The Way Home: Two Novellas from the World of the Last Unicorn

SFWA Grand Master Beagle returns to the magical landscape of his most famous work with two breathtaking novellas, “Two Hearts,” a Hugo Award winner originally published in 2006, and its heartbreaking sequel “Sooz,” which is original to this volume. Narrator Sooz is nine in “Two Hearts” when a malignant griffin lands and nests in Midnight Wood near her home. Sooz sets out to ask King Lir for help defeating the beast, aided by two mysterious riders familiar to Beagle’s fans: Schmendrick the magician and his companion Molly Grue. Together they find Lir, and poignantly rouse him from old age and fatigue, recruiting both him and his beloved Unicorn to slay the griffin. Eight years later, in “Sooz,” the now 17-year-old heroine seeks the sister she never knew she had who was kidnapped by the fairies as a baby. Upon entering the land of the fae, she is raped by four men but befriends a woman of stone who comes to her aid in the aftermath. This new friend is on a quest of her own; she’s looking for Uncle Death. In reaching their goals, Sooz learns that the people who change your life stick with you, even after they’re gone. With beautiful worldbuilding and tons of heart, these tender fantasies are sure to delight. Agent: Howard Morhaim, Howard Morhaim Literary. (Apr.)