even in the same category with one another, let alone with THE LAST UNICORN. The book is an awesome read......the video just as good. I thinke you have to take this book on its ground and think what it might be like to *be* the last unicorn.....and to wonder where the rest of your family may be. And, finding the answer to that, challenge your greatest fear. Everyone in this book has challenges they need to face and overcome or succumb to forever....as do we all in real life. The fact that the last unicorn does so successfully and finds herself forever changed gives all of us hope when change and upheaval comes our way.....when we find ourselves faced with our greatest fear. Read this book. And apply it to your own life. Namaste.

One of the best fantasy books of all time -- don't let the subject matter fool you; this book is as enjoyable for an adult as for a kid. Even moreso, perhaps, because an adult reader will pick up on the subtleties -- themes of hope, despair, of the endurance of mystery and fantasy in the world, of what it means to be noble and heroic, or how to find one's place in the world -- and a few touches of truly wonderful metatheatricality. So very highly recommended.

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I highly recommend it!
It's a beautiful story that I periodically re-read. It doesn't end quite how you might expect it to and I love it all the more for that.

I read this for the first time when I was perhaps 12 years old. While I enjoyed it, I knew that there were deeper undertones that I wasn't quite grasping.

The quiet beauty of the tale and the lyricism of the prose create a fantastical landscape that frees Beagle to address core human issues, such as the search for one's identity as well as the illusions of innocence, truth, and beauty--arguably more effectively than a "realistic" story would. Its gently ironic wit is some of the most sophisticated I've had the pleasure to encounter.

As I internalized the words, they brought home the omniprescence and sometimes inescapable necessity of lies and deception. Despite the presence of these evils, one can find truth and beauty as well; however, merely being able to differentiate between reality and illusion is not an end in and of itself. Uncovering truth is the first step of our responsibility; the second is to use it wisely and compassionately.

It was my favorite novel then, as it is now: my poor homage to its haunting elegance.

I loved the movie as a kid. A few years ago I read the book for the first time, and while the movie will always hold a place in my heart because of the nostalgia factor, I thoroughly love the book as well. The writing itself is so fresh and alive, filled with unusual metaphors and quirky language. The characters, at first glance, appear to be fantasy stereotypes--the heroic prince, the bumbling magician, the wicked king--but the author brings them all to life and gives them depth, dimension, human flaws and vulnerabilities as well as their own unique strengths. It's lovely and haunting and surreal and sad, and ultimately, just a beautiful story.

"The Last Unicorn" is the quest of a nameless unicorn for others of her own kind who have mysteriously vanished from existence, apparently driven into the ocean by the Red Bull and kept by Kind Haggard.
Shortly after leaving her forest, the unicorn is captured by Mommy Fortuna, a sorceress who claims such imaginary animals for her midnight carnival. The unicorn is soon released, however, by Schmendrick the Magician, Mommy Fortuna's hapless assistant. Together they continue the journey until they meet their third companion, Molly Grue.
The threesome then approach Hagsgate, the pitiful town owned by King Haggard--who lives a short distance farther in his cliff-side castle with his adopted son, Prince Lir. But before they have a chance to enter the castle, they're attacked by the Red Bull, who has come to collect the last unicorn. In an unexpected turn of events, Schmendrick transforms the trapped unicorn into a beautiful young woman (Lady Amalthea). The sudden change fools the Red Bull and protects her for the time being--just until they can search the castle for the other missing unicorns.
"The Last Unicorn" is one of my all-time favorite books. I saw the animated movie first when I was very young--shortly after it was released in 1982-- and later decided to read the book when I was about 9 or 10. Although the book is fantastic, I though the movie's ending was much better than the book's. There are a few other things I prefer in the movie, but I still really love the book. I highly recommend both to anyone who loves unicorns.

The movie for this book has been my favorite as far back as I can remember, and when I found the book at a used book store one day, I HAD to buy it. One of the things that shocked me the most was how similar the story was to the movie. Except for a small part left out because the kids to watch the movie wouldn't probably understand it, the book and movie were almost exactly the same. As I read the book, I could hear the characters from the movie speaking.
This book is great in its attention to the little details that actually put you in a world where unicorns must exist. The way the author describes everything is so vivid and exact that you can see everything clearly and you can actually believe that in a place like that, unicorns must exist. Though it is a tale of the human spirit and emotions, etc., what I find to be really wonderful is the way the story lifts your spirits. It's an absolutely beautiful book, and the movie captures that very well. I'm looking forward to the new movie, but I'm not sure if it'll work as well, though I have heard that they did get some of the original voices to play parts in the movie.
Join with me and petition to get the DVD released in Canada.

I grew up with The Last Unicorn. It was a book that my mother and grandmother read to me and it was a movie that I could never stop watching. I picked this up from my library's kindle library, unknowing that it was a graphic novel, but I was very surprised.
The art is stunning. It sucks you right into the world and surrounds you with beauty, story and vibrant colors. It's a must read for fans and a must see for those who have yet to.

