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Wolf and Unicorn #1
Necessary Magic
She's a former thief. He's an enslaved werewolf. Together, they will change everything. Seventeen years ago, the human realm collided with a magic world. Now, the land is fractured between opposing factions. The witches rule the cities. Werewolves live under the boot of the witches. And unicorns and fugitive humans roam the abandoned wilderness. Once, Bree West was a scavenger and thief. Now, she leads a group of wild unicorns. Bonded to the powerful beasts, she is awed by both their ethereal beauty and their savage grace. The unicorns are the only things the witches fear. Bree and her herd, organized and strong, are a threat the witches can’t tolerate. Once, Jack Bastian tried to resist being the witches’ plaything. Now, the werewolf does what he’s told, seduces who he’s asked, and doesn’t give a damn who he hurts or how his body is used. He’s good, too. There’s not a witch in the city that can resist Jack’s charms. The high witch is sure he’ll be able to make quick work of Bree. After all, there’s only one thing that can sever the bond between a virgin and her unicorns. Usually, Jack wouldn’t give a damn. But then he sees Bree. And everything changes.
237 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 28, 2017
About the author
Val St. Crowe
63 books85 followersVal St. Crowe is the fantasy and sci-fi pen name for USA Today Bestselling author V.J. Chambers.
Under the name V.J. Chambers she writes mysteries, thrillers and horror.
Under the pen name Jove Chambers she writes dark romance.
A Joss Whedon fanatic, she loves all that is speculative, from Elemental Assassin to Arrow to The Lost Boys.
She lives in Shepherdstown, WV with her partner Aaron, their son, and their kitty cat.
Under the name V.J. Chambers she writes mysteries, thrillers and horror.
Under the pen name Jove Chambers she writes dark romance.
A Joss Whedon fanatic, she loves all that is speculative, from Elemental Assassin to Arrow to The Lost Boys.
She lives in Shepherdstown, WV with her partner Aaron, their son, and their kitty cat.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
September 4, 2019
Well
That was a tease. Lot of drama. Meh on feelings about the characters. Childish and boring in places. Not going to bother with the second.
That was a tease. Lot of drama. Meh on feelings about the characters. Childish and boring in places. Not going to bother with the second.
December 29, 2017
2.5 star. Interesting world and I enjoyed the set up, and Bree’s relationship with the unicorns. I did feel sorry for Jack and his mother with her life of slavery and torture but I still didn’t particularly like him and felt the romance/attraction between Jack and Bree was all tell and no show. It was too sudden and completely unbelievable. I mean they don’t even meet until more than 2/3 of the way in. Then they run into each other 3 or 4 times (at Jack’s contrivance) and have like 1 real conversation. There is no way that this would be enough for Jack to go against centuries of obedience to the witches seducing and ruining women to protect his mother. And telling us that he has dreamt of her for years isn’t enough to sell it. And Bree’s interest is even less believable.
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February 8, 2019🎁 FREE on Amazon today (2/8/2019)! 🎁
Blurb:
Seventeen years ago, the human realm collided with a magic world. Now, humans skulk in the shadows of the witches and their werewolf servants—who control the magic of the Hallows—and the opposing faction of the unicorns—who are potent beasts, fierce and terrifyingly beautiful.
When scavenger and thief Bree West is captured and handed over to a herd of unicorns, her only thought is escape. But the creatures are both terrible and ethereal, and being with them is a sweet ache. She begins to feel as though she is meant to be here. Her presence makes the unicorns stronger, and they are the only ones on earth strong enough to stand against the cruel and brutal witches. Perhaps being with the unicorns is the first step to bringing freedom to the new world.
Werewolf Jack Bastian serves as the witches’ weapon because he has no choice. Rakish and aloof, Jack has been having dreams about a girl and unicorns. He always wakes with a pang, sure the dreams mean something, but he can’t afford to let those feelings affect him. Jack survives by obeying his commands and not giving a damn who he hurts.
When the high witch learns of Bree and her unicorns, she demands that Jack destroy her. He cannot disobey.
Even if Bree is the girl from the dreams.
Blurb:
Seventeen years ago, the human realm collided with a magic world. Now, humans skulk in the shadows of the witches and their werewolf servants—who control the magic of the Hallows—and the opposing faction of the unicorns—who are potent beasts, fierce and terrifyingly beautiful.
When scavenger and thief Bree West is captured and handed over to a herd of unicorns, her only thought is escape. But the creatures are both terrible and ethereal, and being with them is a sweet ache. She begins to feel as though she is meant to be here. Her presence makes the unicorns stronger, and they are the only ones on earth strong enough to stand against the cruel and brutal witches. Perhaps being with the unicorns is the first step to bringing freedom to the new world.
Werewolf Jack Bastian serves as the witches’ weapon because he has no choice. Rakish and aloof, Jack has been having dreams about a girl and unicorns. He always wakes with a pang, sure the dreams mean something, but he can’t afford to let those feelings affect him. Jack survives by obeying his commands and not giving a damn who he hurts.
When the high witch learns of Bree and her unicorns, she demands that Jack destroy her. He cannot disobey.
Even if Bree is the girl from the dreams.
