Customer Reviews

The Black Unicorn (Landover Series)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I read the entire Landover series years ago and was happy to see them in Kindle format. I finished the first one - Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold! and was very disappointed at all the spelling & formatting errors, but since it was free, I couldn't complain too much, right?

So I purchased "The Black Unicorn" - Kindle version. Again, on just about every other page there are misspelled words, formatting errors, strange characters (print type, not story type.) I'm really shocked at how poorly these things have been converted to Kindle format.

As a comparison, I read the Kindle version of the first Shannara trilogy and don't remember any errors, if there were, they were few.

I've written Amazon, got the standard canned (thank you for your feedback) response and also wrote to the publisher - Del Rey but haven't received a reply yet.

I'm taking 2 full stars off this time for the poor conversion to Kindle format. The book is great but since I'm reviewing the Kindle version, it loses points.

I just ordered the 3rd one in the series (stupid, I know) but I'm curious to see if there are still errors. If so, I may ask for a refund.

To summarize: Great book, poor conversion to Kindle format.

Brooks has an amazing way to twist words and thoughts together in a flow that paints a beautiful picture for his readers. When reading The Black Unicorn, I found that I was able to visualize the world that Ben Holiday and his friends traversed from day to day, and that I was able to understand, at least in part, the lives of those who would inhabit the world.

In The Black Unicorn, Brooks shows his readers a part of the world - the faery lands - that are so intwined with Landover. He shows us how the faeries used the realm of dreams to intervene in life as the Landoverian people know it, by showing Willow the black unicorn, by assisting Ben in his quest to rediscover himself. Brooks shows his readers how subtle influences can change the course of history.

And for that feat, I love his story of the Black Unicorn.

The Black Unicorn (1987) is the second fantasy novel in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series, following Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold. In the previous volume, Ben and his friends faced the demons in a fight to the death. Ben called the Paladin and defeated the Iron Mark. Then he took pledges of fealty from his Lords and others.

In this novel, Ben Holiday is a founding partner of a rich and well-known law firm. Then he buys the Magic Kingdom of Landover and leaves his friend Miles Bennett in sole charge of the firm. Ben spends the next year restoring the kingdom.

Willow is a sylph, the daughter of the River Master and a wood nymph. She is now Ben's lover. But Ben still cannot overcome his residual feelings for Annie, his deceased wife.

Questor Thews is the court wizard of Landover. He is the half-brother of the former court wizard, now known as Meeks. Questor is getting better at wizardry, but still has many misapplications of his magic.

Abernathy is the court scribe. He is also a talking dog. He had once been a human, but had been transformed by Questor. Then the wizard had not been able to restore his human form.

Bunion and Parsnip are kobolds. Both are retainers of the kingdom. Bunion is the court runner and Parsnip is the cook.

In this story, Ben, Questor and Willow have dreams. When they discuss them at breakfast, there seems to have been an urgency to each dream. Despite warnings from Abernathy, all three set out to follow the dreams.

In Ben's dream, Miles is having some difficulty. So Ben returns to Chicago to check. He encounters visions of Meeks twice during his visit, once at the end of the time tunnel and once outside the elevator on the fifteenth floor near the offices of his law firm. Miles tells him that his fears are unfounded and Ben hurries back to Landover.

In Questor's dream, the hiding place of the lost magic books is revealed. So Questor and Bunion travel to the ruined fortress of Mirwouk. There they find the lost books and return to the castle.

In Willow's dream, a black unicorn appears in Landover. So Willow and Parsnip search for the unicorn.

Ben returns first to Sterling Silver. Shortly thereafter, Questor arrives and shows the magic books to Ben. Then Ben goes back to bed, but has a strange encounter in the night.

Suddenly Meeks appears before him. This time he is not an illusion, but the real wizard. He paralyzes Ben with magic and them replaces his clothes with those of a common man. When Ben tries to use his Paladin medallion, he finds it changed to an image of Meeks. And Meeks has the Paladin medallion.

Somehow Ben no longer looks like himself to others and Meeks looks like Ben. Ben tells his friends that he is the High Lord, but they deny him and have him ejected from the castle. After stewing a while, Ben realizes that Willow will bring the Black Unicorn to Meeks in his guise as the High Lord, so he heads south to intercept her.

After he stops for the night, a cat appears in the clearing. It tells Ben that it is named Edgewood Dirk and that it is a prism cat. After it transforms itself to start a campfire, Ben accepts that it is from fairy.

Ben soon discovers that it may talk and shoot flame, but it is still a cat. It refuses to answer his questions, but decides to accompany Ben as a guide. Ben wants to strangle it on several occasions.

This tale forces Ben to face some of his buried fears and other emotions. Dirk keeps telling him about self-deception, but Ben doesn't understand. Finally, Dirk leaves him on his own.

