The Dark Gods

The Secret of the Unicorn Queen #5

by Josepha Sherman

Sheila McCarthy, a high school student trapped in a magical land, is the only one who can help when the Unicorn Queen is kidnapped by a handsome, evil king.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Childrens, Unicorns, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

128 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Josepha Sherman was an American author, folklorist, and anthologist. In 1990 she won the Compton Crook Award for the novel The Shining Falcon.

Reviews

[Sam Wescott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books in this series, because Sheila actually has to take an active role in overthrowing the bad guy, since Illyria and the eagles aren't able to swoop in and save her (although, the unicorns do a fair bit of rescue swooping at the very end). Sheila's sole advantage is her other-worldly origin and it actually helps her out quite a bit here, by making her immune to the main bad guy's magic. Handy.

Plus, Kumaru is actually a pretty good villain? Like, I stopped viewing Mardock as a threat after the first book and the Queelotoo (sp?) guy was just kinda silly. So, it was nice to have a new villain, especially since the characters had been whispering about him since the first book.

As always, the dialogue is painfully bad, the exposition is clunky, and the overall plot is super-campy and predictable. But I love these silly books. Only one more to go!

[Rileyrugrat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading "Secret of the Unicorn Queen" when I was around 12-years-old. These are the books that made me fall in love with scifi/Fantasy. Take a normal girl (Shelia), and drop her into a parallel universie with unicorns, a cute boy and an evil tyrant who must be defeated and you've got the makings of a great story. Plus Shelia, has her back-pack full of your basic normal school stuff but that "normal sutff" equates to life-saving magic in the Unicorn Queen's relm.
These books are safe for girls of all ages and that's one of the reasons I love them so much.

[Natalie Fahmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh man you guys gotta read all the books in this series. The best adventures ever with a girl named sheila from high school and all her unicorn warrior friends that swore to protect unicorns from evil. Go get all the books now. You can even download them on itunes.

[Gaby]

I enjoyed it as much as I did when I read it as a kid

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis: "Synopsis 1: When Sheila McCarthy first landed in the magical kingdom of Arren, all she could think about was how to get back home. But surrounded by her new friends, the beautiful unicorns and their courageous Unicorn Queen, she soon realized that hanging out in an enchanted land and doing battle with an evil wizard beat going to high school any day. When joining a royal procession through Prince Laric's land, Sheila and her warrior friends discover evil afoot near the border - in the form of a handsome but sinister king who will stop at nothing to gain control of the kingdom...and the precious unicorns. Calling upon the world's ancient forces, King Kumuru enchants the warriors - and forces Queen Illyria through a fog-shrouded portal! Only Sheila is immune to his dark powers, but even she cannot break his evil spell. Somehow she must destroy the ruby amulet that is the source of his power - but how!"

My Review: I had a hard time rating this one, it was more of a 2 & 1/2 star book for me. Back to the same dangers and bad guys that Sheila seems to always be battling. It was a little bit of a shame that Kumuru was such a throwaway character, I think he could have been bigger than the author made him but he ended up just being a filler. The one thing I did really like about this one though was the Imps, I want more of the odd little creatures!

[Laura Sluder · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome books for kids, they were my favorite when i was like 12.

[Justine Hedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite series from my childhood. I probably re-read it every 2-3 years.