September 29, 2021
really good first book, not a favorite, and i doubt i will read more, but it was good
September 5, 2019
I Love Unicorns
This book was so so so good. It is so hard to find a good unicorn book that has girth and doesn't rely on the typical fanaticism we expect from the creators. I really enjoyed these set of characters. We lead with Jack and he navigates us through the cruelties of the High Priestess. She is all things wrong with their world. She feeds off on the harm she inflicts on others. The thing that I don't like about her is that she has no redeeming/likable qualities. She has never felt nor demonstrated love and as such it's hard to connect with her. No one is that evil for no reason. Even before Jack's father dismissed her she was relentless in her evil pursuit of power. It makes her character one dimensional. I hated reading the scenes with her. It made my skin crawl and it pissed me off. Despite her lack of intriguing personality i was engaged from start to CLIFF HANGER finish. Bree was everything i could want in a protagonist. She was strong but vulnerable. Not a afraid to cut you if necessary, but her connection with the unicorns was mesmerizing. Also her connection to Violet rang through loud and clear and we didn't even actually met her before she died. How she interacted with the other scavengers. Her scenes with them made the one's with the witches bearable. They were two familiar and unoriginal. Like it was as if they were mocking the typical idea of what witches are. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to reading the next one.
This book was so so so good. It is so hard to find a good unicorn book that has girth and doesn't rely on the typical fanaticism we expect from the creators. I really enjoyed these set of characters. We lead with Jack and he navigates us through the cruelties of the High Priestess. She is all things wrong with their world. She feeds off on the harm she inflicts on others. The thing that I don't like about her is that she has no redeeming/likable qualities. She has never felt nor demonstrated love and as such it's hard to connect with her. No one is that evil for no reason. Even before Jack's father dismissed her she was relentless in her evil pursuit of power. It makes her character one dimensional. I hated reading the scenes with her. It made my skin crawl and it pissed me off. Despite her lack of intriguing personality i was engaged from start to CLIFF HANGER finish. Bree was everything i could want in a protagonist. She was strong but vulnerable. Not a afraid to cut you if necessary, but her connection with the unicorns was mesmerizing. Also her connection to Violet rang through loud and clear and we didn't even actually met her before she died. How she interacted with the other scavengers. Her scenes with them made the one's with the witches bearable. They were two familiar and unoriginal. Like it was as if they were mocking the typical idea of what witches are. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to reading the next one.
May 1, 2019
This series is about Witches, Unicorns and Werewolves. Bree world changes when she is kidnapped and given to the Unicorns. In order for Unicorns to gain magic they have to use a virgin to help them access their powers. The Witches in this book have taken over the human world and use some humans as slaves. They also use wolves in a sexual way to charge their powers. Jack is a werewolf who is a prisoner of the High Mistress and she has his mom trap in a dungeon. He will do anything he can to fight back and escape with his mom from the High Mistress.
This is book 1 in the wolf and unicorn trilogy. This is a quick easy fun read! I really enjoyed reading about the Unicorns and how they lived their lives. The Witches have been in a war with them for many years, now they have a truce of peace with the Unicorns that may be broken very soon.
Can the Unicorns and the Werewolves work together to defeat the Witches? We will find out in book 2!
Trigger warnings: Sex, Rape, Torture, Murder and Abuse.
This is book 1 in the wolf and unicorn trilogy. This is a quick easy fun read! I really enjoyed reading about the Unicorns and how they lived their lives. The Witches have been in a war with them for many years, now they have a truce of peace with the Unicorns that may be broken very soon.
Can the Unicorns and the Werewolves work together to defeat the Witches? We will find out in book 2!
Trigger warnings: Sex, Rape, Torture, Murder and Abuse.
October 9, 2019
The author paints a world where evil is the dominating power. You have those who are not evil completely at their mercy. The Witches are the rulers and their leader, Zhanna, is among the cruelest and she excels in abusive power.
What is refreshing is the way that the Unicorns are presented. There is nothing stereotypical about the Unicorns in this story. The bound that Bree and Jonquil form grows stronger each day. Then you have Jack’s story, which adds a lot of depth to the story because you are not sure if he will fulfill his duty to Zhanna or not.
What is refreshing is the way that the Unicorns are presented. There is nothing stereotypical about the Unicorns in this story. The bound that Bree and Jonquil form grows stronger each day. Then you have Jack’s story, which adds a lot of depth to the story because you are not sure if he will fulfill his duty to Zhanna or not.
January 10, 2024
I chose this after a prompt for a readathon because I liked the idea of a main female character and her herd of unicorns (who can do really cool, sparkly stuff by the way) against witches, with a werewolf in the middle.. However, I did not love the writing. It was a weird combination of simplistic, almost childlike writing sprinkled with dark themes of torture and brutal scenes. * confused * And I did not feel any chemistry between Bree and Jack. But I have to say I love/hate Zhanna, the 'villain' of the story.
August 29, 2017
I downloaded Necessary Magic as a free book from Amazon. This was a pretty good read, but be aware of the cliffhanger ending. No major threads are resolved, so readers will need to determine if they want to commit to more books. The plot was good, but not very complex. The unicorns were fun, but there were a lot of missed opportunities to really add layers to the storyline.
January 29, 2019
This is a review for all 3 books in the series. It's rare to enjoy all three books in a series equally as much as the other, so hats off to that :) Lovely unicorn feel good fantasy. If you enjoyed movies like the last unicorn, star dust, legend,etc. then you will probably enjoy reading this series.
