The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Beagle continually surprised me with his unique prose. Descriptions and metaphors in odd juxtapositions that at first make no sense but then you blink and they make complete sense. His dialogue often rang with rhythm and rhyme, nudging me to re-read a snippet just to hear it roll off my tongue.
A quest adventure fairy tale fantasy flipped topsy-turvy. Instead of a child pulled unwillingly along by prophecy, an undying unicorn discovers she is the last of her kind and leaves to learn their fate. Rather than an all powerful wise wizard, she encounters a second-hand failed apprentice masquerading as a carnival magician. Witches, curses, obsessed kings, indifferent prince turned hero, complacent subjects, elemental forces, mystifying happenstance magic confuse and confound her until she nearly loses herself.
A timeless tale of love, beauty, regret and hope.