Review by Kelly Jarvis: The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden

Katherine Arden, the esteemed author of The Winternight Trilogy and The Warm Hands of Ghosts, returns with The Unicorn Hunters, a breathtaking historical fantasy that will delight those looking for magic. Loosely based on the harrowing life of Anne of Brittany, this novel, set on the cusp between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, brilliantly blends real-world political intrigue with fairy enchantment.

The Anne of Arden’s novel, who inherited the Duchy of Brittany when her father passed away, has been promised in marriage to the King of France, and their union will result in the dissolution of an independent Brittany. Because Anne lives in a time and place where diviners can watch her actions from afar, she must enact a secret plan to marry Maximillian of Austria by proxy in the Lost Lands where the Korrigan, the Breton fairies, are rumored to dwell. She does this by convincing the French envoy that a unicorn has been seen in the woods and offering herself as the pure and virginal bait that will lure the creature from the shadows of the fairy world. Although Anne is simply stalling for time so that her new husband will ride to rescue Brittany from France’s advance, the hunting party finds both a unicorn and a man who has been missing in the fairy woods for more than two-hundred years, and these discoveries upset everyone's carefully crafted plans for power.

Although Arden’s book is rich in history and fantasy elements, I especially loved the authenticity of her characters and settings. I was swept away to a land where the possibility of magic still exists, and it was easy for me to craft castles and forests in my imagination using Arden’s rich language as my guide. Anne, who is a blend of girlish innocence and intelligent wisdom, enchants readers as easily as she enchants the members of her court, and all the men who desire her for their own political positioning also desire her for her beauty and charm. Arden paints Anne as a fully formed woman with deep ties to her siblings and a strong commitment to the Breton people, and the book's fantasy world of shadows and ghosts is as real and as intriguing as its presentation of court politics. Even when the human rulers are fighting for power, the threat of the Korrigan, the beauty of the elusive unicorn, and the mystery of an underwater city lost to time loom over the narrative. Anne sits squarely in the center of the human and fairy worlds, understanding that, like all sovereigns, she is an enchanter who uses magic to forge many people into one nation.

I adored The Unicorn Hunters and was thrilled to read Arden’s brief history about the real Anne of Brittany at the back of the book. Arden discusses the unicorn tapestries commissioned by Anne, tapestries which now hang in the cloisters of New York City, tapestries which feature a unicorn being hunted, killed, and placed in a cage. The harsh reality of being trapped in service to a larger ideal permeates both the tapestries and the book, and Arden’s beautifully crafted prose leaves readers with much to ponder even after they have reached the story's conclusion. The Unicorn Hunters is a must read for fans of historical fantasy, fairy tales, and slow burn, sensual romance. You can find it here.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review.

Kelly Jarvis teaches writing and literature at Central Connecticut State University and works as the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine and a Recurring Columnist for Eternal Haunted Summer. Her debut novella, Selkie Moon, was selected as a semi-finalist in the 2025-2026 Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Championship, and her first novel, Sea and Stars, a real-world reimagining of Beauty and the Beast set in the 19^th century, publishes in July 2026. Visit Kelly online at kellyjarviswriter.com.