August 19, 2019
Well. The idea here was nice - world under the heel of cruel witches, which had werewolves to feed of sex, unicorns moving around and looking for virgins to feed of no-sex, a nice girl, a vengeance... But, all to all, it went to nothing. It was boring, long-winded, rather lazy read than pleasure one. Not recommend.
May 29, 2017
I've don't like cliffhangers
I feel cheated. The story line is very interesting and unique. However there is no story resolution. I hate authors who pull this, just to make you but the next book. Will I? Right now it is highly doubtful
I feel cheated. The story line is very interesting and unique. However there is no story resolution. I hate authors who pull this, just to make you but the next book. Will I? Right now it is highly doubtful
August 29, 2017
A great read, its prob a YA i never checked, but i carried on and enjoyed it. It wasnt full out action all the time like other books, this was a bit more leisurely and gave depth to the characters. A very sweet read, almost like an adult fairytale.
January 21, 2020
Addictive
I can't quite exactly put my finger on what specifically had me so enthralled with this story, but I do know that I inhaled it in a few short hours and was left wanting more at the end.
I can't quite exactly put my finger on what specifically had me so enthralled with this story, but I do know that I inhaled it in a few short hours and was left wanting more at the end.
March 27, 2022
Oooh I liked it! Gritty and mean, sexy but not explicit. Great character chemistry and really interesting world and premise. A few typos here and there, and the writing sometimes leaves something to desire, but overall a really great read. Definitely on to the next book for me!!
May 8, 2017
Good
Read it in two days, couldn't put it down. A little slow at times but very good, looking forward to reading book 2
Read it in two days, couldn't put it down. A little slow at times but very good, looking forward to reading book 2
May 10, 2017
Good
This is a very good book. The characters are strong and the story line very good. Some action, friendships, magic, unicorns and witches. So get yours and enjoy reading.
This is a very good book. The characters are strong and the story line very good. Some action, friendships, magic, unicorns and witches. So get yours and enjoy reading.
May 12, 2017
Wonderful start to a new series about a girl, unicorns, werewolves, and witches in a sort of post-apocalyptic world. I can't wait for the next one. See notes for typos.
June 18, 2017
Best book ever
I enjoyed reading this book. It left off at the right time. I am getting the next book now. You would enjoy this book
I enjoyed reading this book. It left off at the right time. I am getting the next book now. You would enjoy this book
August 5, 2017
2.5 stars
September 11, 2017
Good
Engaging storyline with mystical creatures witches werewolves
What a fastinating story with romance thrown in but not taking over the whole story
Engaging storyline with mystical creatures witches werewolves
What a fastinating story with romance thrown in but not taking over the whole story
April 18, 2018
Interesting
Tragic backstories do certainly make badass characters, which you did great at. I really liked the whole Will O’ Wisp and Jack O’ Lantern nods.
Tragic backstories do certainly make badass characters, which you did great at. I really liked the whole Will O’ Wisp and Jack O’ Lantern nods.
April 19, 2018
Review
Loved the book. Can't wait to read the second one in the series. Kept my interest thru the whole book.
Loved the book. Can't wait to read the second one in the series. Kept my interest thru the whole book.
July 11, 2019
Wolf and unicorn
Great story I love it . I hope you write more books about this. I don't want to wait to long
Great story I love it . I hope you write more books about this. I don't want to wait to long
July 31, 2019
Amazing!
A love story mixed with magic and unicorns. The best of all worlds! I could not put down this book and am going to immensely and immediately enjoy book 2.
A love story mixed with magic and unicorns. The best of all worlds! I could not put down this book and am going to immensely and immediately enjoy book 2.
July 22, 2021
Good story
This is a great story, but it does not have a conclusion. It leaves you hanging so you buy the next book .
This is a great story, but it does not have a conclusion. It leaves you hanging so you buy the next book .
May 17, 2025
Good story. Enjoyed it.
March 1, 2026
ugh, excuse me, i'm gonna throw up real quick.
October 18, 2021
Unicorns fighting witches. Interesting
April 27, 2017
Necessary Magic by Val St. Crowe is the first book in the Wolf and Unicorn Series, another series written by the immensely talented Val St. Crowe being City of Dragons. If City of Dragons is anything to go by then Wolf and Unicorn will also be a worthy library addition. I'm certain her other series are as good but I haven't any firsthand experience with them so I've commented only on the one extra one I have read the first three installments of. Creating initial anticipation is the less-than-average number of times when the urban fantasy landscape relegates humans at the bottom of the humanoid food chain. With staggering losses because of the Collision and subsequent years, it's doubtful they now even have the numbers to dominate in this aspect alone. Also there's the particularly unique adaptations of the use of unicorns as a pivotal magical being. The conceptualisation of magical lore is also unique and surprisingly intrinsic.
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Jack Bastion is what both other witches and werewolves think of as the High Mistrees Zhanna's lapdog. Among that sentiment is a number of thinly veiled derogations thought by the witches, he'd had a fair share of ruining them as they would him in reparation for Zhanna has done to him. As it's not the queen bitch herself it's hard to take as much satisfaction from it, and sometimes it's innocents who he is ordered to ruin. First is the obvious likening to a dog. Sure wolves could be categorised under the umbrella of canines, but a werewolf is the long lived pinnacle of canine genetics and predatory capacity.