My sister and I grew up watching this movie all of the time at my aunt's house. We used to have it on old CED disks. It is a great animated movie but like 90% of all movies the book is 100 times better. I finally got to read it when I was about 18 years old and should have been too old for booke of the sort but I loved it. I recommend this book to any avid or casual fantasy book lover. I am very surprised that there are not more reviews on it here.

In a world where men can no longer see unicorns for what they are, but perceive them as merely white horses, only one remains. In her forest, untroubled by the world at large, she overhears a pair of hunters referring to her as the last and embarks on a hunt for the unicorns she believes may be hiding, perhaps waiting for her to save them. In Peter Beagle's scrumptiously written fantasy novel, the unicorn's tale may seem at first glance like a familiar one: a magician as a traveling companion, encounters with evil witches and immortal creatures bent on capturing a unicorn, an evil king in his barren kingdom, transfiguration and talking trees. What makes the tale uncommon is the telling. Beagle doesn't so much tell the story as immerse the reader in it, the entire world shimmering to life around characters that are amazingly real for being so rooted in a world of magic. When the unicorn is forced to become a woman to escape the powerful red bull that is hunting her, she begins to lose her sense of immortality and Beagle offers an interesting take on that staple of high fantasy, the love-struck price offering heroic tokens of his ardor to the beautiful princess. I consider this an absolute must-read for fans of Beagle, the fantasy genre, or the classic animated movie The Last Unicorn.

The Last Unicorn is one of the strangest books I have ever read. If you take Grimm's Fairy Tales, add a pinch of Shrek, and finish it off with Alice and Wonderland you begin to get some idea of its strangeness but not of its mystery.
Wondrous is the only way to describe it. The book whirls like a conjuror's trick. It borrows from everything but steals from nothing. The style encompasses the real and the ridiculous. I think the character Cat summed it up best: Valiant Absurdity. That is what this book is.
This book suffers where it shines and visa versa. The characters somehow lack something essential. You never get a grasp on them, but you realize swiftly that this is how it is meant to be. The Unicorn is meant to be distant and intangible. The Magician is meant to be unreal and befuddling. The Prince is meant to be underdeveloped and ridiculous. This is what they are and this is how they should be. Same with the plot which is strange and heroic but somehow also drawn out and flat like a fairy tale map with "here be dragons" scrawled in the empty margins.
I devoured it quickly and will carry it with me always.

That about sums it up. I feel silly even trying to explain how moving I found this story. The world of the unicorn is so perfectly and lyrically described, I could see it clearly in my mind's eye, and found myself rereading passages over and over, blown away at the poetic perfection. I love it when that happens. :)
I am 36 years old and had never read it before, but rented the movie numerous times as a young child. Happily, time had erased the memory of it(and the awful soundtrack by "America")so I was able to enjoy the book with a fresh perspective, uncluttered by someone else's visual perception of the story.
I highly recommend this book for those old and young alike. For me, this is right up there with the Hobbit.

The Last Unicorn was wonderful.The storyline flowed elegantly along with each sentence that was written. Everything in this book is exactly what your looking for in a book of fantasy:A mystical creature goes on a magical quest facing perils and making new friends. Falling in love with a charming Prince, saves the day at the end and many other different, intricate, new adventures never to read on paper. A truly most-read!!

After i was blown away by the movie, i suddenly had the urge to read the book and i noticed that this was different from the movie, but who cares. Anyway, it deals with a Unicorn who seeks out in the world to see her lost companions who are kept hidden from the wicked King Haggard, along the way she even meets every animation lover's favorite wizard " Schmendrick" who turns her into a Human Girl and still seek them out. A must read if you love the movie.

Like many, I learned about The Last Unicorn from beloved author Patrick Rothfuss (Name of the Wind). This is his all-time favorite book, and he is constantly singing its praises. Since Pat's books rank among my favorites, it should be a no-brainer that I'd be a fan of his favorites too. Not so fast.

Beagle's prose is elegant and inspired so there's no question we're in the company of a master. Still, neither the story nor the characters ever captivated me, and that's what really matters. I suspect it's a taste issue for me.

Forget the myriad B-fantasy novels with bodice-ripping elf maidens on the covers. This is book is where the real magic is.

Others have covered the plot admirably, so I'll be brief. The Last Unicorn is (oddly enough!) a book about one of the fabled beasts who discovers one day that she is the last of her kind. (A truly distressing thought). Determined to find the rest of her kin, she sets off on a quest (I hate using that phrase; sounds so cliche). Along the way, she is accompanied by two amusingly atypical friends. The journey ends at the castle of bitter King Haggard, where the unicorn discovers more than she could have ever imagined about herself and her people.

Interesting plot aside, this novel is simply gorgeous. It is lyrical, lush, hilarious, heartbreaking, sometimes all at the same time. For those who like their novels with some morality, there are themes of friendship and self-knowledge. But perhaps most important, it makes you remember unicorns once again.

