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The Unicorn Chronicles #3
ENTER THE WHISPERER
In Luster, the world of the unicorns, a strange new menace arises! Beloved, the great enemy of the unicorns, has stolen one of the Queen's Five, the powerful amulets that allow a human to enter Luster. By combining her own magic with that of the amulet, Beloved hopes to open a gate between the worlds – a gate that will allow her Hunters to launch a full scale invasion. At the same time Grimwold, Keeper of the Unicorn Chronicles, comes upon hints of an ancient story that may hold the key to survival. Reluctantly, the Queen sends Cara and Lightfoot on a perilous mission to recover this story. On Earth, Cara's father begins a desperate quest of his own, a search that begins with one of the strangest bargains ever made. And deep in Luster's forest, the mighty Dimblethum is tormented by tempting whispers from what may be the greatest menace of all . . . Brimming with new characters, filled with magic, mystery, and adventure, the third volume of the Unicorn Chronicles will sweep you into a fantasy world like no other!
246 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2008
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August 6, 2011
Okay, I admit, I'm prejudiced--Bruce is my best male friend, my writing buddy, and he read DARK WHISPERS to me as I read BLOODHOUND to him.
That's all beside the point. This is a powerful addition to the Unicorn Chronicles as Cara's family struggles to come together while the evil sorceress Beloved begins her campaign to destroy the unicorn world Luster and all who live there. Cara is coming into her own as an emissary of the unicorns, gathering vital information for them that will reveal Beloved's plans and Luster's vulnerabilities. Ian, Cara's father, is fighting to find her mother in the prison that Beloved has made for her in another world. There are Delvers who do not want to follow their leader's plan for destruction, and change is coming to the centaurs, the dragons, and the much-loved Dimblethumb. Compared to the earlier books it's much darker, with hints of cataclysm to come. Cara and her friends continue to grow and face dangers that put all they care about at risk. And over all of them hang two dreadful questions: who is the Dark Whisperer who is giving so many so many corrupt ideas, and will Luster survive the war to come?
That's all beside the point. This is a powerful addition to the Unicorn Chronicles as Cara's family struggles to come together while the evil sorceress Beloved begins her campaign to destroy the unicorn world Luster and all who live there. Cara is coming into her own as an emissary of the unicorns, gathering vital information for them that will reveal Beloved's plans and Luster's vulnerabilities. Ian, Cara's father, is fighting to find her mother in the prison that Beloved has made for her in another world. There are Delvers who do not want to follow their leader's plan for destruction, and change is coming to the centaurs, the dragons, and the much-loved Dimblethumb. Compared to the earlier books it's much darker, with hints of cataclysm to come. Cara and her friends continue to grow and face dangers that put all they care about at risk. And over all of them hang two dreadful questions: who is the Dark Whisperer who is giving so many so many corrupt ideas, and will Luster survive the war to come?
June 12, 2022
If you thought the delay between book one of the Unicorn Chronicles (Into the Land of the Unicorns, 1994) and book two (Song of the Wanderer, 1999) felt interminable, how much more so the wait for book three, Dark Whispers (2008)? Bruce Coville took his time getting this story aligned, and it shows: Dark Whispers is a lush, nuanced narrative, divided among several main characters whose separate storylines are converging toward a barnburner of a conclusion in the final book of the quartet. A few key mysteries were cleared up by the previous book, but the unicorns of Luster have miles to go before they rest. Twelve-year-old human Cara Hunter's grandmother has assumed her rightful role and form as Amalia Flickerfoot, Queen of the Unicorns, succeeding Arabella Skydancer after the aged Queen faded to her eternal rest. The new Queen has lived most of her life on Earth as Cara's grandmother Ivy Morris, unaware of her unicorn heritage, but she must quickly learn the ins and outs of royal responsibility. Cara's ageless ancestor, Beloved, has finally obtained an amulet to gain passage for herself and her Hunter kin into Luster, and once they breach this fantasy world, the final hunt will commence. The Hunters want to eradicate the last of the unicorns, a tragedy Amalia Flickerfoot must prevent. But how to resist a foe as cunning, hateful, and backed by mysterious powers as Beloved?
"What we do not wish to remember we sometimes hide. That which we hide long enough is sometimes forgotten altogether, even if it never forgets itself."
—Alma Leonetti, Dark Whispers, P. 39
"But it's often the case that our most intimate enemies are rooted in our own darkness."
Dark Whispers, P. 403
The oldest human in Luster, Alma Leonetti, arrives in the unicorn royal court at Autumngrove to warn of an ancient spiritual presence called the Whisperer. It is a fanatical enemy of unicorns, but all record of the Whisperer has vanished from the Unicorn Chronicles. Grimwold, official Keeper of the Chronicles, can scarcely believe anyone would tamper with the sacred text. Informed by M'Gama the Geomancer that only a few weeks stand between now and the Blood Moon, the time of year when Beloved is almost certain to invade Luster, Amalia Flickerfoot dispatches a team to the realm of the centaurs to meet with their King, the Chiron. He will know the origin of the Whisperer, though he's sure to demand a heavy price for telling the tale. Cara (accompanied by the squirrel-like Squijum, of course) and Grimwold set off for centaur territory, joined by unicorns Lightfoot, Finder, and Belle, as well as M'Gama. The journey is long and muddled with danger from delvers, but Cara cannot fail if the unicorns are to avoid extermination.
"For what kind of world is it that has no unicorns?"
—Dark Whispers, P. 95
On Earth, Ian Hunter—Cara's father—has his own mission. Martha, his wife and Cara's mother, is locked inside the Ruby Portal in an enchanted realm called the Rainbow Prison. Beloved banished her there, irritated by Martha's influence over Ian, but now Ian has broken ranks with his Hunter relatives and sided with Cara to protect the right of unicorns to exist. Traveling the boisterous, crowded byways of urban India, he seeks a prophet called the Blind Man who knows how to access the Ruby Portal. The Blind Man is calculating and cynical, but if rescuing Martha means submitting to his games, Ian is prepared to do so. The debilitating method of payment exchanged for entry into the Ruby Portal may be Ian's undoing, but he has to take the chance; stalked by Beloved's unrelenting Hunters, Ian hasn't the time to be coy with the Blind Man. At a serendipitous moment Ian and Rajiv, a young Indian boy who led him to the Blind Man, meet another traveler, a tall, graceful man named Fallon who wishes to enter Luster and is willing to help Ian gain entry to the Ruby Portal. Trekking high into the Himalayan mountains, the three are a team to be reckoned with, but have little idea what to expect from the Ruby Portal. Their greatest test awaits.
"There would not be much left if every useful thing that could be turned to bad ends were destroyed."
—M'Gama, Dark Whispers, P. 140
Unicorns are not the only society of Luster in turmoil. King Gnurflax of the delvers is behaving erratically, prompting some of his subjects to fear he may be insane. Delvers have been at odds with unicorns since time immemorial, but now King Gnurflax is guided by a hostile, unseen spiritual entity. Nedzik, that rare delver with a functioning conscience, is concerned, but to question King Gnurflax would invite any one of many torturous punishments the King has devised for those he wishes to make an example of. When Nedzik's doubt is discovered, the King abandons him in a bleak dungeon at the end of the labyrinth of subterranean tunnels the delvers have built in and around their lair of Delvharken. Condemned by all his peers, Nedzik resigns himself to being a hopeless, nameless prisoner for life.
"It is easy enough to reject a story because you do not like what it says, but wiser to examine it first, to see what can be learned from it."
—Alma Leonetti, P. 454
Adventure blooms as Cara and her companions migrate to the land of centaurs. Tragedy awaits at M'Gama's home, which is cut into the mountainside and pulls energy from Luster itself. Bitter though the loss of a loved one is, our heroes don't have the luxury of time to mourn properly; the Blood Moon draws nearer and with it, Beloved's day of reckoning. Unaware of King Gnurflax's predations, Cara and her friends are headed for a trap. Why are delvers obsessed with harming unicorns? It's a mystery this book may clarify, if Cara ever makes it to the Chiron to hear the tale of the Whisperer. The truth will be both painful and liberating, a final proof that the unicorns bear a portion of the blame for the current situation that threatens their existence. Will Luster ever find peace, or is Beloved's hatred too powerful to overcome? What of the Dimblethum, Cara's former loyal companion who wages a quiet war with the ugly side of his own nature throughout this book? Cara, Ian, Fallon, Rajiv, M'Gama, Lightfoot, Belle, and even the Squijum would sacrifice anything for those they love, but evil is a potent counterforce. Luster is on the brink of destruction as Dark Whispers comes to a close, and perhaps nothing can curb the wave of vengeance that threatens them all.
"(T)he downfall of the wise and the mighty comes not from being strong or wise, but from thinking you are stronger and wiser than you truly are, than any being can truly be."
—Dark Whispers, P. 395
Unlike the two previous books, Dark Whispers is challenging and wise on many levels, a novel to grapple with as much as enjoy. What should you do if you're part of a malevolent society that has no interest in changing? Outsiders may look at you and perceive a villain, but what if you value truth, peace, and love, and are willing to stand for them at the cost of ostracism from peers? Will you be embraced by those outside your social group, or prejudged by them based on external characteristics? This is Nedzik's dilemma, a morally complex vision of delver culture more nuanced than anything from Into the Land of the Unicorns or Song of the Wanderer. On Earth, Ian has to confront his own lingering pride and prejudices from years of training by Beloved. She squeezed him into the mold of a killer, teaching him to refuse comfort or aid from anyone who isn't a Hunter, but community with his band of brothers isn't worth losing his daughter or wife. It takes time to unlearn old patterns, but Ian is determined to earn Cara and Martha's trust even if he may need to accomplish this next part away from them. Proving yourself to the companions you have right now is no small blessing, even if you'd rather be with others; Rajiv and Fallon are an opportunity for Ian to reshape his character to be worthy of his wife and daughter when he reunites with them.
