“Who was she? She had no idea. Why did she cry? For herself or for her world?" I found myself enjoying Gold Unicorn a good deal more than it's predecessor Black Unicorn. Is it a better book? No, I don't actually think so. I'd rather think that this Unicorn trilogy only shows its full potential when read as a whole - Black Unicorn was a little underwhelming and I would have likely felt the same about Gold Unicorn. But together, they deliver a solid plot - of course, I will still need to finish t

The second adventure for our not quite sorceress.

This was not horrible, but it was not what the first book was to me. Mind you, I get it. I get it. I understand everything the story did. And I didn't hate the characters either. In fact, I think the characters are still the strongest part of this book. What you had to go through was a bunch of bollocks, but I understand entirely why we went through it all. It made sense. And I have definitely not been put off from this book even though it was not spectacular. There is a love in my heart even fo...

The peeve just keeps on getting more and more amusing! I think I like him better than the main character! The storyline was also interesting. Good quick read with a few chuckles thrown in, mostly because of the peeve.

Having read twenty-ish of her book, I have only scratched the surface of Tanith Lee's astonishing output, and I can still list several of them -- such as The Silver Metal Lover, Don't Bite The Sun, and Black Unicorn -- as being among my favorites of all time. I know that she's well-known, but it baffles me that she isn't listed more frequently among the all-time greats.Anyway, this was a delight. The peeve was a delight. Tanaquil's grumpy realization of her own emotions was a delight. The subtle...

I love Peeve 😍😍😍

This seems to be one of those books that you either really like or think is really boring. I really liked it. Tanith Lee's books are just like that, I think--they're smart and thoughtful and quiet and there's rarely a ton of action. Things that stood out to me in this one:I like that Tanaquil's relationships with Lizra and Honj are complicated, and how self aware Tanaquil is about her motivations for staying with them, even though she doesn't agree with what they're doing. I love her relationshi...

This would be the downturn in a trilogy, the one where everything you thought was good and pure about the first book becomes its opposite, the one where our heroine has to do some hefty soul searching, the one where Vader tells you that he's your father. (Ok, he doesn't but you know where we're at now.) There's a lot of stifling inaction and festering passivity, which is less fun to read compared to the first book, but hey, that's how these plots work themselves out sometimes. The payoff comes i...

A fun little story with frightening unicorns!To read my full review, click here.

The first book was already a bit meh for me. A young woman is bored and annoyed, one day things happen to her and she gets dragged off. And then things just... keep happening to her. Even in this book, where she allegedly traveled the realm for a while, she has no idea how to deal with bandits other than be a nice little prisoner. I was sorely missing at least -some- agency... as well as insight into the actual main character. Sometimes the reader is told some of her emotions, but other times I

This is going to be lengthy and a little roundabout up here I go...When I first read this book I was in middle school ~12or so. I loved it and tried as hard as I could to find the prequel. The pet peeve was my favorite character (I -for some quark of the universe- find all of Thanith Lee’s series the second books before the first ones). It scared me and made me think. This was not my normal image of what a unicorn was and a female lead was quite new to me, especially one that saves herself. When...

I had hopes that this would be better than the first because the plot was so much more interesting. However, the characters and the relationships just aren't fleshed out nearly enough. If these books were longer and more detail and time was put into developing characters, relationship and events, I think I could enjoy this series a lot more. The characters are realistic and relatable, but you don't get the chance to get to know them well enough to be invested in them. And the way relationships d...

I was really impressed by Black Unicorn, the first book in this trilogy. I had completely forgotten that there were sequel books, until I looked it up again with plans to reread it. So of course I ran to the library and snatched this one up.It has every bit the magic and color of the first book. I am usually pretty slow to get through books (on account of not having much time to read), but I blitzed through this in a weekend. I just could not put it down. I can't wait to read the final book!