What do I mean by this? There is a scene in the early pages of the book in which a farmer attempts to catch the roving unicorn, believing her to be nothing more than a common white mare. An exceptionally pretty one, but a horse nonetheless. And therein lies the real tragedy of this novel: People have forgotten magic to such a degree that they no longer recognize it, even when it gallops right before their eyes in all its glory.

The world would be better off with a few more unicorns. Read this novel, and it just may restore your faith that maybe there are some, still dwelling somewhere in a lilac wood. . . .

Being such a fan of fantasy novels, I can't believe I just recently stumbled upon the book. This is such a gem; it is such a sweet reminder of the magic inside all of us. Whatever your age it will give you a sense of child-like wonder.

As a child, my sister and I watched this beautiful movie over and over until the colour had faded and the sound was poor, but to this day my sister watches it still. The characters were unforgettable and the animation unique and exquisite. Was I surprised to find that there was a book, and that it had come first? Yes. I was sceptical at first, but my reservations melted as I fell in love with Beagle's story. His writing does my favourite characters more justice than the screen,. His story will take on new meaning for everyone who reads it and learns to love it. Not just a silly tale about a unicorn, Beagle's story is witty, daring, fun, and magical. A timeless book you'll regret not reading... again and again! There's something for everyone in Beag'es books. And, if you're interested, there is a history to the animation of The Last Unicorn that is simplyenchanting. I'm not sorry that I've spent hours of my adult life watching the movie and reading the book, and neither will you be. Find out and see! Remember: it is a very rare person who is taken for what he truly is. Enjoy!

Have read The Last Unicorn at least 8 times, each time loving it more. Mr. Beagle is in my Top FIVE of favorite authors, so this first rendering of The Last Unicorn is fascinating to see and compare to the finished work. I am treating this book as a precious collectible of a supreme story-teller and incredible mind. Thank you, Mr. Beagle. And thanks to your wife for wanting to know how the story ended!!! We are in her debt!

This just released hardcover collects the six issue series from 2010 in a very nice package. Based on the 1968 novel of the same name by Peter S. Beagle, this adaptation is written by Peter B. Gillis with art by Renae De Liz and Ray Dillon, this book is something to behold. With no dust jacket, like so many hardcovers in the graphic novel and reprint genre, this book even feels a bit like the family friendly material it comes from. I remember many of the children's books from growing up that looked and felt just like this, and found that very inviting. It's only as boring old adults that we get books with dust jackets and slip covers. This book feels special in your hands.

Having said that, I should also say that I have never read the novel and have only a passing knowledge of the 1982 movie. I have no preconceived ideas about what this book should be. That is, in my opinion, the only way to review something. Judge it as itself. You cannot compare it to the movie or the novel because it is not either of these things, in the same way you cannot make a fair comparison between relate genre material like the Watchmen comic and the movie of the same name. There are similarities because they share the same concept and general story framework, but serve two completely different masters. In this case, the novel is the novel, the movie a movie, and this graphic novel is a stand alone work in a medium that asks different things of itself to become what it is. And what this is takes the form of an interesting comic that owes a heavy debt to its predecessors.

But those debts will be covered in a minute. This is the story of the last of the magical creatures known as unicorns. This unicorn decides to leave its place of safety and solitude to search the world and see if it truly is the last of its kind. She meets a variety of characters along the way that led her through to the end of the quest and a confrontation with the red bull and the king that controls its power. The story is laden with metaphor, both intended by the author and those which the reader will bring to the experience.To tell much more would be to spoil the story. There is very little in this story that will come as a surprise to most adults, but that is not the point here. The real point here is what the reader brings to the story will determine what he or she gets out of it. While that is true of most any fiction, it is particularly the case here. Younger children will not have the same experience here that an adult will have.

The most obvious of the debts is to the movie itself. As a medium that relies as heavily on visuals, as comics do, it is no surprise that the visual storytelling style of the book draws heavily from the film. At times, too much so. The art is uneven at times, showing an odd depth of field in some shots, and some of the figures and characters look like they were meant to be animated rather than drawn static. Also occasionally the line is oddly heavy where there is no specific need. It is possibly dealing with something from the source material that I am not catching. This all reads as though the creators of this adaptation could not ( or would not) let go of the movie when visualizing the book. That is not a bad thing at all, just a choice on the creators part that didn't work for me. Other than that, minor quibble, the book is gorgeous!. The color palette is as rich as it should be in a magical world. There is no part of this package that isn't stunning. From that standpoint, this book is worth every penny of the $25 cover price.

I think this book would be more enjoyable to people who recall the movie more fondly than the original novel. Someone with no background in either, age depending, may find this a bit light and even predictable. But anyone that enjoys the old style of fantasy and magical worlds story, will enjoy this for what it is, a fine fairy tale world, brought vividly to life on the page.
[...]

