Sunday, November 06, 2005

Gold Unicorn - Tanith Lee

Tanith Lee's Gold Unicorn is as brief as its prequel Black Unicorn. In Gold Unicorn Tanaquil is still travelling, more than a year after the events already narrated. She is visiting some nobles who have fled from a war that is now taking place, instigated by the Empress Veriam; they take her to see a local sorcerer by whom Tanaquil is unimpressed. He promises that she will have to learn some lessons, and shortly afterwards she encounters three of the Empress' soldiers who, it appears, have been on the lookout for Tanaquil. When Tanaquil meets the Empress she discovers that Veriam is someone whom she met more than a year ago. Veriam has decided to conquer to the world in order to ensure that it is properly run, and to this end some of the members of the Artisans Guild from her home town have created a gigantic unicorn of iron overlaid with gold plate. It is a mechanical monstrosity, powered by steam, and Tanaquil is required to make it work because it doesn't at present. With grave misgivings, Tanaquil acquiesces and the gold unicorn is set to work to persuade towns and cities to surrender to Veriam. Unfortunately there is something rather odd about the unicorn - people who pass under its belly disappear never to be sen again. Tanaquil discovers for herself that the gold unicorn is a portal into another world, but rather than a kind of Heaven, it leads her and her companions (including Veriam) into a kind of Hell.

I confess that I am surprised that Tanith Lee didn't just combine the three narratives of the Unicorn trilogy into one longer book. Such a longer book would still have been under 600 pages (assuming Red Unicorn is as short as its predecessors - I'm waiting to see if the Library can get hold of a copy for me).

[Apologies for the lack of a post yesterday - a migraine wiped me out and staring at PC screen was simply impossible.]

6 comments:

Kelly said...

I am glad you are feeling better, Michele. Your reviews of the Unicorn books are making me want to pick them up.

Michele said...

Heh ! That is the idea - that I review a book I've enjoyed and it persuades others to read it too... ;-D

I just hope the library can get me the final one, or I'll be forever thwarted ! I'm actually quite interested in Tanaquil - she's a proper "lady hero" as I call them. A heroic female protagonist who's competent and capable, yet still feminine... These books will definitely go into the background of my planned book on heroic females in fantasy fiction. I shall have to ask the friend who mentioned Tanith Lee to me in the first place if she has any of Lee's books that she could lend me...

Camille said...

Oh my,
I get migraines too. Zomig, the migraine med. has saved my sanity. I get panicked if I don't have a Rx refill ready to go.

Michele said...

That's the stuff I take ! But it doesn't do as good a job as it used to - I don't know, maybe I need a stronger dose; it used to knock a migraine dead in around an hour, now the wretched things linger for at least a couple of days, leaving me feeling fuzzy headed... Totally unfunny.

Camille said...

I have had the same experience. I get a second one the next day all the time now it. Sometimes it works quickly, sometimes not... I know just what you mean.

Michele said...

Well fortunately it's gone properly now - 3 nights of unbroken sleep have shifted it at last ! I'm glad because I wouldn't have enjoyed spending the morning in the Bod. with a migraine (nor do I want one on my natal day - not a nice present at all !)