Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
Simon & Schuster Children's UK (2022), Edition: 1, 400 pages
Description
Fantasy. Juvenile Fiction. Juvenile Literature. HTML:Soar into a breathtaking world of heroes and unicorns as you've never seen them before in this fantastical middle grade debut perfect for fans of the Percy Jackson and Eragon series! Skandar Smith has always yearned to leave the Mainland and escape to the secretive Island, where wild unicorns roam free. He's spent years studying for his Hatchery exam, the annual test that selects a handful of Mainlander thirteen-year-olds to train to become unicorn riders. But on the day of Skandar's exam, things go horribly wrong, and his hopes are shattered...until a mysterious figure knocks on his door at midnight, bearing a message: the Island is in peril and Skandar must answer its call. Skandar is thrust into a world of epic sky battles, dangerous clashes with wild unicorns, and rumors of a shadowy villain amassing a unicorn army. And the closer Skandar grows to his newfound friends and community of riders, the harder it becomes to keep his secrets�??especially when he discovers their lives may all be in graver danger than he ever imagin… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member acargile
Skandar and the Unicorn Thief is a 2023 Lone Star novel. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It reminded me of a watered-down Harry Potter. Sometimes you want something that's just fun to read--nothing that makes you think too hard. This novel is it! Let's say the week has been long, so on a Friday
The world building is thin. I'll just say there's a "Mainland" and the "Island." On the "island," there exists unicorns. The wild ones basically never die; they rot and smell and wreak havoc and are very dangerous. They cannot be allowed on the Mainland to hurt the people there. The Island has a school for people to learn how to ride a unicorn that bonds with them. There you find your bonded unicorn, learn to take care of it, find your element affinity, and learn to battle. There are also people who live on the Island supporting the school with goods and services as well as a government. The Mainland has all the regular people who just try to get by and are protected by the sentinels who keep the wild unicorns on the island.
Skandar lives on the Mainland with his sister and father. His dad struggles with depression, it seems. The only day he's really "with it" is the day of the Chaos Cup. The people who have bonded with Unicorns means that the unicorn isn't wild and horrible. It will be tamed (a little) by the bond and will die instead of live a horrible, rotting life. These bonded riders compete in battle games called the Chaos Cup. This year, Skandar, his sister Kenna, and his dad eat breakfast together and excitedly watch the Chaos Cup. Something odd happens--the winner's unicorn is stolen on life TV by a person riding a wild unicorn. This type of rider cannot be! You can't tame a wild unicorn! The Mainlanders don't really know what's going on, so they aren't quite as concerned as they might need to be. They still want to send their 13-year olds to the Island to train. Kenna failed her exam to be a rider and has never gotten over it. She's only dreamed of being a rider. The day after the Chaos Cup is Skandar's turn to take his test.
Skandar studies and works hard to be a rider. He arrives for the exam only to be turned away. That never happens. He dejectedly goes home only to be awakened at midnight and told to go to the Island. The lady who arrives takes him to the island and tells him how to sneak on. Something isn't right, but Skandar really wants a unicorn. He does as told and gets in line. The doors to the unicorn hatchery only open to those who have a unicorn, so many people go back to the mainland. Surprisingly, the door opens for Skandar. He does as told and, sure enough, an egg hatches upon his touch--he is bonded. The surprise? There are only 4 elements. When a couple of other new students see Skandar's unicorn, they know that Skandar and his unicorn are illegal. They are spirit elements--the most dangerous. These three other students help Skandar hide the signs of then spirit element.
The rest of the novel involves training (it's pretty vague training) and preparing for the end of the first year when they compete to stay. The bottom five will be declared nomads. You'll enjoy meeting all of the students and finding out who the bad guy is on the wild unicorn as they must "save the day" by the end. Once again, I had fun reading it. I liked it. Is it great? No. Is it escapism? Absolutely.
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evening, you pick this up for a brain break. There are no surprises--it'll progress as you think it will, for it follows a standard pattern. You can just enjoy. Sometimes I want a stupid romance novel because I know how it will end and I can enjoy reading the same basic plot you get. If it's fairly well-written, that means it's a perfect Friday read to nicely end the week. That's what this novel is for middle school fantasy. I looked up reviews on Goodreads and they did not like it for various reasons. They were expecting a saga--a complicated fantasy novel with lots of layers, depth, and surprises. The world building is thin. I'll just say there's a "Mainland" and the "Island." On the "island," there exists unicorns. The wild ones basically never die; they rot and smell and wreak havoc and are very dangerous. They cannot be allowed on the Mainland to hurt the people there. The Island has a school for people to learn how to ride a unicorn that bonds with them. There you find your bonded unicorn, learn to take care of it, find your element affinity, and learn to battle. There are also people who live on the Island supporting the school with goods and services as well as a government. The Mainland has all the regular people who just try to get by and are protected by the sentinels who keep the wild unicorns on the island.
