The Last Unicorn

"They deserve their fate, they deserve worse. To leave a child out in the snow-"
"Well if they hadn't, he couldn't have grown up to be a prince. Haven't you ever been in a fairy tale before?"

The Last Unicorn is a very fun, very self-aware fairy tale. I believe someone recommended it to me after I said I liked The Name of the Wind, a similarly self-aware story. Although I like The Name of the Wind much better, The Last Unicorn was a great way to spend some time.

It follows the quest of a unicorn who, upon discovering that she may be the last of her kind, sets out to find out where all the other unicorns went. Along the way she meets the world's worst magician and a very practical woman. Together they travel to Haggard's cursed castle to find out what he has to do with the disappearance of all the unicorns.

The fun comes from the characters' awareness (particularly the magician's) that this is a story. There are certain rules that must be adhered to and a specific path that must be followed if they're going to get to the happy ending. There are also a bunch of fun references to all sorts of things. The Midgard snake from Norse mythology makes an appearance, as do Arachne and Robin Hood and several other legends. This is one of those worlds where everything is real and nothing should be taken for granted

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