The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle - A Short Summary & Review
The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle - A Short Summary & Review
By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures
A Rite of Fancy Book Recommendation and Review
A short summary:
The Last Unicorn follows a solitary unicorn who discovers she may be the last of her kind. Driven by loneliness and an unshakable sense of duty, she leaves her forest to search for the others, creatures who once filled the world with wonder but have now seemingly vanished.
Along the way, she encounters a cast of unforgettable companions: the bumbling but tender-hearted magician Schmendrick, the weary and compassionate Molly Grue, and the melancholy King Haggard, whose emptiness has shaped the fate of the magical world. Looming over it all is the Red Bull, a terrifying force that drives unicorns into captivity and erasure.
The story unfolds as a myth layered with humor, sorrow, and quiet wisdom, blurring the lines between fairy tale, fable, and philosophical meditation.
My favorite quote from the book:
Questions to ponder while reading:
My review:
There is always something beautiful in the mystic, and The Last Unicorn understands that beauty is inseparable from loss.
This book carries a deep, reflective sadness beneath its shimmering surface. It’s about longing, aging, regret, and the cost of knowing what you’ve lost. Beagle’s prose is lyrical without being precious, whimsical without ever denying the story’s emotional gravity.
And yes—the Red Bull gave me nightmares. Not wings. Nightmares. Few antagonists feel so relentlessly inevitable, so quietly horrifying. It is not cruel for cruelty’s sake; it simply is, which makes it all the more unsettling.
This is a fairy tale that grows with the reader. Each return reveals something new, another ache, another truth, another moment of hard-won beauty. The Last Unicorn isn’t just rereadable; it practically demands it. A forever book, in every sense.
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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.
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