Customer Reviews

Gold Unicorn

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Tanith Lee displays her usual inventiveness in Gold Unicorn; the result is a very satisfactory sequel to Black Unicorn.

While not, in my mind, quite as enjoyable as the first one, Gold Unicorn nonetheless remains a well-crafted fantasy in a creative and unusual world. Darker than its predecessor, Gold Unicorn explores Tanaquil's struggles between loyalty to her half-sister Lizra, now the dreaded conquerer, and her own belief that the ideal world her sister strives for cannot be achieved by war. Added are several complications-- a massive mechanical gold unicorn Lizra has ordered Tanaquil to fix for her war campaign, the mischievous peeve, stinging mousps (a magician's creation formed of mice and wasps), Honj, the enigmatic consort of Lizra...and a hell world to parallel the perfect world Tanaquil saw in the last book.

Obviously some people won't appreciate this book, but to those who enjoy Tanith Lee's particular style, Gold Unicorn is the perfect way to spend an afternoon.

This book was fantastic. Tanith Lee is a master craftman. This is a dark book, giving insightful glimpses into the destructive, shallow side of human nature - something unusual in a young adult fantasy. The characters are many-sided and intriguing, particulary the Empress, and Honj. Tanaquil's mixed feelings about them add depth and realism. The subtle romantic tension also adds spice to the story, as the the twist at the end. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes thought-provoking, entertaining stories.

Tanaquil has had the time of her life traveling and seeing all the wonders of the world for herself. But, as she begins to near her homeland, she hears rumors of horrible wars and a mad empress bent on conquering the world. Tanaquil fears for her mother and her half sister and heads straight for enemy territory in order to reach them...only to be captured by the empress' forces.

But that is not the worst, not by far, for, when Tanaquil is brought before the empress, who should it be but her own sister, Lizra! And Lizra has no intention of letting Tanaquil go. Lizra has had built a giant golden unicorn that will bring fear to the hearts of her enemies, but it will not work. She knows that Tanquil has an uncanny talent for mending things, so she commands Tanaquil to fix her unicorn. And Tanaquil does...against her better judgment.

Now the unicorn is destroying cities and slaughtering many. Tanaquil is sick over her part in Lizra's war, but she cannot leave...for she has fallen in love with Honj...who just happens to be the future husband of Lizra. How can they ever be together when a madwoman controls them...a madwomen they both care for...

This book is the sequel to Black Unicorn and equally as good as the first.

Really, the sequel is very, very good. There are still more interesting, complex characters, a strong plotline, and all kinds of surprises, twists, and magic, magic, magic. Tanaquil is her old complex self, as wonderful and strong and clever and dry as she was in the first book, Black Unicorn. Her familiar, the peeve, is also going strong, and I particularly liked it in the sequel.

At first, it may look to some readers like the book is just another formulatic epic-battle-type fantasy, but Tanith Lee takes all the old, used-up cliches of this sort of fantasy and reweaves them, turns them upside-down, completley rejeuvenates them.

This is a wonderful book, and a worthy sequel. I would have liked it perhaps if Tanaquil had just gone on adventures by herself (and the peeve) and there had been no war element, but this sequel is still good the way it is.

Altogether, I wasn't disappointed. Fun book! Well worth reading!

Dear Tanith Lee...There is no better character than the peeve.

Thank you!

With high regard,

Jenny L. Bates author, "Opening Doors: an equilog of poetry about Donkeys"
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I could gush all day about Tanith Lee and her myriad works. This book, and the other two books of her Unicorn series are no different. I have read and re-read them for years, and the quality of writing definitely transcends the "young adult" label these books are often given. I would recommend them for anyone who wants a dash of the fantastic in their life.

I felt this book was much better than the first one. It kept me reading because I just had to know how it turned out. This book finds Tanaquil still journeying. She ends up meeting with her half sister and finds she is not the same girl that she knew. From there she sees battles, a new world and a love she cannot claim.

This sequel to Black Unicorn was very good.I could not put it down.It was very interesting the characters you meet and the character growth of already known characters that happens in this book.There are a few suprises who enjoy the series.For overall a very good book.

Great light read! Though not as good as the black unicorn, the gold unicorn is still a enchanting read.

This book was the typical fantasy, it was full of overused cliches and was just plain dull. The cover was terrible also. Something by Tamora Pierce (Alanna: the first adventure) and Sherwood Smith (CROWN DUEL and COURT DUEL) are more of my types.