Skandar lives on the Mainland with his sister and father. His dad struggles with depression, it seems. The only day he's really "with it" is the day of the Chaos Cup. The people who have bonded with Unicorns means that the unicorn isn't wild and horrible. It will be tamed (a little) by the bond and will die instead of live a horrible, rotting life. These bonded riders compete in battle games called the Chaos Cup. This year, Skandar, his sister Kenna, and his dad eat breakfast together and excitedly watch the Chaos Cup. Something odd happens--the winner's unicorn is stolen on life TV by a person riding a wild unicorn. This type of rider cannot be! You can't tame a wild unicorn! The Mainlanders don't really know what's going on, so they aren't quite as concerned as they might need to be. They still want to send their 13-year olds to the Island to train. Kenna failed her exam to be a rider and has never gotten over it. She's only dreamed of being a rider. The day after the Chaos Cup is Skandar's turn to take his test.
Skandar studies and works hard to be a rider. He arrives for the exam only to be turned away. That never happens. He dejectedly goes home only to be awakened at midnight and told to go to the Island. The lady who arrives takes him to the island and tells him how to sneak on. Something isn't right, but Skandar really wants a unicorn. He does as told and gets in line. The doors to the unicorn hatchery only open to those who have a unicorn, so many people go back to the mainland. Surprisingly, the door opens for Skandar. He does as told and, sure enough, an egg hatches upon his touch--he is bonded. The surprise? There are only 4 elements. When a couple of other new students see Skandar's unicorn, they know that Skandar and his unicorn are illegal. They are spirit elements--the most dangerous. These three other students help Skandar hide the signs of then spirit element.
The rest of the novel involves training (it's pretty vague training) and preparing for the end of the first year when they compete to stay. The bottom five will be declared nomads. You'll enjoy meeting all of the students and finding out who the bad guy is on the wild unicorn as they must "save the day" by the end. Once again, I had fun reading it. I liked it. Is it great? No. Is it escapism? Absolutely.
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LibraryThing member VictoriaGD
Unicorns Belong in Nightmares
A.F. Steadman flips the myths of unicorns, with a high action contest of skill, and a dangerous quest to find out what these fearsome beasts really are. Skandar Smith dreams of attending the Chaos Cup, a deadly race using blood thirsty unicorns. Winning a race could
A.F. Steadman mixes some serious themes within a magical adventure. Skandar’s life is filled with loss and disappointment, and his one hope is that a unicorn can change his life. These are not traditional unicorns, but winged monsters and growling carnivores. Which add humor to an otherwise sad story. Each unicorn has magic relating to the four elements of fire, water, wind, earth, and the fifth element of spirit. All with their own personality types, and other fun classifying symbols. This combination of magic, and flying deadly unicorns adds its own interesting problems. Including plenty of fart jokes as well.
He may be in training to become a unicorn rider, but Skandar is told very little about the ways of magic. His search for answers bring very little help. He must rely on his new friends, and found family, to make it through training alive. He will need them all, and their snarling unicorns, to face the truth that awaits him.
A.F. Steadman flips the myths of unicorns, with a high action contest of skill, and a dangerous quest to find out what these fearsome beasts really are. Skandar Smith dreams of attending the Chaos Cup, a deadly race using blood thirsty unicorns. Winning a race could
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solve his family’s financial problems, and make his dad proud. This is not a tame race, but a battle of magic and danger. When a mysterious cloaked figure on a wild black unicorn called the Weaver appears to end the races forever. Skandar must solve the mystery of the unicorn thief.A.F. Steadman mixes some serious themes within a magical adventure. Skandar’s life is filled with loss and disappointment, and his one hope is that a unicorn can change his life. These are not traditional unicorns, but winged monsters and growling carnivores. Which add humor to an otherwise sad story. Each unicorn has magic relating to the four elements of fire, water, wind, earth, and the fifth element of spirit. All with their own personality types, and other fun classifying symbols. This combination of magic, and flying deadly unicorns adds its own interesting problems. Including plenty of fart jokes as well.
He may be in training to become a unicorn rider, but Skandar is told very little about the ways of magic. His search for answers bring very little help. He must rely on his new friends, and found family, to make it through training alive. He will need them all, and their snarling unicorns, to face the truth that awaits him.
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Awards
Sunshine State Young Reader's Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 2024)
British Book Award (Shortlist — Children's Fiction — 2023)
Branford Boase Award (Longlist — 2023)
Books Are My Bag Readers Award (Shortlist — 2022)
Waterstones Book of the Year (Shortlist — 2022)
Maine Student Book Award (Reading List — 2024)
Tome Society It List (2024)
Texas Lone Star Reading List (2023)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
400 p.; 8.66 x 0.98 inches
ISBN
1398502715 / 9781398502710
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DDC/MDS
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