|
|
Title | Black Unicorn
| |
Author | Tanith Lee
| |
Cover Art | Dennis Nolan
| |
Publisher | Tom Doherty Associates (Tor) - 1991
| |
First Printing | ---
|
|
|
|
Title | Gold Unicorn
| |
Author | Tanith Lee
| |
Cover Art | Mark Zug
| |
Publisher | Tom Doherty Associates (Tor) - 1996
| |
First Printing | Byron Preiss - 1994
|
|
|
|
Title | Red Unicorn
| |
Author | Tanith Lee
| |
Cover Art | Daniel Dos Santos
| |
Publisher | Tom Doherty Associates (Starscape) - 2003
| |
First Printing | Byron Preiss - 1997
|
| |
|
Category | General
| |
Warnings | None
| |
Main Characters | Tanaquil, the Peeve, Lizra Veriam, Honj
| |
Main Elements | Unicorns, Sorceress
| |
Website | TanithLee.com
|
|
 Black Unicorn
The only daughter of a powerful sorceress, Tanaquil seems to have no magical talent of her own. Then she discovers a cache of pearly bones buries in the vast desert surrounding her mother's palace. Carefully assembled by Tanaquil, the bones form the skeleton of a unicorn - which, to everyone's surprise, comes majestically back to life.
Tanaquil does not know who the Black Unicorn is or what it seeks. All she knows is that she is driven to follow the Unicorn, beyond her mother's walls and on to a fabulous adventure that will reveal the secrets of Tanaquil's past - and the promise of her future.
Gold Unicorn
A beast of gold and fire.
Journeying through many distant lands, young Tanaquil hears frightful tales of the Empress Veriam, who wishes to conquer from one sea to the next. Tanaquil is shocked to learn that the dreaded tyrant is really her half sister Lizra.
Recalling the powerful effect the black unicorn had on her people, Lizra has constructed a tremendous mechanical unicorn as the symbol of her reign. The unicorn is gleaming, golden - and lifeless.
Lizra commands Tanaquil to use her unique mending abilities to make the steam-powered unicorn move. Now Tanaquil must choose between assisting a war of conquest - or betraying her only sister.
Red Unicorn
After several years traveling, Tanaquil - a sorceress like her mother with the ability to mend - returns home only to discover that her true love has been betrothed to her sister, Empress Lizra. Broken-hearted and jealous of her sister's happiness, Tanaquil is lured by a red unicorn into a mirror world where she encounters Tanakil, a diabolical version of herself.
She discovers also several new powers. Powers she will need to foil Tanakil's sinister plot of revenge.
I'll have to admit this isn't my favorite book. Neither the storyline nor the characters really grabbed and pulled me into the story. That said, I still suggest you make your way down to the local library just to read the way Tanith Lee described the unicorn.
"In the night, night passed down the street.... She felt the terror of it, the magic, and the impossibility that it should be there or that she should go to it.
"What do you want?"
But the unicorn only moved through the village like the wind, silent, without music.
And of course, I'm partial to the peeve. Some people might find him annoying, I thought he was cute.
Well, now it is September 2009. It took me that long to find a copy of Gold Unicorn, though I had Red Unicorn for some time. I had to admit, the only thing I really remembered from the first book was the unicorn and the peeve, which as you can see by my review from 7 years ago, those were the parts I liked best.
I think what I didn't realize the first time around was that they were for younger readers, Red Unicorn being suggested for ages 10 and up. But even viewing them that way, I still didn't care that much for the series, though I had to admit that as it only took a couple days to read each one, I didn't mind, it was a nice break from the really deep and heavy series I was reading before it.
When I saw that the gold unicorn wasn't even a real unicorn, I was sort of disappointed, but in truth, when it gets going, it's a pretty cool unicorn. Once again, the lovely descriptions of characters and places saved the day...though where Lee comes up with those characters names I don't know...
"Out into an island of darkness under the fire of the moon, they careered, and came together with a blast of metal, heat, and tumult.
They were rearing up. The horns locking, the forefeet smiting. Unicorns made of gold fighting in the valley of hell."
Red Unicorn in my mind got a little sappy. You know the kind of thing where you see yourself through the eyes of others and then a unicorn sweeps you off your feet, you reconcile with your other half, and the world just falls into place. On the other hand, it had the Rot-Chair Race...where people put wheels on rotting chairs and hitch them up to drunk horses. There were moments in this book that were just deliciously bizarre.
So while each book might be worth a trip to the library, I suspect younger readers might enjoy them more than my crotchety 30-year old self.
|
