9/11

9/11 Bruce Coville's The Unicorn Chronicles offers something else again: a world in which unicorns have a home and a larger community to defend. Into the Land of the Unicorns follows Cara into Luster, where she meets Lightfoot, a rebellious young unicorn. Along with the Dimblethum and the Squijum, they set out to reach the Unicorn Queen and help prevent the destruction of the unicorns. That setup changes the scale of the discussion. A last-survivor story concentrates everything on one remaining life. Luster gives the story a population, a ruler, relationships, and a place that matters to the creatures who live there. There is more to protect than a rare animal discovered by an outsider. Lightfoot's rebelliousness also makes room for differences within that population. The unicorns do not have to behave like identical embodiments of wisdom. A young member of the species can have a temperament and problems of his own. That is useful world-building for any fantasy creature. Once there are enough of them to have relationships, disagreements, and a home, the story can spend time on what their lives look like. The question of survival becomes tied to everything they would lose with that world.