Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful, one of the best fantasy novels ever
Review: Where to begin about this book? I have read it so many times. I've watched the movie even more. This book is about love, hope, sadness, and regret. Read this book if you like fantasy novels, romantic stories, or adventures. It has all three. The romance of Prince Lir and the Lady Amalthea is beautiful. The way everyone who comes into real contact with the unicorn is lovely. Schmendrick is even great, and he's the most annoying thing in the book. The way he longs to be a true magician is heart wrenching. Molly Grue makes you think of a woman who has seen too many years of hardship, but finally finds something that makes it all worth it. Nothing about this book is bad. But if you are the type who cries, be warned, the end of this book will make you cry, or at the very least tear up. It did that to me, it does that to me everytime I read it, in fact, and I'm not much of a crier. I hope everyone at least gets this book from the library and reads it at least once.
Rating:
Summary: Breaks your heart while making it soar...
Review: I've now read this book twice, and I've started to read it a third time. I never ever read books more than once, even when I think they are excellent. This book never fails to make me cry, even though it seems to lack great tragedy. This book is simply so beautiful that it makes you cry. On the surface it is a child's story, but beneath the fairy tale exterior lies a testimonial to truth, love, life, and lost innocence. Do not read this book and let the deeper meaning evade you. If you enjoy this book I highly reccomend the animated movie version of it, which is also remarkably beautiful, while leaving out some important details. Also, I'd like to inform other TLU lovers that a live action movie is in the making and will be released in Fall/Winter 2003. This version will not be made after the original animated movie, but will be more thoroughly based on the book itself. I, and other fans, are eagerly awaiting its arrival.
Rating:
Summary: deserves more recognition(at least this 15 yr old thinks so)
Review: I have never before found a book that so delicately wound its way into my heart and left me wanting more, even when the ending wasn't exactly happy. No other ending would have made so perfect a fairy-tale.
Beagle himself admits to its fairy-tale status with his allusions to stereotypical characters such as "hero" or "witch", etc, and, I think, gets away with it by taking it far deeper than any other story I have ever seen. He guides each character gently across the chessboard of the story by showing a subtle futility in crossing fate mixed with an intriguing web of emotional interplay that is entirely unique. Schmendrick, Molly, Amalthea, Lir, and even Haggard have complex, colorful personalities that contrast wonderfully with the darkness of their circumstances and surroundings. Each one has a predetermined part, but it is theirs to play.
Read it, I think you'll LOVE it. (the movie's not bad either)
Rating:
Summary: A classic piece of fantasy literature and excellent story.
Review: In the genre of fantasy, there are few books that can be considered "classics," as it's very difficult to create a classic and universally-loved story set within a fantasy world. Members of this elite club include "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkein, "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Caroll, and "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis. Peter S. Beagle also joins this membership with his classic "The Last Unicorn", a beautfully crafted and utterly wonderful story.The story deals with a unicorn who discovers she is the last of her kind. She sets out to find her missing race, but ends up with more than she bargains for. With the help of a bumbling magician and a maid, she must face an evil king who uses a mysterious creature for a purpose not even she could imagine. The story is perhaps one of the most beautifully crafted stories in all of fantasy. It is far from being an epic - it's more of a short story that happens to be long - but it still makes for a captivating read. And the story doesn't always take itself seriously; there's a kind of wry humor that might be found in a Disney-like cartoon. However, "The Last Unicorn" is far from a Disney-esque book. There is a subtle yet undeniable dark tone in the story, and the characters have real personalities and character development, with flaws and irregularities. In the span of a relatively short novel, Beagle's world is realized with such amazing beauty and skill it's difficult not to be engrossed in his simple yet elegant prose. Although it's most likely out of print by now, I seriously reccommend finding this book. If "The Lord of the Rings" is the Bible of fantasy, then "The Last Unicorn" is the equivalent of a book written by Max Lucado. It's suitable for all ages, and it beats the movie by a long shot. You will laugh, you will cry, you will feel satisfied. "The Last Unicorn" is one of fantasy's unquestionable classics.
Rating:
Summary: "Enchanting" is an understatement!
Review: I bought this book having been a fan of the movie since I can remember. Though some might say that unicorns are for children, at 22, I can still read this book over and over, and never be tired of it. Beagle's imagery and character development are fantastic. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good fairy-tale style fantasty story, but I recommend to primarily to anyone who has only seen the movie. While the movie itself is also wonderful, the book offers so, so much more. The novel changes perspective several times. After the unicorn's meeting with Schmendrick the Magician much of the story is told through Schmendrick's point of view, it seems (in contrast to the movie, where the story is almost entirely told from the point of view of the unicorn). The book is very emotional, and the character development is supurb. Some things left out from the movie are the magician's background, and the story of the town of Hagsgate. There are still parts of this book that ring in my head long after I read it. In a good way, that is.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreakingly beautiful
Review: This is one book that should be on every fantasy lover's "Must Read" list. Beagle does a masterful job of weaving fantasy, adventure, romance, and humor, adding just a dash of the unexpected juxtaposition of the "modern" with the fantastic. He has a way with words that is truly musical, that hits a chord inside you and makes you nod your head in agreement. And most importantly, while the story can certainly be read as a simple fairy tale, there's more going on than just a good story. Beagle teaches his reader a valuable lesson about the nature of love and life. The last two chapters of this book are heartwrenching, and every time I read it I have to have a box of tissues handy, but there are tears of joy and sadness combined.
Rating:
Summary: Rich, Involving, Enchanting
Review: This novel is truly beautiful. It is about a unicorn who goes on a dangerous search for her kind with a "magician" and wife of a "colonel". The novel is rather mature in the sense that it takes a lot of thought, so I'd recommend it to 12 and up. Yet, the novel is very magical, and I found it difficult to put it down!
Rating: 
Summary: Not That Great.
Review: I don't know what all the hype is about over this book. It reads like a drawn out bedtime story which takes place in a world with no substance or history. It seems like the author just threw everything together, then made things up as he went along. When I finished, I found myself thinking: What was the point to this story? The plot was as patched together and senseless as a dream. I think I could have spent my time better than to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting
Review: i have been under the influence of this story for as long as i can remember...what more can i say. If u like the book- which u will- get the movie as well!
Rating:
Summary: This book made me fall in love with unicorns
Review: When I saw the movie on TV awhile back, I was enchanted by the movie and the story. At that time I didn't remember the name to the movie, and I thought nothing of it, that it will come back on. But it never did, and for many years, I would ask and ask if anyone remembered the name. I was going to give up hope until one day my friend told me it was "The Last Unicorn". I rushed to my local bookstore and bought the book. And I instantly remembered the feelings I had while watching the movie, but they were intensifiyed because of Beagle's way of writting, how he puts things together and draws the reader into his world. I liked unicorns when I saw the movie, but his book made me fall in love with them. And to this day I still remember the joy, sorrow, hopelessness, magic of this book.
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