"Each of us is a miracle. Alas, it is a fact we too often forget."
—Fallon, Dark Whispers, P. 125
Gruff yet tenderhearted, the Dimblethum's personal demons have only been hinted at before, but his brief involvement in Dark Whispers is the crux of everything to come. Will his fiercely loyal heart win out, or will he commit a devastating act driven by a betrayal he only dimly recalls? Struggling with one's dark side is exhausting, but even the goodhearted must do it or be swallowed by their own internal abyss. Cara's days have been consumed by drama since she first jumped into Luster, but someday it will calm down, and her affections will be torn between the two realms she loves. "Now that she had lived in two worlds, would she ever again be completely at home in either of them? Or would part of her always long for the other, no matter where she was?" Each of us has one life to live, and must commit to a future in order to enjoy the full richness of being alive. But will you feel incomplete if you do, longing for the surprises and pleasures of the road not taken, the person you may have become had you chosen another path? Life is a brimming pot of decisions to be made by people woefully inadequate for the task, but such is the nature of human existence. Our adventure never promises to be free of regret.
Song of the Wanderer was about one hundred seventy pages longer than Into the Land of the Unicorns, and Dark Whispers is nearly one hundred forty pages more than Song of the Wanderer. Bruce Coville uses the extra length to craft a third novel that taps into the exotic potential of Luster, merging several good plot concepts into a story rich with doubt, angst, perseverance, and bravery. Dark Whispers is a much more complex piece of literature than its predecessors, a strong indicator that Bruce Coville is capable of fulfilling the potential of this series. Rebecca Guay's cover art for the original editions of the first two books was as delicate and robust as a stained glass window, but Petar Meseldžija's jacket illustration for Dark Whispers may be the best yet, suggesting the energy of a true epic ready to be unleashed in this book and the finale, The Last Hunt. I'm thrilled to dive in, though anxious about what the end may bring. There's a good chance I'd rate Dark Whispers the full three stars, and if you've read volumes one and two of the Unicorn Chronicles but never moved beyond, I strongly recommend it. Bruce Coville and his most famous series both improved with age.
"What we do not wish to remember we sometimes hide. That which we hide long enough is sometimes forgotten altogether, even if it never forgets itself."
—Alma Leonetti, Dark Whispers, P. 39
"But it's often the case that our most intimate enemies are rooted in our own darkness."
Dark Whispers, P. 403
The oldest human in Luster, Alma Leonetti, arrives in the unicorn royal court at Autumngrove to warn of an ancient spiritual presence called the Whisperer. It is a fanatical enemy of unicorns, but all record of the Whisperer has vanished from the Unicorn Chronicles. Grimwold, official Keeper of the Chronicles, can scarcely believe anyone would tamper with the sacred text. Informed by M'Gama the Geomancer that only a few weeks stand between now and the Blood Moon, the time of year when Beloved is almost certain to invade Luster, Amalia Flickerfoot dispatches a team to the realm of the centaurs to meet with their King, the Chiron. He will know the origin of the Whisperer, though he's sure to demand a heavy price for telling the tale. Cara (accompanied by the squirrel-like Squijum, of course) and Grimwold set off for centaur territory, joined by unicorns Lightfoot, Finder, and Belle, as well as M'Gama. The journey is long and muddled with danger from delvers, but Cara cannot fail if the unicorns are to avoid extermination.
"For what kind of world is it that has no unicorns?"
—Dark Whispers, P. 95
On Earth, Ian Hunter—Cara's father—has his own mission. Martha, his wife and Cara's mother, is locked inside the Ruby Portal in an enchanted realm called the Rainbow Prison. Beloved banished her there, irritated by Martha's influence over Ian, but now Ian has broken ranks with his Hunter relatives and sided with Cara to protect the right of unicorns to exist. Traveling the boisterous, crowded byways of urban India, he seeks a prophet called the Blind Man who knows how to access the Ruby Portal. The Blind Man is calculating and cynical, but if rescuing Martha means submitting to his games, Ian is prepared to do so. The debilitating method of payment exchanged for entry into the Ruby Portal may be Ian's undoing, but he has to take the chance; stalked by Beloved's unrelenting Hunters, Ian hasn't the time to be coy with the Blind Man. At a serendipitous moment Ian and Rajiv, a young Indian boy who led him to the Blind Man, meet another traveler, a tall, graceful man named Fallon who wishes to enter Luster and is willing to help Ian gain entry to the Ruby Portal. Trekking high into the Himalayan mountains, the three are a team to be reckoned with, but have little idea what to expect from the Ruby Portal. Their greatest test awaits.
"There would not be much left if every useful thing that could be turned to bad ends were destroyed."
—M'Gama, Dark Whispers, P. 140
Unicorns are not the only society of Luster in turmoil. King Gnurflax of the delvers is behaving erratically, prompting some of his subjects to fear he may be insane. Delvers have been at odds with unicorns since time immemorial, but now King Gnurflax is guided by a hostile, unseen spiritual entity. Nedzik, that rare delver with a functioning conscience, is concerned, but to question King Gnurflax would invite any one of many torturous punishments the King has devised for those he wishes to make an example of. When Nedzik's doubt is discovered, the King abandons him in a bleak dungeon at the end of the labyrinth of subterranean tunnels the delvers have built in and around their lair of Delvharken. Condemned by all his peers, Nedzik resigns himself to being a hopeless, nameless prisoner for life.
"It is easy enough to reject a story because you do not like what it says, but wiser to examine it first, to see what can be learned from it."
—Alma Leonetti, P. 454
Adventure blooms as Cara and her companions migrate to the land of centaurs. Tragedy awaits at M'Gama's home, which is cut into the mountainside and pulls energy from Luster itself. Bitter though the loss of a loved one is, our heroes don't have the luxury of time to mourn properly; the Blood Moon draws nearer and with it, Beloved's day of reckoning. Unaware of King Gnurflax's predations, Cara and her friends are headed for a trap. Why are delvers obsessed with harming unicorns? It's a mystery this book may clarify, if Cara ever makes it to the Chiron to hear the tale of the Whisperer. The truth will be both painful and liberating, a final proof that the unicorns bear a portion of the blame for the current situation that threatens their existence. Will Luster ever find peace, or is Beloved's hatred too powerful to overcome? What of the Dimblethum, Cara's former loyal companion who wages a quiet war with the ugly side of his own nature throughout this book? Cara, Ian, Fallon, Rajiv, M'Gama, Lightfoot, Belle, and even the Squijum would sacrifice anything for those they love, but evil is a potent counterforce. Luster is on the brink of destruction as Dark Whispers comes to a close, and perhaps nothing can curb the wave of vengeance that threatens them all.
"(T)he downfall of the wise and the mighty comes not from being strong or wise, but from thinking you are stronger and wiser than you truly are, than any being can truly be."
—Dark Whispers, P. 395
Unlike the two previous books, Dark Whispers is challenging and wise on many levels, a novel to grapple with as much as enjoy. What should you do if you're part of a malevolent society that has no interest in changing? Outsiders may look at you and perceive a villain, but what if you value truth, peace, and love, and are willing to stand for them at the cost of ostracism from peers? Will you be embraced by those outside your social group, or prejudged by them based on external characteristics? This is Nedzik's dilemma, a morally complex vision of delver culture more nuanced than anything from Into the Land of the Unicorns or Song of the Wanderer. On Earth, Ian has to confront his own lingering pride and prejudices from years of training by Beloved. She squeezed him into the mold of a killer, teaching him to refuse comfort or aid from anyone who isn't a Hunter, but community with his band of brothers isn't worth losing his daughter or wife. It takes time to unlearn old patterns, but Ian is determined to earn Cara and Martha's trust even if he may need to accomplish this next part away from them. Proving yourself to the companions you have right now is no small blessing, even if you'd rather be with others; Rajiv and Fallon are an opportunity for Ian to reshape his character to be worthy of his wife and daughter when he reunites with them.
"Each of us is a miracle. Alas, it is a fact we too often forget."
—Fallon, Dark Whispers, P. 125
Gruff yet tenderhearted, the Dimblethum's personal demons have only been hinted at before, but his brief involvement in Dark Whispers is the crux of everything to come. Will his fiercely loyal heart win out, or will he commit a devastating act driven by a betrayal he only dimly recalls? Struggling with one's dark side is exhausting, but even the goodhearted must do it or be swallowed by their own internal abyss. Cara's days have been consumed by drama since she first jumped into Luster, but someday it will calm down, and her affections will be torn between the two realms she loves. "Now that she had lived in two worlds, would she ever again be completely at home in either of them? Or would part of her always long for the other, no matter where she was?" Each of us has one life to live, and must commit to a future in order to enjoy the full richness of being alive. But will you feel incomplete if you do, longing for the surprises and pleasures of the road not taken, the person you may have become had you chosen another path? Life is a brimming pot of decisions to be made by people woefully inadequate for the task, but such is the nature of human existence. Our adventure never promises to be free of regret.
Song of the Wanderer was about one hundred seventy pages longer than Into the Land of the Unicorns, and Dark Whispers is nearly one hundred forty pages more than Song of the Wanderer. Bruce Coville uses the extra length to craft a third novel that taps into the exotic potential of Luster, merging several good plot concepts into a story rich with doubt, angst, perseverance, and bravery. Dark Whispers is a much more complex piece of literature than its predecessors, a strong indicator that Bruce Coville is capable of fulfilling the potential of this series. Rebecca Guay's cover art for the original editions of the first two books was as delicate and robust as a stained glass window, but Petar Meseldžija's jacket illustration for Dark Whispers may be the best yet, suggesting the energy of a true epic ready to be unleashed in this book and the finale, The Last Hunt. I'm thrilled to dive in, though anxious about what the end may bring. There's a good chance I'd rate Dark Whispers the full three stars, and if you've read volumes one and two of the Unicorn Chronicles but never moved beyond, I strongly recommend it. Bruce Coville and his most famous series both improved with age.
