The Hunt of the Unicorn

by C.C. Humphreys

Dedication: "To Aletha, Tamer of Unicorns"

First paragraph: "Thunderstorms rumble nearer, the air charged with static, as sticky-hot as only a New Orleans night can be. Arcana knows that the werewolf is going to come. She prays that all the precautions she's taken are not in vain. Prays that he's brought the goal of her quest---

'Elayne?'"

Review: Elayne is struggling to come to terms with reality as she watches her father's health steadily decline due to the cancer that plagues his body. Trying to imagine life without him is impossible. So, when her father starts to tell her about their family history, she can't help but be skeptical. Unicorns and Manticores only existed in fairytales and her life was anything but a fairytale.

Or so she thinks.

This book was a fun read. The first part of the book was great; I couldn't put it down. Then something happened and it lost that edge and fell into a lull. Luckily, I kept reading because it definitely picks back up and I felt the story rewarded me for persevering until the end.

Some of the fantastic beasts Humphreys described were beyond my comprehension but it was still a fun story about a land beyond this one. And, in a weird way, it almost makes sense. No wonder we have stories about Unicorns and three-headed-dogs, they used to travel from our world to theirs before the doorways were sealed forever.

I did get a sense of an agenda at a few points in the book but I'm not against taking care of our planet so it didn't bother me too much.

My only real complaint is that Mormons don't have multiple wives and I hate it when authors (even jokingly) throw that into their stories. It's probably silly to be so bothered by it but lots of people, more than I could possibly imagine, actually believe it when they read seemingly innocent sentences like the one I found in the story.  I'm sure most people wouldn't even notice that sentence or think twice about it but ... it bothered me.

Other than that small and albeit pretty petty complaint this was a fun book to read and I would highly recommend it to the unicorn lovers or the fantasy readers out there.

Three stars to The Hunt of the Unicorn.

Click here for C.C. Humphreys' website for The Hunt of the Unicorn.