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Children's Fiction Fantasy & Magic

The Hunt of the Unicorn

by (author) C.C. Humphreys

Publisher
Random House Publishing Group
Initial publish date
Mar 2011
Category
Fantasy & Magic, General, General
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780375958724
    Publish Date
    Mar 2011
    List Price
    $22.99

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Where to buy it

Out of print

This edition is not currently available in bookstores. Check your local library or search for used copies at Abebooks.

Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 10 to 18
  • Grade: 5 to 12

Description

Elayne thinks the old family story that one of her ancestors stepped through a tapestry into a world of mythical beasts makes a great fireside tale. But she lives in the real world. In New York City. And she's outgrown that kind of fantasy.

Until she finds herself in front of a unicorn tapestry at the Cloisters museum and sees her initials woven into the fabric. And hears a unicorn calling to her. And slips and falls—into that other world.

Suddenly the line between fantasy and reality isn't so clear. But the danger is real enough. Almost before she can think, Elayne is attacked by a ferocious beast, rescued by a unicorn, and taken prisoner by a tyrant king. Each of them seems to have an idea about her—that she's a hero, a villain, dinner!

But Elayne has a few ideas of her own. She wants to overthrow the king; she wants to tame the unicorn. She wants to go home! And she's willing to become both hero and villain to do it.

From the Hardcover edition.

About the author

C.C. Humphreys was born in Toronto, Canada and grew up in Los Angeles and London. A third-generation actor and writer, his roles have included Hamlet and the gladiator Caleb in A.D. Anno Domini. His plays have been produced in the UK and Canada. A schoolboy fencing champion and fight choreographer, he has turned his love of swashbuckling towards historical fiction. He is married and lives in London.

C.C. Humphreys' profile page

Excerpt: The Hunt of the Unicorn (by (author) C.C. Humphreys)