I've now read this book twice, and I've started to read it a third time. I never ever read books more than once, even when I think they are excellent. This book never fails to make me cry, even though it seems to lack great tragedy. This book is simply so beautiful that it makes you cry. On the surface it is a child's story, but beneath the fairy tale exterior lies a testimonial to truth, love, life, and lost innocence. Do not read this book and let the deeper meaning evade you. If you enjoy this book I highly reccomend the animated movie version of it, which is also remarkably beautiful, while leaving out some important details. Also, I'd like to inform other TLU lovers that a live action movie is in the making and will be released in Fall/Winter 2003. This version will not be made after the original animated movie, but will be more thoroughly based on the book itself. I, and other fans, are eagerly awaiting its arrival.

The book that is one of my favorite animated movies, ever. I fell in love with it when I was a wee lad.
The book has very unique writing. Beagle always uses lightening and thunder as metaphors and descriptives. Beautiful story. It was almost identical to the movie, so I loved it. It was a treat to read it in word form, I very much enjoyed the whole thing. Schmendrick=love.

I'm not typically a fan of science fiction or fantasy. Generally I think this plane offers enough material for me in my quest for readables. This book however, is a delectable indulgent, lonely, beautiful experience. It took me years of reading between the lines of the movie before i finally opted to open the book and I was predictably smitten with the prose form. Within the book i found a thousand treasure troves of what i had loved and sought after from the film through childhood and adolescence. Each familiar character and scene commands new evaluation in the book. There are many scenes and subtexts and sensations not present in the film which I now deem essential parts of the whole. I recommend slow digestion with a calm mind and a willing heart. its a book worth committing to for a deeper understanding of that other plane so rarely glimpsed.

I found this book to be truely amasing. It is the best unicorn fiction book I have ever read. I also have the movie both are great and from one of the greatest imaginastions ever. I've seen a unicorn when I was only six after my Papa died. All of the charicters are well set in there surondings. This book is truely a fantastic fantasy.
You'r Great unicorn Lover Olivia ,AGE 11

I found this book to be truely amasing. It is the best unicorn fiction book I have ever read. I also have the movie both are great and from one of the greatest imaginastions ever. I've seen a unicorn when I was only six after my Papa died. All of the charicters are well set in there surondings. This book is truely a fantastic fantasy.
You'r Great unicorn Lover Olivia ,AGE 11

This is the type of book you think, "What if I had never discovered this story? I can't imagine my life without it." I read this novel over twenty years ago, and I can honestly say, I love it just as much today as I did the very first time I read it. It's a fairytale for all ages, and if you want to fall in love, this is definitely your book.

I only wish I could have read this book before seeing the movie as a child. The writing in the books are verbatim with most of the lines in the movie, so much so that I find it very hard to separate the two. Thus, my imagination is infinitely jaded so that I can only see the childhood film interpretations. Of course the story is beautiful and somewhat unconventional at that. If this book interests you, I would encourage you to read "The Princess Bride". It too has a movie that lifted most of its lines verbatim from the text, but there's enough extra to make it much better than the film---and SO much funnier.

I found this book to be truely amasing. It is the best unicorn fiction book I have ever read. I also have the movie both are great and from one of the greatest imaginastions ever. I've seen a unicorn when I was only six after my Papa died. All of the charicters are well set in there surondings. This book is truely a fantastic fantasy.
You'r Great unicorn Lover Olivia ,AGE 11

I grew up watching the movie for this book over and over and over. When I realized it was based on a book I immediately went and bought it. The author helped in making the movie so many of the lines from the book are in the movie (I could hear the characters voices in my head as I was reading).

The book revealed so much more character depth and the fact that I am now older allowed me to see more than just the entertaining story. There is a lot to be said about one's quest and path and the journey along that path. It is the monomyth yet with more insight.

In addition to this it is just a good story. I rarely read books more than once but this is one I most certainly will revisit and read to my children (when I have some).

I first heard of the book through the movie, and thought I would see where the movie originated from! This a great book and unlike the animated film offers a more expanded unicorn fantasy adventure that offers the reader so much more backstory on the characters, which I really really loved! Though the animated movie was fantastic and I will cherish it forever, the book offers up some great story telling that invokes very vivid images of the Last Unicorn and her quest.

It also has a great sequel in the back to compliment the original story!

I recommend this book for anyone who loves unicorns!

As the title suggests, I love this book as much, if not more than I loved it the first time. My first run in with The Last Unicorn was the movie, and it wasn't until a few years after that I learned it had its beginnings in a book and not animation. Like King Haggard and his captive unicorns, few other books bring me the same joy as this one, and none quite as long lasting.

This is - by far - my favorite fantasy novel. It is beautifully written, imaginative, and thought provoking. During my first read through I kept a note pad just so I could write down all of my favorite passages. I love this book. Give it a try.

The art in this graphic novel is wonderful. The job of illustration is split among a variety of talented artists, each with their own way of rendering the characters and using shapes and colors to tell the story.

