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Peter S. Beagle's Immortal Unicorn

Peter S. Beagle's Immortal Unicorn

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: What's a unicorn doing in a book like this?
Review: If you think you might enjoy a unicorn snuff film, you'll probably relish this short story collection. Beagle has collected a diverse set of fantasies about creatures very unlike the traditional colt-like being with a horn and a penchant for virgins (although a few of those time-honored beasts do show up in strange settings). He could very easily have done a bit of cut and paste and called his book, "Immortal Dragon," or "Immortal Manticore" for all the 'unicorn-ness' of the featured mythical beast.

Here is a sampling of the stories, starting with my two favorites:

"Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros" by Peter S. Beagle - A unicorn in the guise of a smelly Indian Rhinoceros that loves to discuss the Scholastics and take hot baths? It works for Beagle, who exhibits his usual deft touch at the border between life and immortality.

"Gilgamesh Recidivus" by P.D. Cacek - a grim story of a man who tracks a unicorn through the cold barrens of Siberia, in order to beg for death, not immortality.

"The Devil on Myrtle Ave." by Eric Lustbader - a long, somewhat incoherent tale of a stone killer whose mother ODs on the first page. A little silver unicorn dangles from his nose chain as he goes about his daily rounds of break-ins, armed robberies, and murder.

"The Trouble with Unicorns" by Nancy Willard - A man has his beloved cat put down due to the infirmities of old age. While looking for another pet, he finds an ad for an enrocinul.

"Old One-Antler" by Michael Armstrong - A man takes his thirteen-year-old son on a hunting trip to teach him how to shoot. A bull caribou with a missing horn instructs the father on the true meaning of manhood.

"Taken He Cannot Be" by Will Shetterly - Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday go hunting a rustler and find him at creek-side, three sheets to the wind and reading aloud from the "Illiad." A unicorn accompanies the posse of two.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: What's a unicorn doing in a book like this?
Review: If you think you might enjoy a unicorn snuff film, you'll probably relish this short story collection. Beagle has collected a diverse set of fantasies about creatures very unlike the traditional colt-like being with a horn and a penchant for virgins (although a few of those time-honored beasts do show up in strange settings). He could very easily have done a bit of cut and paste and called his book, "Immortal Dragon," or "Immortal Manticore" for all the 'unicorn-ness' of the featured mythical beast.

Here is a sampling of the stories, starting with my two favorites:

"Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros" by Peter S. Beagle - A unicorn in the guise of a smelly Indian Rhinoceros that loves to discuss the Scholastics and take hot baths? It works for Beagle, who exhibits his usual deft touch at the border between life and immortality.

"Gilgamesh Recidivus" by P.D. Cacek - a grim story of a man who tracks a unicorn through the cold barrens of Siberia, in order to beg for death, not immortality.

"The Devil on Myrtle Ave." by Eric Lustbader - a long, somewhat incoherent tale of a stone killer whose mother ODs on the first page. A little silver unicorn dangles from his nose chain as he goes about his daily rounds of break-ins, armed robberies, and murder.

"The Trouble with Unicorns" by Nancy Willard - A man has his beloved cat put down due to the infirmities of old age. While looking for another pet, he finds an ad for an enrocinul.

"Old One-Antler" by Michael Armstrong - A man takes his thirteen-year-old son on a hunting trip to teach him how to shoot. A bull caribou with a missing horn instructs the father on the true meaning of manhood.

"Taken He Cannot Be" by Will Shetterly - Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday go hunting a rustler and find him at creek-side, three sheets to the wind and reading aloud from the "Illiad." A unicorn accompanies the posse of two.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: volume 2
Review: Peter S. Beagle's fantastic world of unicorns and magic comes alive in a whole new way in this collection of extraordinary stories. Although all of the stories allude to unicorns in a fashion, nonconventional beliefs about them are expressed. Each individual author brings a new perspective. For example, in We Blazed, the "nicorn" is the representation of a man in his wife's mind, where he realizes what griefs consumed her whether they were true or false. In A Thief in the Night, the narrator, the Antichrist, compares God to the immortal unicorn and one of the Christs to a beach comber. I loved the insight found in many of these stories; coping with life, love, and loss, the characters spread messages of hope or slight despair. All authors eloquently spoke with individual voices collected by the general themes of immortality and mortality.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: volume 2
Review: Peter S. Beagle's fantastic world of unicorns and magic comes alive in a whole new way in this collection of extraordinary stories. Although all of the stories allude to unicorns in a fashion, nonconventional beliefs about them are expressed. Each individual author brings a new perspective. For example, in We Blazed, the "nicorn" is the representation of a man in his wife's mind, where he realizes what griefs consumed her whether they were true or false. In A Thief in the Night, the narrator, the Antichrist, compares God to the immortal unicorn and one of the Christs to a beach comber. I loved the insight found in many of these stories; coping with life, love, and loss, the characters spread messages of hope or slight despair. All authors eloquently spoke with individual voices collected by the general themes of immortality and mortality.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not that bad.
Review: Some of the stories in here just mention the unicorn and that's it, but it's still a cool book. I gives you a new definiton of unicorn. When I think of a unicorn I see a horse whith cloven hooves, a lions tail and a horn in the middle of it's forhead, but in this book you get to read about other types of unicorns too. For exsample: A caribou named "Old one Antler", is a caribou that can heal the sick, live forever and make a person immortal. Anyways, in closing I would like to say that this is a good book.


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