The Unicorn Hunter by Katherine Arden

Title: The Unicorn Hunter

Author: Katherine Arden

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Series: N/A

368 Pages, Hardcover

Publication: June 2, 2026

Source: Libby Library

Buy|AMAZON|B&N

Anne of Brittany was a child when France invaded and drove her royal father to his death. Now she is a young woman, sovereign duchess of an occupied realm, and France means to crown their conquest by marrying her to their king. Such an alliance would put her title, her lands, and her body forever in the hands of her enemies.

But Anne refuses to be the last duchess of Brittany.

Her only hope of resisting conquest is another alliance sealed with marriage, so Anne arranges a daring last gambit: a secret betrothal to Charles of France’s greatest rival. But secrets are hard to keep in a world where rival courts spy on each other with diviners.

The forest of Brocéliande was once the haunt of Merlin the Enchanter and the long-lost faerie queen. But magic is long gone from Broceliande, except for the occasional sight of a unicorn and one critical quirk: This ancient forest is completely hostile to divination.

While pretending compliance with France, Anne plans a unicorn hunt in Brocéliande. A bit of pointless pageantry. A diversion so she can wed in secret.

Or so she thinks.

MY THOUGHTS

I've been looking forward to reading The Unicorn Hunter since I first heard about it. I love a good historical fantasy, and this novel is inspired by the real Duchess Anne of Brittany and the famous Unicorn Tapestries. I'm somewhat familiar with Anne's history and the tapestries, though I wouldn't call myself an expert. Even so, I found myself disappointed and underwhelmed by this book.

When readers first meet Anne, she is only eighteen years old and essentially running Brittany herself, surrounded by her guardian, diviner, her brother Henri, her younger sister Isabeau, and the household staff. Charles, the King of France, wishes to marry Anne and bring Brittany into France's fold, but Anne promised her father she would keep Brittany as sovereign as possible. Believing an alliance with Maximilian of Austria is the answer, she devises a plan to marry him by proxy in secret. To buy herself time to put the plan into motion, she declares that they must all go unicorn hunting.

I could see where the author drew inspiration from history and mythology to create this story, but, frankly, it just wasn't that interesting. Anne tried to act older than her age, but no matter what, I could only picture a child masquerading as an adult. Everyone viewed her as holy and ethereal, placing her on a pedestal because she could partially tame the magical unicorn and commune with spirits.

What further lost me was that every single man seemed to be in love with her. Sure, history tells us Anne was married multiple times, and the novel reflects that in the men/suitors, but it felt excessive. The proxy groom liked her, King Charles wanted to marry her, Maximilian agreed to wed her, Louis, Duke of Orléans, suddenly found her irresistible and enchanting, and, of course, the Korrigan King also wanted to marry her. Five suitors! (I'm counting the proxy too, don't care) Four men and a fairy king, all vying for Anne's affection was simply overkill.

I also didn't find the plot particularly engaging. Much of the story consists of everyone waiting for someone else to make the next move while others try to counter it. Spirits are sprinkled throughout the novel from beginning to end, but the reason for their presence felt rather underwhelming. I assume they were meant to show Anne possible futures or demonstrate how long the Korrigan King had been trying to cross over, but by that point, I no longer cared about the characters or the story.

The ending was especially anticlimactic. If you're familiar with Anne's history, you'll already know who she ends up with by the conclusion. Overall, I did not enjoy The Unicorn Hunter and can't recommend it.