Then there's the notion that he or his brethren would either want, or be capable of sitting in any lap. Put together it intonates the very thing that would be proven otherwise had he the chance to prove, that of a safe accessory of cuddly toy that finds comfort sitting in a lap. He is the property of Zhanna, who loves to use menial, magical, substance and blackmail based bargaining chips to make certain he's as uncomfortable as he can be in most of the aspects of his life. Indeed Jack is right at the top of the list of people she lives with a purpose to torture.
To his every fibre it is the bane of existence to be ruled by witches and especially Zhanna. Though he has some responsibilities that he could otherwise have taken pleasure from, it's only ever at Zhanna's behest that he's handed around as a gift, or a veiled attacker and messenger boy to bed other witches, so he cannot take even carnal pleasures because it in no way relates to things a werewolf would freely choose to do and more specifically what he would consider doing. The witches know no boundaries in reinforcing that werewolves are more beast than man, so even simple pleasures are incapable of being enjoyed, as long as they're underpinned in practices that frame them as a service but not a want. Most werewolves have chosen to survive over actual living, so even on the best days whilst being muzzled they can take only small measures of satisfaction that would otherwise be in spades.
When her parents died in the death and mayhem of the Collision, Bree wasn't even nearly old enough to remember what was lost in that harrowing time. Now only eighteen years old she was still in the processes of moving from crasling to walking when it happened. Only her sister, Violet, had kept her from dying right alongside whatever malady cost their parents their lives. She'd never be able to fully understand what hardships Violet had undertaken. The hardships they faced tended to get harder as they aged instead of easier. She supposed that is due to the fact that as children more people took pity on them. The lives of scavengers in this new reality are many things, but kind certainly isn't one of them. Indeed it wasn't so much as living as it was subsisting and surviving only, chief among the hardships was meager resources and shelter
The old environment faced by the homeless from before the Collision now includes myriad new ways to die or to be maimed or mauled, sucked dry for the sustenance your life brings to any of the plethora of magical risks. This very factor is why she's alone and bereft, the sister who kept her alive through hardships she'll never be able to repay, let alone comprehend. For all the promises they made to each other in times that didn't call for immediate action based on things they hadn't already discussed, so that they were afforded a more level-headed adjudication, she never truly believed she'd have to act on one in such a definitive life altering manner. It's easier when sitting around discussing what could come to pass that you promise to do something about. But the promise that should either be bitten and able to live past the immediate injuries, that they'd take the other's life to put an end to the suffering and the risk that they might hurt each other.
When you make such promises you can never truly imagine how you would go about doing them let alone living with the emotions, mostly negative and grounded in immense guilt. How your hands would shake, how it steels your breath so that you can barely speak or swallow, or the nightmares that begin haunting your thoughts before you've even had the chance to sleep. But the absolute very last thing she could've imagined is what actually came to pass. Freshly grief stricken from not long having had to commit her act, not yet even half a day old, she'd thought only to take some time to loose her tears before reinstituting to the rules that kept them unnoticed and off the radar of the many things that cause harm, her attention wasn't on her surroundings when it happened.
Overwhelmed by guilt and desolation she missed the heathens who'd snuck upon her, no better and even perhaps worse than the predatory things that didn't have any real choice in the offences they partook of. Bound and gagged before she had barely enough time to silently scream at her fate, at what she'd ever done so bad as to deserve the attrocities visited upon her, it was already too late by the time she realised it wasn't a magical creature attacking her. Soon thinking of the witnessed rapine of other female scavengers and even Violet too, not to mention any of the other things that scavengers report being done to them, she'd promptly arrived in custody at a settlement she vaguely remembered passing by at some stage during her travels. The village was the kind of the place they'd never been welcome or even allowed entry to partake of the briefest time necessary to exchange and barter resources, let alone to seek even just a night's refuge from the dangers after dark.
But to hear her maidenhead being spoken about brazenly by people who had no right, as a virginal tithe to the herd of unicorns like some fictional tale of sacrifice to dragons or demons, a much more sinister likening to rare books that survived the Collision that went way beyond her capacity to imagine or comprehend. It did have some benefit in that it turned her initial fear abruptly to anger and rage. Tied up she awaits the next torturous leg of her short life, one feeling commensurately too long. Grief stricken in a state of shock and denial, Bree could do little more than curl up and sob until nightmares over this day and nearly the past four weeks since Violet had been bitten, filling her unrested sleep.
Zhanna can't ever actually remember a time when she'd cared even just a little about others, beyond the negative emotions that their failures and other behaviours caused her, that is. Picking up after their mess, or in having to pretend to sit or stand there as though she cared about what they had to say. Platitudes, false compliments, or even genuine praise only made her ewual parts angry and bored. Believing the gossip of witches she'd bowed to popular belief, a mistake she'd made only once. No other type of women mattered as they aren't true women or capable of having a fully formed opinion, and even then not many witches can either, but she'd nonetheless gone ahead and had a child because rumour mungers claimed you couldn't truly love until you had a child.