However, the plot itself is almost impossible to follow as it is related here. I have not yet read the novel, which I hear is amazing. But in this version of the story, I was thoroughly confused and irritated by the jumping around. A scene begins to develop, and suddenly another scene begins without explaining what happened in between. Or characters are presented with no introduction or accompanying narrative. They just appear and start talking and I didn't know why I should care about them or listen to them. There is very little narrative, and it seems this story cannot be told properly through dialogue alone.

As much as I wanted to enjoy this book, I couldn't wait for it to be over. I'll read the novel to get the real story.

I must confess, I have never read this book. As a child I would rent this video time and time again, never tiring of it's wonderful beauty. That was ten years ago. Over the years I have remembered this tale, looking for the unicorns on the turning tides, knowing that I saw one there among the trees. Yesterday, I was in a store, looking at something or other. I turned, and there is was- the video. Since then, I have watched it three times. On the back I saw that it was written by a man named Beagle, which is how I wound up here. Everytime I even think of the story, I feel as if I am still 7 years old; and filled with a radiant all-consuming bliss. I love her and I she stood for-- for a young girl and a young woman.

I bought this at Anime Expo 2011, where I met Peter S. Beagle, the author. He signed the book for me and I was able to talk to him for a little bit. He's such a lovely man, but what else would you expect from such a lovely story? The art in this book is amazing. I couldn't be happier with it.

Many people consider THE LAST UNICORN a fantasy classic, a work that ranks up there with masterpieces by Tolkien, CS Lewis, Richard Adams, and Urusula Le Guin. I enjoyed this short novel, but I wouldn't rank it that highly.

THE LAST UNICORN is a modernistic fairy tale (written in 1968) about a solitary unicorn hunting the world for the other members of her kind. The novel begins as a conventional quest story, but it eventually goes into some unique directions -- to his credit, author Beagle explores complex moral themes that most fantasy novels normally don't touch. Beagle's prose is also quite charming, funny, and readable. If you enjoy Neil Gaiman's work, you'll probably like this as well.

My main problem with THE LAST UNICORN lies in its characterization. Put simply, Beagle does not take enough time to flesh out his fairy tale characters. Most of them lack depth, and I often found myself puzzled about what motivated their behavior. I also found the central character of the Unicorn to be something of an unlikable cypher -- which made it hard for me to relate in any way to her quest.

THE LAST UNICORN is enjoyable enough, but my advice is to lower your expectations before reading it. Personally, I think the modern-day fantasy work of Neil Gaiman and George RR Martin is light years ahead of this book. That being said, this novel has legions of admirers, so you should definitely try it for yourself.

This is another early favorite of mine but I think that it was the animated movie (available on VHS) that I originally fell in love with. The book is just as good (possibly better!) than the movie (it's been a while). I loved unicorn's when I was young and this book makes you believe in magic and the possibility that unicorns really did exist. I really want the import CD too because the music brings back those wonderful memories as well.

Peter S. Beagle finds a way to write a fairy tale in an age that finds fairy tales irrelevant. The last unicorn, in her sad quest to discover what has happened to all other unicorns, is a symbol in a material age that hates symbol almost as much as it hates hope, truth and miracles. And this hatred manifests itself in Beagle's story as the red bull that seeks to drive every unicorn into the sea.

In the same against-the-grain spirit, Beagle writes a lilting, lyrical prose filled with fresh striking images, almost the exact opposite of the pedestrian, matter-of-fact Hemingway style rife in modern American literature. I'd recommend this book to everyone, especially to those who say they don't like fantasy because The Last Unicorn transcends the fantasy genre.

A 5 star story for all ages. Magic and unicorns brought to life by the words of the author. Open y our eyes to another world, a world where wonder and magic take you on a journey that makes the heart sing.

This novel is truly beautiful. It is about a unicorn who goes on a dangerous search for her kind with a "magician" and wife of a "colonel". The novel is rather mature in the sense that it takes a lot of thought, so I'd recommend it to 12 and up. Yet, the novel is very magical, and I found it difficult to put it down!

This story is about a unicorn who thinks man is worng when they say she is the last. So one night she sets off to find the other of her kind. One the way she meets a magition and a witch that keep her captive untill the magition stes her free.One the way to King Hagereds castle the meet molly who helps them find the way there.One night when they where sleeping a red light light wakes them up .When the light gets closer they find out that it is the red bull who is out to get her. The red bull chases her the way he chased the others to the water. The magition works up a spell to get her out of the sisuation and he turns her into a girl. They make the way to the castle to find the red bull . One night they skeleton help them find a way to the red bulls layer . They follow what he says and they see the red bull and it chasses the unicorn girl to the dead end of the cave, the magition works up another spell to turn her back in to a unicorn. The red bull chases her out of the cave but then the unicorn turns and chases the bull to the water where he goes in and the unicorns in the water are free! i think this book is good to read because of how the atuor puts how unicorn got in to the water and just the plot of it. What i dont like about this book is how the witch caches her other wise this is a pretty darn good book!

