Unicorns of Balinor

Unicorns of Balinor #1-3

by Mary Stanton

Join the princess and her magical unicorn in their adventure as they battle the dark forces to reclaim Balinor. This special edition contains books 1-3: The Road to Balinor / Sunchaser's Quest / Valley of Fear.

Genres: Fantasy, Unicorns, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Horses

407 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Mary Stanton was born in Florida and grew up in Japan and Hawaii, after which she returned to the United States and received a B.A. in Philosophy and Literature from the University of Minnesota.

Stanton’s career as a fiction writer began with the publication of her first novel, The Heavenly Horse from the Outermost West, in 1984. A beast fable similar in tone and theme to Watership Down, it was published in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. The sequel to that novel, Piper at the Gates, appeared in 1989. She sold her first mystery to The Berkley Publishing Group in 1994.

In all, Stanton has written nineteen mystery novels, two adult fantasy novels, eleven novels for middle-grade readers (including the successful series, The Unicorns of Balinor), and three scripts for a television cartoon series, Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders, as well as edited three short story anthologies. Her nonfiction articles on horse care and veterinary medicine have appeared in national and regional magazines.

Stanton's newest series, The Beaufort & Company Mysteries, was launched in December 2008 with the publication of Defending Angels. Set in Savannah, Georgia, the paranormal mysteries chronicle the adventures of Bree Winston-Beaufort, a young lawyer who inherits her uncle's law firm and its deceased clientele, whom she represents in appeals before the Celestial Court.

The second book in the series, Angel's Advocate, was published in June 2009, followed by Avenging Angels in February 2010.

Mary also publishes the Hemlock Falls and Dr. McKenzie mysteries under the name Claudia Bishop. See the Claudia Bishop web site for more information.

Stanton’s interests outside writing have remained consistent over the years. She is a horsewoman, a goat aficionado, an enthusiastic (if inept) gardener, and a fan of gourmet food, but not an expert. She has developed a writing program for teens and middle grade readers that has had considerable success in schools.

Stanton has been a dedicated reader all her life, with particular emphasis on biography, history, veterinary science, medicine, psychology and current affairs. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America.

Reviews

[Sarah Cate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this when I was younger, just finished reading to my kids. They love it. It was a favorite of mine when I was younger too. Great story!

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

1/10/19end

I have been reading this series out of order for a few years now. If I find the book at the library I get it. I love horses and the art work on this series is just great. =0)

I found this book at my local Russian pharmacy. They had created a small lending library in the store anyone can borough a book for free and then return it after you read it. Real great idea. So I found this book there. It was my pleasure to find out the antho had books 1-3 in it which I had not read. Score! All three books are 3 stars each overall series is 3-3.5 stars.

I love the main characters. I really really dislike Lori!!! If I could I would gag the b****! So yeah the characters are relatable totally to their readers. The young would learn some powerful life lessons reading this series. =0)
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Note to self;
Spoilers;
Princess Arianna Langley(Ari,Princess of Balinor,13yo,sis,had amnesia,adopted,pal) &
Sunchaser(Chase, Unicorn,Lord of Animals,got new horn,bonded to Ari,pal)
Lincoln(Linc,dog,pal)
Atalanta(Dreamspeaker,Celestial Valley Unicorn,Goddess to all Animals,mate)+
Numinor(Celestial Valley Unicorn,Golden One,Herd Leader,mate)
Dr. Eliane Bohnes(Vet,ex-nurse)
Dill(vixen,fox,ex-slave,mate)+
Basil(fox,mate)
Lori Carmichael(riding student,rich)
Capt. Nick Tredwell(ship)
Mr. Samlett(inn owner,landlord,resistance mem)
Toby(Balinor Unicorn)
Rednal(Unicorn,red band,Celestial Valley)
Ash(Celestial Valley Unicorn guard)
Dusty(Celestial Valley Unicorn guard)
Rufus(wolf,Clan leader)
Devi(weanling Unicorn,Atalanta's discipline)
Tige(wolf)
Sandy(wolf)
Vanax(lion,Chase's pal & advisor)
Bren(Prince,her bro)
Stally(Prince,her bro)
Ann Langley(adopted mom,Anale servant)
Frank()
Lady Kylie(Shifter's Snake,Lord Lexan's sis,ex-Queens pal,2nd in Command Shifters Army,traitor,Shifters Counselor)

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I definitely enjoyed this series as a kid, it certainly doesn't hold up to my adult scrutiny. The most glaring offenses were the massive amounts of plot convenience and plot inconvenience (the latter being drama or conflict that could easily be resolved if the characters just sat down and talked to each other).

One glaring example of plot inconvenience was in the first book, when Princess Arianna's foster parents were trying to keep her royalty and destiny a secret. Oh, they made all kinds of excuses like "It's too dangerous for her to know" and "She needs to remember who she is on her own", but if Ari is constantly endangering herself because she has no idea that an interdimensional shape-shifting demon is trying to assassinate her and her ex-unicorn Sunchaser, then I think it might be time to tell her the truth. Of course, this doesn't happen until much later in the book, but the plot requires Ari to be in danger at this point.

