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entamewitchlulu 's review for:
The Unicorn Anthology
by Peter S. Beagle, Jacob Weisman
Rating each of these stories by how cool the unicorn is:
The Properties of Unicorn Ivory: 3/5
- Unicorns are extradimensional creatures from another parallel world who have slipped into ours due to scientific meddling with the fabric of reality. Cool as shit, but they aren't magical, so losing a point for that.
The Brew: 1/5
There is no unicorn in this one, just the remains of horn dust laced in whiskey. Disappointing.
Falling Off the Unicorn: 1/5
Unicorns are mundane creatures used in dressage type contests, however you can't ride them if you've ever had sex, or even kissed someone: except, for some reason, if that sex was lesbian sex, in which case it doesn't count? The implications are annoying. Story could have been about horses and it wouldn't have made a difference.
A Hunter's Ode to His Bait: 2/5
Unicorns are ancient magical beings but they're easily killed if you have a virgin to lure them in. Boring.
Ghost Town: 2/5
The unicorn doesn't even show up until the end and it's just there to show how magical the world has turned for a moment. The story would have worked just as well about anything other than a unicorn so it felt extraneous.
A Thousand Flowers: 3/5
The unicorn isn't awful and is very cool when you see it first but then it's like...weird. Did the unicorn try to frame a human being on purpose or was that just bad luck on the part of the first narrator? It would have been a better story to read from the princess's POV. I wanna know more about this girl who wants to have a carnal relationship with a unicorn.
The Maltese Unicorn: -50/5
There is no unicorn in this one. There's just a unicorn horn that has been carved into a dildo.
Stampede of Light: 0/5
There aren't any actual unicorns in this one. The weird evil lady just embroiders them to steal kids. She genuinely could have embroidered any creature, dragons, ducks, whatever, and it wouldn't have changed the story. Why is this in a unicorn anthology.
The Highest Justice: 5/5
Oh this unicorn is COOL. Silent but has character and is also both magical and ancient but well woven into the world. Very good.
The Lion and the Unicorn: 2/5
There is a half-human half-unicorn boy in this one and also there's a lot in it that I wish I had been trigger warned for.
Survivor: 1/5
There's no unicorn in this one there's just a unicorn tattoo that has magic powers I guess.
Homeward Bound: 3/5
Perfectly acceptable magical, ethereal unicorn. Half the story is human though.
Unicorn Triangle: 3/5
Another unicorn turned human, but the unicorn is very lyrically written. Loses points because the story itself just, straight up ends before the most interesting stuff actually happens.
My Son Heydari and the Karkadann: 3/5
I'm not the biggest fan of violent unicorns, but I think this one is decently interesting and cool.
The Transfigured Hart: 1/5
This is not a unicorn, this is an albino deer that seems to maybe become a unicorn for like, two pages for some reason.
Unicorn Series: 2/5
These are poems and the unicorn is a metaphor.
Overall: 2/5. I'm gonna be honest, when I pick up a book called "The Unicorn Anthology" I really expect it to have, you know, actual unicorns in it.
The Properties of Unicorn Ivory: 3/5
- Unicorns are extradimensional creatures from another parallel world who have slipped into ours due to scientific meddling with the fabric of reality. Cool as shit, but they aren't magical, so losing a point for that.
The Brew: 1/5
There is no unicorn in this one, just the remains of horn dust laced in whiskey. Disappointing.
Falling Off the Unicorn: 1/5
Unicorns are mundane creatures used in dressage type contests, however you can't ride them if you've ever had sex, or even kissed someone: except, for some reason, if that sex was lesbian sex, in which case it doesn't count? The implications are annoying. Story could have been about horses and it wouldn't have made a difference.
A Hunter's Ode to His Bait: 2/5
Unicorns are ancient magical beings but they're easily killed if you have a virgin to lure them in. Boring.
Ghost Town: 2/5
The unicorn doesn't even show up until the end and it's just there to show how magical the world has turned for a moment. The story would have worked just as well about anything other than a unicorn so it felt extraneous.
A Thousand Flowers: 3/5
The unicorn isn't awful and is very cool when you see it first but then it's like...weird. Did the unicorn try to frame a human being on purpose or was that just bad luck on the part of the first narrator? It would have been a better story to read from the princess's POV. I wanna know more about this girl who wants to have a carnal relationship with a unicorn.
The Maltese Unicorn: -50/5
There is no unicorn in this one. There's just a unicorn horn that has been carved into a dildo.
Stampede of Light: 0/5
There aren't any actual unicorns in this one. The weird evil lady just embroiders them to steal kids. She genuinely could have embroidered any creature, dragons, ducks, whatever, and it wouldn't have changed the story. Why is this in a unicorn anthology.
The Highest Justice: 5/5
Oh this unicorn is COOL. Silent but has character and is also both magical and ancient but well woven into the world. Very good.
The Lion and the Unicorn: 2/5
There is a half-human half-unicorn boy in this one and also there's a lot in it that I wish I had been trigger warned for.
Survivor: 1/5
There's no unicorn in this one there's just a unicorn tattoo that has magic powers I guess.
Homeward Bound: 3/5
Perfectly acceptable magical, ethereal unicorn. Half the story is human though.
Unicorn Triangle: 3/5
Another unicorn turned human, but the unicorn is very lyrically written. Loses points because the story itself just, straight up ends before the most interesting stuff actually happens.
My Son Heydari and the Karkadann: 3/5
I'm not the biggest fan of violent unicorns, but I think this one is decently interesting and cool.
The Transfigured Hart: 1/5
This is not a unicorn, this is an albino deer that seems to maybe become a unicorn for like, two pages for some reason.
Unicorn Series: 2/5
These are poems and the unicorn is a metaphor.
Overall: 2/5. I'm gonna be honest, when I pick up a book called "The Unicorn Anthology" I really expect it to have, you know, actual unicorns in it.