Too much information in some of these reviews, so I'll keep mine short. READ THIS BOOK. Then, SHARE IT WITH A FRIEND. Then, READ IT TO YOUR KIDS. This is one of those rare children's books that crosses boundries right into the very heart and soul of adulthood. It should be taught in every school. It should be shared in every book club. Embrace the unicorn and it's characters. You won't be sorry.

The people that enjoy C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein, and Ursala LeGuin you will love The Last Unicorn. If you haven't read Peter S. Beagle than you really haven't read enough-in my opinion. His language in and out of the characters comes like cold fire and silken sand paper. It's beauty touches your heart with sudden hands that mold out of thin air. Every character in this novel is completely memorable: equally relatable and tragic. There is glowing redemption in it so if you believe in the will and the power of the human condition you will love this story. I don't need to tell you it's worth the time that you spend with it, any great book helps tell you. Enough said.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved The Last Unicorn. A couple of years ago I finally got the book, and I was amazed at how much better the book is than the movie. The story is very romantic, sad, and dark. Anyone who's a huge fan of fantasy novels, and especially unicorns, will love this story. You will remember it for years to come, and will probably read it many many times.

But the cartoon was always my favourite as a kid growing up. I still watch the cartoon to be honest, and when I happened across the book I decided to get it. I can't wait to read it, because we all know, that the books are so much better than the movies.

Recently, I had the great fortune to meet the author. HE is wonderful!!!!

He signed our books for the many children we love and his reading of this was a thrill.
Beagle is a story teller of the best kind and he continues to write wonderful stories
for children of all ages ( including grandparents).

The video is also a must. Yes, it is different but it is a classic for my children
and their little ones!

ok...I found this book to be incredibly depressing and it failed to capture my imagination at all. Beagle's use of language is one I can respect and maybe even appreciate for what it is, but i just cannot enjoy it. I never felt the true flow of the story. In fact, there were a lot of times when i found all the characters to be quite annoying. All in all, I thought the book was ok. The plot was very imaginative and such, but it just didn't appeal to me at all. But hey, if anyone wants to talk to me about this and explain what i may have missed, feel free to e-mail me.

I was UNAWARE this was a graphic novel. The description needs to be more clear. I thought the "illustrated" part were just photos to accompany the story. The artwork is beautiful, no denying that at all.

Everyone I know loves this book. Everyone. It's one of those books you're assumed to adore if you're into fantasy. I seem to have missed it as a child so I picked it up.

I almost wish I hadn't.

It's not that The Last Unicorn is awful. It's a decent enough story with an interesting enough plot. The writing is stunning, if a bit overly descriptive. Unfortunately, I felt as if I needed to be high to truly appreciate it. As I am not one to get high that was a bit of a disappointment.

Beagle seems to enjoy a good metaphor...and a mediocre metaphor and an all out unfortunate metaphor. The first is fine, even the second can be dealt with in moderation. The last was what eventually started to turn me away from the story.

This was compounded by the realisation somewhere around the mid-way point that for all the writing was stunning, it wasn't saying much of anything. It was like walking through rainbow mist. Yes, it's pretty, but you spend too much time wondering why it's coloured.

I do think The Last Unicorn can be enjoyed for its prose alone. There are some wonderfully playful turns of phrase and more than enough vivid descriptions for anyone. I simply wouldn't expect much more than that. At least not without pulling out the lava lamp.

The Last Unicorn was worth reading twenty-five years ago. I know. I did read it then.
Thanks to aging and failing memory I was able to read it recently and enjoy it all over again.
This is one of the original fantasy books of all time and a must-read for any lover of fantasy. I think she'll like them both. Peter S. Beagle might be one of the most under-rated writers of our time.

I had never been attracted so much to a book that I will read it over and over again without getting bored. The Last Unicorn is one of those which does. It has a brilliant story line and fascinating characters that have different personalities. This is a story that I wouldn't forget

I purchased this by accident, because I thought it was the actual novel, by Peter S. Beagle. The kindle description is not very clear and I didn't read any of the reviews which warn you of this being a comic book before I made my purchase. With that being said, it was The Last Unicorn which I am a huge fan of...and I couldn't give it a low rating!

This book is not only a great story, but wonderfully written as well. The style of the writing tells the story just as much as the words do. It's easy to get caught up in this world and feel that you are traveling side by side with the unicorn. It's been one of my favorites for many years, and now I'm reading it to my children. ^_^

I am one of those who grew up with the movie, and dreamed about unicorns thanks to this author. Only recently did I actually pick up the book to read. It was very different from my childhood fantasy. The book is very sad and philosophical, not a light easy read. It is one of those very believable books, where, though the characters are princes and magicians and unicorns, you can understand and sympathise with them.
Beagle deals with the thoughts on immortality very well, and gives a reader plenty to think about. The reason that I only gave it three stars is because it is a slow read, and I didn't feel satisfied after reading it. But perhaps that is what the author was going for, after all.

