The Way Home

Two Novellas from the World of the Last Unicorn

224 pages

English language

Published April 5, 2023 by Penguin Publishing Group, Ace.

ISBN:
978-0-593-54739-7
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4 stars (1 review)

Renowned author Peter S. Beagle returns to the world of The Last Unicorn in this resonant and moving two-novella collection, featuring the award-winning “Two Hearts” and the brand-new “Sooz.”

The Last Unicorn is one of fantasy’s most revered classics, beloved by generations of readers and with millions of copies in print. Revisiting the world of that novel, Beagle’s long-awaited Hugo and Nebula-Awards-winning “Two Hearts” introduced the irrepressible Sooz on a quest to save her village from a griffin, and explored the bonds she formed with unforgettable characters like the wise and wonderful Molly Grue and Schmendrick the Magician.

In the never-before-published “Sooz,” the events of “Two Hearts” are years behind its narrator, but a perilous journey lies ahead of her, in a story that is at once a tender meditation on love and loss, and a lesson in finding your true self.

The Way Home is suffused with Beagle’s wisdom, …

3 editions

A moving set of linked stories peripherally linked to the world of the Beagle's unicorn.

4 stars

If you dived into this book, expecting more about Beagle's unicorn, you will be disappointed. Instead, it is a fascinating and moving set of linked stories around the main character, Sooz, and peripherally linked to the world of the unicorn.

The first story, "Two Hearts", republished here, sets the stage. Children in Sooz's village are being hunted by a griffin. Sooz, determined to stop it, disobeys her parents and sneaks away to get the King to come and deal with the griffin. She then bumps into Schmendrick the Magician and Molly Grue, who have their own reasons for seeing the King Lir (for he is the king Sooz is seeking). Seeing the condition the king is in, old and decrepit, Sooz nearly gives up, but upon hearing her request, Lir revives and cannot be stopped from the quest, even if it might mean his death.

The battle with the griffin …