ONE
THE BOOK
Thunderstorms rumble nearer, the air charged with static, as sticky-hot as only a New Orleans night can be. Arcana knows that the werewolf is going to come. She prays that all the precautions she's taken are not in vain. Prays that he's brought the goal of her quest--
"Elayne?"
She jumped. She was not in an old mansion in Louisiana, but in her bedroom in New York. And no muscle-bound werewolf stood in her doorway. Her dad did, skinny as a stick.
"Sorry," said her father. "Did I interrupt something?"
"Uh, reading, homework, you know."
"Well, if you're busy . . ." With a sigh, he pushed himself off the doorframe. She could see the effort it took.
"You OK?"
He reached out a hand to steady himself. "Fine. I was reading . . . this." He held up a book. "Fell asleep. Began to have the strangest dream."
"What about?"
He smiled. "You."
He'd stepped back into the hall. The light glinted on his gone-bald head. Elayne didn't know when she'd grow used to that. All his thick black hair gone.
She leapt up. He didn't look any better the closer she got. In fact . . . She gripped his arm. "Do you need something?"
"No, I . . ." He smiled again. "Yes. I wanted to read you this." He raised the book. "But I'm kind of tired. So I thought you might read it to me?"
It was late, close to eleven. Her dad was usually long asleep by now, zonked on his meds. But he was going into the hospital in the morning. A few days, they'd said. But they'd said that before.
"Sure," she said. "Love to."
He led her back to the living room and sank onto the sofa while she made cocoa. After plopping baby marshmallows into the two mugs, she joined him, snuggling deep into the old leather. He pulled a blanket over the two of them. It was warm in the loft, but beyond the double-glazed windows, snowflakes fell. A long way from Louisiana, she thought, and shivered. An ambulance's siren, heading away from St. Vincent's, made her shiver again.
"So, what's the book?" she asked.
"Ah!" He handed her an old hardback, small, a little bigger than her hand, the cover emerald green, fading, the edges frayed. "The Maid and the Unicorn," she read out loud.
"Remember it?"
"Should I?"
"I read it to you when you were about, uh, eight, I think."
"Really?" She shook her head. "It's not a fantasy story, is it? You know I'm not into fantasy."
"The shelves in your bedroom tell a different story."
"Dad," she said patiently, "I'm fifteen now--"
"So what about all these vampires and werewolves, eh?"
"That's not fantasy, that's . . ." She was about to say "romance," but romance was something she really didn't want to discuss with her father. So she settled for, ". . . different."
He smiled. "I see. Well, this is different too. Give it a chance."
She gulped some cocoa, put the mug down, opened the book, and read: " 'The Incredible yet Nonetheless True Tale of Alice-Elayne Robochon; Her Adventures in Goloth, Land of the Fabulous Beast; and What Happened Next.' " She looked up. "Alice-Elayne?"
"That's your name. Your full name."
"Duh, I do know. I try to forget the 'Alice' part. It's just so 'Wonderlandy.' " She read again. " 'Robochon'?"
"An old family name."
"So this 'Alice-Elayne' was, like, an ancestor?"
"Not 'like.' 'Was.' Was an ancestor." He pointed. "There's a family tree in the back. But finish reading the introduction first."
She read, " 'And What Happened Next . . . ,' uh, 'Her story, passed down through Generations of the Family by Mouth and translated here, in the year of Our Lord 1863, for the first time in Print, by Alice-Elayne Corbeau, her descendant.' " She looked up. "Another Alice-Elayne?"
He nodded. "Now look at the family tree. It's attached at the back. Careful! It's fragile."
Gently she unfolded a sheet of waxy old paper. At the top were two letters, A and E, except the E was reversed. They were done in gold ink and linked by a tasseled cord. The paper's folds had made black lines down its middle. Between them, in beautiful old-style handwriting, was penned a list of names, descending from . . .
" 'Alice-Elayne Robochon,' " Elayne read. "So she's the one who gets to go to Beast World, right?" Her father nodded. She followed the names down and whistled. "All the women are named Alice-Elayne." She tapped the gold letters at the top. "Their last names change with the men they married, but . . ." She scanned. "Yep. Everyone down to-- Hey! That's me!"
"Yes. I added that."
"Nice lettering."
"Thanks." He leaned over and pointed. "There's Gramma Elly who was Alice-Elayne too. Her mother, and her mother, the same, And there is Alice-Elayne Corbeau. The woman who did the translating and writing down."
"Translating?"
"Yes. The original Alice-Elayne Robochon was French. I think this Corbeau ancestor, the writer and translator, was the first one in America."
"So the daughters always get saddled with the name, huh?"
"Yes." Her father suddenly looked serious. "It is one of the reasons I wanted you to read this book tonight. To learn the tradition. Who knows what will happen in the hospital? I might not be able to--" He broke off.
She seized his hand. "It's just more tests, Dad. A new drug therapy, maybe? A few days, then home for the holidays. You're going to be fine."

From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

"Hand this to readers who like their heroines sassy, and their settings vividly imagined."
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Hardcover edition.

User Reviews

Gentle, traditional youth fantasy

This was a decent kids or YA fantasy read that might be elevated to great if you love unicorns, fairytale/legendary/mythical beasts and old-school fairytale-quest-fantasy.

The tone felt a little dated compared to current trends (it is 2011), but there were interesting ideas woven into the narrative and an easy-to-follow, coherent (if a little predictable) plot. Characterization felt a bit lazy; the heroine is remarkable for her 'maiden'-ness and general naivety, the only other named (human) female character is bad, you can tell because she's a stress-eater and obese, and the named male characters are family or romantic interests who quickly fall out as questionable.

Liked the identity and trust issues with the unicorn and the tie-in to the tapestries at the Cloisters - good creative re-use of history and artifacts. Also enjoyable was the portrayal of legendary beasts, especially the slang-and-middle-English speaking two-headed snake, who IMHO was the best character of the lot.

Nothing wildly fresh, but there doesn't always have to be. A gentler read than most, enjoyable especially for a niche fanbase.

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