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Title | The Unicorn Dancer
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Author | R.A.Salsitz
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | Signet - 1986
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First Printing | Signet - 1986
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Title | Daughter of Destiny
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Author | R.A.Salsitz
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | Signet - 1988
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First Printing | Signet - 1988
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Category | Fantasy
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Warnings | None
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Main Characters | Alorie, Rowan, Brock, Pinch, Kithrand
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Main Elements | Unicorns
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Website | ---
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 The Unicorn Dancer
When the guardian city Sinobel falls beneath a treacherous conqueror's blade...
When the centuries-entombed Corrupter wakes to walk the land, leading forth rank upon rank of Night's dread warriors...
When the Lady Alorie, heiress to the High Counsellorship and last hope of all the kingdoms, sets forth to claim her destiny on the unicorn's trail...
When mage and warrior, dwarf and elf, join in final battle to save their world...then the long-prophesied time of the unicorn is about to begin!
Daughter of Destiny
The Lady of the Unicorns -
She was Alorie, last of the blood of the House of Sergius. She had danced for the unicorns, guardians of her world, and won from them the magical horn to wield as a swort in defense of her people against the evil of the Corruptor's dread sorcery.
Now, the Corrupter's armies long defeated, the kingdoms of men, dwarves, and elves are at peace. Alorie prepares to wed her beloved Rover lord, Rowan. But the ancient prophecy which brought her to power threatens her chance for happiness. For once again the Corruptor is preparing to strike, to steal away the very source of Alorie's power even as his undead armies crawl forth from the grave to spread their terror through the lands of the living...
I couldn't help it, I started counting the comparisons to Lord of the Rings! The quest contains an Elf and Dwarf who bicker amongst themselves. There is a wizard that apparently dies just when they need him most but then comes back later (though he comes back less a Gandalf the White as a very confused Saruman). There is a Corruptor (Nazgul, a once human king now corrupted) and a Despot (Sauron, though we never find out what/who the Despot is). There is a ring with a minor role. There is a barrowland. And probably a lot more. But even with all those similarities it didn't feel at all the same. And of course, not only is there an actual female character, she has the lead role! And don't forget the unicorns.
I enjoyed this duology though it had some faults. First, some good points. There were interesting characters, a storyline that keeps you reading, and decent worldbuilding. The prophecy itself is also full of twists and turns, as a prophecy should be, after all if they made sense except in hindsight they wouldn't be proper prophecies. There's even a Hellride through the underworld.
The downsides? The worldbuilding had some much promise of a deep history but it wasn't elaborated upon well enough. In the last twenty pages or so Pinch finds a book that turns the entire history of the world on its head but he barely gasps out a sentence or two to othe other characters in the rush to end the book. Kithrand finds our more about the nature of the Malisons, but he doesn't really get a chance to explain it to the reader. The book also had three or four open storylines in those last twenty pages that had to rush to come together. And to be honest, I'm not sure the prophecy was even resolved in the end, there seem to be some unresolved bits, or maybe I just missed some points.
However there is an interesting take on the unicorns...though again another unexplained part of the world building, I mean there were hints but no one ever came out and said that the unicorns are, well, I won't give a spoiler. Interesting concept that a unicorn can give up his horn such that a mortal may wield it as a sword. Also that a unicorn can become corrupted and turn carnivorous. The unicorns may not take up much page space, but they are certainly key to the story.
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