Just as she expected she hated it and it had all been lies aimed at weakening her position. For all the things it had done to her body and her temper whilst still carrying the leech. Even after it was born, when the baby boy was no more than an ugly wrinkly blob of skin and a useless waste of space for being the inferior gender, she still felt nothing other than resentment and anger. So it'd been handed off to caregivers as she swore to never again allow others' opinions or the child to consume her thoughts. From let down to let down it is an enormous burden and insult to bare what she did for all those owing her for the livelihoods she provides. Surrounded by ungrateful and incompetent hangerson, none appreciate her as they should. Overseeing the singlehanded running of the covens, disciplining servants for their constant disgrace and incompetence, and running a whole new world raises her ire daily and yet none appreciate all the sacrifices made for them.
It's one of the endless list of reasons why she personally tortures so many, even those on her side with absolute loyalty need not be treated differently, every creature is inferior to her after all. She remembers the war between unicorns and witches and in particular how the mythical black unicorn had brought the unicorns to the precipice of winning, only to have them regard the massive death toll as an aberration, so that on the eve of their success, they'd proven just how unsuited to the use of magic by opting for a treaty instead of sealing their supremacy. Not that she believes in such nonsense, but witches and unicorns are in essence opposites of the system of magic, the yin and yang as human knowledge calls opposing concepts. Witches charge their powerful and destructive magic by sexual exploitation and siphoning of intercourse with men. Whereas unicorns tap the sexual potential of unrealised females, which gives them their affinity for virgins, just another way they prove their inferiority.
The same philosophical morons are those that state harmony and balance is a necessary way of nature. Such blasphemous reasoning needs to be abolished. Only complete supremacy of witch magic and their rule can be the ultimate goal. Any alternative is a state requiring extremist prejudice, which she is supremely equipped to muster. That's why once word spread of unicorns becoming more organised, a factor that cost losses during the war, she immediately sent some of the Court's men to intercede. Rumours of some human girl reported to have been sighted riding on the back of unicorns, a preposterous thing given the extensive knowledge witches have over their only partially competent enemies, she knew immediately that she must also order the assassination of this human girl.
With an array of not just characters but also a better than average number of points of view, the separate streams of Necessary Magic include the desires of many, as does real life; and in so doing it adds significantly to the intrigue. It's often the case that by knowing the thoughts of many different characters you're afforded more mystery because you have some insight into what else is going on outside the protagonist's field of view and perception. I have no doubt that there'll be people who'll counter that with this notion that surprise is reduced. I'm not sure that this is the case though, as whether something comes to pass is more than just knowing it's desired or possible, whereas a single point of view provides only so much perspective.
Any loss of surprise, though, if it does happen is still more than made up for in the benefits of differing character stances. Just one other obviously increased benefit is in knowing more about how the other characters think and feel because you get to examine their own pondering instead of having just the dialogue to fill in those blanks. Through these your understanding of the environment is increased exponentially and you're privy to many behind the scenes bits of information that can ameliorate what you don't like about other character profiles, making it harder to put all your eggs in one basket. I also tend to find that by knowing their wants you can build-up more expectations based on whether their planning and efforts will cause them to come to pass and whether they are unjustified. It's not as easy to dislike anyone when you have more of the reasoning that goes behind their sctions and desires. And liking more characters instead of less makes a story all the more difficult to layout, and therefore it is much more in-depth and better understood.
The storylines increase by having many well developed characters because you're afforded more insight in a range of essences, in a better than average number of times herein. With dialogue and the reasoning of one protagonist books can only reach a certain zenith regarding how well those additional characters can be explained and understood. Now in our own specific reality we might narrate our environments from our own perspective, but how often does it rely only on our own perspective.
Regarding essences, from the dichotomous endpoints of truly nefarious without any ameliorating factors, like Zhanna, to the truly good and peaceful, like Zoe (who through her minor part you're given only a glimpse and from that know only that she is untainted), there's great divisions in the various positioning of characters who fall somewhere along the metaphorical string tying the dichotomous endpoints. It's this phenomena that flavour the characters according to how close they come to rest along the string; once again, a reproduction similar to real life. Apart from those that fall as far to one side as is possible to achieve most sit somewhere in between, making whose goal you eant to exceed all the more difficult to delineate, like life. High Mistress Zhanna reveals herself In both actions and thought patterns to be a woman solely run by nefarious intentions and ways at looking at the environment around her.
There's Bree who seems to look at and think about the world in a manner where she undertakes actions in peaceful ways. But even in her nearly polar opposite standing to Zhanna, of being untainted, she's done a bad thing even as it was for good reasons and intentions; even if it was with the consent and at the bequest of the person for whom it was done to. There's those that are bad people who do the right thing on some occasions, arguably for its sake alone and on other occasions because it suited their good or bad standing to do so. Plus there's some who fit roughly into the middle point between the two ends. The benefit is the replication of real life which isn't an assured thing in SFF and any replication of reality gives a more current meaning; not to suggest that the realms of possibility aren't valuable or achievable in different ways. More so that the former can be used more to look at your own experiences and those around you.
There's a very grey reality in relation to good and bad, which only further becomes more complex when both actions and reasons are used conjunctively in making any adjudication. Its possible to do good for good's or bad's or both's sake. Just as the opposite is true, like a character who in wanting to do right in his own personal domain he permits a bad thing to happen. All too often are people inclined to consider how murky the waters are in relation to their own backyard, where in their judgements over others they separate that distinction and consider one to the exclusion of the other; usually just looking at what they did, but not why they did it.