September 17, 2012
Is it a rule of the Universe chiselled into stone somewhere that once a novelist begins to write a series each book has to, by law, become more and more of a door stop...or a la Shovelmonkey....a kitten-squisher. The first two entries in the series were manageable and readable and no real danger to any small furry mammals walking underneath but this one and the final volume could probably take on the last few volumes of Potterworld and give them a good run for their money in literary sumo. The other gripe, and I suppose it is a more personal one, is that I am unimpressed by Coville's creation of other creatures for his imagined world of Luster. It is inhabited by Unicorns, Centaurs, Gryphons and Dragons and this is wonderful, he cleverly creates characters within these 'races' who are imaginable and believable but his straying beyond these traditional creatures is unimpressive and it is all because of the names he gives the other types of creatures. Squijum, Dimblethum, a Skwartz, they are like he has shaken up a bag of all the scrabble letters nobody uses much and then has made their names from them. They look made up, they sound made up and as a result the creatures do not exist as believably. The one exception is the race of creatures who live in the depths of Luster's underworld, the Delvers. These are real, different and breathe sinister intent.
Anyway, gripes done, this is an excellent entry into the series. It is difficult to review without giving away centrally important facts and the developments of the history and interaction of the various creatures involved. The whole story, and in fairness I suppose that is why it is so much longer then the first two, is an opening out, a widening of the history and myth of Luster. Cara, the heroine, sets out with a mixed band of mythical creatures and humans to hear a story from the Chiron or King of the centaurs. Rather like the fellowship of the Ring, the fellowship is broken, but here not by the betrayal of Boromir but by the over-riding honour and fidelity to duty and vocation. As a result, three adventures run side by side, narrated in intermittent chapters.
The narrative speaks again and again of the loss to Earth by the moving back of the mythical from our world
'Even those who had never seen a unicorn, never heard of a unicorn, felt the passing of something sweet and wonderful. It was as if the air had surrendered a bit of its spice, the water a bit of its sparkle, the night a bit of its mystery'
and there is a lovely plea in the account in which a mortal asks the unicorns to return
'Hearts grow hard and weary. Pain spreads, and joy diminishes. Those who hated you hate you still, but those who loved you, or would have loved you, or wanted to love you but never had the chance are being scraped hollow by a loss they don't understand. Come home. Please come home. we are withering without you.'
I loved this image as a metaphor of a kind for the loss of a spiritual dimension to our lives nowadays. I do not know if Coville would hold to this but it certainly spoke to me. However the aspect of this entry in the series that I liked and which ties in with that quote i think was the way he deepened our understanding of the currents and influences bubbling around in Luster. Nothing was as straightforward or easily divided into 'goodies and baddies' as might have first appeared in the beginning. To say more would be to hole the story below the waterline so i won't, but suffice it to say the perfection, the beauty, the lovelines and grace of the Unicorn comes at a terrible price which is uncovered or rediscovered during the course of the journey.
It is in this uncovering that so many strange things are explained or at least illumined and the links and interrelatedness of so many of the characters and their histories becomes clear. Much is left uneplained and there are plenty of loose threads which await their weaving back into the full picture. A full picture which needs every thread, correctly woven, to create the full beauty. It is this expectation which i find very interesting and why volume four awaits.
At one point the king of the centaurs, and his predicatment is a powerful and thought provoking situation dealt with in a wonderful manner within the story, says
'Most of this was lies, of course, but lies interwoven with enough strands of truth and memory - which is the best way to make a lie seem real- that she could believe them'
This insight, simple enough rings very loud and very true when you consider the bigotry and ill-educated claptrap that is spoken on all sides of, it seems, almost all debates in our world whether religious, political, sexual or 'anything-else-al'. It is this interweaving, and yes i realize i have used that image a good deal, which makes this imagined world so believable. Even allowing for my moan about the names of the creatures, the world itself, its life, its pulse is real. I find no problem in entering into its environment. It speaks, in magical terms of course, of our world. It enables us to look at bigotry or oppression or misunderstanding or indeed reconciliation and courage and sacrifice in a different light. It does not necessarily make us see more clearly but it gives that different angle which sometimes enables us to see how to break the logjam.
The traditional blessing to travellers i think is lovely
'Travel safe, travel well, may those who have gone before be always with you'
Though i haven't started using it yet, I might. I think it brings a lovely sense of community and history alive and well.
Anyway, gripes done, this is an excellent entry into the series. It is difficult to review without giving away centrally important facts and the developments of the history and interaction of the various creatures involved. The whole story, and in fairness I suppose that is why it is so much longer then the first two, is an opening out, a widening of the history and myth of Luster. Cara, the heroine, sets out with a mixed band of mythical creatures and humans to hear a story from the Chiron or King of the centaurs. Rather like the fellowship of the Ring, the fellowship is broken, but here not by the betrayal of Boromir but by the over-riding honour and fidelity to duty and vocation. As a result, three adventures run side by side, narrated in intermittent chapters.
The narrative speaks again and again of the loss to Earth by the moving back of the mythical from our world
'Even those who had never seen a unicorn, never heard of a unicorn, felt the passing of something sweet and wonderful. It was as if the air had surrendered a bit of its spice, the water a bit of its sparkle, the night a bit of its mystery'
and there is a lovely plea in the account in which a mortal asks the unicorns to return
'Hearts grow hard and weary. Pain spreads, and joy diminishes. Those who hated you hate you still, but those who loved you, or would have loved you, or wanted to love you but never had the chance are being scraped hollow by a loss they don't understand. Come home. Please come home. we are withering without you.'
I loved this image as a metaphor of a kind for the loss of a spiritual dimension to our lives nowadays. I do not know if Coville would hold to this but it certainly spoke to me. However the aspect of this entry in the series that I liked and which ties in with that quote i think was the way he deepened our understanding of the currents and influences bubbling around in Luster. Nothing was as straightforward or easily divided into 'goodies and baddies' as might have first appeared in the beginning. To say more would be to hole the story below the waterline so i won't, but suffice it to say the perfection, the beauty, the lovelines and grace of the Unicorn comes at a terrible price which is uncovered or rediscovered during the course of the journey.
It is in this uncovering that so many strange things are explained or at least illumined and the links and interrelatedness of so many of the characters and their histories becomes clear. Much is left uneplained and there are plenty of loose threads which await their weaving back into the full picture. A full picture which needs every thread, correctly woven, to create the full beauty. It is this expectation which i find very interesting and why volume four awaits.
At one point the king of the centaurs, and his predicatment is a powerful and thought provoking situation dealt with in a wonderful manner within the story, says
'Most of this was lies, of course, but lies interwoven with enough strands of truth and memory - which is the best way to make a lie seem real- that she could believe them'
This insight, simple enough rings very loud and very true when you consider the bigotry and ill-educated claptrap that is spoken on all sides of, it seems, almost all debates in our world whether religious, political, sexual or 'anything-else-al'. It is this interweaving, and yes i realize i have used that image a good deal, which makes this imagined world so believable. Even allowing for my moan about the names of the creatures, the world itself, its life, its pulse is real. I find no problem in entering into its environment. It speaks, in magical terms of course, of our world. It enables us to look at bigotry or oppression or misunderstanding or indeed reconciliation and courage and sacrifice in a different light. It does not necessarily make us see more clearly but it gives that different angle which sometimes enables us to see how to break the logjam.
The traditional blessing to travellers i think is lovely
'Travel safe, travel well, may those who have gone before be always with you'
Though i haven't started using it yet, I might. I think it brings a lovely sense of community and history alive and well.
June 8, 2025
5/5 - re read
This was so so good. Finder I will always mourn you :(
This was so so good. Finder I will always mourn you :(
August 17, 2011
Welcome to ULA––Unicorn Lovers Anonymous. Who would like to speak first?
*Stands up* Hello, friends. I'm Brigid and when I was 9 years old, I was a unicorn addict. I have now been sober for almost ten years now ... well, except for that I went into a brief relapse so that I could read this book.
Anyway, I have Bruce Coville to blame for the unicorn addiction. He hooked me with the first two Unicorn Chronicles books and then decided to take a whole decade-long break from publishing them, thus leaving me empty-handed and desperate. And so I found myself searching frantically for other unicorn books to fulfill my needs since I could not immediately know how the Unicorn Chronicles would end. Unfortunately, there's a surprising lack of unicorn fiction out there––and what unicorn fiction exists is mostly crap. So after sorting through the crap I had to resort to writing my own rip-off unicorn stories and drawing illustrations of unicorns––which is a bit odd for a 9-year-old kid, which is why everyone hated me in elementary school and I had no friends. So basically, you ruined my childhood, Bruce Coville. Thanks a lot.
Okay, okay. I won't be that mean. Honestly I have no idea what prevented Mr. Coville from writing the third book in this series. Maybe his life started sucking and/or he just didn't have the time or inspiration or whatever. But still, the wait was rather cruel. And even after it came out, I couldn't quite bring myself to read it––even though I was dying to know what happened next, I felt a bit silly reading it as a teenager. But ultimately, I succumbed to the temptation. I just had to know.
Well ... uh ... Yeah. Understandably I couldn't enjoy this book as much as I would have when I was a child. I still liked it, but didn't love it as much as I loved the first two, back when I was in third grade.
Firstly, ten years is a long time between books. In ten years an author's style can change a lot. I don't remember a ton about the first couple of books––although I remembered most of the details as I began to read this one––but I still felt like this book was oddly detached from the others. It seemed a bit dark in comparison. Three characters died, in rather horrible ways too. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, it just came as a surprise to me since I remember the first pair of books being a bit more innocent.
