The Last Unicorn The Lost Journey

It all still begins in the lilac wood…

But that is about it.

The Last Unicorn: The Lost Journey is a prequel, of sorts, to the more well-known version of the story by Peter S. Beagle. This is where the story started in the summer of 1962, when many things hadn’t happened yet. Some elements remain that appear in The Last Unicorn, but there is no red bull, no King Lir, no Molly, only a demon named Azazel and the long road out of the lilac wood.

This is a book for the fans of the book or the film, familiar but without the familiar elements, a more raw form of the story some readers may already know and love. Yet even if readers haven’t encountered The Last Unicorn, this is still an enjoyable read. The butterfly is still confounding and mesmerizing, and the repartee between Azazel and his second head, Webster, is much-needed comic relief. With a lesser writer, parts of this story might feel forced or artificial, but Beagle has a way of drawing readers in and making us believe in unicorns.