It’s hard to really love this sequel when the first book was so solid. Still, this was such a melancholy journey for Tanaquil. She’s looses so much despite overcoming the trials she faces thanks to her half- sister. I can’t wait to read the third book because I hope she finds her own family and home. She deserves it. Even though I’m a chronic shipper, I just couldn’t get behind her and Honj. Although he had his moments, I thought he was insufferable. I didn’t find her falling for him that believ...

It's been many, many years since I've read Black Unicorn and I remembered almost nothing about it. I did remember the peeve, once I got into this book, and he remains my favorite part. It was an okay story but the end is pretty unsatisfying - apparently there is a sequel that takes care of all that, but I probably won't read it.

Although it was slow at first... it picked up a lot sooner than I was expecting. The twists of the story made me wonder about Tanaquil's sister a few times. I found myself more drawn towards the characters as the story progressed. I found myself thinking about the story even after it ended. Stories like that are well deserving of a 4-star rating.

I didn't like this book as much as the first one. It got pretty dark and sad. That being said, it brought up interesting ideas about what to do with a fundamentally flawed world and how to make peace with your place in it.

Without giving it away, I think this book has the most eye-popping scene of the three. I don't even need to say where it is; you'll know it when you read it.Not as whimsical as the first or heart-wrenching as the third, but still entertaining.

Not as strong as The Black Unicorn, but still the unique fantasy imaginings of Tanith Lee. This story is a nice complement to the first, continuing a thread around the problem of drawing the lines of good and evil.

Wonderfully readable. This Book of Tanith Lee's has an odd feel to it - as if it were intended for pre-teen to teen girls, yet with subject matter that might not suite the younger side of that age group.

A good, quick read. Sort of a romance in the midst of war. There's very much a feeling of being carried along by surrounding events, rather than the striking out on your own theme of the first book, Black Unicorn.

Good sequalEnjoy the writing style of this author, worth a reread at some point in the future. Here's to the next good read

There’s an appeal, a strength to Tanith Lee’s writing that’s hard to pin down.

So different from the first book.

Second in a trilogy. Not as good as the first, but a nice read.

Journeying across different lands, the young mender Tanaquil and her quarrelsome talking familiar learn of the Empress Veriam, and her insatiable desire to expand her domain by conquest. Tanaquil is shocked to learn that the woman called “Conqueror” and “Child Eater” is in fact her half-sister, Lizra.Remembering the powerful effect the black unicorn had on her people, Lizra has constructed a tremendous mechanical unicorn of gold as a symbol of her power. The only problem is that it doesn’t work

This was the sequel to Black unicorn. The series is intended for a young adult audience, and it does show. The book is a fairly uncomplicated story of a young girl coming of age and how she deals with her own burgeoning power, not to mention her interpersonal relationships with her family. The main character, Tanaquil is an adolescent who is learning about her powers as a sorceress, as well as about her family. She was raised by her mother and discovered her father and sister in the last book. T...

Having completed her trip to see the world, Tanaquil is en route home when she meets an army led by empress Variam, known as Child-Eater among other names. She discovers that the empress is her sister, Lizra, who has decided to conquer the world and make it a perfect place to live. As part of this effort, she has had her artisans create and build a gold unicorn, a horrifying war machine to frighten populations into submission. However, the mechanical unicorn doesn't move and Tanaquil repairs it....

The second volume of Lee's Unicorn series. Fantasy at its finiest this imagintive series is on a par with Pullman's His Dark Materials. Tanaquil helps her half-sister build a war machine; a giant mechanical unicorn and aid her quest in world donimation. She stays not because she supports her sister but because she's falling in love with her sister's boyfriend Honj. They all get transported into a hell dimension where Lizra learns meets the emperor of war and learns the error of her ways.Themes:

I'm rereading this series that I read in high school because I remembered liking them, but I couldn't remember what they were about, exactly. A fresh read-through brings to mind why this is - the first book was okay, but this one is kind of boring, unfortunately. There's too much buildup and not enough action, and the characters don't find a lot of internal development through the story; new characters are introduced, but that's about the extent of the excitement. I'm hopeful for the third book