I think that what sets The Last Unicorn apart from other fantsy works is Haggard's reason for catching unicorns. If, say, Tolkien had written it the King would have been collecting them to use thier magic to conquer the world. Beagle gives Haggard a very simple motivation that fits in beautifully with the story.

How.. could of all the creatures, be you find... a unicorn?! be to grace and all the seas of the world with your book, an everlasting bind of mystic sources, compelling with the former magic of nature. if anyone really believes in unicorns email me.END

I love this book. It is transports you to the sea by which the last unicorn must stand. If you've seen the movie, you must read the book. If you've not seen the movie, then please read the book. This is a great read for pre-teens all the way through adults.

I read the Last Unicorn when it was new and I was 18. I had never read such an illumination, a fulfillment, an enlightenment. It helped me grow. And then there are the small moments - the butterfly, fluff-headed yet brave and of inestimable help; the Mr. Gick moment; the cat moved to speak - all embroidered this glorious story.

I returned to this book over and over across the years. I discovered Peter Beagle's own telling of it on tape - one of the best audiobook performances, in my opinion. I continue to marvel at how good this story is. It is one of the great works of literature.

Give it to your adolescent, but read it yourself. Clever,cynical,moving, beautiful by turns. You are never too old for this book if you have kept your sense of wonder. Incidently, it is much better than the animated flick spinoff.

Only very rarely does one come across a book that completely captivates the reader and takes him into its world so completely as this book does. I saw the film first while I was in school, and although I liked it, I didn`t expect too much from the book, even though its author had written the script for the film. But, what a revelation! I have been fascinated by many books, but only this one took me into its spell so much that I had to take it to school with me and keep on reading between classes... A must-read, if there is any such thing.

I was captivated by Beagle's Last Unicorn in university, and just decided that I needed a new copy. I hadn't read it in years, and found it just as enthralling as it was over thirty years ago.

But I was surprised at how difficult it was to ignore the presence of the Red Bull...I mean, the energy drink, which kept diluting the serious and mysterious fear due to Haggard's bull. I've come to terms with my last name, and the connotations recent acquaintances attach to me because of it, but I was sad that such a great piece of literature had been sullied by a cultural phenomenon.

I have the movie and I wish I had the book. I have watched the movie a million bizillion times!!!!!!!! And checked out the book a lot of times. It is one of my favorite books! ****I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!****

I am a huge lover of fantasy but this was just something else all together. It had traits of a fantasy but it was just so much better than just any fantasy novel. I love unicorns also which has something to do with why I just can't stop loving this story. I watched the movie when I was younger and if you've ever seen it you must read the book! You won't be sorry you did. It captures you and draws you in in a way I've rarely experienced.If your like me and love unicorns and fantasy this will quickly soar to the top of your list as one of your all time favorites!

This book was recommended to my English class by my English teacher as a 'brilliant' book. I thought that I'd go ahead and read it, even though it was a children's book. Upon reading it, I was shocked by not only the simplistic brilliance, but by the language in which this book is written. Even though I'm only 16, I've read many books, and few have entranced me like this one. From the first page the author uses his art of writing to create one of the most timeless books in history.

I have loved this story since I was a little girl. It has captured my heart and I hope it does to all who read it. "The Last Unicorn" is a captivating book that will hold the interest of any audience. Enjoy!

The Last Unicorn is a masterpiece. Peter Beagle has done a wonderful job of intertwining all the plots in the story, but, more than that, he makes you believe that you are in the action. A superb novel.

This is hands down the best book I have ever read. When I was younger, I had seen the movie. I bought the movie and litterally, learned every line. I knew the whole entire thing by heart. Then I bought the book and fell more in love. Beagle dealt with serious issues such as immortality and depression. But he touched on the fairy tale light hearted story I was looking for. He described things amazingly well and made me really believe what was going on. Seriously, Buy this book as soon as you can, you will not regret it.

while I have not read this amazing work of fiction, i have seen the movie! and let me say....WOW!
this compelling drama is about a young unicorn coming to terms about her magic pals, who in the words of the eccentric butterfly (has anybody here seen Kelly?? Red rover red rover send Charlie on over!!) "passed down the old roads long ago, and the Red Bull ran close behind him and covered their footprints." This journey takes us through the mind of a troubled young mythic beast who goes through a wide range of emotions including love, curiosity, loss and ......REGRET!!!! After crossing paths with a befuddled young magician, Schmendrick, she starts her journey to recover the lost unicorns and solve the mystery of the Red Bull! Now I don't want to give away the ending, so you just go buy that book/movie and read/watch it!!!
I'm serious. I was genuinely touched by this book/movie and hope that it will change your life as it has changed mine.
Thank you for your time.
P.S. Now that I'M A WOMAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!!
and I'm a UNIIICORRRNNN!!!
(man is she confused).

