Anne of Brittany has long dreaded her marriage. Since the invasion of France spelled the death of her father, she has accepted the life of a duchess with grace, knowing full well her lands and her body will not remain hers for long. France means to marry her to their king to secure Brittany, but in secret Anne plots an alliance to Maximilien of Austria, the king’s greatest rival. Secrets are not long harbored, not when every court has diviners to glean information from the opposition. Anne’s only saving grace is the forest of Brocéliande, a wood long thought to be enchanted which could offer protection from prying eyes. Desperate and willing to lie to secure her future, Anne presents a ploy: they will tell France they hope to hunt a unicorn. Something which requires Anne to be unmarried. While on the hunt she will wed Maximilien by proxy and none will be the wiser. When the hunt reveals a real unicorn and a stranger returned out of time, Anne soon comes to know magic is real, but as her ploy has been successful it is of little consequence. Lies begin to have a cost and as Anne grapples to control the narrative against a power hungry France, hiding the truth to magic becomes impossible. For magic is real, and it wants her.
In The Unicorn Hunters, historical meets the fantastical with France on the edge of obtaining Brittany and the magical forest of Brocéliande bringing magic and memory to the verge. Katherine Arden goes beyond the expected in her latest novel to show how the best parts of fantasy include history retold. Through her focus on Anne of Brittany, a woman placed into a singular narrative, Arden recontextualizes the life of the duchess, one where her cleverness finds resonance in the magic of a lost city and a forest of secrets. Most importantly, unicorns. There are unicorns. An elaborate lie built to retain control of Brittany leads to magic taking root within its borders, where portents, diviners, and courtly intrigue are at their height and vying for dominance. Swept away in a hunt for a unicorn and a lost world impressing itself upon a duchess, The Unicorn Hunters appeals to a magic just out of reach, but one that can be shaken out of sheer tenacity. Cunning women, delightful animal companions, and a strange otherworld all find a place within the confines of this audacious historical legend. The Unicorn Hunters is proof that Katherine Arden can do no wrong with her penchant for sweeping historical fantasy. That we need to have her spin on every kind of fairytale—and history for that matter.
Katherine Arden’s hold on history and memory crafts an extraordinary saga of a duchess’s quest to obtain freedom, for herself and for her kingdom. A saga that intersects an age old magic within a forest and forces beyond her greatest imaginings. The Unicorn Hunters threads an enlightening tapestry on fifteenth century Brittany down to the minutiae, even as Arden takes readers on a fantastical journey complete with sea-drakes and the iconic mythical figure of the unicorn. The Unicorn Hunters features some of my favorite writing from Arden. Think the atmospheric feel of the Winternight trilogy transplanted into the forests of Brocéliande during a period of turmoil. Katherine Arden frames an essential query here, a driving force for her to build out her tale. The Unicorn Hunters asks, if we aren’t first granted power can we access it by other means and thus change our fate? All that is central to the life of Anne of Brittany—duchess yes—but one relegated to a single fate: marriage and children in service of France. Breaking free spirals into a classic fairytale: the girl who catches the attention of the forces of magic. Not so typical, a quest to find the drowned city of Keris. A Katherine Arden novel would not be complete without persnickety family members, adopted children, and a delightful animal companion (named Butter no less). This story is wholly her own and yet something I’ve never seen from her before.
The Unicorn Hunters is another fabulous historical fantasy novel from one of my favorite writers within this space. Something quintessentially Katherine Arden in tone and humor, but new for its breadth of history. The Unicorn Hunters had me thrumming on the sheer possibility wound up within this distinct era. The fantastical feel of this novel does not just hinge on the unicorns and magic of it all, but on the time period itself. Beliefs and customs long past through which people dictated their entire lives are brought to life once more and they carry a weight that Arden uses to further her narrative. The place for women, land, and power are all grounding cornerstones within The Unicorn Hunters that provide an additional context and conflict. Yet for all of this it is really the characters who shape this story into pure magic. For Arden each perspective is rich and laden with details one cannot help but gorge themselves upon. Where history comes to life and the magic takes root. Here for Anne of Brittany’s elaborate web of lies. She should have more of them actually (as a treat). The Unicorn Hunters is history respun into legend. Where myths are made real and clever women take their rightful place at the forefront of such tales. Unicorns and devoted men kneeling at their feet.
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing the advance review copy.
Literaryrobin 