The story brings out the history of unicorns within Landover. Black unicorns have been seen before and are believed to be demons. Everyone knows that it is dangerous to touch a unicorn.

The story of Landover continues with Wizard at Large. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Brooks fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of magic kingdoms, desperate quests, and true romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

A nice addition to the Landover series. The book starts off with Ben, Willow and Questor all having very vivid dreams that they feel they need to act upon. Ben, thinking that his friend from Chicago is in trouble, goes back through the fairy mists to earth. Questor goes to an ancient fortess to find lost books of magic and Willow goes in search of the black unicorn, a legendary beast of pure evil. All of this, not surprisingly is the grand planning of Meeks. The quasi-villian from the last book. The reason why I say quasi is that he was not the main antagonist in book one. Here however, he takes a much more active role and the results make for very entertaining reading. Meeks transforms Ben into an incognito peasant and takes his persona, acting as king of Landover. The only people who recognize him are is enemies and the only help he gets is from a frustratingly egnimatic talking cat by the name of Edgewood Dirk. A nice addition to the growing pantheon of characters. Speaking of which, Strabo, Nightshade, Kallendor and the River King all make an appearance and all show growth. Even Ben, but the decisions that he makes can be somewhat daft and tends to strain the story a bit. Other than that warning, (more of a heads up really) it's a great story and a nice diversion from the epic Shannara series. I think most will like this and agree.

Let me preface my remarks by saying this is for an out of print audio cassette. (They [Amazon] don't have a listing for this format). This is a tale of good v. evil, with Ben Holiday, and a host of odd creatures, seeking to find the Black Unicorn, and to destroy the books of magic. As part of the Kingdom of Landover series, by Terry Brooks, it creates a magical world; where the final battle between Ben, and Questor Thews, one of the two wizards, and half brothers, battle over the destruction of the magic books. Also, there are a talking dog, a fairy like creature, who Ben loves, and a talking cat. Mr. Brooks has created a whimsical, but fine story. The audio cassette, out of print, is well read by Mr. Dick Hill; whose ability to create various voices, and express a wide range of emotions, speaks to his credit as a reader. Fine story.

the publisher needs to proofread the kindle version of this book. it looks like it was written on a newton.

It's been a year since Ben Holiday bought the magic kingdom of Landover, and things finally seem to be falling into place. However, when he receives a troubling dream that shows him that his old law partner is in trouble, Ben realizes that he must make a return visit to Earth. Strangely enough, the court magician, Questor Thews, and Willow both receive startling dreams that send them off on quests of their own. Ben's dream turns out to be a trap, and he is tricked into bringing the evil wizard Meeks back to Landover.

Meeks quickly switches identities with Ben, and sends him off to wander Landover as a wretched nobody, casting about trying to find someone who will believe that he is really the High Lord. To make matters worse, Willow's dream sent her off in pursuit of the ill-omened black unicorn, and that too is some sort of trap. Can Ben Holiday learn to overcome the magic that has stolen his identity, and rescue those he loves in this strange new world? Perhaps he can, with the help of a new friend!

This is another great Landover book. Terry Brooks is one of the greats in the field of fantasy literature, and this book shows off his abilities quite ably. I liked the characters - the new ones and the old ones. I also thought that the author did a great job of keeping the pressure on to the very end of the book. I really enjoyed this book, which I found to be every bit as good as the first book in the series - Magic Kingdom for Sale--Sold! I highly recommend this book.

First time purchase and was pleasantly surprised, great value on a great book, fast delivery. Five star all around, highly recommended.

Ben Holiday, King of Landover, Questor Thews, Abernathy, Willow, and Meeks are back in the 2nd installment of the Landover series. Ben and Willow are having dreams about a beautiful black unicorn. Neither one can decipher the meaning of these dreams, but they are haunted by them and need to find the answer. Ben travels back to Earth and in doing so, he inadvertently frees Meeks from his prison. When Ben returns to Landover, Meeks is waiting for him and casts a spell on Ben. Ben no longer looks like himself and Meeks now looks and sounds like Ben. Ben is banished from the Kingdom and Meeks takes over. Ben and his friends must find the black unicorn to solve this mystery and put things back to normal. In order to do this, Ben must ask Strabo the dragon and Nightshade, the witch for their help. Ben and company barely survived the last meeting with the dragon and witch. Will everyone survive this time? Will they find the unicorn and get Ben back to the throne before Meeks destroys everything Ben has worked for? Buy the book and find out, you won't regret it.

I listened to the audio version, and I have to say that the vocalist did an excellent job.

The story is great. I like its simplicity, simple dialog, and likeable characters. Terry Brooks took a simple premise and made a great series of stories out of it.

I think that he could have made Ben Holiday a little faster with logic (he is a lawyer after all) but other than that, I think the story is great.