How To Survive A Unicorn

by L.G. Estrella

Are you being attacked by a pissed off unicorn? Has an angry basilisk slithered into your camp? Is a dragon about to eat you? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this book is for you. Our world is full of monsters. Some of them are happy to live and let live, but the majority of them are vicious jerks. If you want to survive, then you need to know what to do when things go wrong.

Don’t settle for speculation or the ramblings of a tavern drunk. Get the facts about monsters straight from a legendary hero who has fought just about all of them and who has befriended a bunch of them. Whether it’s krakens, vampires, or werewolves, this book has all the information you need to ensure your survival.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2023

About the author

I'm a reader and writer with a keen interest in psychology, history, physics, and economics. I'm especially interested in the intersection of these different areas (e.g., the psychology behind the sub-prime mortgage collapse).

In terms of fiction, I enjoy reading horror, fantasy, science fiction, Westerns, and thrillers. I believe that every genre has its good points, and I want to be able to incorporate all of these strengths into my own writing.

I currently live in Australia. When I'm not writing, I'm busy trying to fend off all of the deadly wildlife.

If you're interested in my fiction, you can find it on Amazon here.

Reviews

[MillerOfNowhere · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sad. Lots of potential but did not deliver.

I'm a HUGE L.G. Estrella fan and I can't say enough great things about Fred Berman as a narrator. They generally make a phenomenal team.
That's why I'm shocked to be sitting here writing this review right now because I sincerely feel this book fell unbelievably below the mark.

I made it to chapter 5 before I started questioning when the action and character dialog would begin.
(If you have read L.G. before, you will understand some of their work gives a lengthy back story to set up the plot, so this extended explanation did not seem unusual.)

At chapter 5 however, I started skipping ahead to see if there was ANY dialog with other characters AT ALL, since the narrator previously mentioned a spouse, I thought maybe that had some relevance to a later storyline, but sadly, no.

it seems this is just an encyclopedia as one reviewer already mentioned.

I hoped there was more substance to this book than just ramblings about monsters and how to kill them.
I wanted an adventure with characters I could cheer and vilians who weren't really all that evil (Timmy 🥰)

So I'll have to give this particular book a pass and hold out for more Attempted Vampirism, Cosmic Delivery Boys, Hungry Dragons, and no-so-evil necromancers.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m surprised people are complaining that there’s no plot to this book. I thought the summary was very clear: this is essentially a guide to killing or befriending monsters. That’s what I expected and that’s what I got, and it was fantastic. Great narrator, excellent writing, good humor, and engaging details. Loved it.
Honestly, I can only hope LG Estrella makes this a series.

[Chetana · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75-3⭐️

Let me preface this by saying I love LG Estrella's books. I absolutely loved the Unconventional Heroes stories and even The Divine Assistance Stories. But as evidenced by my not so great reception of the Attempted Vampirism series I think the author can produce works that are a dud for me. While this book doesn't firmly fall in to the dud category, it just isn't as great as his Unconventional Heroes series.

THe audiobook is great as Fred Bernam is the narrator of this book too and he is just great. I just wasn't as invested in the story as I didn't connect to the narrator. I mean I know his name and that he had a wife he loved. We get just enough of a glimpse of the narrator to want to know more about him, his adventures and more about his monster friends.

For a book that is like a guide to know about monsters and how to kill, defeat or befriend them, this was a fun book. I liked this book, I did. There were just parts of it that were tedious. But I loved the glimpses or allusions to other characters that this author has written about. All this to say I will probably pick up most books this author writes. I will at least give it a try. While this wasn't a knock out of the park, it was still a great read.

[Mike Rempel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a story

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, but it lacked the narrative structure I needed for it to hold my attention.

[Kiersten Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this on audio! I definitely feel like the content is true to the summary. This is a book that has chapters dedicated to various types of magical creatures and discusses the types, physical features, personality, abilities, and how to fight/ escape/ negotiate. It reads like a handbook or field guide. It seems like this book takes place in the same world as the Necromancers series, and in my opinion this was a good companion book to continue building that workd. I hope to see some cross over or reference in the next Necromancers book (fingers crossed for a salamander!)

[Stephanie Fleming · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable background, especially if you like the 'A Necromancer and' series by this author. It's much more of a worldbuilding book, without much plot. I wish there was something with more of a story around the main character, although he is one of those OP characters that would not be threatened by anything.

[Luc Lefere · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry, could not get into this book and gave up 33% into the book. Life is too short. May try some of the author's other series as I did like some (but not all) of the author's books.

[James Freeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed that it was written as a genuine how to guide for musical creatures.

[Jameson Nayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less story driven and more biography of the mythical creatures that inhabit the author’s world building. Not bad, just not really what I was hoping for in the end.

[Ka · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's clear that world-building in excessive detail is fun for the author, and that's fine, but I'm not sure that I needed to read it. This is the kind of big list of information and notes about the world and its creatures that would be a very handy reference for the author, but isn't nearly as great for the reader. That being said, it has its moments and I might have given it an extra star if the author's regular writing style (super repetitive, lack of creativity in terms of expressions and vocabulary) weren't so weak, but although I like the author, I can't in good conscience give a recommendation for a book like this one to anyone except people who are already fans.

Specifically, it felt like the world of this book was the same as the author's necromancer books (same terminology and ranking systems, like elder/ancient monsters and "grand" necromancers/rangers). There is a clear reference to adult Spot in the last chapter, which is nice and made me think that this book must be set hundreds of years (or more) in the future.