I read this book because its recommended to readers of Watership Down and The Hobbit, (two exceptional classics.) I wasn't able to understand why the books would even have been compared. I am sorry to say I can't understand why this book has such good feedback. Its not a terrible book, the writing is decent, and I suppose there is some depth, but nothing to brag about. I found the plot to be somewhat UNcaptivating, but its an easy and fast read so I was able to get through it without much pain. I don't know what age group it was written for, but I thought that there were a few images too scary for anyone below the age of 8. Then again, I cant see what's there for someone past the age of 14. Of course everyone is different and I don't remember what scared me at 6 and 7. I read the book a few months ago, and have since read many more (nearly all better) books, so it isn't in my head to much anymore, but I would call it somewhat of a waste of time. I would like to recommend I book that would certainly stay in the memory of a Watership Down fan, and that's THE BOOK OF THE DUN COW. Its an animal kingdom tale, more mythological than fairytale, extremely well written and charming, and always exciting. Skip this story and check out THE BOOK OF THE DUN COW.

This book is very pretty to look at and well-put together. However, unless you already know the story, the panels and narrative will be confusing with their pacing and layout. It's not a good introduction for people who haven't heard the story. I'm still glad to have it in my collection though! I feel that was what it was intended for.

The Last Unicorn is a magical book that allows your imagination to dift into an enchanting world. The discripions used within the pages are so poetic and lovely you feel light and airy as you read them- as if you were really there. The words are so choice and fitting, and spun with such beauty, I found it impossible to put down. One's yearning for unicorns is either satisfied or awakened, and the grace and charm of the animal spellbinds you. I cannot describe how I wish everyone had the privilige to read this novel and be captured within its spell

Read the charming tale of a unicorn who suddenly finds herself the last of her kind to find out.
The Last Unicorn is a true fairytale, humorous and dark,imaginative and clever. Peter S. Beagle puts a stream-of-consciousness spin on the most ordinary things, until one feels caught up in an intense dream.
The Last Unicorn offers sharp insight into human nature, with the Unicorn character as the exact opposite in her bouts with pride and vanity.
Why is a raven like a writing desk?
---because Edgar Allan Poe wrote on both.

Perhaps the best thing about this book is that all the characters, including the Unicorn, are far from perfect and will do and say things that will annoy you to no end. But they are also all sympathetic and loveable in their own ways.

The way in which Beagle mixes the cruel reality of life with the characters' quest for a fairytale ending is not to be missed.

While I could never write a review like all the others out there, I can agree with them and say it is a classic novel, full of whimsicalness, a fairy-tale-in-a-song adventure. I enjoyed all the characters, even the "mean" old king.

This story was magically scribed. The words flowed through me without effort making the hours of reading seem timeless.
This is one of the few stories to actually paint images into my dreams and waking thoughts without assistance.
It's hard to explain. But the story is well written and original. Easily read in one sitting and the loss of time goes unnoticed.

I saw this book at a comic book store for $50, and no matter how much I told myself I wanted it there was no way I was paying that much. I told a friend about my find and she told me the store had it way cheaper. So I came here, bought it with an additional discount, and it arrived two days after I placed my order.
It's a beautiful comic book. The artwork is gorgeous and the cover is simply awesome. I'm very happy with my purchase.

When I was four or five, I saw the movie, andI LOVED it! I never knew it was novel, though, until this year. I read it and it ROCKED(in lack of a better word)!!!!!!! It's about a unicorn who relizes she is the last unicorn, and she sets out to find the other unicorns! I think this is the best unicorn book ever!!!! Wait--I've only read 10 unicorn books....And anyway, this book keeps focus on UNICORNS, the real unicorn, with a lion's tail, cloven hooves, and NOT really looking like a horse!

This is one of the best books you'll ever read. . . I'm not exaggerating. It ranks up there w/ C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. It's one of those books you can't put down, even though you know you'll be sorry you've finished it so fast. . . . And don't worry if you've already seen the movie, like I had. It's a wonderful book, whether you know the ending or not.

Peter S. Beagle writes with such clarity and eloquence, that one sometimes doesn't recognize how truly brilliant his work is. He makes it all look too darned easy. As an author, editor, and fantasy reader for over 25 years, this book still stands out as being one of the best I've ever had the pleasure to read. For those of you who have only seen the movie version, do yourself a favor. Pick up this book now.

I remember watching the movie as a child, although I only recalled a few images when I got the book. The book revived my memories, especially of the Red Bull. The Last Unicorn has an interesting cast of characters and a mood that is somewhat different from other fantasy, yet hard to explain. This is definitely a book that can be re-read.

I have read a lot of novels over the years, most of them fantasy and science fiction. And this is one of the few than I keep coming back to again and again. I reccomend it to anyone I know, regardless of if they read fantasy or not.

And I reccomend it to you. Try this book, you will not be dissapointed.