Few people are truly prepared to consider everything before making sweeping generalisations, just as they often refuse to consider that doing good things for bad reasons might make it bad or that doing something bad for good reasons doesn't make it good. Its not that the combinations are rare, they frequent our lives on a far more regular basis than most care to remember if it relates to another person, or refuse to consider if it relates to themself. The rarity isn't the occurrence, it's the universal application to all in an egalitarian manner. In a hypothetical example, If you or a close friend or family member grows up in an abusive environment such that you or they abuses someone in their environment you'll be quick to point out underlying factors. If, on the other hand, you or a close friend or family member gets abused by someone who grew up in an abusive environment, it's a rare person who'll consider this when making judgements about the abuser. This isn't what the book is about but essences are a clear notion that comes across when reading about a number of characters in the book, a task made easier by having multiple points of view.
There's a significant amount of unique qualities to this book that make it an excellent example of how cool urban fantasy is as a framework for reading and storytelling. With a well designed cover and title I was keen to get started. But there is for me a pleasant learning experience because of my own perceptions and expectations that I'm not afraid to admit: when I read the series name I thought the book still sounded good to read, but not as great as it was in the absence of considering just the blurb, the cover and the story title. I made a minor error of the fundamental element in the design and naming of the book, I partially judged it by the proverbial cover in letting the series name alter even just a little the expectations I had. It's definitely given me a much larger and detailed notion of unicorns in fantasy, which before reading it I was being a bit of a boy in thinking hold on, unicorns are for fairy tales.
This is a fundamental lesson I wanted to relay, if there are more books out there which deal in unicorns in such a developed and interesting way I'll be better equipped now to give it that consideration and to consider searching for: which I wasn't before reading this book. I'll definitely be obviously reading more in the series as they become available. This is a fundamental achievement for Val in relation to my own reading. If an author can teach you a lesson then they've done much more of their job than to just entertain you. Now having started a second series by Val in relation to a fundamental from my memory of the first three books of City of Dragons, it's that she is also well equipped in the skills of making aspects of sociology an integral part of her novels. For any interested I've included three links to my reviews of books one to three of that series below, although my reviews weren't structured quite the same way as they are now, around six to seven months later:
Fire Song: https://www.amazon.com/review/RWULF3N...
Fire Storm: https://www.amazon.com/review/RVE9GOM...
Fire Magic: https://www.amazon.com/review/R174G9C...
Reinvent what unicorns mean in your library!
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Jack Bastion is what both other witches and werewolves think of as the High Mistrees Zhanna's lapdog. Among that sentiment is a number of thinly veiled derogations thought by the witches, he'd had a fair share of ruining them as they would him in reparation for Zhanna has done to him. As it's not the queen bitch herself it's hard to take as much satisfaction from it, and sometimes it's innocents who he is ordered to ruin. First is the obvious likening to a dog. Sure wolves could be categorised under the umbrella of canines, but a werewolf is the long lived pinnacle of canine genetics and predatory capacity.
Then there's the notion that he or his brethren would either want, or be capable of sitting in any lap. Put together it intonates the very thing that would be proven otherwise had he the chance to prove, that of a safe accessory of cuddly toy that finds comfort sitting in a lap. He is the property of Zhanna, who loves to use menial, magical, substance and blackmail based bargaining chips to make certain he's as uncomfortable as he can be in most of the aspects of his life. Indeed Jack is right at the top of the list of people she lives with a purpose to torture.
To his every fibre it is the bane of existence to be ruled by witches and especially Zhanna. Though he has some responsibilities that he could otherwise have taken pleasure from, it's only ever at Zhanna's behest that he's handed around as a gift, or a veiled attacker and messenger boy to bed other witches, so he cannot take even carnal pleasures because it in no way relates to things a werewolf would freely choose to do and more specifically what he would consider doing. The witches know no boundaries in reinforcing that werewolves are more beast than man, so even simple pleasures are incapable of being enjoyed, as long as they're underpinned in practices that frame them as a service but not a want. Most werewolves have chosen to survive over actual living, so even on the best days whilst being muzzled they can take only small measures of satisfaction that would otherwise be in spades.
When her parents died in the death and mayhem of the Collision, Bree wasn't even nearly old enough to remember what was lost in that harrowing time. Now only eighteen years old she was still in the processes of moving from crasling to walking when it happened. Only her sister, Violet, had kept her from dying right alongside whatever malady cost their parents their lives. She'd never be able to fully understand what hardships Violet had undertaken. The hardships they faced tended to get harder as they aged instead of easier. She supposed that is due to the fact that as children more people took pity on them. The lives of scavengers in this new reality are many things, but kind certainly isn't one of them. Indeed it wasn't so much as living as it was subsisting and surviving only, chief among the hardships was meager resources and shelter
The old environment faced by the homeless from before the Collision now includes myriad new ways to die or to be maimed or mauled, sucked dry for the sustenance your life brings to any of the plethora of magical risks. This very factor is why she's alone and bereft, the sister who kept her alive through hardships she'll never be able to repay, let alone comprehend. For all the promises they made to each other in times that didn't call for immediate action based on things they hadn't already discussed, so that they were afforded a more level-headed adjudication, she never truly believed she'd have to act on one in such a definitive life altering manner. It's easier when sitting around discussing what could come to pass that you promise to do something about. But the promise that should either be bitten and able to live past the immediate injuries, that they'd take the other's life to put an end to the suffering and the risk that they might hurt each other.
