![]() The Blind Man is calculating and cynical, but if rescuing Martha means submitting to his games, Ian is prepared to do so. Traveling the boisterous, crowded byways of urban India, he seeks a prophet called the Blind Man who knows how to access the Ruby Portal. Beloved banished her there, irritated by Martha's influence over Ian, but now Ian has broken ranks with his Hunter relatives and sided with Cara to protect the right of unicorns to exist. Martha, his wife and Cara's mother, is locked inside the Ruby Portal in an enchanted realm called the Rainbow Prison. On Earth, Ian Hunter-Cara's father-has his own mission. "For what kind of world is it that has no unicorns?" The journey is long and muddled with danger from delvers, but Cara cannot fail if the unicorns are to avoid extermination. Cara (accompanied by the squirrel-like Squijum, of course) and Grimwold set off for centaur territory, joined by unicorns Lightfoot, Finder, and Belle, as well as M'Gama. He will know the origin of the Whisperer, though he's sure to demand a heavy price for telling the tale. Informed by M'Gama the Geomancer that only a few weeks stand between now and the Blood Moon, the time of year when Beloved is almost certain to invade Luster, Amalia Flickerfoot dispatches a team to the realm of the centaurs to meet with their King, the Chiron. Grimwold, official Keeper of the Chronicles, can scarcely believe anyone would tamper with the sacred text. It is a fanatical enemy of unicorns, but all record of the Whisperer has vanished from the Unicorn Chronicles. The oldest human in Luster, Alma Leonetti, arrives in the unicorn royal court at Autumngrove to warn of an ancient spiritual presence called the Whisperer. "But it's often the case that our most intimate enemies are rooted in our own darkness." That which we hide long enough is sometimes forgotten altogether, even if it never forgets itself." "What we do not wish to remember we sometimes hide. But how to resist a foe as cunning, hateful, and backed by mysterious powers as Beloved? ![]() The Hunters want to eradicate the last of the unicorns, a tragedy Amalia Flickerfoot must prevent. Cara's ageless ancestor, Beloved, has finally obtained an amulet to gain passage for herself and her Hunter kin into Luster, and once they breach this fantasy world, the final hunt will commence. The new Queen has lived most of her life on Earth as Cara's grandmother Ivy Morris, unaware of her unicorn heritage, but she must quickly learn the ins and outs of royal responsibility. Twelve-year-old human Cara Hunter's grandmother has assumed her rightful role and form as Amalia Flickerfoot, Queen of the Unicorns, succeeding Arabella Skydancer after the aged Queen faded to her eternal rest. ![]() A few key mysteries were cleared up by the previous book, but the unicorns of Luster have miles to go before they rest. If you thought the delay between book one of the Unicorn Chronicles ( Into the Land of the Unicorns, 1994) and book two ( Song of the Wanderer, 1999) felt interminable, how much more so the wait for book three, Dark Whispers (2008)? Bruce Coville took his time getting this story aligned, and it shows: Dark Whispers is a lush, nuanced narrative, divided among several main characters whose separate storylines are converging toward a barnburner of a conclusion in the final book of the quartet. And over all of them hang two dreadful questions: who is the Dark Whisperer who is giving so many so many corrupt ideas, and will Luster survive the war to come? Cara and her friends continue to grow and face dangers that put all they care about at risk. Compared to the earlier books it's much darker, with hints of cataclysm to come. There are Delvers who do not want to follow their leader's plan for destruction, and change is coming to the centaurs, the dragons, and the much-loved Dimblethumb. Ian, Cara's father, is fighting to find her mother in the prison that Beloved has made for her in another world. Cara is coming into her own as an emissary of the unicorns, gathering vital information for them that will reveal Beloved's plans and Luster's vulnerabilities. This is a powerful addition to the Unicorn Chronicles as Cara's family struggles to come together while the evil sorceress Beloved begins her campaign to destroy the unicorn world Luster and all who live there. Okay, I admit, I'm prejudiced-Bruce is my best male friend, my writing buddy, and he read DARK WHISPERS to me as I read BLOODHOUND to him.
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