As far as plot convenience, there are too many examples to list off, but one that immediately comes to mind was how incredibly easy it was to get the missing piece of Sunchaser's horn back. Apparently Boromir was wrong, and you can simply walk into Mordor.

I'm a little sad that I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would, but this won't be the last time I read something by Mary Stanton. I've been looking for a "Watership Down with horses" type of book, and The Heavenly Horse from the Outermost West sounds like just the ticket!

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I see people giving this poor reviews when they should be reviewing this as a higher elementary to lower middle school story. I remember reading it when I was in high school and even then I saw the appeal to it. So much so that over a decade later I kept the books and I decided a while ago to give it a quick read. It's not without flaws but I can certainly recommend this book to young readers and even to those older readers with a young heart and a love for magical and simple stories.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this years ago as a 7 year old and remember enjoying it a bit, but not enough to finish the series. Also, I was obsessed with horses at the time, so that might have had something to do with enjoying it enough to finish this one book (though it contains three) and yet not read any of the others even though they were available to me.

[Délice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This storyline had so much potential but so much was lacking for me. The celestial Unicorns were not believable, and the intense emotions of the few featured unicorns seemed forced and arbitrary. It was a plodding task to finish this book. Probably won't pick up the following novels.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as a kid and found it at a yard sale for $1 so I had to give it another read :) cute story about unicorns and a girl trying to find herself. I could not stand Lori but I'm not the target audience. :) Not sure if I could get through it again reading it to my niece.

[Randi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This rating is solely based on childhood nostalgia. Would I love it now? Probably not, but I was in love with horses as a little kid, and this series was a big part of it.

[Kay Iscah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I forced myself to finish the first book and gave up after that. Slow, repetitious... nothing really happens until the last couple chapters and even that is only a teaser for the next book. Tease might dscribe the entire book. Mystic unicorns, shape shifting evil, amensia, princess, kingdom in peril...there was a mix of things that could have been interesting, but the majority of the action (what little there was) took place on a fairly mundane horse farm and circled around a girl not wanting to share her horse. *yawn*

There was no small number of logic holes too. For a girl from a mystical kingdom with amensia, Arianna rolls with the modern world very well. The caregivers of the princess and her super special unicorn seem far too willing to use the sacred animal to fix their money problems.

If Arianna had been a more interesting protagonist, the rest might be bearable, but she's kind of one note. She gets mad at the younger Lori's poor riding skills, but instead of simply saying things like "the bit is cutting him" she *thinks* these things then makes far less helpful comments.

[Charlene Organ]

The first three books were really good. I enjoyed them very much. The writing was awesome. I loved how the author had some very cool interesting facts about unicorns. I so far enjoyed the way that animals can talk to humans directly. The way that the author described Sunchaser of how he looks made a beautiful picture in mind. And when Sunchaser got his horn back; O' my goodness did he look even more beautiful in mind! I love the bond between Ari and Sunchaser is. It's like in the real world between man and dog! I'm really looking forward to how they save the kingdom. I'm also looking forward to who sent Lincoln to Ari. Well I do recommend this book to young kids who enjoy magical places, talking animals and beautiful unicorns!

[Cymberley · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems to me that Mary Stanton tried to mix J.R.R Tolkien and C.S. Lewis together w/ her own story. It jut wasn't what i thought it would be.

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS BOOK WHEN I WAS LITTLE!

I have no idea now if it was actually any good so I'll have to reread it someday, but I read it at least two or three times growing up and loved every second of it (surprising, actually, because I was not really one of those unicorn-loving little girls. I was more Pokemon and such. But I digress)!

[LOL_BOOKS]

I AM IN THE MOOD FOR A GOOD YA PORTAL FANTASY STORY, BUT I'M NOT SURE SUCH A THING EXISTS. IL A GOOD FISH OUT OF WATER STORY, AND IH MY
MUNDANE LIFE AND WANT SOMETHING ESCAPIST.

LOL THE ONLY YA FISH OUT OF WATERS I CAN THINK OF ARE TWO UNICORN SERIES AND THEY'RE BOATH MOAR MIDDLE SCHOOL-AGED THAN YA /o\

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

a great book for unicorns... and a heroine princess and her bonded, hornless, warrior unicorn who has amnesia... and they return to their home to recapture their horn, sceptor, & memories so that they can (in future books) rescue her family, and save the unicorn valley from the shifter.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved these books as a kid, they were what got me interested in fantasy books.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought it to give to a neice as a gift. It reminded me of when I was younger & was into unicorns. Light read.

[Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very slow Reading. To much info was gone over and over.

[Jocelyn Montalvo Cullum]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11868381

[K.D. Bissonette]

I liked it!

[Eleni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved these books when I was younger! The writing isn't perfect, but it's a great story.

[Rachel Woodbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved these books when I was a little girl!! It's such a fun adventure story that had me hooked!

[Lirisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I disagree with Kay this book is a lovely book!!!!!