When you make such promises you can never truly imagine how you would go about doing them let alone living with the emotions, mostly negative and grounded in immense guilt. How your hands would shake, how it steels your breath so that you can barely speak or swallow, or the nightmares that begin haunting your thoughts before you've even had the chance to sleep. But the absolute very last thing she could've imagined is what actually came to pass. Freshly grief stricken from not long having had to commit her act, not yet even half a day old, she'd thought only to take some time to loose her tears before reinstituting to the rules that kept them unnoticed and off the radar of the many things that cause harm, her attention wasn't on her surroundings when it happened.
Overwhelmed by guilt and desolation she missed the heathens who'd snuck upon her, no better and even perhaps worse than the predatory things that didn't have any real choice in the offences they partook of. Bound and gagged before she had barely enough time to silently scream at her fate, at what she'd ever done so bad as to deserve the attrocities visited upon her, it was already too late by the time she realised it wasn't a magical creature attacking her. Soon thinking of the witnessed rapine of other female scavengers and even Violet too, not to mention any of the other things that scavengers report being done to them, she'd promptly arrived in custody at a settlement she vaguely remembered passing by at some stage during her travels. The village was the kind of the place they'd never been welcome or even allowed entry to partake of the briefest time necessary to exchange and barter resources, let alone to seek even just a night's refuge from the dangers after dark.
But to hear her maidenhead being spoken about brazenly by people who had no right, as a virginal tithe to the herd of unicorns like some fictional tale of sacrifice to dragons or demons, a much more sinister likening to rare books that survived the Collision that went way beyond her capacity to imagine or comprehend. It did have some benefit in that it turned her initial fear abruptly to anger and rage. Tied up she awaits the next torturous leg of her short life, one feeling commensurately too long. Grief stricken in a state of shock and denial, Bree could do little more than curl up and sob until nightmares over this day and nearly the past four weeks since Violet had been bitten, filling her unrested sleep.
Zhanna can't ever actually remember a time when she'd cared even just a little about others, beyond the negative emotions that their failures and other behaviours caused her, that is. Picking up after their mess, or in having to pretend to sit or stand there as though she cared about what they had to say. Platitudes, false compliments, or even genuine praise only made her ewual parts angry and bored. Believing the gossip of witches she'd bowed to popular belief, a mistake she'd made only once. No other type of women mattered as they aren't true women or capable of having a fully formed opinion, and even then not many witches can either, but she'd nonetheless gone ahead and had a child because rumour mungers claimed you couldn't truly love until you had a child.
Just as she expected she hated it and it had all been lies aimed at weakening her position. For all the things it had done to her body and her temper whilst still carrying the leech. Even after it was born, when the baby boy was no more than an ugly wrinkly blob of skin and a useless waste of space for being the inferior gender, she still felt nothing other than resentment and anger. So it'd been handed off to caregivers as she swore to never again allow others' opinions or the child to consume her thoughts. From let down to let down it is an enormous burden and insult to bare what she did for all those owing her for the livelihoods she provides. Surrounded by ungrateful and incompetent hangerson, none appreciate her as they should. Overseeing the singlehanded running of the covens, disciplining servants for their constant disgrace and incompetence, and running a whole new world raises her ire daily and yet none appreciate all the sacrifices made for them.
It's one of the endless list of reasons why she personally tortures so many, even those on her side with absolute loyalty need not be treated differently, every creature is inferior to her after all. She remembers the war between unicorns and witches and in particular how the mythical black unicorn had brought the unicorns to the precipice of winning, only to have them regard the massive death toll as an aberration, so that on the eve of their success, they'd proven just how unsuited to the use of magic by opting for a treaty instead of sealing their supremacy. Not that she believes in such nonsense, but witches and unicorns are in essence opposites of the system of magic, the yin and yang as human knowledge calls opposing concepts. Witches charge their powerful and destructive magic by sexual exploitation and siphoning of intercourse with men. Whereas unicorns tap the sexual potential of unrealised females, which gives them their affinity for virgins, just another way they prove their inferiority.
The same philosophical morons are those that state harmony and balance is a necessary way of nature. Such blasphemous reasoning needs to be abolished. Only complete supremacy of witch magic and their rule can be the ultimate goal. Any alternative is a state requiring extremist prejudice, which she is supremely equipped to muster. That's why once word spread of unicorns becoming more organised, a factor that cost losses during the war, she immediately sent some of the Court's men to intercede. Rumours of some human girl reported to have been sighted riding on the back of unicorns, a preposterous thing given the extensive knowledge witches have over their only partially competent enemies, she knew immediately that she must also order the assassination of this human girl.
With an array of not just characters but also a better than average number of points of view, the separate streams of Necessary Magic include the desires of many, as does real life; and in so doing it adds significantly to the intrigue. It's often the case that by knowing the thoughts of many different characters you're afforded more mystery because you have some insight into what else is going on outside the protagonist's field of view and perception. I have no doubt that there'll be people who'll counter that with this notion that surprise is reduced. I'm not sure that this is the case though, as whether something comes to pass is more than just knowing it's desired or possible, whereas a single point of view provides only so much perspective.
