Peter S. Beagle has been writing lyrical, big-hearted fantasy since 1960, but most readers meet him through one book: The Last Unicorn (1968), one of the most beloved fantasy novels of the last century. Born in New York in 1939, he later wrote the screenplay for its 1982 animated film, co-wrote the 1978 animated Lord of the Rings, and even slipped a 'Sarek' episode into Star Trek: The Next Generation — a writer at home wherever a story needs telling.
What draws a cosy reader in is the temperature of his prose: gentle and funny and sad in the same breath, fond of magicians who aren't very good at magic and creatures who would rather be left in peace. If you are wondering where to start, or which of his books are the best, the answer is happily the same — The Last Unicorn is both his signature work and the easiest door in.
His novels almost all stand alone, so you can wander in any order you like. The one connected thread runs through The Last Unicorn and the two follow-up novellas gathered in The Way Home — more on the reading order just below.
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BittersweetFairy-Tale Lyrical
The Last Unicorn
A unicorn leaves her wood to find out whether she's truly the last, and falls in with a second-rate magician and a weary woman along the way. It's funny and sad in the same breath, written like a fairy tale that knows it's a fairy tale. Read it when you want something beautiful that aches a little.
Where to start
Start with The Last Unicorn (1968). It is his most beloved and most accessible book, and the one everything else grows out of — the 1982 animated film and the later sequel novellas all trace back to it. A unicorn leaves her wood to learn whether she truly is the last of her kind, falling in with a bumbling magician and a careworn woman along the way; you will understand at once why it is so widely regarded as a classic.
Peter S. Beagle’s books
A unicorn sets out to learn what became of the others, joined by a bumbling magician and a careworn woman. Lyrical and gentle, and rightly counted a classic of the genre.
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Beagle's first new novel in years: a reluctant young dragon-catcher who secretly likes dragons gets tangled up with a runaway princess, in a kingdom where dragons range from mouse-sized vermin to castle-smashers. Warm, whimsical, comic.
Two novellas set in the world of The Last Unicorn — the Hugo- and Nebula-winning 'Two Hearts' and a newly written sequel, 'Sooz', following the village girl who once sought a king's help, now grown.
Beagle's debut, written when he was nineteen: a recluse who has lived for years in a New York cemetery, two ghosts who fall in love, and a talking raven. A gentle, melancholic comedy about life and death.
A solitary farmer and poet in southern Italy finds his quiet life transformed when a unicorn appears on his hillside. A lyrical pastoral romance about wonder and loss.
A teenage American girl reluctantly moves to an old Dorset farmhouse and befriends the ghost of a girl who died three centuries earlier, uncovering a dark family secret. Atmospheric and character-driven — a shade darker than his cosier books.
Three mysterious women, a man brought back from the dead and a young stableboy collide at a country inn. A darker, more epic fantasy of magic, love and death, told through shifting first-person voices.
Good questions
Almost all of his novels stand alone, so you can read them in any order. The one connected thread is the world of The Last Unicorn: read The Last Unicorn (1968) first, then the two follow-up novellas collected in The Way Home — 'Two Hearts' followed by its sequel 'Sooz'.
The Last Unicorn (1968). It is his most beloved and most accessible work, and the book everything else grows out of, including the 1982 animated film and the later sequel novellas.
It stands alone, but Beagle did return to its world. The Hugo- and Nebula-winning novella 'Two Hearts' is a direct sequel, and it is collected with a further sequel, 'Sooz', in The Way Home (2023).
It is his first new novel in years (2024): a reluctant young dragon-catcher who secretly likes dragons becomes entangled with a runaway princess, in a backwater kingdom where dragons range from mouse-sized vermin to castle-smashers. A warm, whimsical comic fantasy.
Stay in its world with The Way Home, then try In Calabria, another lyrical tale in which a unicorn appears in a quiet life. For the same gentle, melancholic comedy, his debut A Fine and Private Place is a lovely next step.
Yes — he wrote the screenplay for the 1982 animated adaptation. He also co-wrote the 1978 animated Lord of the Rings and the 'Sarek' episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
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