Everyone knows that "the unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone," and traveled with a magician, became human and loved a prince. Not everyone knows that before Peter S. Beagle reworked his classic fantasy adventure The Last Unicorn, the unicorn's journey followed a different path. Now readers can discover her origins in this 50th-anniversary edition of Beagle's first draft, delicately illustrated by Stephanie Law.
When a worse-for-wear dragon turns up in the lilac wood and answers the unicorn's challenge with tears instead of fire, she learns that the world outside has changed from dusty roads and horses to asphalt and automobiles, magic is fading and her kindred have vanished. Gathering her courage, she sets out to investigate, finding along the way that humanity no longer recognizes her. On the road, she meets a demon called Azazel whose second head, Webster, got them both evicted from the new and improved flame-free Hell on charges of arson. Despite her initial disdain for them, the unicorn finds companionship with talkative Azazel, who counsels her, "You can't live without changing, not anymore" as they move through a modernizing landscape of cities, pollution and endless noise.
Beagle's wistful musings on the vitality and mystery humans trade for modernization have a powerful resonance in our digital age. Last Unicorn fans will recognize earlier versions of favorite scenes, such as the butterfly's appearance. This wisp of a story deserves to be read for its own sake and as a window into its younger sister's heart. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads