Review
“Lavish, whimsical dreamscapes reminiscent of Lewis Carroll. Lee’s charming exuberance is everywhere in evidence, no more so than in Tanaquil’s familiar, a wonderfully comic, cavorting beasty.” —Publishers Weekly

“Lee’s language is lyrical and her setting is fantastical. Tanaquil is a good role model for any young girl struggling with love, relationships or parents.” The San Diego Union-Tribune



Book Description
The enchanting, magical sequel to The Black Unicorn and The Gold Unicorn!

After several years traveling, Tanaquil — a sorceress like her mother with the ability to mend — returns home only to discover that her true love has been betrothed to her sister, Empress Lizra. Broken-hearted and jealous of her sister’s happiness, Tanaquil is lured by a red unicorn into a mirror world where she encounters Tanakil, a diabolical version of herself.

She discovers also several new powers. Powers she will need to foil Tanakil’s sinister plot of revenge.



Card catalog description
Feeling neglected because her sorceress mother is enamored with a flamboyant magician and her sister, Emperess Lizra, is infatuated with her own true love, Tanaquil is drawn into another world in which her mirror self is plotting to murder her sister.


About the Author
Tanith Lee has published over fifty novels and story collections in the fantasy, science fiction and horror fields. She has won several World Fantasy Awards and the August Derleth Award. She lives near Brighton, England.

ANNOTATION

Feeling neglected because her sorceress mother is enamored with a flamboyant magician and her sister, Emperess Lizra, is infatuated with her own true love, Tanaquil is drawn into another world in which her mirror self is plotting to murder her sister.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The young wanderer Tanaquil can mend anything that is broken - except her own heart. With the engagement of her beloved Honj to her sister, Empress Lizra, she returns home to her sorcerous mother - and her mother's new lover, the magician Worabex.. "Caught up in their combined magic, Tanaquil and her mischievous familiar - a literal pet peeve - find themselves in a parallel world where she meets Tanakil, a mirror-image princess with murder on her mind.

FROM THE CRITICS

VOYA - Gloria Grover

Tanaquil returns home with a broken heart after several years of traveling. Her tru love, Honj, is bethrothed to her sister, Empress Lizra. At home, Tanaquil feels neglected because her mother, a sorceress, is in love with an eccentric sorcerer and has no time for her. Tanaquil is transported into a parallel world when she gets caught in a spell that was supposed to conjure up a fresh-water well. In the parallel universe Tanaquil realizes that besides her regular magical powers of mending broken items, she is able to make herself invisible, change her appearance, and walk through walls. These new powers come in handy when she realizes she must stop her double, Tanakil, from murdering her sister, Sulkana Liliam, who is engaged to marry Tanakil's true love Jharn. During an unguarded moment, Tanakil slips a poisonous drought in Liliam's teas, but she realizes she cannot murder her own sister and stops Liliam from drinking the tea. Soon a red unicorn appears and both Tanaquil and Tanakil ride it to the stars, where Tanaquil urges Tanakil to tell Liliam what she feels for Jharn. It comes as no surprise to the reader that both Tanaquil and Tanakil find love in the end. This humorous story, the third volume in Lee's Unicorn series, is marred by the character of the unicorn, which does not play as strong a role in the story as it did in Black Unicorn (Tor, 1993) and Gold Unicorn (Tor, 1996/VOYA April 1995). The book will appeal to teens who have an interest in fantasy and romance. VOYA Codes: 3Q 3P J (Readable without serious defects, Will appeal with pushing, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9).

Locus

"Lee's portrait of this realm is lavish Technicolor....Red Unicorn offers plenty of fun -- with an invigorating kick to it."

Voice of Youth Advocate

"Lee's language is wonderfully descriptive and lyrical; and as usual, her female characters are real andcompelling." -- voice fo Youth Advocates

San Diego Union-Tribune