The other problem is, I've changed a lot too since I started reading these series. Back when I read books one and two, I thought they were the best thing since sliced bread. Since then, I've read hundreds of other books that I've loved a lot more. This book may have met my standards 9 years ago, but not quite at my current age.
Was this better or worse than the first two? I don't know. I thought about rereading them before getting to this one, but decided against it. I'm always afraid to reread books from my childhood, because often I found that I've glorified them in my mind and that they're a lot crappier than I remember. Well, I can say that as far as juvenile fiction goes these are very good. I'd recommend this to kids over Captain Underpants any day.
Still, there are aspects of the story that I found a bit ridiculous, now that I'm reading them as an adult. Mostly what I find hard to believe is the story of how the villain, a woman ironically named Beloved, became evil.
I guess this is kind of a spoiler if you haven't read these books, but I assume that these are only being read by 10-year-olds who most likely won't read this review, you're not going to read this and you just want to read my review of it, or you've already read it. So, yeah. Just deal with it.
Okay, so. Here's the story. When Beloved was a kid, her dad took her out hunting with him one day because she was a sickly child and he didn't want to leave her at home. He left her in the middle of the woods somewhere while he went out to shoot things. While he was gone, a unicorn came along and decided to stick its horn through Beloved's heart in order to heal her of her sickness. Her dad comes back and is understandably concerned when he sees his daughter being impaled by a unicorn. He screams or something, which startles the unicorn, who rears up. When the unicorn does this, a piece of its horn breaks off and is stuck permanently in Beloved's heart. The unicorn and Beloved's father then battle each other to death. How they do this ... I'm not really sure. But for some reason, they both die. And since a unicorn killed her father, Beloved is determined to kill all the unicorns. Luckily she has an eternity to do this, since the piece of unicorn horn in her heart gives her immortality.
Yeah, so ... I have a couple issues with this. 1) How the heck did a piece of the unicorn's horn break off just because it suddenly stood up? Its horn would have to be made out of clay or something in order for that to be physically possible. More likely, the unicorn would have just ripped Beloved open from the chest upward ... as gruesome as it sounds, but it's true. 2) Why is Beloved so bent on killing all the unicorns? Yeah, I understand that a unicorn killed her dad and that's very sad. But this was, like, hundreds of years ago and she's still not over it. Well, I understand it's become her life's purpose and she really has nothing better to do. But then, apparently, the unicorn horn in her heart physically pains her yet she's determined not to get it removed––not because she's afraid to die, she says, but because she won't rest until she kills all those rainbow-farting unicorns! This, I have more difficulty understanding. If she's really in that much pain, I don't think it's worth it. I mean, it's been centuries since a unicorn killed her father, and she's in constant horrible pain ... I think it's time for her to let it go. But maybe that's just me.
Then, there's the main character, Cara. I didn't find her as likable as I remember. She's 12, but she talks like an adult. The only evidence of her being a child is that she cries pretty much all the time. Every time something bad happened, it's like, "And then Cara collapsed on the ground and cried until she threw up." Okay, not really. But she did burst into tears quite often––which I understand, but it did get a little repetitive.
So, yeah. This is a toughie. I might read the fourth book just to find out how it ends; this one ended on a cliffhanger, as the other two did. These books are still entertaining and well-written, believability and main-character issues aside.
*Stands up* Hello, friends. I'm Brigid and when I was 9 years old, I was a unicorn addict. I have now been sober for almost ten years now ... well, except for that I went into a brief relapse so that I could read this book.
Anyway, I have Bruce Coville to blame for the unicorn addiction. He hooked me with the first two Unicorn Chronicles books and then decided to take a whole decade-long break from publishing them, thus leaving me empty-handed and desperate. And so I found myself searching frantically for other unicorn books to fulfill my needs since I could not immediately know how the Unicorn Chronicles would end. Unfortunately, there's a surprising lack of unicorn fiction out there––and what unicorn fiction exists is mostly crap. So after sorting through the crap I had to resort to writing my own rip-off unicorn stories and drawing illustrations of unicorns––which is a bit odd for a 9-year-old kid, which is why everyone hated me in elementary school and I had no friends. So basically, you ruined my childhood, Bruce Coville. Thanks a lot.
Okay, okay. I won't be that mean. Honestly I have no idea what prevented Mr. Coville from writing the third book in this series. Maybe his life started sucking and/or he just didn't have the time or inspiration or whatever. But still, the wait was rather cruel. And even after it came out, I couldn't quite bring myself to read it––even though I was dying to know what happened next, I felt a bit silly reading it as a teenager. But ultimately, I succumbed to the temptation. I just had to know.
Well ... uh ... Yeah. Understandably I couldn't enjoy this book as much as I would have when I was a child. I still liked it, but didn't love it as much as I loved the first two, back when I was in third grade.
Firstly, ten years is a long time between books. In ten years an author's style can change a lot. I don't remember a ton about the first couple of books––although I remembered most of the details as I began to read this one––but I still felt like this book was oddly detached from the others. It seemed a bit dark in comparison. Three characters died, in rather horrible ways too. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, it just came as a surprise to me since I remember the first pair of books being a bit more innocent.
The other problem is, I've changed a lot too since I started reading these series. Back when I read books one and two, I thought they were the best thing since sliced bread. Since then, I've read hundreds of other books that I've loved a lot more. This book may have met my standards 9 years ago, but not quite at my current age.
Was this better or worse than the first two? I don't know. I thought about rereading them before getting to this one, but decided against it. I'm always afraid to reread books from my childhood, because often I found that I've glorified them in my mind and that they're a lot crappier than I remember. Well, I can say that as far as juvenile fiction goes these are very good. I'd recommend this to kids over Captain Underpants any day.
Still, there are aspects of the story that I found a bit ridiculous, now that I'm reading them as an adult. Mostly what I find hard to believe is the story of how the villain, a woman ironically named Beloved, became evil.
I guess this is kind of a spoiler if you haven't read these books, but I assume that these are only being read by 10-year-olds who most likely won't read this review, you're not going to read this and you just want to read my review of it, or you've already read it. So, yeah. Just deal with it.
Okay, so. Here's the story. When Beloved was a kid, her dad took her out hunting with him one day because she was a sickly child and he didn't want to leave her at home. He left her in the middle of the woods somewhere while he went out to shoot things. While he was gone, a unicorn came along and decided to stick its horn through Beloved's heart in order to heal her of her sickness. Her dad comes back and is understandably concerned when he sees his daughter being impaled by a unicorn. He screams or something, which startles the unicorn, who rears up. When the unicorn does this, a piece of its horn breaks off and is stuck permanently in Beloved's heart. The unicorn and Beloved's father then battle each other to death. How they do this ... I'm not really sure. But for some reason, they both die. And since a unicorn killed her father, Beloved is determined to kill all the unicorns. Luckily she has an eternity to do this, since the piece of unicorn horn in her heart gives her immortality.
Yeah, so ... I have a couple issues with this. 1) How the heck did a piece of the unicorn's horn break off just because it suddenly stood up? Its horn would have to be made out of clay or something in order for that to be physically possible. More likely, the unicorn would have just ripped Beloved open from the chest upward ... as gruesome as it sounds, but it's true. 2) Why is Beloved so bent on killing all the unicorns? Yeah, I understand that a unicorn killed her dad and that's very sad. But this was, like, hundreds of years ago and she's still not over it. Well, I understand it's become her life's purpose and she really has nothing better to do. But then, apparently, the unicorn horn in her heart physically pains her yet she's determined not to get it removed––not because she's afraid to die, she says, but because she won't rest until she kills all those rainbow-farting unicorns! This, I have more difficulty understanding. If she's really in that much pain, I don't think it's worth it. I mean, it's been centuries since a unicorn killed her father, and she's in constant horrible pain ... I think it's time for her to let it go. But maybe that's just me.
Then, there's the main character, Cara. I didn't find her as likable as I remember. She's 12, but she talks like an adult. The only evidence of her being a child is that she cries pretty much all the time. Every time something bad happened, it's like, "And then Cara collapsed on the ground and cried until she threw up." Okay, not really. But she did burst into tears quite often––which I understand, but it did get a little repetitive.
So, yeah. This is a toughie. I might read the fourth book just to find out how it ends; this one ended on a cliffhanger, as the other two did. These books are still entertaining and well-written, believability and main-character issues aside.
January 7, 2019
Read twice!
This last time was a reread/listen! Audiobooked it up!!
Still love this story, such an amazing MG read. Full of magic and the amount of heartache and moral dilemmas in this story are perfect for the target audience.
This last time was a reread/listen! Audiobooked it up!!
Still love this story, such an amazing MG read. Full of magic and the amount of heartache and moral dilemmas in this story are perfect for the target audience.
November 29, 2020
Here we continue the story of the Cara, the Unicorns of Luster and their ancient enemy Beloved.
Unfortunately this book didn't work nearly as well for our family as the first two. The other books were more tightly told and stayed in a single pov. This one shifts POVs on a whim and covers at least three plotlines all at once which eventually come mostly together by the end. It ends on a big cliffhanger, but somewhere in all the jumping around this book lost my daughter's attention and she's not really in a rush for us to pick up the last volume.
We like the characters and direction enough we probably will eventually read the last one. But I wish the author had stuck with Cara as our POV.
This book really makes the series jump from being a very MG friendly book to more YA. There are character deaths and imprisonments and other such issues that made it scarier and more concerning for my daughter than the first two volumes.
Unfortunately this book didn't work nearly as well for our family as the first two. The other books were more tightly told and stayed in a single pov. This one shifts POVs on a whim and covers at least three plotlines all at once which eventually come mostly together by the end. It ends on a big cliffhanger, but somewhere in all the jumping around this book lost my daughter's attention and she's not really in a rush for us to pick up the last volume.
We like the characters and direction enough we probably will eventually read the last one. But I wish the author had stuck with Cara as our POV.
This book really makes the series jump from being a very MG friendly book to more YA. There are character deaths and imprisonments and other such issues that made it scarier and more concerning for my daughter than the first two volumes.
September 15, 2008
The last time I read the second book was about a decade ago, so the finer details escaped me. A lot of the times in the beginning I was going "HUH?? I don't remember this happening!" In fact, I remember the first book much better.
At the beginning I complained a bit to someone that I felt Coville had suddenly pulled out this old, nearly lost prophecy about a more powerful and dangerous enemy for the unicorns out of the blue. Yes, since it's an old prophecy that nobody except one character had heard a whisper of it (haha) it works that it's suddenly suppose to be dropped on everybody, but it's a plot tactic that I sometimes hate. I don't know if Coville had planned this twist even from the beginning, since it took him ten years to write this book, but it disappointed me a bit. Buuut, the information they find out about this dark, older-than-Beloved enemy is rather intriguing.
A thick, hardback book cut into 63 chapters (very short ones, though), it is a pleasurable read. It moves quickly, which I suppose is critical since time is of the essence. The separateness of the two quests on Earth/Rainbow Prison (I totally didn't remember/know Cara's mom was trapped) and on Luster is nice to experience. Some characters are believable, whereas others seems like a bit too one-dimensional. Some of the dialogue, too, made me cringe at how trite they seemed, or a little too cliche... It's believable, too, in the sense that everything doesn't go happily ever after for the protagonists.
The ending = major cliffhangers. I will be disappointed and perhaps a bit impatient if it takes another decade for the fourth book to come out. I was under the impression this would be a trilogy... Guess not. But I dearly hope it will come to a resolution/end within Coville's lifetime (or mine, whichever comes first).
At the beginning I complained a bit to someone that I felt Coville had suddenly pulled out this old, nearly lost prophecy about a more powerful and dangerous enemy for the unicorns out of the blue. Yes, since it's an old prophecy that nobody except one character had heard a whisper of it (haha) it works that it's suddenly suppose to be dropped on everybody, but it's a plot tactic that I sometimes hate. I don't know if Coville had planned this twist even from the beginning, since it took him ten years to write this book, but it disappointed me a bit. Buuut, the information they find out about this dark, older-than-Beloved enemy is rather intriguing.
A thick, hardback book cut into 63 chapters (very short ones, though), it is a pleasurable read. It moves quickly, which I suppose is critical since time is of the essence. The separateness of the two quests on Earth/Rainbow Prison (I totally didn't remember/know Cara's mom was trapped) and on Luster is nice to experience. Some characters are believable, whereas others seems like a bit too one-dimensional. Some of the dialogue, too, made me cringe at how trite they seemed, or a little too cliche... It's believable, too, in the sense that everything doesn't go happily ever after for the protagonists.
The ending = major cliffhangers. I will be disappointed and perhaps a bit impatient if it takes another decade for the fourth book to come out. I was under the impression this would be a trilogy... Guess not. But I dearly hope it will come to a resolution/end within Coville's lifetime (or mine, whichever comes first).
April 24, 2019
This review and others can be found at https://www.literarydragonreviews.web...
As for the cover (which I’m often picky about, especially lately) was acceptable if a bit dated, but for all I know I may be the youngest person still reading these books which would be a tragedy.
If I could give a rating for half a book I would, but since I can’t Dark Whispers gets four dragons. The first half or less of the book gets two and a half dragons while the second half gets four and a half dragons. With an additional half dragon for the ending. This is also a slightly higher rating because I started this series when I was ten, a very difficult year for me and this series helped me through it.
The writing itself was level throughout. It’s clear that Coville had written and honed his craft before. But the plot didn’t really get going with any pace until halfway through. I found myself struggling to begin reading each time I took a break, but eventually it kicked in and I had to know the ending.
No spoilers, but I love what we learn about the unicorns in this story. They start to become more nuanced and more believably fantastical. And how we learn about this other side of the unicorns is pretty revealing.
I enjoyed that all of the characters were brought into this one and had a significant part. For me, this book revealed to me how much of the previous books were technically set-up for this main storyline. Reading the first book in the series did not lead me to the expectation of a four-book series. Yet now I can see all the little hints.
I enjoyed the additions of Fallon and Rajiv as comrades to Ian Hunter, Cara’s dad. He needed a new group to befriend after the events of the last book. I enjoyed learning about how Luster touched Earth and changed the course of things.
The action scenes were fast-paced and drew me in. The chapter breaks were placed in just the right places to make me want to keep reading (once again, after the halfway point). Overall a very enjoyable fantasy read that doesn’t feel as middle-grade as it once did. Perhaps because I listened to the audiobook version, which I seem to be doing quite a bit of lately.
As for the narration it was superb. At first my husband and I were like “is Rajiv just an amazing white voice actor because this is spot on what a young Indian boy would sound like.” But then we realized that this could not just be a white voice actor portraying an Indian boy because it was too accurate which led me to look up the names of the cast. Aakarsh Shakhar is the voice of Rajiv and he did an amazing job. Cara’s voice was occasionally grating on the ears because she had to yell, and her voice is quite high (as it would be with a twelve-year-old), but as far as emotional portrayal she was great, though obviously not a pre-teen. Cara’s voice was Rebecca Wemesfelder.
Looking forward to the next and final book in the series, The Last Hunt.
As for the cover (which I’m often picky about, especially lately) was acceptable if a bit dated, but for all I know I may be the youngest person still reading these books which would be a tragedy.
If I could give a rating for half a book I would, but since I can’t Dark Whispers gets four dragons. The first half or less of the book gets two and a half dragons while the second half gets four and a half dragons. With an additional half dragon for the ending. This is also a slightly higher rating because I started this series when I was ten, a very difficult year for me and this series helped me through it.
The writing itself was level throughout. It’s clear that Coville had written and honed his craft before. But the plot didn’t really get going with any pace until halfway through. I found myself struggling to begin reading each time I took a break, but eventually it kicked in and I had to know the ending.
No spoilers, but I love what we learn about the unicorns in this story. They start to become more nuanced and more believably fantastical. And how we learn about this other side of the unicorns is pretty revealing.
I enjoyed that all of the characters were brought into this one and had a significant part. For me, this book revealed to me how much of the previous books were technically set-up for this main storyline. Reading the first book in the series did not lead me to the expectation of a four-book series. Yet now I can see all the little hints.
I enjoyed the additions of Fallon and Rajiv as comrades to Ian Hunter, Cara’s dad. He needed a new group to befriend after the events of the last book. I enjoyed learning about how Luster touched Earth and changed the course of things.
The action scenes were fast-paced and drew me in. The chapter breaks were placed in just the right places to make me want to keep reading (once again, after the halfway point). Overall a very enjoyable fantasy read that doesn’t feel as middle-grade as it once did. Perhaps because I listened to the audiobook version, which I seem to be doing quite a bit of lately.
As for the narration it was superb. At first my husband and I were like “is Rajiv just an amazing white voice actor because this is spot on what a young Indian boy would sound like.” But then we realized that this could not just be a white voice actor portraying an Indian boy because it was too accurate which led me to look up the names of the cast. Aakarsh Shakhar is the voice of Rajiv and he did an amazing job. Cara’s voice was occasionally grating on the ears because she had to yell, and her voice is quite high (as it would be with a twelve-year-old), but as far as emotional portrayal she was great, though obviously not a pre-teen. Cara’s voice was Rebecca Wemesfelder.
Looking forward to the next and final book in the series, The Last Hunt.
December 11, 2022
well that was disappointing after almost twenty years of waiting
April 13, 2016
The first two novels of this series I read an older printing of (this series isn't available on the Kindle, unfortunately), and the third novel, Dark Whispers, was my first contact with the reprints. They got a new artist, which I think is a travesty as the covers for Into the Land of the Unicorns and Song of the Wanderer are simply gorgeous and fit the series perfectly. When I brought home my copy of this one, I was aghast at the terrible outfit they made Cara wear on the cover. This is more shallow of me than I would like to admit, but seriously, mustard yellow jerkin, eggplant purple cloak, and red hair? Those do not go well together! We all judge books by their cover whether we want to or not, and stunning cover art will often lead me to buy a book I wouldn't otherwise try. This one smacks of a bad movie poster. Then there's the book itself; it is on creamy paper with brown ink. I do not have bad eyes but this made it extremely hard for me to read as there just wasn't enough contrast. This is the first time I've ever seen brown ink being used in a book and I hope I never come across it again (except in the sequel of course :( ) Sadly I can only assume this means that every book in the series has had this treatment in the reprinting.
Ok enough about the physical aspect, it was just frivolously annoying and only made me question Coville's publisher, not the man himself. He obviously has a lot of ideas and trying to get them all down in a young adult or even children's medium perhaps wasn't the best choice. A number of very adult situations occur that then have no repercussions as he just breezes over them. Whereas I am sitting there horrified at what I just read, the characters are like "Well that was sucky for you. Now stop complaining. Moving on!" Cara is consistently called wiser than her years, or more brave and courageous than the adult hunters, and although she is put into many trying situations, it always seemed more of a "This is what the author wanted to happen here, not what would have really happened." That sounds silly talking about a fantasy book, but the prodigious amount of coincidences and stupidity that always work out makes her seem a lot less brave and a lot more ridiculously lucky. As the reader, you know everything will always work out for the best. Even if a character dies it never seems to have much affect, and that makes me feel pretty damn uncaring and heartless.
Cara is once again given a quest that requires a long distance to travel. I was beginning to tire of travel in the last book, but now we follow several of the friends she's made along the way. All these characters crisscrossing Luster bogged down the story, in my opinion. This installation makes heavy use of the omniscient narrator, which the other novels only used sparingly, and usually only when a character was telling a story. Now even Cara's dad is a point of view character, and I hated his entire story and quest. I guess the emerald prison in the last book was kind of cool (but not that cool), however the seemingly endless ruby prison in this novel was so grating to me. I never had any reason to like Ian Hunter, and his quest made him even more tiresome. He's just a bland father figure going through the motions of loving his daughter.
The first novel had the beginnings of a great fantasy world, but instead of keeping the story tight and concise, it has become too spread out and uninteresting. It's like Bruce Coville kept on getting ideas and found ways to incorporate them that didn't really fit into the story he started in the first book. I may be totally wrong about that, but especially with how long it took him to finish this series, I feel he probably had no clue where he was going at the beginning, and that really detracted from my enjoyment of both the second and third installments of this series.
Ok enough about the physical aspect, it was just frivolously annoying and only made me question Coville's publisher, not the man himself. He obviously has a lot of ideas and trying to get them all down in a young adult or even children's medium perhaps wasn't the best choice. A number of very adult situations occur that then have no repercussions as he just breezes over them. Whereas I am sitting there horrified at what I just read, the characters are like "Well that was sucky for you. Now stop complaining. Moving on!" Cara is consistently called wiser than her years, or more brave and courageous than the adult hunters, and although she is put into many trying situations, it always seemed more of a "This is what the author wanted to happen here, not what would have really happened." That sounds silly talking about a fantasy book, but the prodigious amount of coincidences and stupidity that always work out makes her seem a lot less brave and a lot more ridiculously lucky. As the reader, you know everything will always work out for the best. Even if a character dies it never seems to have much affect, and that makes me feel pretty damn uncaring and heartless.
Cara is once again given a quest that requires a long distance to travel. I was beginning to tire of travel in the last book, but now we follow several of the friends she's made along the way. All these characters crisscrossing Luster bogged down the story, in my opinion. This installation makes heavy use of the omniscient narrator, which the other novels only used sparingly, and usually only when a character was telling a story. Now even Cara's dad is a point of view character, and I hated his entire story and quest. I guess the emerald prison in the last book was kind of cool (but not that cool), however the seemingly endless ruby prison in this novel was so grating to me. I never had any reason to like Ian Hunter, and his quest made him even more tiresome. He's just a bland father figure going through the motions of loving his daughter.
The first novel had the beginnings of a great fantasy world, but instead of keeping the story tight and concise, it has become too spread out and uninteresting. It's like Bruce Coville kept on getting ideas and found ways to incorporate them that didn't really fit into the story he started in the first book. I may be totally wrong about that, but especially with how long it took him to finish this series, I feel he probably had no clue where he was going at the beginning, and that really detracted from my enjoyment of both the second and third installments of this series.
July 22, 2010
There were two things that REALLY bothered me about this book. The first was Cara having to strip in front of the Delver king. I mean, DISTURBING? I don't care if they're "only delvers" or if her body hasn't matured yet, it's abusive, and a kind of abuse that does NOT belong in a children's book. I know adults read this book, but it's generally a kid's book, and I don't think this kind of thing is appropriate even in ADULT literature--not to this detail. It's one thing to mention something happened in the past, it's a whole other thing to EXPLAIN IT IN DETAIL or have it happen in the present. I was embarrassed throughout the whole scene, I kept thinking, "now this can't get THAT bad . . . it's Bruce Coville!" (I guess I honestly haven't read too many of his books, but still, after the first two unicorn books it was rather surprising, to me at least . . .) I think I even skipped some of it. I just couldn't believe Mr. Coville would DO such a pointless, stupid, humiliating thing to a child, even a pretend one in a story.
Okay, that rant out of the way. The second subject is a very controversial subject in society. The situation is this: not only did the author make Cara STRIP, he made her KILL somebody--no, not a bad guy, a GOOD GUY, the king of the centaurs, who had obtained eternal life in a "unnatural way" and was "sorrowed" and "wasted" (even though he could still communicate without any trouble and even walk around?) and "wanted to die." Basically, because of circumstance, Cara has to smash an object that contains the centaur king's heart--thus killing him. Euthanizing him, basically. And ALL the characters applaud Cara, and hardly give ANY sympathy, even though Cara is completely torn inside and sick to her stomach and NOT handling it well AT ALL. I don't believe in that type of euthanization, not when the person wanting to die STILL HAS A BRAIN. He got to see how many centuries of his children and grandchildren--how could that "sorrow" him to the point of wanting to die? And they all loved him! They wouldn't kill him, that's why Cara "had" to! Somebody explain to me why this was fair OR right. The king should have manned up to his "mistake" of selling his soul for eternal life and MADE THE BEST OF IT. That's what you do when you MESS UP. You make the best of it, not ruin your life because you did something you probably shouldn't have.
So, even though I really enjoyed the parts about Rajiv and Cara's dad, this book gets one star.
Okay, that rant out of the way. The second subject is a very controversial subject in society. The situation is this: not only did the author make Cara STRIP, he made her KILL somebody--no, not a bad guy, a GOOD GUY, the king of the centaurs, who had obtained eternal life in a "unnatural way" and was "sorrowed" and "wasted" (even though he could still communicate without any trouble and even walk around?) and "wanted to die." Basically, because of circumstance, Cara has to smash an object that contains the centaur king's heart--thus killing him. Euthanizing him, basically. And ALL the characters applaud Cara, and hardly give ANY sympathy, even though Cara is completely torn inside and sick to her stomach and NOT handling it well AT ALL. I don't believe in that type of euthanization, not when the person wanting to die STILL HAS A BRAIN. He got to see how many centuries of his children and grandchildren--how could that "sorrow" him to the point of wanting to die? And they all loved him! They wouldn't kill him, that's why Cara "had" to! Somebody explain to me why this was fair OR right. The king should have manned up to his "mistake" of selling his soul for eternal life and MADE THE BEST OF IT. That's what you do when you MESS UP. You make the best of it, not ruin your life because you did something you probably shouldn't have.
So, even though I really enjoyed the parts about Rajiv and Cara's dad, this book gets one star.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2022
I began The Unicorn Chronicles 26 years ago. Into the Land of the Unicorns was the book against which I compared all other books (“This Harry Potter kid is fun, but is he Cara Hunter fun? Eh. 4 stars.”). Over these past holidays, I caught a glimpse of Into the Land gathering dust on my parents’ bookshelf, and, chuckling to myself, scooped it up and gave it a read. STILL GREAT I SAY, with a deep, nostalgic sigh. A few days later, I read through the second installment, Song of the Wanderer. It wasn’t as familiar to me; I’d only read it once or twice as opposed to the 2 or 3 million times I’d read Book I. It held up, though, and more importantly, it made me curious to know how The Chronicles wrapped up. When that curiosity hadn’t faded even a bit after a couple weeks, I ebayed up a copy of the last book, Dark Whispers. This book was published when I was a junior in college and MUCH too academically evolved to be wasting my time on silly stories about unicorns. Thankfully, that phase was short-lived (not short enough for the people around me, I’m sure), and as a woman now with great confidence in my love of adventure fantasy, I was excited to pick up the threads of my childhood and finish this thing. Well, friends. It turns out The Chronicles are NOT, in fact, a trilogy. And in all fairness to Mr. Coville, there was absolutely no indication that The Chronicles WERE a trilogy. It was simply an assumption I’d held since childhood that was, like so many other assumptions we hold, never properly challenged. As such, I began this book with complete confidence that I would by the end of it know exactly how Cara, Lightfoot, and MOST importantly The Dimblethum prevailed over evil to save two worlds. And now, having reached that end, I know nothing of the sort. WELL PLAYED, CHRONICLES. Five stars. Not only did you provide a captivating story, but you’ve managed to set me on my own quest: To find an existing copy of The Last Hunt. Which, it seems at the outset, may be even more challenging than saving Luster.
September 28, 2008
This book lacked the spark, the innocence, that the first two books had. This one was longer (not that I would complain about the size) and it had a distinctly different tone than Into the Land of the Unicorns and Song of the Wanderer.
Throughout the entire novel, the point of view switches between a multitude of characters. (Although the book is told in third person, the view does change -- almost every chapter.) Just as you get into the story of Cara (or the Dimblethum, or the delvers, or Cara's father Ian) you are rudely jerked into another sotry line that seems to have no relevance to the plot of the chapter before.
I didn't like this one as much as I had enjoyed the other two novels (though it should be noted that I have not read the first two in a few years.) Therefore, I can't tell if the writing has changed, or I have. Either way, the joy of the Unicorn Chronicles has dimmed for me, and I'm not sure if I will read the last one.
Throughout the entire novel, the point of view switches between a multitude of characters. (Although the book is told in third person, the view does change -- almost every chapter.) Just as you get into the story of Cara (or the Dimblethum, or the delvers, or Cara's father Ian) you are rudely jerked into another sotry line that seems to have no relevance to the plot of the chapter before.
I didn't like this one as much as I had enjoyed the other two novels (though it should be noted that I have not read the first two in a few years.) Therefore, I can't tell if the writing has changed, or I have. Either way, the joy of the Unicorn Chronicles has dimmed for me, and I'm not sure if I will read the last one.
September 25, 2008
In this volume, Bruce Coville dramatically expands the reach and scope of the Unicorn Chronicles series, while still having continuity with what came before. Coville never talks down to kids, and this book doesn't spare the darkness and intensity. That man can write an evil cliff-hanger too! These books are rich in human insight, and I really think that they are eventually going to be recognized as modern fantasy classics alongside books like Lloyd Alexander's Prydain cycle and Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quintet.
June 2, 2016
Hello, my name is Allie and I read books about unicorns.
My teenage self never would have believed this to be true, yet here I am -- at 37, reading the Unicorn Chronicles. And I like them!
I really enjoy the language from Squijum and Medafil. I read some complaints in the reviews on some of the characters, but I surprisingly don't have any complaints. On to the last book!
My teenage self never would have believed this to be true, yet here I am -- at 37, reading the Unicorn Chronicles. And I like them!
I really enjoy the language from Squijum and Medafil. I read some complaints in the reviews on some of the characters, but I surprisingly don't have any complaints. On to the last book!
December 29, 2023
Honestly, probably one of the best classic and underrated middle grade fantasies out there. The first book in this series, Into the Land of the Unicorns, took a long time to get its first follow-up, Song of the Wanderer. And the last two books in the series (this one and The Last Hunt) were so long in coming, and so long in length, that, to my understanding, they have a somewhat fraught--and limited--publishing. Bruce Coville recently reprinted them as shorter books with different names.
I'm reading this series because my two oldest girls read it and loved it. And Bruce Coville has it all, really: a typical fantasy plot full of encounters with fantastic creatures for the beginner fantasy lovers, an Indiana-Jones-like adventure plot for the deuteragonist, and plenty of intrigue and secrets to discover to keep even a jaded Anton Ego of a fantasy fan like me turning pages at a fairly snappy pace. All this in lovely prose that I am glad to have my kids reading.
I've given this series to my niece, who's nine and loves Harry Potter, and she said she liked it even better than Harry Potter. I will say that it's definitely targeted for girls, and I will also say that these last two books become startlingly more violent than the first book. My 8yo read one of the passages to me, something about a unicorn's blood pumping out with every beat of his heart, and I remember my eyes going wide: "That's a far cry from the tameness of Into the Land of the Unicorns!"
I share all this because I think more people should give this series a try, or at least give it to their daughters. I think of it as something of a good step up from Jessica Day George and Gale Carson Levine books and a good step down from the more violent Hunger Games or the more advanced Lord of the Rings. As far as middle grade readers go, it's preparatory for the emotional gut punches of Harry Potter, but I was not nearly as emotionally involved in these books as I was in Harry Potter or LOTR. My main emotion throughout was simply appreciation for the substantial skill that brought these into the world.
I'm reading this series because my two oldest girls read it and loved it. And Bruce Coville has it all, really: a typical fantasy plot full of encounters with fantastic creatures for the beginner fantasy lovers, an Indiana-Jones-like adventure plot for the deuteragonist, and plenty of intrigue and secrets to discover to keep even a jaded Anton Ego of a fantasy fan like me turning pages at a fairly snappy pace. All this in lovely prose that I am glad to have my kids reading.
I've given this series to my niece, who's nine and loves Harry Potter, and she said she liked it even better than Harry Potter. I will say that it's definitely targeted for girls, and I will also say that these last two books become startlingly more violent than the first book. My 8yo read one of the passages to me, something about a unicorn's blood pumping out with every beat of his heart, and I remember my eyes going wide: "That's a far cry from the tameness of Into the Land of the Unicorns!"
I share all this because I think more people should give this series a try, or at least give it to their daughters. I think of it as something of a good step up from Jessica Day George and Gale Carson Levine books and a good step down from the more violent Hunger Games or the more advanced Lord of the Rings. As far as middle grade readers go, it's preparatory for the emotional gut punches of Harry Potter, but I was not nearly as emotionally involved in these books as I was in Harry Potter or LOTR. My main emotion throughout was simply appreciation for the substantial skill that brought these into the world.
September 10, 2018
Well ok, that WAS pretty awesome. I wouldn't necessarily say it was worth waiting a whole DECADE, but it was definitely worth waiting SOME time for (a decade is an awful lot though).
This book was so much deeper and more thorough than it's predecessors. I think some of that has to do with age. Coville, knowing that much of his audience had grown up with the Unicorn Chronicles, and was now considerably older, probably felt that he could include more, and not have it be too much, since most of the people who would be reading this book were no longer children. And also, just given that he had years to continue practicing his craft, his writing has gotten a little better, and because of that, things are cleaner, and he knows how to really work a story now.
This book tackled multiple plot threads, and rather than have them feel messy and disjointed, Coville was able to deftly weave them along. Each chapter itself, focused on a different plot thread, so if the first chapter was Cara, the next would be her father's quest, the next, back to Cara, the next, what someone else was doing, then back to Cara, etc. And Coville was able to make each chapter it's own succinct piece of action (yes, this book may be considerably longer than the previous two, but not because there was pointless filler, because it was jam-packed with so much action, nd so much stuff happening, that I'm surprised all of it was able to fit). And Coville was also able to tie up each chapters action point into a nice little cliff hanger that had me itching to know what was happening. (At some points, so intensely, that I would flip forward and skip chapters until I got to the next chapter that dealt with that particular plot thread, and read a paragraph or two, to find out what happened, then go back to my original place, and read the two chapters I'd skipped until I got to where I'd jumped to. (This happened a few times because dammit, the man has just gotten so good at knowing exactly how to write cliffhangers, and where to cut off the action to leave people practically begging to know what's going to happen. Damn you Coville. On that note, it's a damn good thing that I tracked down this entire series before I decided to re-read it, because after the first time I had to deal with not getting closure as a little girl, I don't know if I could handle any more cliffhangers, particularly the one at the end of this book. It's no spoiler to say that this book DEFINITELY ends on a major cliffhanger, and will leave the reader aching to crack open the next, and final book, in this series. Which is precisely what I'm about to do.)
I had a lot of random thoughts about this story during the course of it, but sadly, neglected to write many of them down, so most of them are lost to me. (They'd probably be spoiler-y anyway).
One of those thoughts though was this:
I loved getting to learn more about the world of Luster (I am the biggest sucker for world building. to me, that's one of the best parts of reading, is being transported to another world completely, so good world building that is able to take me wherever the story is, I live for that.) And not just the Luster we're familiar with, but some of the culture of the other sentient species in Luster, which there seem to be a lot of. Getting to learn about the creatures of Luster besides the unicorns was possibly my favourite part of this book. Not that I don't love learning about the unicorns mind you, just that learning about everything else makes Luster feels so nuanced, complex, and deep.
This book was so much deeper and more thorough than it's predecessors. I think some of that has to do with age. Coville, knowing that much of his audience had grown up with the Unicorn Chronicles, and was now considerably older, probably felt that he could include more, and not have it be too much, since most of the people who would be reading this book were no longer children. And also, just given that he had years to continue practicing his craft, his writing has gotten a little better, and because of that, things are cleaner, and he knows how to really work a story now.
This book tackled multiple plot threads, and rather than have them feel messy and disjointed, Coville was able to deftly weave them along. Each chapter itself, focused on a different plot thread, so if the first chapter was Cara, the next would be her father's quest, the next, back to Cara, the next, what someone else was doing, then back to Cara, etc. And Coville was able to make each chapter it's own succinct piece of action (yes, this book may be considerably longer than the previous two, but not because there was pointless filler, because it was jam-packed with so much action, nd so much stuff happening, that I'm surprised all of it was able to fit). And Coville was also able to tie up each chapters action point into a nice little cliff hanger that had me itching to know what was happening. (At some points, so intensely, that I would flip forward and skip chapters until I got to the next chapter that dealt with that particular plot thread, and read a paragraph or two, to find out what happened, then go back to my original place, and read the two chapters I'd skipped until I got to where I'd jumped to. (This happened a few times because dammit, the man has just gotten so good at knowing exactly how to write cliffhangers, and where to cut off the action to leave people practically begging to know what's going to happen. Damn you Coville. On that note, it's a damn good thing that I tracked down this entire series before I decided to re-read it, because after the first time I had to deal with not getting closure as a little girl, I don't know if I could handle any more cliffhangers, particularly the one at the end of this book. It's no spoiler to say that this book DEFINITELY ends on a major cliffhanger, and will leave the reader aching to crack open the next, and final book, in this series. Which is precisely what I'm about to do.)
I had a lot of random thoughts about this story during the course of it, but sadly, neglected to write many of them down, so most of them are lost to me. (They'd probably be spoiler-y anyway).
One of those thoughts though was this:
I loved getting to learn more about the world of Luster (I am the biggest sucker for world building. to me, that's one of the best parts of reading, is being transported to another world completely, so good world building that is able to take me wherever the story is, I live for that.) And not just the Luster we're familiar with, but some of the culture of the other sentient species in Luster, which there seem to be a lot of. Getting to learn about the creatures of Luster besides the unicorns was possibly my favourite part of this book. Not that I don't love learning about the unicorns mind you, just that learning about everything else makes Luster feels so nuanced, complex, and deep.
November 4, 2020
This book took so long to come out! I read the first book when I was just starting chapter books in the mid-90s. I waited years until book 2 came out. Then I all but gave up on this one, that I got it as a surprise from my husband 😊So worth the wait.
June 1, 2024
It's getting darker. Cara is still lovely. She made me cry again with her kind and generous heart. Lots of great characters. Sacrifices. Betrayals. And a story that had been lost for too long. Can the unicorns be saved? Let's hope so. Because Beloved is coming!
November 13, 2025
the story stays unique, world building is still wonderful. didn't like how abruptly the story lines jumped back and forth on constant cliff hangers. it was discombobulating. but overall good!
September 25, 2025
Thank goodness it’s getting even better.
3.7 🌟
3.7 🌟
March 26, 2019
"Dark Whispers" by Bruce Coville is a fantasy book packed with adventure among the entire series and I have looked forward to seeing more of what Bruce Coville has to offer.
The overall book was really amazing it was very mysterious and added some things that just gave the book a little more bling.
At first glance, I thought unicorns? Really. After starting and finishing the entire series I must admit I was stoked by everything.
*WARNING SPOILERS*
I absolutely loved all of the lines from the character Squijum, they all create that little voice in your head and you can hear what he sounds like.
