The Last Unicorn
A unicorn who has lived alone in her enchanted forest for centuries overhears two hunters say she may be the last of her kind. Unwilling to believe it, she leaves her home and sets out across an unfamiliar world to find the others. On the road she meets Schmendrick, a magician whose spells almost never work the way he intends, and Molly Grue, a hardened woman who has waited her whole life to see something true. Their search leads them to the dark seaside castle of King Haggard, whose Red Bull has driven every unicorn into the sea. To rescue her people the unicorn must take a form that can love and grieve, and learn what it costs to become something she was never meant to be. Peter S. Beagle's lyrical fairy tale moves between humor and heartbreak, asking what it means to be the last of anything and whether magic survives in a world that has stopped believing in it.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about The Last Unicorn
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A unicorn living alone in a lilac wood hears a wandering butterfly say that she is the last of her kind. She leaves the forest with the failed magician Schmendrick and the woman Molly Grue, riding toward a bleak seaside kingdom whose King Haggard is rumored to keep a Red Bull.
Yes. A 1982 animated film adaptation by Rankin/Bass was released, with Peter S. Beagle writing the screenplay. The film is widely considered a cult classic and is generally faithful to the novel.
Yes, sort of. Peter S. Beagle wrote a short story sequel, Two Hearts, in 2005, which won the Hugo and Nebula awards. He has since worked on a full novel sequel.
The Last Unicorn was written by Peter S. Beagle, published in 1968 by Ace.
The Last Unicorn is 218 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Last Unicorn takes most readers 3 to 5 hours to finish.
The Last Unicorn is a standalone novel by Peter S. Beagle, not part of a series.
The Last Unicorn is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.