SIX BLUE MARBLES loves Peter S. Beagle’s THE LAST UNICORN: THE LOST JOURNEY.

My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤⛤

THE LAST UNICORN: THE LOST JOURNEY is a look at the beginnings of Peter S. Beagle’s beloved novel The Last Unicorn and what paths the unicorn could have taken on her journey to find the other unicorns. Reader’s meet a cast of old and new characters as well as a new journey that is just as enticing as the one fans of The Last Unicorn are familiar with.

I’m really not surprised that I loved THE LAST UNICORN: THE LOST JOURNEY, I love everything I’ve read of Beagle and this is no different. I loved seeing what parts of Beagle’s original story of the unicorn made it into the final novel, what changed, and what characters and aspects were given to others and which aspects were dropped all together. Probably the most interesting thing about THE LAST UNICORN: THE LOST JOURNEY is how different the journey of the unicorn is from the book we know and love, not in terms of the new characters we meet but in the setting.

I loved the new characters that were introduced as well as the old familiar butterfly. Though different in many ways from the final product, The Last Unicorn: The Lost Journey reminded me again of why I love this book so much, and it still held that charm and beauty despite all the differences.

And the illustrations! If the cover alone wasn’t enough to get you excited for this book then Stephanie Law’s illustrations will! They add a whole new kind of magic to the story and are absolutely stunning to look at.

<snip>

THE LAST UNICORN: THE LOST JOURNEY is a must-read for any fans of The Last Unicorn who want to see the bones of the story they love and a journey and experience like no other. The magic is still there, as is the love for this amazing story, only in a different way.

The German MEIN LESEZEICHEN BLOG praises IN CALABRIA.

The style of the author is sublime and magical. The way Beagle describes the unicorn is unique and breathtaking. Not effective or clichéd. The unicorn is not portrayed as something special, but as something that is one with the world. On the contrary to the unicorn, man seems to be something out of the ordinary, something peculiar. The magic is clearly in the descriptions of the unicorn.

Cover illustration: Velcro-Cotta

It’s hard for me to connect the story with this word, but the story is romantic. By that I do not mean that she is cheesy or could be equated with romance novels. The romance goes deeper, is more complex, pure and sublime. The story covers many things: love and longing, criticism of people, of his dealings with nature, of society. There are elements of the uncanny and just as fantastic as supernatural elements. Again, the story seemed to me to be strongly based on the literary-scientific concept of Romanticism.

What also made me enthusiastic was that the author captured the mood of southern Italy very well and put it on paper. He draws an authentic picture with beautiful and ugly pages. What baffled me when I read was about to end as Claudio plunges into a daredevil fight.

With the help of the timeless and magical narrative style, I felt really comfortable and in good hands while reading.

<snip>

I love the stories of Peter S. Beagle. A reading recommendation goes out to all unicorn fans of the old school.

Translation from the German courtesy of Google

Iain Nicholas Mackenzie on THE GREEN MAN REVEW recounts an encounter with Peter S. Beagle.

Yeah that’s Peter Beagle — author of such delightful works as the above-quoted  SUMMERLONG along with IN CALABRIA, Tamsin and of course The Last Unicorn to name but three of his many works — over in the sitting area in the Kitchen here at Kinrowan Hall.

Reynard and he have been talking about ales and he says that ‘When I can get it — and I only know one pub in Berkeley that stocks it — I’ll take Blackened Voodoo, which is really a dark ale (as is the Brazilian Xingu, which is even harder to find). Blackened Voodoo is a Dixie Beer product; I think Katrina almost put them out of business — anyway, I couldn’t find it for quite a while. Sierra Nevada’s always a reliable bet, but BV’s worth the extra searching…’

He’s just been offered a particularly decadent chocolate bar and the Several Annie is asking him if he wants it: ‘Whatever you may have heard, it is not true that I have ever killed for really good chocolate. Trampled … well, sort of.  But only when the person was directly between the chocolate and me.  I mean, after all …’ and I see the chocolate is indeed to his liking.

DRAWING TUTORIALS offers Easy The Last Unicorn Drawing Tutorials for Beginners and advanced.

For more info about THE LAST UNICORN: THE LOST JOURNEY, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Thorsten Erdt

Illustration by Stephanie Law

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about IN CALABRIA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on SUMMERLONG, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Magdalena Korzeniewska

Design by Elizabeth Story