The only downside I had to this specific book was it was kind of slow. If it was just a little faster of a pace this would for sure be one of my favorite book
The overall book was really amazing it was very mysterious and added some things that just gave the book a little more bling.
At first glance, I thought unicorns? Really. After starting and finishing the entire series I must admit I was stoked by everything.
*WARNING SPOILERS*
I absolutely loved all of the lines from the character Squijum, they all create that little voice in your head and you can hear what he sounds like.
The only downside I had to this specific book was it was kind of slow. If it was just a little faster of a pace this would for sure be one of my favorite book
December 26, 2023
I'd read and loved the previous two books in the series as a teen, so coming back to the series as an adult, I was really hoping to fall back into the world with the same enthusiasm. This book definitely takes a darker turn than the first two, with several character deaths or severe injuries, and a lot of the more comedic or lighthearted elements left out. The darkness isn't misplaced, and in fact I enjoy when a book series matures along with its protagonist, but I do miss the sense of wonder that characterized so much of Cara's travels before. It's also a shame that she and Lightheart spend so much time separated from each other, since that's the emotional core of the series.
The thing I disliked the most was the rapid-fire POV switching. With how short the chapters are, it really breaks up the flow of each scene, and not every POV feels warranted. Overall this makes the reading experience frenetic and rushed. Ian's chapters were interesting, but despite the insight into his psyche he's still a fairly opaque, nebulous character (though with a surprising amount of homoerotic tension between him and Fallon). Rajiv is a strange character who feels pulled straight out of a Rudyard Kipling novel and really doesn't need to be there at all.
I liked the reveal of what the Whisperer truly is; I doubt this was Coville's intention but the quest for purity leading to one's own tragic downfall feels very resonant in this day and age. And I appreciate how storytelling is so central to the plot and the fabric of this world. With a dramatic cliffhanger at the end, I'm looking forward to where the next book goes.
The thing I disliked the most was the rapid-fire POV switching. With how short the chapters are, it really breaks up the flow of each scene, and not every POV feels warranted. Overall this makes the reading experience frenetic and rushed. Ian's chapters were interesting, but despite the insight into his psyche he's still a fairly opaque, nebulous character (though with a surprising amount of homoerotic tension between him and Fallon). Rajiv is a strange character who feels pulled straight out of a Rudyard Kipling novel and really doesn't need to be there at all.
I liked the reveal of what the Whisperer truly is; I doubt this was Coville's intention but the quest for purity leading to one's own tragic downfall feels very resonant in this day and age. And I appreciate how storytelling is so central to the plot and the fabric of this world. With a dramatic cliffhanger at the end, I'm looking forward to where the next book goes.
April 12, 2016
Coville stays true to his heroine in this slightly more mature installment of his Unicorn Chronicles. Cara and the Unicorns are on the eve of biggest threat they have ever faced – Beloved has found a way to open a gate to Luster, and will probably make her move on the eve of the Blood Moon. She also may have discovered a way to anchor the amulet that she has obtained, allowing her to enter Luster at any point she wishes and begin her final hunt. Cara, Lightfoot, Finder, and Belle once again must leave the unicorns to gain access to this item, and also to visit the mysterious centaurs to help decode an ancient prophecy – one that makes ominous references to a new enemy whose roots are inextricably tangled with those of the unicorns. Meanwhile her father Ian is crossing the world of Earth in order to find a way to get access to the Rainbow Prison, where Cara’s mother is being held, with the help of a street boy and a mysterious fighter with his own reasons for seeking the Prison.
Coville does not disappoint with this long-awaited installment. Unlike a certain boy wizard, Cara does not seem to be growing up at all – fitting, since the three-novel stories have spanned only a few months in Luster-time, even though they have spanned 15 years here on Earth. Dark Whispers introduces complex ideas about origins and the nature of good and evil, and also has some truly frightening and sad moments. Despite this, it remains true to itself; a lovely, magical children’s fantasy with sparkling characters and an exciting plot.
Coville does not disappoint with this long-awaited installment. Unlike a certain boy wizard, Cara does not seem to be growing up at all – fitting, since the three-novel stories have spanned only a few months in Luster-time, even though they have spanned 15 years here on Earth. Dark Whispers introduces complex ideas about origins and the nature of good and evil, and also has some truly frightening and sad moments. Despite this, it remains true to itself; a lovely, magical children’s fantasy with sparkling characters and an exciting plot.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2011
This is the third book in The Unicorn Chronicles, and I think it is the strongest book in the series so far. Cara and her assorted companions are on a quest to prevent the Hunters from entering Luster to kill the unicorns (and yes, I'm aware of how silly that sounds. Somehow the book is better than that). At the same time, her father has teamed up with some unusual allies to rescue his wife from an ethereal prison. As a protagonist, Cara has never had much personality, and I've always been more entertained by the secondary characters. But in Dark Whispers, and especially in the second half of the book, Cara finally starts to develop more depth. The secondary characters are still more fun, though -- I was thrilled to see Cara's father take on a more prominent role, since I find him fascinating, and Medafil the huffy gryphon is just wonderful.
Also, this is the first book where I felt that the protagonists actually risked losing something important. I won't elaborate to avoid spoilers, but this instalment just felt a bit more mature than the first two. Within reason, of course -- it's still written for children, and my rating takes that intended audience into account.
Like the other books in the series, I've been listening to the
Also, this is the first book where I felt that the protagonists actually risked losing something important. I won't elaborate to avoid spoilers, but this instalment just felt a bit more mature than the first two. Within reason, of course -- it's still written for children, and my rating takes that intended audience into account.
Like the other books in the series, I've been listening to the
April 17, 2011
This is the third book in the series. It was very good, and not at all slow!
This book stars 12 year old Cara Diana Hunter as she struggles to save the world she has grown to know and love,Luster,the land of the unicorns.
When the queen of the unicorns discovers that she may soon be at war with the horrible Beloved and her followers the Hunter,who are set out to rid both Earth and Luster of all unicorns forever, she sends Cara in search of a story that could hold the key to there survival,the story of the whisper. There is only one place Cara can get that story,she must go to The Chiron,King of the centaurs,and receive the story from him.on this long journey across luster Cara takes with her her friends,Lightfoot a young unicorn prince,Grimwold the keeper of the unicorn chronicles,the Squijum a Squirrel like creature,Belle a fierce unicorn warrior, and Finder a Unicorn explorer. Along the way Cara runs into some of her old friends and make some new. But the Journey is a hard and dangerous one and Cara must find the courage and strength to do whatever it takes to save her Friends and the world they live in.
PS: Read Book one, Into the Land of the Unicorns and book two, Song of The Wanderer before you read this book.
This book stars 12 year old Cara Diana Hunter as she struggles to save the world she has grown to know and love,Luster,the land of the unicorns.
When the queen of the unicorns discovers that she may soon be at war with the horrible Beloved and her followers the Hunter,who are set out to rid both Earth and Luster of all unicorns forever, she sends Cara in search of a story that could hold the key to there survival,the story of the whisper. There is only one place Cara can get that story,she must go to The Chiron,King of the centaurs,and receive the story from him.on this long journey across luster Cara takes with her her friends,Lightfoot a young unicorn prince,Grimwold the keeper of the unicorn chronicles,the Squijum a Squirrel like creature,Belle a fierce unicorn warrior, and Finder a Unicorn explorer. Along the way Cara runs into some of her old friends and make some new. But the Journey is a hard and dangerous one and Cara must find the courage and strength to do whatever it takes to save her Friends and the world they live in.
PS: Read Book one, Into the Land of the Unicorns and book two, Song of The Wanderer before you read this book.
November 2, 2017
I began reading "The Unicorn Chronicles" when I was in Elementary School. My best friend and neighbor had shared it with me and we both were in love with the world Coville had created. A few years later we were ecstatic to find the sequel, "Song of the Wanderer," and hoped that the rest of the story would be told soon. And then we waited...and waited...and waited, lol. Finally, as a young adult, I realized he was in the process of writing the final book. But I lost track of it and it was difficult to find in bookstores. Imagine my excitement when I discovered it on Amazon! And not just "Dark Whispers," but a fourth book in the series, "The Last Hunt!"
Reading this book has been like reading a piece of my childhood. We grew up with these characters, not unlike Harry Potter. But admittedly, I think I love Cara's world even more because she is a girl and because Luster remains such a magical, wonderful, at times terrifying place. I promised my former neighbor, who is still my best friend, that I'd let her borrow these once I finished. She'll be pleased to hear it so she too can begin to finish the series we started when we were just little girls, dreaming of Unicorns.
Reading this book has been like reading a piece of my childhood. We grew up with these characters, not unlike Harry Potter. But admittedly, I think I love Cara's world even more because she is a girl and because Luster remains such a magical, wonderful, at times terrifying place. I promised my former neighbor, who is still my best friend, that I'd let her borrow these once I finished. She'll be pleased to hear it so she too can begin to finish the series we started when we were just little girls, dreaming of Unicorns.
August 30, 2012
The third book in the Unicorn Chronicles. This is a reread for me. A compilation of several quests, Cara is sent to find out the truth of the "Whisperer" from the centaurs, her father is on a quest to rescue her mother from the Rainbow Prison.
"to act with mercy can sometimes be the hardest thing of all."
Cara is able to do a very difficult thing, see each individual and not judge them by the group they belong too.
"to act with mercy can sometimes be the hardest thing of all."
Cara is able to do a very difficult thing, see each individual and not judge them by the group they belong too.
August 24, 2019
Few books have had as much of an impact on my life as this one has. I waited so long for it. I'm pretty sure I learned how to use the internet specifically to check for updates. The author's home page was probably one of the first pages I ever bookmarked. And when it arrived, it was definitely worth the wait. A fantastic continuation to the series.
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