Any loss of surprise, though, if it does happen is still more than made up for in the benefits of differing character stances. Just one other obviously increased benefit is in knowing more about how the other characters think and feel because you get to examine their own pondering instead of having just the dialogue to fill in those blanks. Through these your understanding of the environment is increased exponentially and you're privy to many behind the scenes bits of information that can ameliorate what you don't like about other character profiles, making it harder to put all your eggs in one basket. I also tend to find that by knowing their wants you can build-up more expectations based on whether their planning and efforts will cause them to come to pass and whether they are unjustified. It's not as easy to dislike anyone when you have more of the reasoning that goes behind their sctions and desires. And liking more characters instead of less makes a story all the more difficult to layout, and therefore it is much more in-depth and better understood.
The storylines increase by having many well developed characters because you're afforded more insight in a range of essences, in a better than average number of times herein. With dialogue and the reasoning of one protagonist books can only reach a certain zenith regarding how well those additional characters can be explained and understood. Now in our own specific reality we might narrate our environments from our own perspective, but how often does it rely only on our own perspective.
Regarding essences, from the dichotomous endpoints of truly nefarious without any ameliorating factors, like Zhanna, to the truly good and peaceful, like Zoe (who through her minor part you're given only a glimpse and from that know only that she is untainted), there's great divisions in the various positioning of characters who fall somewhere along the metaphorical string tying the dichotomous endpoints. It's this phenomena that flavour the characters according to how close they come to rest along the string; once again, a reproduction similar to real life. Apart from those that fall as far to one side as is possible to achieve most sit somewhere in between, making whose goal you eant to exceed all the more difficult to delineate, like life. High Mistress Zhanna reveals herself In both actions and thought patterns to be a woman solely run by nefarious intentions and ways at looking at the environment around her.
There's Bree who seems to look at and think about the world in a manner where she undertakes actions in peaceful ways. But even in her nearly polar opposite standing to Zhanna, of being untainted, she's done a bad thing even as it was for good reasons and intentions; even if it was with the consent and at the bequest of the person for whom it was done to. There's those that are bad people who do the right thing on some occasions, arguably for its sake alone and on other occasions because it suited their good or bad standing to do so. Plus there's some who fit roughly into the middle point between the two ends. The benefit is the replication of real life which isn't an assured thing in SFF and any replication of reality gives a more current meaning; not to suggest that the realms of possibility aren't valuable or achievable in different ways. More so that the former can be used more to look at your own experiences and those around you.
There's a very grey reality in relation to good and bad, which only further becomes more complex when both actions and reasons are used conjunctively in making any adjudication. Its possible to do good for good's or bad's or both's sake. Just as the opposite is true, like a character who in wanting to do right in his own personal domain he permits a bad thing to happen. All too often are people inclined to consider how murky the waters are in relation to their own backyard, where in their judgements over others they separate that distinction and consider one to the exclusion of the other; usually just looking at what they did, but not why they did it.
Few people are truly prepared to consider everything before making sweeping generalisations, just as they often refuse to consider that doing good things for bad reasons might make it bad or that doing something bad for good reasons doesn't make it good. Its not that the combinations are rare, they frequent our lives on a far more regular basis than most care to remember if it relates to another person, or refuse to consider if it relates to themself. The rarity isn't the occurrence, it's the universal application to all in an egalitarian manner. In a hypothetical example, If you or a close friend or family member grows up in an abusive environment such that you or they abuses someone in their environment you'll be quick to point out underlying factors. If, on the other hand, you or a close friend or family member gets abused by someone who grew up in an abusive environment, it's a rare person who'll consider this when making judgements about the abuser. This isn't what the book is about but essences are a clear notion that comes across when reading about a number of characters in the book, a task made easier by having multiple points of view.
There's a significant amount of unique qualities to this book that make it an excellent example of how cool urban fantasy is as a framework for reading and storytelling. With a well designed cover and title I was keen to get started. But there is for me a pleasant learning experience because of my own perceptions and expectations that I'm not afraid to admit: when I read the series name I thought the book still sounded good to read, but not as great as it was in the absence of considering just the blurb, the cover and the story title. I made a minor error of the fundamental element in the design and naming of the book, I partially judged it by the proverbial cover in letting the series name alter even just a little the expectations I had. It's definitely given me a much larger and detailed notion of unicorns in fantasy, which before reading it I was being a bit of a boy in thinking hold on, unicorns are for fairy tales.
This is a fundamental lesson I wanted to relay, if there are more books out there which deal in unicorns in such a developed and interesting way I'll be better equipped now to give it that consideration and to consider searching for: which I wasn't before reading this book. I'll definitely be obviously reading more in the series as they become available. This is a fundamental achievement for Val in relation to my own reading. If an author can teach you a lesson then they've done much more of their job than to just entertain you. Now having started a second series by Val in relation to a fundamental from my memory of the first three books of City of Dragons, it's that she is also well equipped in the skills of making aspects of sociology an integral part of her novels. For any interested I've included three links to my reviews of books one to three of that series below, although my reviews weren't structured quite the same way as they are now, around six to seven months later:
Fire Song: https://www.amazon.com/review/RWULF3N...
Fire Storm: https://www.amazon.com/review/RVE9GOM...
Fire Magic: https://www.amazon.com/review/R174G9C...
Reinvent what unicorns mean in your library!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews