Ever dreamed of riding a Unicorn?

A review of Skandar and the Unicorn Thief. A.F. Steadman. Simon and Schuster Children's UK. Published 22 April 2022.

Intro

This debut novel from A. F. Steadman is the first instalment in what I think is going to be a fantastic young adult fantasy fiction series. The story follows Skandar a thirteen-year-old boy from Margate as he begins his journey as a unicorn rider. 'A unicorn rider?' I hear you ask. Yes, in this series unicorns have bonded riders and are not white with golden hooves and rainbow manes. They are still magical but they are also dark and aggressive blood-thirsty carnivores, their volatile natures moderately restrained by their bonded riders.

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Advised reading age: 11 onwards—the language can be easily consumed by the independent reader however, there is quite a lot of mention of death, killing and injury. If like me you read stories to your children that they aren’t yet capable of reading I’d be aware of that and their level of understanding of these topics.

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How I heard about this book

I first heard about this book during a Writing and Publishing for Children and Young Adult's lecture as part of my degree at the University of Derby. We were investigating and discussing upcoming releases and it immediately sparked my interest as a lover of fantasy since childhood. As a twelve-year-old girl wanting to escape the reality of high school and puberty drama I fell in love with the Harry Potter series so it was no surprise to me that the cover and description of Skandar and The Unicorn Thief ignited enthusiasm. I just had to have it so I pre-ordered it during the lecture and I can only hope David, one of the fabulous Publishing lecturers at Derby will understand. I bought the Waterstones Exclusive Edition with red sprayed edges, obvisouly. It's only available in hardback until February next year (2023) when it will be released in paperback.

Opinion

I will admit on first read it was difficult to ignore the similarity between Skandar’s plotline and that of another good vs evil early-teen entering an unfamiliar magical world, however there is enough originality to make it extremely enjoyable. I’m now reading a few pages a night to my son as his bedtime story and I’m enjoying it even more, I’m loving the interactions between the main protagonists, their developing relationships and personal quirks that are present in real life personalites. Steadman’s world building is flawless, as is her delivery. Her world is enthralling, magical and I wish there really was a magical unicorn filled island between Wales and Ireland. I can not wait to learn more about its history and lore and I already eagerly await the release of the sequel next April (2023). I predict this is going to become a firm favourite in our household and take pride of place on our ever-growing favourites shelf.

Continue Reading for a more indepth summary of the story but beware of spoilers.

Story Summary (Spoliers)

Show Content

The story begins with Skandar’s background and family situation – without a mother, a depressed father and an older sister who missed out on her dream of becoming a unicorn rider – seamlessly woven in with an introduction to Steadman’s new world and the family's obsession. The Chaos Cup: a spectacle as famous and as legendary as the Grand National, however the competitors not only race but fight in elemental sky battles to make it to the finish line first. At the end of the Chaos Cup we are introduced to the series’ villain, The Weaver, a rogue unicorn rider, who unbeknownst to the mainland has been terrorising the Island for over a decade. While the mainland reels at the news of the Weaver, Skandar’s life goes on. In Skandar’s world anyone can become a unicorn rider by passing an exam in their thirteenth year and then going to the mysterious Island off the coast of Wales to try the Hatchery door. It’s a fairly lengthy ordeal, not without its own drama and mysteries. If one happens to pass the exam and open the Hatchery door they get to find and meet their bonded Unicorn – a process which I am not going to spoil because it is unique, deliciously written and full to the brim with new experiences, even for a veteran reader of the fantasy genre. I will say however that there are issues for Skandar (obviously) and his unicorn is immediately identified as an illegal unicorn by another new rider. Skandar's unicorn is illegal because he displays the mark of a forbidden magic: The Spirit Element. Luckily (as part of his unconventional journey to the island) Skandar has a pot of black ink in his pocket with which he can cover the mark and the new riders he's just met agree to hide the status of the Unicorn and potentially Skandar. Once all the riders have hatched their unicorns they are taken to the Eyrie, a fortress of sorts where they discover in a very public ritual their allied elemental magic. The new riders he's jus met help Skandar hide from the entire population of the Eyrie his alliance to the Spirit element. Following this ritual the new strudents which are called hatchlings are told to form Quartets comprising of a member from each element Earth, Air, Water and Fire, Skandar, posing as a Water weilder ends up with the three strangers who helped him before.

There is of course the obligatory fierce top of the class Roberta – a Mainlander who likes to go by Bobby (Air); the not quite a friend yet, angsty and sometimes mean Mitchel – an Islander and son of a strict father who happens to be a powerful member on the Island Council (Fire) and the didn’t really want to be here, nervous Florence (Flo) – an Islander and daughter of a modest working-class Saddler (Earth). Together the four teens plan adventures to help Skandar understand his uniqueness as well as trying to thwart the work of the Weaver and work out their intentions.

The Quartet settles into their tree-house and the plot thickens, the Weaver turns out to be the reason the Spirit element is forbidden and the four Hatchlings continue to work together to hide Skandar's connection to it. While the school year progresses the Weaver continues to terrorise the island, kidnapping victims for unknown reasons and causing general villain chaos. Skandar and his friends investigate and follow leads to learn more about Spirit, discover the identiy of the Weaver and learn how to stop the Weaver. They somewhat succeed in all three but the Weaver escapes and the book is left with many threads still left to follow.

Thankyou for reading