REVIEW: The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden

JayneB Reviews / Book Reviews15th century / Brittany / Fae / Fantasy / Historical Fantasy / strong women6 Comments

In a desperate gamble to save her throne, a young monarch conceals a secret marriage in the shadows of an enchanted forest—and unknowingly alters the fate of her world—in this dazzling novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale.

Anne of Brittany was a child when France invaded and drove her royal father to his death. Now she is a young woman, sovereign duchess of an occupied realm, and France means to crown their conquest by marrying her to their king. Such an alliance would put her title, her lands, and her body forever in the hands of her enemies.

But Anne refuses to be the last duchess of Brittany.

Her only hope of resisting conquest is another alliance sealed with marriage, so Anne arranges a daring last gambit: a secret betrothal to Charles of France’s greatest rival. But secrets are hard to keep in a world where rival courts spy on each other with diviners.

The forest of Brocéliande was once the haunt of Merlin the Enchanter and the long-lost faerie queen. But magic is long gone from Broceliande, except for the occasional sight of a unicorn and one critical quirk: This ancient forest is completely hostile to divination.

While pretending compliance with France, Anne plans a unicorn hunt in Brocéliande. A bit of pointless pageantry. A diversion so she can wed in secret.

Or so she thinks.

In this rich and epic novel, the author of the acclaimed Winternight trilogy turns the real history of a remarkable woman into an unforgettable tale of mystery, enchantment, and the price of power.

Dear Ms. Arden,

I didn’t finish the Russian fairy tales series but I was onboard for a fantasy retelling of Anne of Brittany’s life but with fae, unicorns, and a different ending. Readers let me warn you now that this is not a Renaissance Phoebe and her unicorn. There is a unicorn who is magical and has Opinions but sadly she isn’t in the story as much as I would like.

Instead this story does a deep dive into the political situation of 15th century Brittany – then independent from France. Unfortunately it was hanging on to its independence by a thread with a less than strong Duke who died leaving two daughters. Anne, the eldest, inherited the Duchy at a young age. It is at this point that our story diverges from history.

Now (in the book) four years after inheriting, Anne is fending off the efforts of France at “rough wooing” and forcing her to marry the French King Charles. Anne’s promise to her dying father was that she was going to keep Brittany independent. Her choices are limited, the French are looming, and in desperation she makes a bold move to marry a man whose armies can keep the French at bay. Knowing that with her body, she has to save her people, Anne maneuvers. What she needs is time and, after the French arrive, she buys it with a hunt. A unicorn hunt.

Because unicorns actually exist in this world along with Breton fae whose lands, the Lost Lands, are places where people lose centuries and perhaps go mad. As a virgin, Anne can serve as bait for this unicorn and, as she shrewdly tells the French commander who wants to force marriage negotiations, even the hint of that – nay even merely speaking the word “marriage” – might be enough to spook the unicorn which he desperately wants to hunt. Well, things don’t go quite as anyone expects.

Anne has bought time but it’s not saving Brittany as she’d hoped. She and her younger sister are still in danger but now they are in danger from more than the French. They’ve also picked up a young orphan girl because Anne wants to do something for her people even if it’s simply helping a Breton girl. Elesbed knows a bit about survival and quickly throws in with Anne and her sister. She also gains a canny cat (who seemingly gets lost at the end of the story. I’m going to pretend that Butter isn’t lost and that Elesbed takes Butter with her when she returns from the Lost Lands Oops, my bad. Butter is safe at the end).

Fans of quick witted women will like Anne. She’s also a person who has been brought up to put her people before herself and, if she’s going down, she is going down swinging. Anne needs to be smart about what she does because she knows she’s up against an equally smart French woman who is determined to absorb Brittany into France as so many other once independent duchies have been. Along with dynastic ambitions, there is a lot of discussion about marriages, and the roles and place of women. What we’re not seeing is much of a unicorn.

There is a lot of deviation from what really happened but many (most?) of the humans seem to have been actual historical figures. It’s just the order of what’s done with them that is altered. Plus there’s the unicorn, the Lost Lands, and diviners who seek to understand what’s happening elsewhere by means of wine, beetles, and dice among other things.

The first part of the book spends a lot of time intricately, and a bit slowly, laying out this place, the people, and what’s at stake. There isn’t much fantasy. The second half of the story proceeded much more quickly for me with much more fantasy. It’s not all pretty, there are some tense moments but I’m cheering strong-willed Anne on because she’s a gutsy girl working with what she has. Then, well, things go a bit sideways for a while and I’m thinking WTH? Anne goes all Fantasy Girl Boss.

And thus my main problem with the book. To get to the fantasy, readers will need to slog through some old skool 15th century European politics. It’s also language heavy with terms that unless you’ve read medieval or renaissance stories, you might be stopping a lot to look things up. The book is very well written and much from the slow start does end up being used at the end. I enjoyed how the story twists real events and gives us a happier ending but I think that the average fantasy fan might find this rough going. And I know I wanted more unicorns. B

~Jayne

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Jayne

Another long time reader who read romance novels in her teens, then took a long break before started back again about 25 years ago. She enjoys historical romance/fiction best, likes contemporaries, action- adventure and mysteries, will read suspense if there's no TSTL characters and is currently reading more fantasy and SciFi.

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